It is now quite evident that President Adama Barrow had used the Sukuta rally as the opening salvo for his campaign for the 2026 presidential elections and he will no doubt make maximum use of the state-funded so-called Meet the People’s Tour which is scheduled to commence this week, to carry out more such campaigns. It has been revealed, for instance, that for this year alone, over D50 million had been budgeted for the tour, which in reality means that President Barrow’s campaign for the next elections would be mainly funded from state coffers.
However, the attitude and comportment of many of the speakers at the Sukuta rally were quite a disappointment to many people. Instead of addressing the pressing needs and concerns of the ordinary people of this country, we all heard most of our political leaders behaving like street urchins, using aspersions and invectives against their perceived opponents, at times using language not compatible with their positions.
In addition to the uncouth language used by some of the speakers, we also witnessed contradictory statements emanating from some cabinet ministers, an apparent indication of a deliberate attempt to misinform the people. For instance, we heard the Minister of Agriculture Dr. Demba Sabally say the government had supplied the farmers with about 60 tractors, while the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay put the figure at 180. Obviously, both figures cannot be correct.
On his part, President Barrow called on cabinet ministers, regional governors, alkalos and district seyfos to campaign for his re-election, in complete disregard of the law that calls for the political neutrality of the traditional rulers. If he only knew that most of those people nowadays hardly command any respect and veneration amongst the young people, in particular, therefore, their involvement in his campaign may even be detrimental to it.
Another thing that stood out in the Sukuta rally, which seems to be the trend in this country, had been the unfair use of the services of public institutions like the GRTS which is funded from public resources that belong to all Gambians and residents of the Gambian, including members of the opposition. It is quite unfair therefore for the NPP to virtually transform the GRTS into a propaganda tool and use it to heap invectives against members of the opposition and other perceived opponents while they are denied the opportunity to respond.
Obviously, even the most autocratic states no longer so blatantly use state resources for partisan politicking like it is the case in this country. For instance, in many countries, including neighbouring Senegal, the ruling party would pay private TV to air their events and programmes rather than using state media while denying the opposition access to such facilities. This is what used to happen during the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship which everyone was complaining about. Therefore, no one ever anticipated that such unfair and undemocratic practices would still continue under this so-called new dispensation. Let us however hope that someone would one day challenge the legality of such unfair use of the state media by the NPP at the total exclusion of the opposition. This is certainly not what Gambians bargained for when they came out in large numbers in December 2016 to vote out the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship.
By D. A Jawo
