By Omar Bah
The government’s fight against corruption and overall governance has been rated poorly by Gambians in the latest CepRass poll.
A majority of respondents said the Barrow administration is handling corruption badly, citing lack of high-profile convictions, weak enforcement, and continued bribery in public services.
On governance, most said they see little improvement in transparency, accountability, and service delivery since 2017.
Respondents pointed to stalled audit reports, slow justice for financial crimes, and the perception that anti-corruption bodies act only against opponents. The poll revealed that public satisfaction with overall governance is more negative than positive. It added that nationally, only 6% of respondents say they are very satisfied, and 19% say they are satisfied, giving a combined satisfaction level of 25%.
In contrast, 36% say they are dissatisfied, and 26% are very dissatisfied, for a combined dissatisfaction of 62%. Another 12% take a neutral position.
These figures indicate that overall governance is viewed critically by a clear majority of respondents.
Gender differences show that women are slightly more dissatisfied than men.
Among men, 7% are very satisfied and 21% satisfied, for a combined 28% satisfaction, while 33% are dissatisfied and 25% very dissatisfied, for 58% dissatisfaction.
It also revealed that among women, 6% are very satisfied and 18% satisfied, giving 24% satisfaction, while 39% are dissatisfied and 27% very.
Corruption
When it comes to corruption, public perception of the government’s performance in fighting corruption is overwhelmingly negative.
At the national level, only 2% of respondents believe the government is handling the fight against corruption very well, and 16% say it is doing so fairly well, yielding a combined positive assessment of approximately 18%.
In contrast, 17% rate performance as fairly badly, and a majority (51%) rate it as very badly, yielding a combined negative perception of about 68%.
