By Alf Soninke
The thought just occurred to me yesterday – and I’m now thinking aloud: That unfit government and state officials – Barrow’s aides and advisers in the government and the state – have woefully failed him!
And, one must ask if it’s due to incompetence? Or is it by design that they are depriving Barrow of a legacy he and Gambians would be proud of?
How would Barrow explain that his government and the Gambian state have, to date, failed to repeal or amend colonial-era anti-people laws such as the Public Order Act?
If you ask me, that is enough damning evidence of Barrow’s lack of political will. Yes, the buck stops at Barrow’s desk at the OP in Banjul!
Yet, Barrow has surrounded himself with aides and advisers – within the core government and extensive and expanded bureaucracy, and even outside – and you would expect them to give him good and the best advice!
Thus, we further ask: Is Barrow aware and mindful of the possibility that, as he approaches the finish line, he will leave an unenviable legacy in the intangibles of serious regard for human rights and a strong and enduring democracy in the Gambia?
Indeed, Barrow can never ever leave a better legacy than amending the obnoxious Public Order Act, and giving meaningful effect to the constitutional guarantee of the right of citizens to assemble peacefully and petition the government to address their grievances.
Indeed, if proper action had been taken since 2017, it would have spared us all the unnecessary rancor caused by the police’s insistence that citizens seek permission to peacefully assemble and protest, as witnessed during the nine years under his government.
Notably, the enforcement of the Public Order Act has tarnished the state’s reputation in this country and elsewhere.
Yes, the historical result has been much inhuman and degrading treatment of people by the Gambian state, instances of torture, bloodshed, maiming, and the murder of citizens, as well as the politically-motivated incarceration of opposition members in this country, and so on.
Well, there is still time (16 months to our great national reckoning in 2026 with Barrow?) – call it a window of opportunity – for the Barrow Administration to make amends!
