The students’ union of the University of The Gambia, the highest institution of learning  in The Gambia, last Wednesday 24th December, 2008, swore in its 8th Executive Council, just few weeks after the tightly contested election that saw Ansumana Darboe, a third year student from the department of social sciences elected as the 8th student leader since its establishment.

The ceremony was held at the Girl Guides, along MDI Road in Kanifing. The guest speaker of the occasion was Abdoulie Touray, the chairperson of the UTG governing council. Touray adviced the students to take ownership of the university, arguing that without them there would be no university.

He used the opportunity to announce the latest development regarding the much earger Fara Banta campus project construction of which he disclosed will soon commence. He implored members of the incoming executive council to emulate the outgoing ones to ensure success in the areas were the previous executive might have failed. He further advised them to show commitment in serving the union which they have been entrusted with.

According to him, 6,000 students had graduated from the university of The Gambia since its commencement. But he cited the need for the UTG to be moved from a learning institution to a research based one. To this end, throw the challenge on  both the students and academic staff to take the lead.

The UTG governing council chairperson urged student to always go by their minds and not emotion in whatever they might be faced with. For his part, the outgoing president of UTGSU, Ousman Badjie, argued that UTG is not  a small institution in the country, considering the key role it stands to play in the socio-economic development of the nation.

He hailed ex-Vice Chancellor Professor Andreas Steigen for his unflinching support to the union during his three year tenure at the UTG. Badjie cited the establishment of a student loan scheme, the disbursement of the students welfare fund, among many other achievement, as key pointers of the former UTG boss’ effort in bolstering the institution. But he said that effort to have a loan scheme to supplement the scholarship packages from government and other institutions continue to face obstacles, even though provision of  scholarship packages for UTG students has become increasingly challenging, especially for government.

According to him, another area that continues to pose a challenge to students, especially the new comers, is the lack of counselling and guidance unit, which he said could be very much useful in guiding students on university education as they come fresh from senior schools.  He adviced the incoming executives to work as a team in other  to achieve their goal.

In highlighting the achievements of the outgoing executive, Abdolie N. Baacha, the out-going secretary general, said in their quest to familirise themselves and to strengthen the bilateral relation with stakeholders, the council had paid courtesy calls on key people and institutions, among them SoS for Communication Information and Information Technology and SoS for Basic Education.

He added that as senior school students continue to hold a misconception about the entry requirement to the university, its opportunities and prospects, the council had also gone round to  schools to sensitive students on issues pertaining to university education in general.

According to him, the council had registered significant achievement during their tenure as executive of the students’ union. For his part, the incoming president of the Union, Ansumana Darboe, thank the student for the trust they demonstrated by entrusting him with the leadership, and he assured them of his endeavours   to defend their collective interest.

He also thanked the outgoing executives for spearheading the activities of the union, recognising their ‘laudable achievements’ that deserves commendation. He noted that his ultimate aim is to bring all students under one umbrella in other   to achieve their goals.
According to him, as students and as a union, they are confronted with a lot of challenges in the  quest for academic excellence, and that such challenges will be handled keenly during his tenure.  

He promised that constraints faced by the students, especially the issue of scholarship, limited reading and research materials, lack of university canteen and also lack of enough funds to run the students union secretariat and other relevant issues, will form the central theme of his administration.

Deputizing the acting vice chancellor, Dr Jah Jr, the acting deputy vice chancellor, noted that it is not an easy task leading a thing as the union of university students. But he adviced the new executives to work hand in gloves in other   to achieve their mission.
The ceremony was attended by a cross section of the student community of UTG, and administrative and acaddemic staff.