By Tombong Saidy
In a nation where teachers, nurses, the security forces and civil servants struggle to afford basic necessities, where hospitals lack medicines and schools crumble under neglect, The Gambia Government’s spending spree reveals a staggering disconnect between those in power and the people they swore to serve. President Adama Barrow’s NPP Kereng Kaffo administration has chosen to prioritise luxury, spectacle, and self-interest over the urgent needs of ordinary Gambians. It is time to hold this government accountable for its reckless mismanagement of public funds.
The extravagance: A litany of waste
1. OIC Summit SUVs: Symbol of excess
While Gambians grapple with rising fuel prices, high cost of electricity, high cost of living, the rural population struggling to access clean running water and dilapidated roads, the government squandered millions on luxury SUVs for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit. These vehicles, reportedly priced at D12 million each, were justified as “essential for hosting dignitaries”. Yet, in a country where ambulances are scarce and public transport is unreliable, this extravagance insults every citizen who walks miles to reach a health centre or school.
2. D50 million Meet the People Tour: A costly publicity stunt
President Barrow’s nationwide tour, funded by taxpayers, cost over D50 million — enough to hire 1,000 teachers for a year or stock every major hospital with lifesaving drugs. Instead, the tour served as a campaign spectacle, complete with convoys, branded merchandise, and rallies, while nurses and police officers struggle to survive from their meagre salaries.
3. Over D100 million independence celebration: A party the people can’t afford
Gambia’s 2025 independence anniversary celebration consumed over D100 million — a sum that could build 10 rural health centres or provide scholarships for 5,000 students. Meanwhile, families skip meals to pay school fees, and mothers die in childbirth due to poorly equipped clinics. What exactly are we celebrating?
4. Obscene salaries for the elite
While teachers earn less than D7,000 a month and police constables risk their lives for less than D6,000, the president and his ministers enjoy salaries and benefits exceeding D200,000 per month — over 40 times the income of a nurse or the driver who drives them around. This inequality is not just immoral; it is a betrayal of the “New Gambia” promised after dictatorship.
5. Over D240 million presidential convoy
The convoy of President Barrow is valued more than D240 million and that is just the vehicles, not to talk of the fuel. These funds that could have been used in more productive sectors such as education, health, job creation for the youths, but no, it is used to satisfy the Kereng Kaffo petty bourgeoisie.
The human cost: Sacrificing lives for vanity
Behind these numbers are real people:
A primary school teacher in the Upper River Region (URR), walks kilometres daily to teach 60 students in a classroom sparsely furnished. Her salary of less than D6,500 barely covers rice and cooking oil.
A nurse at Brikama Hospital, works 12-hour shifts without gloves or painkillers. His salary can barely sustain his family.
Hundreds of young Gambians risk the deadly “back way” (irregular migration route) to Europe, fleeing a country that invests in SUVs but not jobs.
The government’s priorities are clear: The elite feast while the people starve.
The silence of accountability
Where is the oversight? The National Assembly rubber stamps budgets without scrutiny. The auditor general’s reports gather dust. Procurement processes for projects like the OIC Summit remain shrouded in secrecy, violating the Public Procurement Act. When questioned, officials dismiss critics as “ungrateful” or “opposition propagandists”. But Gambians are not fools, we see the truth.
A call to action: Redirect our resources
Enough is enough. We demand:
1. Immediate cuts to the president’s office budget and reallocation of funds to health, education, and civil servant salaries.
2. Transparency: Publish all contracts for OIC Summit expenditures, the independence anniversary celebration, the GPA – Albayrak agreement.
3. Fair wages: Cut the salaries of the president and ministers and align them with realities in The Gambia.
4. People-centred budgeting: Let communities decide how to spend funds — on health, agriculture, job creation, not on luxury convoys.
Conclusion: Our taxes, our future
President Barrow’s NPP Kereng Kaffo government has forgotten that public funds belong to the people, not the powerful. The Gambia cannot prosper while its leaders mismanage taxpayers’ money and ignore the cries of teachers, nurses, and farmers. The 2016 Revolution was fought for justice — not for a new elite to repeat the sins of the past.
We deserve leaders who serve with humility, not hubris. Gambian people are watching, and in 2026, we will remember.
Tombong Saidy, an economist and former diplomat and business consultant is the UDP administrative secretary for media and communication.
