President Barrow should by rights step aside in December. He has in the past 24 months proven to be not good enough for what is definitely one of the toughest jobs in the land.
On the face of it, that president Barrow is of a mind to serve for five years instead of the three years he promised us shouldn’t come as a surprise. What about the furore it has set off? We’ll get to that in due course.
Certainly, while many rejoiced when a tired-looking president-elect told a French journalist he will leave office after three years, there were some to whom it never seemed unthinkable he could have a change of heart. And then suddenly this has come to pass.
It is not hard to pick together the president’s action. Human beings are always human beings. Sometimes, they make a hash of things. That’s what has happened in this case. It’s not the end of the world. Not at all.
But ever so loudly, the debate of whether President Barrow should step down after three years or stay beyond the period has become rather heated. Everyone is so invested, everyone so ensnared in it. Much continues to be made of it, quite awesomely.
Of course, those against the president staying beyond three years are more than those who support his plan to do five years. It’s something I pin on his inability to find his groove after over two years in office. A little mean, perhaps, but understandable.
But let me put this one this way then: it shouldn’t come off as a big deal for the president to want to do five years as sanctioned by the constitution to finish up the key projects he has started. Any reasonable man should have no problem with this.
I think the reason why so many people are these days urging the president to go home in December is that he has stumbled at every turn, something that is due to his lack of preparedness.
But somehow, President Barrow has strong backing in some quarters. The UDP quarter is a huge fillip even if many of the party’s adherents have now started pulling away.
Still, for Barrow to have the temerity to say he is going for what the constitution says knowing full well it doesn’t constitute a crime if he resigns after three years now sets the stage for a bitter political row. Ladies and gentlemen, this will be enervating so buckle up.
Yet, even if the president survives, there will be a cane swinging over his head. Gambians will still be lying in wait for him. It will be a case of eating a well done Super Kanja and tearing up because there’s too much pepper.
