By Omar Bah
The leader of the Gambia Action Party (GAP), Musa Batchilly, has threatened to expose alleged “massive corruption and mismanagement of Gambian resources by the government” within 90 days if President Barrow fails to call an emergency meeting with all political parties within three months.
Batchilly said he can “prove beyond any reasonable doubt” that there is massive corruption in government.
“President Adama Barrow must engage all the political parties for a dialogue for us to find a solution to the problems this country is facing. If not, this country will sink due to massive corruption and mismanagement of public resources,” he claimed in a Standard exclusive yesterday.
He threatened that if President Barrow refuses to adhere to his demand he will request from his fellow politicians to issue a joint communiqué and request to meet him and “tell him the truth”.
“If he refused [this], I will call for a revolution against him by organising a massive eye-opener campaign throughout the country to tell Gambians how his administration is abusing our resources. This country is rich and we have the resources that could transform this country into another Singapore,” he claimed.
He alleged that the Barrow administration “is full of greedy people and the earlier he realises that the better for him or else Gambians would never forgive him”.
“Those in position are comfortable with the situation as it is, but we the politicians should not be and we are in a better position to tell Barrow the bitter truth. If he failed to listen, we will unite against him, not because we want to be in power but because people are seriously suffering,” he added.
He said “without the support of the genuine political parties, President Barrow cannot offer the right leadership The Gambia needs to develop”.
“The corruption in this country really irritates me. This is why I don’t want to conduct interviews frequently because when I talk about these things I become emotional,” he stressed.
He also accused President Barrow of mortgaging the country to foreign powers, saying Gambians could become refugees in their own country if immediate actions are not taken.
“We voted Jammeh out to bring progress and system change but unfortunately that system change is yet to be achieved,” he alleged.
Commenting on the term debate, Batchilly said he would prefer the president to step down after three years but “if he refused to do so, Gambians should allow him to stay for five years in the interest of peace and stability”.
He said as things stand now, President Barrow “has no chance of retaining his position [if he contests in the next presidential election. I tell you no lie, he may even go for exile.”
GAP
Batchilly said the difference between his and other political parties is that GAP doesn’t believe in the game of politics but the game of political management. “If you want to deliver, you have to be an administrator and to build an administrative institution you need concerned, intelligent and honest citizens”.
He also attempted to clarify his widely ridiculed comments that he could transform The Gambia within 90 days if given the chance. “This was taken out of context. What I meant to say was that if I am given this country, within 90 days I will be able to transform the institutions and build a strong foundation. How can anyone transform this country in 90 days? Even if you are given one trillion dollars you cannot”.
