By Ndey Jobarteh
President Barrow’s 2025 State of the Nation Address was grand in delivery, but hollow in substance. It was not a report card; it was a cover-up. Behind the glossy numbers lies a grim reality of debt, dependency, and disregard for the people holding this country together.
Let’s break down what is presented and what they mean:
1. Remittances: The people’s bailout ignored
SONA claim: “Private remittance inflow amounted to USD 775.6 million in 2024, a 4% increase over 2023.”
Reality: That’s not “modest”, it’s massive. Remittances account for 31.5% of our GDP, making the Diaspora the #1 contributor to the Gambian economy, not aid, tourism, or mining.
So why the Diaspora is still denied the right to vote? Because they want our money, not our voice.
2. Debt: Moving Decimals, Hiding Danger
SONA claim: “Debt to GDP ratio declined to 71.8%, from 75.7% in 2023.”
Reality: Debt is still above the 70% danger line, and The Gambia remains at high risk of debt distress (World Bank, 2024). This isn’t stability, it’s financial brinkmanship.
Debt ratios don’t fix hospitals, reduce unemployment, or make rice affordable.
3. Oil & Gas: $100 Million Gone, For What?
SONA claim: “The two wells drilled cost $100 million, results were promising, but no discovery was made.”
Reality: “Promising” doesn’t feed a nation. We got two dry wells, zero oil, zero jobs, and zero transparency.
Where’s the audit? Who got the contracts? $100 million disappeared underground while Gambians struggle above it.
4. Youth & employment: Phantom progress
SONA Claim: “1,000 youths trained, 88 completed national service, 50 entrepreneurs supported.”
Reality: These are inputs, not outcomes. Where are the jobs? How many businesses survived?
The government is training young people to live in poverty, not prosperity.
5. Healthcare: Buildings without care
SONA claim: “13 facilities under National Health Insurance,
6. New health centres under construction, 32 ambulances procured.”
Reality: Hospitals without nurses, drugs, or equipment are just photo ops. Gambians are dying from lack of access and affordability, not lack of buildings.
7. Inflation & living costs: Who’s feeling relief?
SONA Claim: “Inflation dropped from 17.3% in 2023 to 10.2% in 2024.”
Reality: Prices are still painfully high. A lower inflation rate doesn’t mean prices are falling; they’re rising more slowly. You can’t eat inflation statistics. Ask market women or taxi drivers how the economy is doing.
8. Governance & justice: Talk without teeth
SONA Claim: Victims’ Reparations and Anti-Corruption Commissions to begin operations.
Reality:
TRRC recommendations remain unfulfilled.
No prosecutions for Jammeh-era crimes.
The Anti-Corruption Commission lacks independence.
No mention of the looted assets.
The judiciary remains politicised.
Until real accountability, justice remains a slogan, not a system.
