THE GAMBIA CELEBRATES COMMONWEALTH
The Gambia today celebrates commonwealth day. This celebration comes every year on the second Monday of March and all members of the Commonwealth gets together to celebrate this special partnership of nations, peoples and ideals.
Today in The Gambia some Nursery schools and lower basic schools were seen celebrating Commonwealth in their various traditional attires of their chosen ethic groups and meals prepared for them to present to their teachers in celebration of the day.
VOD went to the New Jeshwang lower basic school to celebrate the day with them and the children were seen being arranged in acted roles to represent The Gambia’s Cabinet Members; such as the president, first lady, second lady and other cabinet ministers.
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 countries that support each other and work together towards shared goals in democracy, development and world’s largest and smallest, richest and poorest countries made it up.
To mark the day, the Head of the Commonwealth Queen Elizabeth II, delivered her Commonwealth Day message and the message reads:
“In this year of my Platinum Jubilee, it has given me pleasure to renew the promise I made in 1947, that my life will always be devoted in service. Today, it is rewarding to observe a modern, vibrant and connected Commonwealth that combines a wealth of history and tradition with the great social, cultural and technological advances of our time. That the Commonwealth stands ever taller is a credit to all who have been involved. We are nourished and sustained by our relationships and, throughout my life, I have enjoyed the privilege of hearing what the relationships built across the great reach and diversity of the Commonwealth have meant to people and communities. Our family of nations continues to be a point of connection, cooperation and friendship. It is a place to come together to pursue common goals and the common good, providing everyone with the opportunity to serve and benefit. In these testing times, it is my hope that you can draw strength and inspiration from what we share, as we work together towards a healthy, sustainable and prosperous future for all and on this special day for our family – in a year that will include the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the Commonwealth Games . I hope we can deepen our resolve to support and serve one another, and endeavour to ensure the Commonwealth remains an influential force for good in our world for many generations to come.”
The Commonwealth association was reconstituted in 1949 when Commonwealth Prime Ministers met and adopted what has become known as the ‘London Declaration’ where it was agreed all member countries would be “freely and equally associated.”
In 2013, former President Yahya Jammeh, pulled The Gambia out of the Commonwealth and at that time he gave the reason that the 52-member group was a ‘neo-colonial institution.’
After Jammeh’s shock defeat to then opposition candidate Adama Barrow in December 2016 elections, the Commonwealth intimated that its doors were open to a return by The Gambia. The Adama Barrow government have over the past year gone through the legal process of readmission.
