By Kemo Kanyi
The Gambia Alliance for National Unity (GANU) has claimed that the country is experiencing a collective state of national despair, blaming rising living costs and failing public services for worsening the conditions of ordinary citizens.
In an interview with The Voice on Monday evening, GANU leader Sheikh Tijan Hydara said conversations with Gambians from different walks of life reflected what he described as widespread exhaustion and frustration.
“When you speak to ordinary Gambians across every demographic today—from the youth sitting at street corners to market women, civil servants and elderly grandparents—a single overwhelming emotion dominates the conversation: absolute exhaustion,” Hydara said.
He argued that the optimism he believed characterized the country a decade ago had been replaced by what he described as a “heavy, suffocating cloud of national despair.”
The opposition leader said the aspiration of Gambians to live with dignity, work hard and see their children prosper was being undermined by current economic and social challenges.
Hydara cited inflation, poor public utilities, weaknesses in the health sector and what he described as administrative indifference as factors contributing to the hardship faced by many households.
He also alleged that the country’s middle class had been eroded, leaving a small political elite and a large population struggling with poverty.
According to Hydara, the growing loss of confidence in public institutions poses a serious challenge to national cohesion and public trust.
The former diplomat called for what he described as an urgent shift from self-serving governance to a human-centred development model focused on restoring hope, stability and dignity for ordinary Gambians.