President Barrow’s SONA speech is Misleading and Dishonest 

 

By: Bakary Ceesay

President Barrow’s statement at the state opening of the national assembly is the most dishonest and misleading in the history of the Gambia.

He shamelessly without no remorse cited the massive success of his government in all sectors, which is far away from the realities on the ground as it is evident that all the sectors in the Gambia from the economy, health, agriculture, and security have all failed woefully.

So where is the success he is talking about here??

Nothing in the President’s speech at the state opening of the National assembly reflects the pain, anxiety, insecurity and general pessimism ordinary Gambians are living. He regurgitated the same shallow and meaningless rhetoric regarding every sector claiming success against all available evidence of manifest failure.

Instead of acknowledging the tragedy besetting our health sector where people are dying daily at alarming rates, he is touting that sector as an exemplary success.

The vice president Badara Joof recently decried sectoral failures across and called for urgent actions and seriousness and new strategies in making the Gambia better.

The Vice President emphasised that they are in a very difficult situation and it is impacting the health and wellbeing of the people.  He revealed that if the cost of living goes through the roof it could break marriages, and create animosity in the family because people will begin to have one meal a day instead of three meals and then people will become agitated and emotional because there is nothing in the pocket and it can lead to chaos and crisis.

The Vice President urged the ministers to apply strategic thinking to break up the high cost of living, adding that they have to be honest and brave enough to take them on. “I know that when business is profit-driven, it should not be at the expense of the majority of the lives of the Gambian people”, he said.

“Empower some people and give them all the initiatives so that the essential commodities like rice, sugar oil, flour can be brought in and dampening the market, depress prices and bring them to the level of affordability so that Gambian people can survive” he urged.

While President BARROW, shamelessly sits in front of the Nation celebrating success. Who is he fooling and blackmailing? The sad reality of a dishonest leader who doesn’t care about the welfare of its citizens.

How cruel and delusional can one be to not acknowledge the grave and growing challenges your citizens are facing in every aspect of their daily lives? Who is living this alternative reality that the President is painting? Are you secure in your homes? How is your cost of living? What happens if you or your loved ones get sick or are expecting a baby? Are your children getting a good education? What is your fate if you are a farmer? What does the future hold for you if you are a youth with the ambition to progress in life? The answers to these questions will not tally with the dubious claims that the President made in his address to parliament.

Adama Barrow and his government are the authors of Gambian misery.

They are stealing and squandering the limited resources of the nation and presenting meaningless rhetoric as a substitute for their utter failures.

Incompetence leadership has brought Gambians tough economic times with dysfunctional systems, rampant corruption, and mismanagement rife and in full effect.

As it is evident that public officials are caught stealing public funds without any penalty as the President himself is corrupt to the core.

Modibo Keita, a Malian political philosopher says “When the citizens of a nation deem their most accomplished thieves as the most electable then they lose the right to complain when the theft becomes their national creed”.