Our president must refrain from divisive statements and seek to accommodate and unify all of our citizens. The Gambia has passed that stage for a politician to once again hoodwink our people or derail this country with impunity. His advisers need to tell him to review his position in order to better serve the nation. We did not kick out Yaya Jammeh only to welcome and pamper a baby president.
What Adama Barrow, Our Chief Servant, needs to understand is that individuals don’t hate him or simply dislike him or are angry simply because they cannot get jobs or just want to merely criticize him for the sake of criticism.
Our citizens who raise issues and concerns do so out of love for country and responsibility as citizens by law to hold the government accountable. These criticisms are rooted in our history and experience, not just in the past 22 years of brutal dictatorship but also in recognition of the failure of our leaders and governments since independence to position this country on the path of good governance and sustainable development.
Therefore what Barrow got to realize is that those he calls haters are actually guardians of our democracy and supreme national interests. Those criticisms indicate that he is taking decisions and making actions that are threats to our democracy and national interests.
Hence our citizens cannot sit quiet to watch again another political leader mislead this country. Thus if indeed Barrow truly wants to be a true leader of our people who transforms our lives for the better by efficiently and effectively managing our resources in transparency and accountability then he needs to welcome those so-called haters and their criticisms as resources that will help him.
Barrow must realize that there is a category of Gambians who will never ever sit quiet and lame ever again to watch politicians and public officers destroy our country. Never! If we are accused of being silent or found nowhere when Yaya Jammeh was bastardizing our rights and lives, we have now learnt that lesson well enough that we will not be silent and indifferent ever again!
No politician or public officer can ever again fool or threaten our people or arrogate to yourself the monopoly of truth, power and righteousness. No way.
So long as Pres. Barrow treads on wrong decisions and actions he must be prepared to receive a barrage of criticisms for as long as he is president. So far he has indeed made several wrong decisions and actions that deserve serious bashing.
Adama Barrow, Our Chief Servant must realize that the Gambian People pay him a salary of D200,000 a month with no tax attached plus huge benefits and incentives with a lofty retirement package. We pay him such huge resources for only one thing: To do the right job in the right way only.
We do not pay him so that he can engage in bad decisions and bad actions or perpetrate patronage, corruption, exclusion and divisions in our society. So long as he does any of those then he must be ready to receive the wrath of the people. We do not pay him for failure or mistakes or poor performance.
Once again we elected him and pay him for only one purpose, that is, to protect our rights and satisfy our needs. No more. No less.
I, Madi Jobarteh do not need any favour from any politician or public officer. God the Almighty has endowed me with all the necessary capacity to acquire knowledge and skills that should enable me obtain decent jobs from both The Gambia and around the world to earn a decent life. Hence I do not necessarily need a Gambia Government job even though I reserve my right to seek and obtain any job from The Gambia Government – from being a president to a cleaner in Boraba Lower Basic School.
Hence Pres. Barrow must stop being divisive and follow the law in fulfillment of his functions as president. He must appreciate all Gambians regardless of their position towards him bearing in mind that it was a great honour and privilege for Gambians to choose him to be our president. Many more Gambians of higher qualification and competence than him could acquire that seat.
The fact that he is the current president means he must humble himself to welcome any criticism, sincere or insincere, in the same way he receives praises. He must be honest to himself that we elected him as president not for his own sake but to serve our people. In that service he must be honest to himself again to realize that we won’t all agree with him, rightly or wrongly.
Therefore honesty demands that he welcomes all praises and criticisms equally and refrain from characterizing some citizens as haters and desperadoes! Rather he needs to listen to those criticisms and use them as a mirror to see himself better, with honesty.
Throwing aspersions and divisive and threatening statements will only erode his credibility, constrain his leadership and make his government ineffective. Is that the legacy he wants to create? That’s up to him. But the bottom line is that so long as wrong decisions are taken and wrong actions are made then harsh criticisms will follow, without remorse, hesitation or mercy! The ball is in his court!
For The Gambia 
?? Our Homeland
