By Tabora Bojang
For the first time since his controversial appointment of Executive Coordinators in Banjul and KM, a move criticised by many as backdoor to impose control over municipalities that rejected his candidates in local government and legislative elections, President Adama Barrow has said the appointments were necessary as he needed someone to work with in those areas, after the election defeats.
Speaking to visiting ‘KM elders’ at State House over the weekend, Barrow charged that those questioning the appointments have no idea how much powers are vested in the president.
He said the Executive Coordinators are the head of all government institutions in their regions including the police, soldiers, National Disaster Management Agency NDMA and all other government institutions.
“During my first term in office, I had a disconnection with KMC and Banjul because they are on the left who did not want to do anything with President Barrow and are sabotaging all the developments I am undertaking in KM and other parts of the country,” he told his audience.
He said the Executive Coordinators are therefore his representatives in the regions, arguing that even Dakar, the capital of Senegal, has a governor. “I reside at the State House but the work I am doing in Basse was possible because I have a governor there. So similarly, I also need to have a governor in the KM to help coordinate my government’s programmes and policies there,” he said.
Barrow said what happened was that since he won the presidential elections his party lost all seats from Banjul through KM and West Coast which deprived him from having people to work with, including the Assembly. “Even when we present our budget, the first thing the opposition NAMs look out for is the allocation for my office which they slashed D60 million from this year . They are doing that to prevent me from realising my goals. But I am working for the Gambian people and all I want is to leave a good legacy that will be talked about by generations to come,” the president said.
He said the opposition was busy casting doubts over his infrastructural development but today the results are there for all of them to see.
“ I built 3 bridges and electrified 1100 villages and today there are only 300 villages without electricity but we will make sure they are electrified before 2026. In fact when we announced we were going to construct six lanes on the OIC road they jumped and raised doubts, saying I was crazy but how is the work now? It is complete and vehicles are now plying up and down the road, ” Barrow said.
Youths and politics
President Barrow also expressed concern with what he called ‘high intensity’ displayed by youths on political issues. “The way I see young people talk and behave now, we dare not talk like that when we were young. But I don’t blame anyone for this but parents, because my son will not do such things or utter such comments. So parents should really play their roles because when Jawara was here we won’t even mention his name much more going to the TV or radio to criticise him,” Barrow stated.
