By Olimatou Coker
The campaign manager of the governing National People’s Party has said those aspiring to be president must take a rest because no one can beat President Barrow at elections.
“God has chosen the one he preferred as leader and no one can do anything about that. No special profile, be it education or fame or indeed anything can make anybody a leader. Only God can do that and God never makes mistakes about his decisions and he has chosen Adama Barrow about which no one can do anything,” Lamin Cham said.
He further said President Barrow will rule until he decides to leave and tells Gambians to look for someone else to lead but no one in this country beat him at elections.
Mr Cham was addressing a group called Manding Kaba Kafo led by Aji Jarra Fatty, formed to promote Mandinka culture and unity, who paid a courtesy call on the president over the weekend.
The group leader is believed to be a former supporter of the opposition UDP who reportedly shifted allegiance to NPP.
Cham told the gathering that President Barrow has an open-door policy when it comes to national interest and he welcomes everybody from whatever political persuasion. “I urge you to encourage others to come forward and reciprocate President Barrow’s wishes for peace and progress in the country. Barrow’s only interest is for peace and prosperity to reign because whatever goes wrong, he would be the one responsible,” Cham said.
He also advised Gambians to avoid toxic political divisions that tend to destroy our common ties and relations.
”Our country is too small to afford such kind of toxic divisions and I call on you, especially the women, to promote and safeguard the values and the strong bonds between us as Gambians. Let us go to each other’s naming ceremonies and funerals and avoid politics to stand between us. Politics is a thing of its own completely different from the relations we all share. President Barrow has said he will listen to every Gambian with a progressive idea for the country no matter what opinion you have,” he said.
Mr Cham also reminded the group, most of whom are women, that President Barrow has put a lot of importance on women’s development as evidenced by the creation of a women’s ministry, the first time ever in history.
Addressing the back-way syndrome, Mr Cham called on Gambian women to help in encouraging youths to realise that many opportunities exist in the country that can be made use of. “Women are important in this drive because most of the youths take the backway because among other reasons, they want to better the lot of their mothers. But we have youth entrepreneurship projects and other opportunities that people seem not to know of,” he said.
