President Adama Barrow announced on Day 2 of his Meet the Peoples Tour that fees for obtaining administrative and national documents, as well as other public services like hospital consultations and treatments, compound transactions, court summonses, and so forth, will increase generally by 150 to 300 percent. The rise, according to the president of state of Gambia, will take effect in January 2024 of the next fiscal year.

This declaration was made by President Adama Barrow on Monday while he was in Pakau Njongon, Lower Niumi. The head of state of The Gambia claims that the overall rise is now required in order to maintain government finances and avoid following the dictates of the donor community, allowing him to fulfill his pledges to develop the nation.

President Barrow attempted to explain the rationale behind his administration’s decision to take more money out of Gambians’ pockets by stating, “Those donors that are assisting our country came here and said I am undertaking too many projects and that I should slow down.” They stated that non-domestic earnings could not support the highways I am building. Someone will eventually dictate his will to us if we are totally dependent on him for our needs. Therefore, President Barrow stated, “We want to raise such service and administrative costs next year so that, in the event that we don’t have backing, we may use our locally generated cash.”

Following up with his lunar explanation, President Barrow discussed the magnitude of the increase. “The cost of government services and documentation would increase to D500 if you paid a fee of D200. The hospital charges D25 just for visits. That is going to change. Barrow informed his audience, “If you used to pay D25, you’ll now pay D100.

President Barrow declared that “the fees for passports, compound transactions, court summonses and many others would increase next year” in reference to the services that will be impacted by the sharp increase.

President Barrow states that it is now imperative that The Gambia implement these changes to government public service delivery in order to break free from its long-standing financial reliance on the donor community and instead rely mostly on domestic revenue.