By Omar Bah
Pa Samba Jow, spokesman for the Democratic Union of Gambian Activists in the Diaspora, has accused President Adama Barrow of sacrificing the Coalition agenda for his own personal agenda.
“President Barrow has substituted the Coalition agenda with his personal agenda to further remain in power for as long as it is practically possible,” he told Hot FM’s Saturday political show.
“And if I were him I will focus on the Coalition agenda and the national development plan rather than these childish foundations,” he said.
He said President Barrow was just interested in becoming president and not solving the problems of the Gambian people “and this is to me definitely a big insult to the Gambian people”.
“What happens is that the poor people will remain poorer because there is no verifiable message from government. Instead of addressing the basic needs and aspiration of Gambians, they are talking about building mosques, free Wi-Fi and white elephant projects that may not be directly beneficial to the poor farmer.”
He said Gambians were expecting to have a government of institutions and not government of men who just come “and runaway with our government and do whatever they want because if that happens the biggest losers in all this are the Gambian people.”
Asked what he made of “Barrow’s strategy or game plan” of reaching out openly to members of the APRC when the victims of Jammeh have not yet got justice, Mr Jow said that is the biggest insult to the victims of Jammeh “because we would have expected that a government that came into power as a result of Jammeh’s victimization of Gambians will be little more sensitive with the plight of the people than the way to Barrow is acting.”
Jow said the people Barrow has around him have no political capital or credibility.
“Especially a man like Seedy Njie. I hate mentioning his name but this is a guy who was the face of Jammeh’s defiance. When Jammeh decided he was going to subvert the will of the Gambian people he appointed Seedy Njie who became his spokesperson and was heard throughout that period when Gambians were packing their things thinking that there would be war in our country.”
“Seedy Njie was the face of that defiance, telling people that President Jammeh was not going to go anywhere…So having that guy around Barrow is definitely an insult to all the victims of Jammeh,” he argued.
Mr Jow reminded President Barrow that the Diaspora contributed a lot to the change,naming Njaga Jagne who was a captain in the US army and Alagie Barrow, who were comfortable in the US but decided to put their lives on the line in the liberation of their country.
“These men are diasporans and so it would not be fair to generally ask where were the diasporas when Jammeh was been chased,” Jow said.
