The National Assembly is gearing up for its 2009 State opening, to be presided over by the Gambian head of state, Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh.

Scheduled for Friday, 31 March 2009, at 5pm at the National Assembly Chambers in Banjul, the state opening will kick-start the official businesses of the Assembly for the 2009 legislative year. In this regard, the Office of the Speaker, yesterday, convened the second high level meeting with the chairpersons of the various National Assembly committees to discuss the opening and other relevant topics.

The president of the Republic is constitutionally mandated to officially declare the legislative year open, annually. The ceremony  is called the ‘state opening of parliament’.