One of President Adama Barrow’s fierce critics Madi Jobarteh has said he will devote 2020 to fighting for the rights of his people.
Mr Jobarteh in 2019 criticised President Barrow and his government more than any other Gambian and in a write-up made available to The Fatu Network, the top civil society activist said: “My new year resolution is therefore to fight for the rights of my people by demanding that the Government of the Gambia is transparent, accountable, efficient and responsive to the protection of the rights and the fulfillment of the needs of the people of Boraba.
“My resolve is to expose the perennial lies and misinformation of the Government perpetuated by elected and appointed public officials; to combat corruption and abuse of power and to demand quality and affordable delivery of public services that are accessible and available to all of our citizens including Boraba’nkolu!
“It is 2020 today yet the Gambia Government’s Vision 2020 has only become Nightmare 2020. Despite its high sounding goals and lofty objectives, it is now clear that the Gambia Government led by elected and appointed public officials were only lying to citizens when they launched that development blueprint in 1996 because they know that they were not going to achieve that Vision 2020 anyway. The evidence is right here on 1st January 2020!
“Scores of Gambian citizens continue to die from preventable diseases. Scores of Gambian women die as they give birth to another Gambian. Those babies who are delivered successfully a lot of them die even before they get to five years due to preventable childhood illnesses.
“Scores of our youth perish in the Sahara and in the oceans because they are running away from home because home provides them no hope. Scores of Gambians continue to be discriminated and under-served because they have some form of disability or because of their sex or tribe or religion or because of some other status that makes them different from the rest!
“As a son of Boraba I am a true and direct witness of the failure of State responsibility. For more than 100 years of Colonialism and more than 50 years of self-government I have seen how a State not only fails to protect a people but even goes further to also oppress and exploit them. As a son of Boraba I know that each and every government of The Gambia has only cheated, exploited and oppressed my people over the decades and centuries more than they served them. For that matter I have no reason to trust and respect any government or politician until they prove otherwise!”
