Does the Barrow Administration echoes the attitude of Musolini: “The crowd doesn’t have to know, all they have to do is believe and submit to being shaped”?
We cannot, of course, expect President Barrow to possess the wisdom of Lincoln or Nkrumah’s largeness of soul. However, when we think of why we’ve ousted autocratic regime, we begin by discerning what system our new government is presiding over.
A year and half after the precipitous oust of one of Africa’s remaining brutal and corrupt leaders, a clear replica of his governing style began to unfold in subtle and implacable ways.
Bad governance practices that has been a norm for considerably more than three decades in the Gambia, the system that was ultimately unacceptable degrees of inefficiency, blatant and partisanship. That system is swiftly becoming order of the day in the ‘New Gambia’.
Early 2017, the famous line of the Barrow Administration was; ‘we’ve inherited a depleted treasury’. This has been echoed in all corners of our great nation. The paradox is, this government turned out to be lavish.
In September 2018, Finance Minister Mambury Njie, told lawmakers that the government has spent D239, 923, 034. 4 on travels from January to July this year.
This reflects the heights of how Barrow government is misusing our sovereign national wealth.
By all indications, our change has continued to be merely a revolution from Jammeh’s administration and that’s it. I am inclined to believe that, all Gambians should by now completely know that the decisions we take will have continuance repercussion on the future generations. Should we hand our children the Gambia that is shaped by indecisive men? How is it that only the interest of the foreign investors and some elites matters to the government, interest of disgruntled and poor Gambians don’t!
The eight priorities highlighted in the National Development Plan has been neglected. High rate of unemployment, bad transportation system, poor educational system, injustice and lack of protection for the lives and properties of Gambian citizens continues to persist in the ‘New Gambia’.
Barrow government has blatantly declined to adhere to the basic principles of good governance; accountability and transparency. Thus, corruption is becoming the rule, and purity the exception. The government cannot defend it’s nation, if it’s not held accountable by its citizens and oversight institutions.
Every allegation of corruption in the Gambia, huge or small, should be investigated. It must be got rid of. For the sake of clarity, corruption is not only bribery. It is the abuse of one’s office, misuse of public property, nepotism, cronyism, patronage, failure to follow due process, the list goes on. With this bad governing style going on, citizens became pessimistic and our future looks bleak and hopeless.
It’s crucial to note that, good governance comes from freedom of communication. It comes from ending corruption. It comes from a populace that can go online and say, ‘This politician is corrupt, this administrator, or this public official is corrupt.’ This is what we’ve signed up for, not the contrary.
For the Gambia, ever true.
By, Buba S Njie
Political Science Student.
