The Honorable Minister of Tourism and Culture, Mr. Hamat N.K Bah on Friday inaugurated the newly appointed Board of Directors of the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC).
The inauguration ceremony took place at the Ministry’s conference room in Banjul.
The newly appointed Board of Directors are; Hon. Fafa E. Mbai, the new Chairman of the NCAC board, Nahla Tambadou, Momodou Jagne, and Foday Baldeh as board members.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Minister Bah welcomed the new Board Chairman, Hon. Fafa E Mbai, the new Board Member Ms. Nahla Tambadou, and continuing Board Members to this solemn gathering. He expressed delight to state that His Excellency the President Mr. Adama Barrow has through him bestowed on this great duty of oversight of a very important sector- arts and cultural heritage.
According to him, this is one sector that has the greatest impact on each and every citizen of our Republic. He said, each and every citizen has a cultural energy, likewise, each Gambian is a user of arts and or a creator of arts. Therefore, he noted, the cultural and artistic sector concerns all of them and has a direct impact on all of them.
“This is why since we assumed power in 2017, we have done the singular effort to promote the sector through the institutional strengthening of the National Centre for Arts and Culture, through increment in budget support to the NCAC, and the disbursement of development budget to enable NCAC implements its primordial mandate of conservation and interpretation of sites. Since 2017, various heritage sites have been refurbished and value added to protect them for prosperity,” he stated, while citing the refurbishment of Kerr Batch Stone Circle site which has recently completed and the rehabilitation works that has started at Mungo Park Memorial in Karantaba Sami.
Significantly, Minister Bah added that during the past five years, the outgoing board under the skillful leadership of the outgoing Chairman Mr. Oreme Joiner has put the NCAC on a much better financial and administrative state and the staff strength has been augmented and capacitised to all levels.
“I cannot end without paying deserved homage to the outgoing Board Chairman Mr. Oreme Joiner and his colleague in the Board Professor Victor,” he stated.
For his part, the newly appointed Chairman of the NCAC Board of Directors, Hon. Fafa E. Mbai, on behalf of his fellow board members extended gratitude to His Excellency the President of the Republic through the Honorable Minister of Tourism and Culture for the honour and confidence for appointing them as Chairman and members of the governing board of NCAC. Therefore, he stated, they take their appointment as a call for patriotic action to maintain the noticeable vibrant dynamism in the artistic and cultural check under your engage leadership, vision and energy.
“We look forward to the indispensable advice, support and technical cooperation of the dynamic management team led by the Director General of the NCAC,” he said.
Mr. Hassoum Ceesay, director general of the NCAC, said that this is the 2nd board that the Honorable Minister is inaugurating since 2017. He thanked the Board members for accepting the appointment to service for the next 3 years.
For her part, Nahla Tambadou thanked His Excellency the President Mr. Adama Barrow and his government for allowing the Hon. Minister through the NCAC in accepting their nomination to serve in this honorable board. She thanked the entire members of the Ministry and the NCAC for also accepting them willing and for allowing them to be part of their team.
She reiterated their commitment to serving to the best of their ability and to ensure that the NCAC would stand to be an institution that they will all be proud of and to compete with other countries to claim their rightful position in the cultural tourism sector.
