By: Fatou Krubally
Honourable Fatou Cham a lawmaker from Sannehmentereng Constituency, has criticised President Adama Barrow’s State of the Nation Address, saying it failed to address the harsh realities facing Gambians, particularly women and youth.
Speaking to The Voice after the speech, Honourable Cham said government supported schemes like the Women Enterprise Fund were inadequate and ineffective. “You cannot call it support when you give a woman D1,000 and expect her to start a business. It’s not realistic,” she said. “No wonder the government is struggling to recover the funds.”
She called for a significant scale-up in financing for women-led enterprises and condemned what she described as “cosmetic empowerment efforts” that fail to change lives. “Women are being used for political mileage and dumped after elections,” Cham lamented.
Cham also dismissed the government’s repeated promises to create 150,000 jobs for young people. “We are in mid-2025 and there is no data on how many have benefited,” she said. “Instead, we see long queues of youth at immigration offices seeking passports to leave the country.”
According to her, those sent abroad under overseas employment schemes are often underpaid and overworked. “How do you justify paying someone $200 a month for labour abroad while claiming it’s empowerment?” she asked.
On energy, Honourable Fatou noted the irony of frequent power cuts during the President’s speech in Parliament. “Even as he spoke about electricity progress, the lights went out multiple times. That tells you all you need to know,” she said.
Cham also expressed disappointment over the President’s silence on key issues affecting women farmers in her constituency. “Our women’s gardens lack basic fencing and are exposed to animals. Is that support?” she asked.
She urged the government to be realistic and action-oriented. “It’s time to move from empty promises to actual delivery,” Cham concluded.
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