Gambiaj.com – (Banjul, the Gambia)-  The Speaker of the National Assembly Honorable Fabakary Tomobong Jatta has issued a stern warning to lawmakers who consistently fail to attend sittings, saying those who abandon sessions after signing the attendance list will soon be publicly exposed.

“Those who are continually seated in Parliament, they can’t do their functions because of others who do not want to be in. It’s not fair,” the Speaker told members during a session disrupted by the lack of quorum. “Next time, we will begin to put on records and shame those who are holding us at ransom.”

The Speaker complained that repeated walkouts and absenteeism were crippling parliamentary work. He instructed staff to start documenting the movements of members in and out of the chamber.

“Most of the time the reason why we face some of these challenges is that the attendance list, some will come, sign the attendance list, and then go. And that is not fair,” Alhagie Babu Ceesay  said. “We should be using another strategy, either to sign another attendance list before we leave. That would at least encourage others to stay.”

Frustration grew as the session was delayed for several minutes, with the Speaker rebuking late arrivals: “Honourable members, you people who just came in, we’ve been waiting for you for over 4, 5, 10 minutes. We never had a number to continue.”

The Speaker said parliamentary staff should track when members leave and return so management can determine who is undermining the assembly’s work. “That should be noted and should be recorded,” he stressed. “They’ll be able to at least brief the management about some of these things we are seeing, and we know what to put in place.”

The continued quorum crisis has fueled criticism that lawmakers are failing the very citizens who elected them, as vital national business stalls amid empty seats.