According to information obtained by The Point, the Gambia’s government has revoked the allowance increase that was scheduled to take effect this month, January 2024, for public servants. This decision has dashed hopes and aspirations for thousands of civil servants who were happily waiting for the initial government announcement to materialize.

In hindsight, the Cabinet authorized the increase in transportation and housing allowances for public employees during its Emergency Meeting on the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the Fiscal Year 2024, which took place on Wednesday, November 15, 2023.

The Personnel Management Office, which falls under the Ministry of Public Service, Administrative Reform, Policy Coordination, and Delivery, acknowledged this in a press release dated January 9.

“Cabinet considered and approved the increment of Transport Allowance from D1, 500 to D2, 500 and Residential Allowance from D1, 700 to D3, 000 as proposed by the Minister of Public Service, Administrative Reforms, Policy Coordination, and Delivery,” the dispatch reads, addressing the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.

But the hard-pressed recipients’ hopes were short-lived, and it seems the government has retracted the original plan.