The Gambia Government has said it is committed to raising the salaries of civil servants in a bid to improve the living conditions of public sector workers.

Government spokesman Ebrima G. Sankareh said: “Conscious of the impact of low salaries and allowances of civil servants especially under the Covid-19 pandemic that has been ravaging lives globally, The Gambia Government under the leadership of President Adama Barrow is determined to revise the salary/pay-scale of the service across the board.”

Mr Sankareh said the Vice President, assisted by the Secretary General, has “studied the draft of the proposed adjustments of allowances that are being fine-tuned by PMO prior to submission to the Cabinet.

He said the Civil Service administration, PMO, has been developing “an augmented Civil Service pay and grading structure” with consultants from Public Administration International (PAI) in the UK. 

“The Personnel Management Office (PMO) is now at the final stage of costing the pay options developed by the UK consultants and that upon completion the new options will be presented to Cabinet for Executive consideration and then submission to the National Assembly for legislative action,” Mr Sankareh added. 

“President Barrow’s Government is aware of the domestic and international socio-economics dynamics affecting the standards of living of many people and is diligently working towards ensuring that Gambian civil servants and their families enjoy maximum quality work-life balance with ideal living incomes.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba