Dear editor,
There is a general sense of anger and disillusionment at allegations that President Adama Barrow has allocated himself a government property situation in Fajara which was said to be a reserved property for judiciary officials. The statement issued by NPP stewards who would do everything and go to every length to defend the president have in fact added more salt to injury. Seedy Njie further claimed that UDP leader Ousainu Darboe should proffer the idea of a sitting president getting a home befitting of a head of state where he can retire with all basic necessities. This is the greatest joke of the century! Nobody needs to appease the president that he would live a luxurious life after presidency to motivate him to deliver in office.
He seeks this job from Gambians not to do them a favour but to work for them and improve their lives and living conditions. The president has a social contract with the people and he should be seen to be fulfilling the demands of that contract, respect it and uphold it in high esteem.
We have seen the contrary since this president came to power. He takes credit for all the good things and blames the bad on others. He considers people not falling for his deceptive politics as anti-development and enemies of the state.
He would do everything to buy people’s loyalty through wealth and positions and wages war against those who refused to be coerced. He has demonstrated he has no passion for governance, accountability and transparency. All he cares about is political allegiance. He does not value morality and ethics in life and in governance of the state. He enriched himself by building a huge mansion in Mankamang Kunda amounting to millions that goes beyond his 5 years salary. He purchases a fleet of cars, some bought by his business allies. He befriended businessmen who funded his party and he in turn awarded them government contracts.
Furthermore, revelations made by Minister Hamat Bah at the recent government press conference in fact exposed that Barrow and his government are weak in fighting corruption and standing for the truth. Hamat exposed a litany of irregular and corrupt activities allegedly committed by his predecessors Musa Drammeh and Sheriff Abba Sanyang. He told us that the allocation at Kamalo was dubious. Hamat is simply telling us that these corruptions have occurred and as a government they cannot deal with people who perpetrated it because they are government supporters. Hamat himself was complicit in TDA land allocations and waiving payments for investors which cost the country millions of dalasi. President Barrow ignored those revelations and in fact elevated Hamat to a bigger position. The same way they ignored investigations into Sheriff Abba Sanyang and even Musa Drammeh when he was at the Ministry of Fisheries.
Barrow has shown us that he has no problem with Gambians who are not speaking up against his corrupt acts. He does not want a credible opposition that is why he goes after UDP each time he has an opportunity because he wants to give us a false narrative that UDP is the problem in the country and all the rest are okay. Sadly, other opposition parties are falling for this narrative. This is a divide and rule tactic Barrow has been using all along and that was why he was able to succeed in splitting APRC, NCP, GDC and PPP while he successfully neutralises other parties like GMC and CA into bystanders with no political leverages. Time is up for Gambians to stand up against these narratives, defend the country and clean our minds of these divisive narratives. These charlatans in their defence of the president claim every Gambian has a right to apply to the minister responsible for lands to be allocated a land by the government. In their naive defence they claimed that it was the same reason why former president Jawara and opposition leader Ousainu Darboe were all issued land by the state. These are the type of cheap claims that this government and its allies keep bombarding Gambians with when they are caught in daylight stealing and sadly some Gambians buy these narratives and believe in them as true.
If anything, the so-called defence by the NPP has yet again exposed the corrupt and greedy appetite of president Adama Barrow who has successfully enriched himself from being an average business man to becoming a very wealthy individual within 7 years.
Tabora Bojang
Jinack Island
