Dear Editor,
As Finance Minister Seedy Keita laid the 2026 national budget before the National Assembly, he lamented once again the rising debt burden that continues to suffocate this country. Yet, the very budget he tabled is designed to deepen that debt, not reduce it. It is crafted to borrow more, spend more, and service more loans than ever before. The minister spoke of a “strategic” budget intended to invest in Gambians, grow the economy, and deliver a better future. But every page of the document contradicts his own words.
The truth is simple and painful: this budget prioritizes the comfort of public officials over the welfare of ordinary citizens. Salaries, allowances, vehicles, overseas travel, and countless benefits for top government officials have all been increased. Even the State House budget has swollen, now conveniently split between the President and the Vice President to disguise its true size.
More troubling is the massive increase in infrastructure spending, particularly on roads, the very sector responsible for driving up our debt to unsustainable levels. The minister and his technocrats claim that roads are the engines of economic growth. But who builds roads that ultimately consume the economy, rather than stimulate it? Who invests billions in roads that are poorly constructed, poorly supervised, and poorly located? Yes, we need roads but roads that would spur the economy and enhance life but not become a liability for both the economy and society.
This government’s obsession with roads is not development, it is electioneering. Roads have become political bait, designed to lure voters with the illusion of progress. In Kanifing and the West Coast Region, millions are being thrown into roads that have no strategic economic purpose, no link to productive sectors, and no long-term value. They merely serve political optics. And after the rains come? They flood the community just as the economy is crumbling.
Let us be clear: the 2026 budget is a killer budget. It will drown the country deeper into debt while keeping only the political elite, i.e., the President, ministers, NAMs, and heads of agencies above water. Everyone else will sink under the weight of rising prices, declining services, failing infrastructure, and a suffocating debt trap.
With rising poverty, high cost of living and poor, erratic, and expensive services, currently, the country suffers under a debt weight of over D110 billion, with debt serving taking the largest chunk of the budget. For decades finance ministers have failed to put in place formidable economic policies and programs to generate tangible socioeconomic development and shared prosperity for all. Rather, they raise taxes and plunge the country into deeper debts only to squander funds as deprivation and economic hardships continue to characterize the lives of the majority of citizens.
The time has come for the National Assembly to stop being mesmerized by sweet-talking ministers peddling half-truths and fanciful slogans such as the Minister saying the 2026 budget is focused on “Improving the Well-Being and Quality of Life of Gambians,”. Parliament must defend the country against reckless fiscal decisions, opaque spending, political propaganda, and debt-fueled vanity projects.
Similarly, the opposition, civil society, the media, and ordinary citizens must rise to protect the Republic. Public officials cannot continue to lament debt while simultaneously producing budgets built entirely on loans, waste, and patronage. This is the same pattern we saw under previous finance ministers and Seedy Keita are following that tradition faithfully.
The budget is a life and death issue. Whether Gambians will enjoy quality healthcare with modern health equipment and adequate essential drugs and affordable care or not depends on the budget. It is the budget that determines if resources are available to ensure that primary, secondary and tertiary schools have excellent learning and teaching facilities with air-conditioned classrooms or not depends on the budget. This 2026 budget will not offer anything better rather will only further increase cost of living.
If we accept this budget quietly, we accept the death of our economy. If we stay silent, we endorse our own suffering. Stand up. Speak out. Demand accountability. This is about your life, your dignity, and your future.
For The Gambia, Our Homeland
Madi Jobarteh
Kembujeh
