Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – The Member for Brikama South, Hon. Lamin J. Sanneh, has called for a review of the civil service salary structure, proposing the introduction of a minimum take-home pay system to help reduce income disparities among public servants.
Sanneh made the proposal during discussions in the National Assembly of The Gambia as lawmakers questioned Finance Minister Seedy K. Keita on the government’s budget performance, revenue mobilization, and public spending trends.
While commending the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of The Gambia for its revenue mobilization efforts, the Brikama South lawmaker warned that the current salary adjustment approach, often based on incremental increases across grades, could widen the gap between higher- and lower-paid civil servants.
He argued that introducing a minimum take-home pay threshold would guarantee a baseline income for all civil servants and help ensure a dignified standard of living.
“The revenue performance that covers almost 91 percent of our expenditure is really amazing,” Sanneh said. “But if you look at the largest consumer, which is personnel emoluments, it has significantly increased. As policymakers, we should consider restructuring salaries so that we can attain what we call a minimum take-home pay.”
Responding to the concerns, Finance Minister Keita said the government’s recent salary adjustments were specifically designed to address historically low wages within the civil service.
According to the minister, the salary increase implemented in 2025 was not applied as a uniform percentage across all grades but rather structured progressively to benefit lower-paid workers more significantly.
“Today, nobody in the core civil service is paid less than D6,000 a month,” Keita told lawmakers, noting that some workers previously earned as little as D2,000 to D2,500.
He said the government’s broader objective is to ensure that civil servants receive wages that allow them to live with dignity.
However, Keita noted that any major salary restructuring would depend on ongoing public service reforms being led by the Ministry of Public Service, Administrative Reforms, Policy Coordination, and Delivery of The Gambia.
The reforms include workforce assessments, right-sizing measures, and competence evaluations aimed at improving the structure and efficiency of the civil service.
“With the completion of these reforms, we believe they will better inform the basis for any future salary review,” he said.
The finance minister also addressed concerns about declining non-tax revenue projections, explaining that earlier expectations included inflows from an asset recycling initiative involving Africa50 that did not materialize as anticipated.
As a result, he said the government adjusted its projections in the 2026 budget based on updated discussions with the investment platform.
The exchange formed part of broader deliberations in the National Assembly on government fiscal performance, including revenue growth, rising personnel costs, and debt management strategies.
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