By: Dawda Baldeh
Momodou MC Cham Jr, former opposition Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) campaign manager, has called on President Adama Barrow to put aside politics and focus on developing the country in his second term rather than announcing a bid for the 2026 presidential election.
Last week, President Barrow announced that he will contest the 2026 presidential election during a meeting with locals in the Sami Constituency.
For MC Cham Jr, the recent announcement by President Barrow will further drag the country to a continuous campaign by political actors.
“Now that the President has announced that he will contest the next election is like there will be a continuous campaign for the next three years. Barrow should focus on developing the country by addressing the challenges of the people rather than announcing a third term bid,” MC Cham Jr said.
The young politician added that President Barrow should now prioritize uplifting people from abject poverty and make the country a promised land for its citizens.
“If he delivers well people will vote him for another term but that is not happening. Barrow’s announcement means he will continue campaigning for the next three years. There is nowhere in the world where people announce they will contest elections three years before,” Cham claimed.
According to MC Cham Jr, Barrow won the 2021 presidential election because of “inundating people’s mindset with tribal politics against UDP.”
“Nothing more or less. he should now focus on creating a legacy for himself so that he will be remembered for that,” Cham added.
He said no matter how people hate former president Yahya Jammeh they can still point out some of the developments he brought to the Gambian people.
He said many development projects which the incumbent is taking credit for can be attributed to ex-president Yahya Jammeh, noting that Barrow should also initiate developments that his successor will continue with.
The former GDC campaign manager claimed that there is lot of internal conflict in President Barrow’s NPP.
MC Cham attributed the recent conflict in the NPP to the announcement of Barrow at a meeting he had with elders at the State House where he revealed he will soon leave the presidency.
Mr Cham said the President has however made what he referred to as a U-turn after announcing his bid for the 2026 presidential election.
“This should not surprise anyone. Now, there are lots of internal fighting in the NPP. The party has different camps now.
Fafa Ceesay, who is part of the founding members of the party, left the party after a conflict with the National Women Mobilizer, Ajaratou Maimuna Baldeh.
If you look at the conflict audios between Demba Sabally and Maimuna Ceesay Darboe, it is another internal fight. This is why he made the U-turn to announce that he will contest the next presidential election so that the party will be steady,” Cham claimed.
