A few months ago, the Adama Barrow regime made a big noise about starting a so-called National Dialogue. A major ceremony was occasioned and a few bland speeches were delivered. As usual, it was pageantry without substance. I was right away sceptical because there was ample evidence to indicate that this was not a serious endeavour. Events that have transpired since then have only confirmed my initial suspicions.
There were several glaring reasons why the so-called National Dialogue was self-evidently a cynical ploy. If one looks at the actions of the government prior to the announcement, there was no evidence that this government was serious about any meaningful dialogue. Take, for instance, the important items of transitional justice. A government that was supposed to transition the country away from a dictatorship not only refused to fully implement key instruments of transitional justice but actively recruited former officials that were complicit in illegal acts. This alone should have indicated to anyone that this government was not serious about governing. And if a government is not serious about governing, it cannot be serious about dialogue with any counterparty.
Within days of the government making the announcement about the so-called National Dialogue, it started to engage in activities that increased divisions in the country. Political parties that were simply holding regular gatherings were harassed. Private citizens that directly criticized the president in pointed ways were detained on spurious up charges.
But if anyone was still inclined to believe that Adama Barrow is serious about national unity despite all the foregoing evidence, his speech last week in Brikama should disabuse you of that notion. This was when he vowed to attend the funeral of Ousainou Darboe as if he has special powers to divine the timing of anyone’s demise. This was not an isolated speech because this disgraceful remark was preceded by other juvenile taunts on other occasions. These are the sort of remarks that are beneath someone holding the position of a presidency.
This utterance by Adama Barrow was not a slip of the tongue or a misinterpretation. It was not a snippet of a conversation where one can argue that the president’s comments were taken out of context. It was a planned speech at a major event in a major town. This utterance was something that President Barrow viewed as a well-considered statement before the general public. It is as damning as it is shocking. All the outrage felt across the whole country was perfectly justified.
While Adama barrow has failed to display admirable leadership qualities, he has proven quite adept at attracting unprincipled, incompetent and highly self-centered individuals. Notice the kind of people who have been publicly defending his remarks. Dr. Ismaela Ceesay was one of the people who quickly rushed to his defence. Another character is Seedy Njie. There were a few of the usual suspects but it suffices to focus on these two kinds of individuals to understand the type of leader Adama Barrow is.
If you ask almost any Gambian today to list the words that come to mind when the names of Ismaela Ceesay and Seedy Njie are uttered, the characterizations are highly predictable. And those characterizations would be the opposite of integrity and competence. We all know how little Seedy Njie cares about the country because of how he stood by Yahya Jammeh to the very end. We all know what kind of integrity Ismaela Ceesay has by the display of a chameleon character over the past few years. It says a lot about an individual’s reputation and integrity when your loudest supporters are the likes of Ismaela Ceesay and Seedy Njie.
Many Gambians wonder why Adama Barrow chooses people like these two to surround himself with. Indeed, some have mistakenly concluded that Adama Barrow’s ineffectiveness in office stems from his poor choice of advisors and cabinet ministers. But that confuses causes and effect. Adama Barrow is proving to be an incompetent leader not because he surrounds himself with sycophants and people of low characters. Rather, he is consciously choosing those kinds of people because he feels at ease with them. And because these kinds of individuals reflect his worldview, temperament and character.
A good leader demonstrates their positive leadership qualities by surrounding themselves with high-quality advisors that are not only competent but have high integrity. Such advisors elevate decision-making of the country because they are motivated not by chasing after positions or personal riches but by higher goals such as improving national welfare. In other words, a good leader surrounds himself or herself with advisors who raised his/her performance. On the other hand, a leader such as Adama Barrow surrounds himself with poor-quality advisors who reinforce his negative qualities.
It does not need to be said that a serious leader does not engage in juvenile taunts. Running a country is a serious enough challenge even when things are going well. It is particularly challenging when a country is facing the type of problems that we are undergoing in The Gambia at the moment. The country deserves better than this.
In the 2016 presidential election, the country was desperate to get out of the grips of the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship. The situation was so urgent that it was not considered too important who was voted in as long as he wasn’t named Yahya Jammeh. Adama Barrow ended up being president not because he was particularly qualified but because he was a beneficiary of that unique set of circumstances by being at the right place and at the right time.
We have been fortunate to escape the Yahya Jammeh years. But we must now realize that removing a dictator is no guarantee of putting a country on the right path. It should be obvious by now that the required ingredients in leadership must include integrity and competence. These have been lacking in our current leadership. And without them, the country cannot progress. And it should be obvious to everyone that we are currently not progressing.
