By Alagie Manneh
Former Gambian diplomat to Malaysia, Ramzia Diab-Ganem has described the state of public graft in The Gambia as alarming, and called on President Barrow to step up and address the issue.
In an interview with The Standard yesterday, Ambassador Diab who is a member of the opposition United Democratic Party highlighted a series of high-profile corruption cases that has bedevilled the country in recent times, and argued that nothing has come out of them.
“I think the government should act now in order to make sure we go in the right direction,” Ms Diab said. “I think the president should step up and lead. I don’t have anything against the president, but the problem is, I wish that the he would listen more to the people. Everyday people are being disgruntled, and complaining, but it seems the president is not saying anything.”
Ms Diab pointed to some “corrupt dinosaurs” in government who she claimed are taking advantage of a “soft” president.
She said people who criticise the Barrow administration and tells it the bitter truth do not always do so because they are in the opposition.
“Being in opposition does not mean that you hate the president or the government or that you don’t want anything to work. The opposition is there to monitor from outside what’s going on in the government and what is wrong for them to try and rectify. But unfortunately, in this country now, anybody who complain or criticises constructively, is a hater or don’t like the president. That is not the thing. We are all concerned… when see things going on in my country, I am passionate about it, and I want to rectify it, but it seems the people that want to help are being pushed aside because they see them as opposition,” she stated.
