The president of the Republic, Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, will today, Monday 11th May 2009, commence a countrywide tour of the country, dubbed the "Dialogue with the people tour".

A constitutionally sanctioned practice, the tour requires the president, on an annual basis, to meet with the people and discuss pertinent issues bordering on nation building. President Jammeh, accompanied by a high ranking delegation comprising secretaries of state, senior government officials, and experts in various development fields, will leave Banjul this morning for Barra. The presidential delegation has a rich menu of engagements ahead of it, which will occupy them for 19 days.

The Gambian leader will visit project sites in a number of places in the country throughout his tour. Apart from enabling him to gauge the situation on the ground in the rest of the country, the tour will offer him the opportunity to see for himself how much impact his development stance has had on the people, and, in effect, it will serve as a source of ideas for further development undertakings for his government.
The tour will also avail the rural folks the opportunity to express gratitude to a man who has brought numerous developments to their doorsteps since his assumption of authority, over 14 years ago.

Today, rural Gambia is amass with a considerable number of social amenities such as good road networks, health facilities, schools, electricity supply, just to name a few; all of these thanks to the visionary leadership of President Jammeh, thus curbing rural urban migration. This has rejuvenated life in provincial Gambia.

With night stops at 8 places outside Banjul, President Jammeh is scheduled to have dialogue with the people at about 16 venues across the country - Kerr Jarga and Farafenni in the NBR; Kaur, Janjanburay and Sankuley Kunda Ferry Crossing in CRR; Gambisara, Diabugu and Basse in URR; Galleh Manda and Jareng in CRR; Soma in LRR; Somita, Marakissa and Gunjur in Western Region; Serekunda West Mini Stadium in Kanifing municipality and Banjul.

Daily Observer's attempt to gauge the situation across the regions reveals massive preparations on the grounds - from the North Bank Region, the Central River Region, the Lower River Region, the Upper River Region, right down to the Western Region and the Greater Banjul Areas, there is an apparent feeling of undeclared competition among the entire regions, with local organisers reluctant to disclose their plans for fear of being pre-empted. Their goal, however, is common - to provide the best welcoming party for the leader they share a common genuine love for.

North Bank Region
In the North Bank Region, Barra, the first port of call of the president, will have the opportunity to host him first. Going by the words of the people who spoke to our reporter on the ground, a massive celebration awaits the president's arrival. "This time around, it is going to be exceptional as merits his transformation of Barra from being in decades of darkness into light," stated the VDC chairman, Gibou Faye, who marvelled at the development the town ''has undergone in just a span of three years, thanks to the effort of His Excellency."

"Our hearts," he added "are just filled with loyalty and trust in him - Jeelanka."
"Our feelings about the coming of the president," said Abba Hydara, secretary general of the Barra VDC, "is indeed a pleasurable one."  And he added: "We have ever long manifested our loyalty and trust in the president and will ever remain so as one united people, for his vision as a president so sincere and progress-oriented."Describing the President Jammeh's development aspirations as "immeasurable", Hydara cited the installation of electricity in the town as a catalyst for the flourishing business activities there. In his words: "sincere vision shall never fail."

The people of Barra, he said, have trust in the president - a "man of the people."   
The Alkalo of Barra, Kenbugul Faye, simply noted that the president appears so kind to his community that even before they put to him their demands, he does things for them. This, he stressed, leaves them obliged to give the Gambian leader a fitting welcome. According to the presidential tour itinerary, President Jammeh is set to visit the village of Kerr Jarga in the North Bank, where a multipurpose centre has been established through the Community Skills Empowerment Projects (CSEP). Founded in 2004, the centre commenced operations a year later, in 2005. Six villages within the district of Jokadou are benefiting from the centre: Kerr Garga itself, Munyaken, Dasilami, Douro Alasan, Kerr Amadou and File.

"We were isolated from the development for 30 years due to a bad road network," said the district chief, Jim Fatma Jobe, who recalled the days when "our children found it very difficult to get education. There were no schools in the area. This is why most of the parents then did not think of sending their kids to school. But now, our children need not go to the Kombos to get education."

Also of significant importance to the people of the North Bank Region are the president's agricultural activities. "The president," Chief Jobe said, "could have been in his office without going to farm, but he is leading by example in farming." This quality of the president, in the view of the chief, is something everyone should emulate. "This," he stressed, "is the only way we can eradicate hunger in our nation." He made a passionate call to the youth especially to heed the president's back-to-the-land call.

There are a number of impressive products to show for the establishment of the multipurpose centre in Kerr Jarga. Haddy Camara is a women's programme supervisor in the region. She described the centre as ''very important'' as it changes the lives of the women in terms of enabling them to generate income, "because now they can read and write in their own languages." She said that Gambian women, thanks to President Jammeh, are now prouder of themselves than ever before as they can make their earnings without depending on their husbands.

For the governor of the NBR, Edwarr Seckan, welcoming the president is a constitutional requirement. President Jammeh, he said, has such a big heart for the region that they are under obligation to give him a befitting reception. The level of infrastructural development experienced in the region within so short a period of time, Governor Seckan said, had never happened before, citing the bridge of Bangali and the Barra-Farafenni road. And for security conscious people like Kebba Bojang, commissioner of police of NBR, the crime rate in that part of the country is now minimal. He observed that since the deployment of the Police Intervention Unit there, there has been no reported serious crime in the region. This is not supposed to be a surprise with a security conscious leader like President Jammeh, he noted.

CRR
Celebrations in the Central River Region are expected to take no lesser level. As the largest region in the country, CRR will host the head of state twice during his tour of the country, and its governor, Alhaji Ganyie Touray, is appreciative of the effort of his people in terms of preparations towards these events. With Kaur as his first stop in the region, the president is set to inspect the proposed site for the office complex for the new regional administrative headquarters there - the governor's residence.

The people of CRR, Governor Touray said, anxiously await the president for the groundbreaking ceremony at the proposed bridge at the Sankuley Kunda Ferry Crossing point. President Jammeh will also visit a number of agricultural projects such as the Pacharr Tidal Irrigation Perimeter. Chief Bakary Jam Jawo of Janjanburay, Chief Pierre Bah of Niani and the women's Bureau lady councillor of Janjaburay, all spoke of their readiness to give the president a befitting welcome to the region.

URR
"URR is ready," said Governor Omar Khan, "accommodation is set and we are ready to give him a tumultuous welcome." The people of Basse, according to Governor Khan, are also ready to give the president a presidential welcome at all the sites he will visit. Basse can boast of quite a share of the many projects undertaken by this government and aimed at the rural areas. The Rural Electrification Project, for instance, has to a great extent changed the living pattern of Gambians in that region. And this is a fact the people will ever remain grateful to President Yahya Jammeh for. And as at this moment, the best opportunity they have is to give the president a befitting welcome.

LRR
The people of LRR are poised to outdo the rest of the country in terms of welcoming the president; that is, if the words of their governor, Alhaji Momodou Soma Jobe, are anything to go by. The Pakaliba Bridge, the official entrance to the region, will be the reception point of the president. There a Qur'anic recitation ceremony is set to be done, to be headed by the Khalifa General of Barow Kunda. This is quite a unique way of receiving a visiting head of state, and it is a something the people of LRR are keen on. Prayers, the governor said, are fundamental to the development aspiration for a leader as religious, dedicated, committed and loyal to his people as President Jammeh.

The president, Governor Jobe said, will be given a spectacular escort from Majula Konko, a few kilometres away from the Pakaliba Bridge, where he will be officially received, to Tudankari, near the GPTC depot in Soma. The governor warns that nobody should make any attempt to spit on that day, "lest you spit on human beings" - because of the expected large turnout.

A mass political meeting is also in the schedule of the president, who will spend the night in the regional headquarters of Mansakonko. The governor disclosed that a heavy procession by the people with 100 horses will accompany the presidential delegation. As far as preparations are concerned, the governor said, "so far so good. We are only waiting for the day to give our president an extraordinary welcome."  Like the people of the North Bank Region, CRR also feels some kind of obligation towards the president, "because of what the president has done for us. This is the only thing we can do for him."

KMC
The Kanifing Municipality, the most populous in the country, is also well prepared to receive the president. Speaking to the Daily Observer, Mayor Yankuba Colley, called it a "routine." He said that since the advent of the APRC government, there has been a complete evolution in development; and the mayor is of the strongest conviction that his municipality accounts for the greater share of these developments. He cited the numerous roads constructed in the area, markets and other recreational facilities and, currently, the multi-million dalasis street lighting projects. All these, Mayor Colley said, make the people of Kanifing municipality indebted to the president, whom he described as the beacon of hope for the people of The Gambia.

"We will not relent, and we will always stand by him," he assured, adding that the climax of their relation with the president will be seen by the rest of the country during the forthcoming 22nd July celebrations.  Banjul

Banjul, described by its mayor, Samba Faal, as the home of the president, has the rare privilege of having to be with him twice during his tour of the country. On Monday, the people of the country's capital are set to come out "en mass", in the words of Mayor Faal, to give him a departure party. And on his arrival, at the end of the tour, the president will be met by Banjulians in grand style. According to Mayor Faal, Banjulians are looking forward to giving the Gambian leader "a normal Banjulian hospitality." "Banjul yesterday and Banjul today," he said, "are quite different." Making reference to a recent news item on GRTS, regarding plans by the president to build the city into a modern capital, Mayor Faal said that it is all part of the president's vision of making The Gambia's capital the envy of the rest of the world. This, he said, is reason enough for them to join hands with him in ensuring the achievement of his goals. Mayor Faal seized the opportunity to call on all Banjulians, young and old, male or female, to come out in their numbers to grace these occasions.  

Paramount Chief
The unique culture of hospitality The Gambia is known for is traceable in our traditional cultural values. Our elders play a big role in this. The chiefs are a symbol of that reality. Headed by the paramount chief of The Gambia, Alhaji Demba Sanyang, the National Council of Traditional Rulers are also bracing up to make a difference during the 19-day tour of the country by the Gambian leader. Paramount Chief Sanyang told the Daily Observer that their preparations to receive the Gambian leader are "100% on high gear." Chief Sanyang highlighted numerous reasons why he feels the president deserves a special welcome by Gambians across the country, describing him as the mirror of The Gambia. He called on all to come out in their numbers to see that the president's dialogue with the people is fruitful.

The Daily Observer, with a reporting crew of four, will be bringing you exclusive coverage of the presidential tour throughout the country (See page 5 for the full text of the president's itinerary).