By Alagie Manneh
The leader of the opposition All People’s Party, Dr Ebrahim Jagne has said he does not expect much to change in the way and manner the Barrow administration operates.
Speaking to The Standard yesterday, Dr Jagne said he hasn’t been “impressed”, and that only “time will tell” if President Barrow is sincere regarding his transformation promises in his new term.
He said what The Gambia needs is a reset, with a visionary leader at the helm of its affairs.
“The truth is that the five years of the government hasn’t showed us much improvement, especially in the area of corruption. We are not going to move from where we are unless we have a mind-set change. The country is in dire need of people who have vision. Hopefully, the ministers will provide Barrow with the vision that he needed,” he said.
He said the last five years of the president’s mandate has not demonstrated his ability to lead a progressive Gambia.
“The last five years did not prove anything. Yes, it cannot be ‘business as usual’, but exactly how do you plan for it not to be ‘business as usual’? He has not defined what he means by ‘business as usual’. Let him show us how he is going to do it. Go on air and tell us what are the measures you are going to put in place. You see, we need to have a government that is realistic. That needs to understand that it’s not just a policy, you have to implement what you say,” Dr Jagne asked Barrow.
He said after 67 years of nationhood, the country ought to learn how to self-actualise, and eschew its dependence on foreign aid.
“I have said this before, the imperial foreign aid syndrome is not going to help us. How much money has been pumped into this country in the past years? Where has it gone? It’s sad,” he lamented.
