Look at France’s President Macron….
About two or three weeks ago, President Macron of France combined both the lower and upper houses of the French Parliaments to address them on his plans and where he wanted to take the country. This was barely a month after winning a landslide victory in that country’s election.
This showed the parliamentarians and through them the French citizenry, that the president has a vision, he has a plan, he has ideas as to where he wanted his country and how he would get them there. This is democracy of the people. This is a progressive way of doing things.
France is among the very advanced nations and her economic and political condition was already on a solid and sound footing; yet, the president saw it as extremely important to quickly address the parliamentarians.
We in the Gambia; however, have suffered fifty two years of bad governance; with the last twenty two years being under a very repressive regime. The past twenty two years did not only set our democracy back for a century or more, but destroyed our economy seriously.
Our social fabric was completely destroyed and people lost all confidence in government and the governors. People lost all hope in the politicians and a time came when no one thought we would ever be free from such bad governance.
Our economy was destroyed and we lost all financial credibility. A large chunk of our yearly budget started going into debt servicing. All due to the lavish nature of the previous government. To add salt to injury, the former president rejected the results after conceding earlier. This shut the country down and we took a huge economic hit. Many of our young perished in the high seas just to search for greener pastures because nothing was home.
In spite of all these woes, you haven’t seen it fit to address the National Assembly and through them, the nation.
Mr President, we voted for you because we had had enough of the dictatorship, mismanagement, and lack of Rule of Law of the previous government. But equally important among the reasons we voted for you was the promise that you will fix the nation. It was the promise that you will create employment so our youth won’t need to perish in the high seas while going to Europe through the ‘back way’.
You have decided to remain quiet about all these issues. Even the issue of security alone is worth your coming out and talking to us as your employers. You have not appointed a substantive vice president still now. You have not provided a development blueprint. The ‘you have nots’ are becoming too many. Address the National Assembly and by extension, the Gambian people.
People are beginning to lose faith in your administration’s ability to stir the affairs of this country to the right direction. I write because I am a staunch supporter of you, Sir, and I do not want people to lose confidence in you. Granted, some inroads have been made in establishing the National Think Tank, appointment of cabinet ministers, reduction of some commodity prices, freedom of expression and the freedom of the press. But we still want to hear from you.
Have a Good Day Mr President….
Tha Scribbler Bah
A Concerned Citizen
