Halifa Sallah Calls for Communities to Keep Control of Their Tax Revenue

Veteran Gambian politician Halifa Sallah is urging communities to retain control of the taxes collected locally, arguing that residents should be able to use the money for development rather than rely on decisions made by central government. He set out the proposal while speaking in Fass Njaga Choi during a nationwide tour by the Team Gambia Grand Coalition, which he helped initiate. Sallah said people have the collective ability to break a cycle of poverty that, in his description, follows Gambians from birth through adulthood and into old age. He challenged citizens to consider whether hardship should continue to define the country’s future and urged them to reflect on what causes poverty. He also pointed to the 2016 presidential election as an example of voters’ capacity to bring about political change. Sallah stressed that each citizen has one vote, equal to the vote of the president or any other official. Speaking about hardship, he said that failing to reflect on its causes meant failing to use the human ability to think. The politician highlighted the pressure on families, particularly mothers who face the demands of pregnancy and raising children while hoping their children might eventually escape poverty. He lamented what he described as inadequate support for parents and children, and said young people lacked opportunities to find work and build a future at home. Sallah linked that shortage of prospects to irregular migration, saying some young people risk dangerous journeys in search of better opportunities and to support their families. He said some lose their lives along the way and argued that such desperation should not define the country’s future. As a proposed remedy, Sallah called for taxes collected in Fass Njaga Choi and elsewhere to remain under the control of local Village Development Committees, which could direct the funds toward community projects. He criticized the practice of collecting revenue from villages and transferring it elsewhere, saying residents often have little information about how the money is spent. His remarks presented a political proposal; the account did not specify how the system would be implemented.