By Alf Soninke
It was on the TV news Friday night that Barrow coalition members met at State House in Banjul.
GRTS TV and QTV carried the news, both of which observers clearly perceive as serving the ruling coalition and spewing spin as “nightly news” to a heavily propagandized audience.
But this is a population which is familiar with such government practices after, for example, being bombarded with so much of that in the run-up to the December 2016 presidential election, which the incumbent, Yahya Jammeh, nevertheless lost.
And, speaking of incumbency, it’s evident to the keen observer how Barrow and his coalition have been engaged in blatant abuse of incumbency – plain misuse of the State for partisan events, as well as GRTS, the nation’s public broadcaster.
What explains that Barrow’s NPP has a brand-new party headquarters building in Bundung, yet its party leader continues to convene purely partisan “consultations” at State House in Banjul, the official seat of government?
One might understand when Senegalese President Diomaye Faye does the same in Dakar, where his Kirrlaye, Faye’s newly founded political party launched a few months ago this year, certainly cannot yet boast its own party head-office building.
Yes, Barrow’s NPP gatherings are still being held at State House, despite showing us that it is “filthy rich” by investing in multi-million dalasi political bureaus in all the country’s regions – a feat which is unprecedented in the history of Gambian party politics.
In the sense that neither of its predecessors – the PPP of Jawara in its around 30 years in power, and Yahya Jammeh’s APRC in its 22 years at State House – in their combined 50-plus years at State House could achieve that milestone!
And so we hope that election monitors and observers are noting well the incumbent government’s abuses, in concert with the state apparatus, in its flagrant efforts to rig the vote well before polling day on December 5.
Meanwhile, as the NPP and its partners capitalize on the advantages of incumbency, the opposition is still deliberating on coalition building and has yet to finalize its work.
Take, for instance, the latest news just now that “Team Gambia,” coordinated by Halifa Sallah and Sidia Jatta of PDOIS, has issued its report; is talking of convening a “national conference” as part of its process; and “announced it has finalized that the process of building a national coalition will officially commence on 12th September 2026.”
Well, perhaps its conveners can claim that their last-minute efforts could bear the needed fruit, since after all, the 2016 Coalition was formally launched and embarked on nationwide election campaigning just weeks before it won the crucial election which sent Yahya Jammeh packing.
And surely, after that event, it’s hard to doubt the possibilities of such efforts and outcomes in Gambia.
What we know is that – with the fuse to light the explosive – provided by the unbearable, prolonged Nawec power cuts – the widespread perception, going by their seen reaction, is that the NPP-led coalition is definitely scared stiff!
Its confidence is at its weakest, driven by the general public’s hostility toward the ruling elite, as shown by the protests’ cause and effect!
And their credibility to convince the electorate and sway the vote in their favor is at its lowest level ever.
Especially in the Greater Banjul area, Brikama and Kombos – where statistically more than 50 percent of the decisive electoral majority resides!
Thus, the belief that the ruling coalition members were summoned to an emergency consultation – which, in itself, speaks volumes about being rattled, etc.- at State House to strategize.
That is, following the rude awakening from the protests in Greater Banjul this week, and to recover from the damage to the Barrow administration’s prestige, as the December 5 presidential election looms large.
SCARECROW is a pen name for Alieu Famara Sagnia, a veteran Gambian journalist.
