Another “Meet the People’s Tour” ends, with threats

By D. A. Jawo

Another “Meet the People’s Tour” has just been concluded, but on quite a sour note this time round when President Adama Barrow, in quite an undiplomatic tone, chose to threaten the National Assembly Member for Banjul North with dire consequences for simply leading a peaceful protest against the frequent power cuts in Banjul.

Obviously, regardless of whatever his security advisers told him, leading a group of young people to march to the gates of the State House with mere candles, simply to catch his attention and that of his administration about the gravity of the power situation, cannot in any shape or form be equated to a treasonable act. Therefore, making such threats against a sitting National Assembly member was not only uncalled for, but it was the height of intolerance that seems to gradually permeate the Barrow administration. It is becoming clearer that another five years for this administration would likely tantamount to another Yahya Jammeh style of administration when everyone would be required to sing praises of President Barrow or risk earning the wrath of the regime.

Of course, anyone who has heard or witnessed the style and format of the tour would realise that it was a mere political campaign mounted by the NPP and its allies at the expense of the Gambian tax payers. Virtually every speech or activity undertaken during the tour was meant to campaign for President Barrow’s re-election.

While in the past, the technocrats such as permanent secretaries and heads of departments or project implementers were given the podium to explain their activities and programmes as they relate to the farming community, but this time round, all those people were sidelined and virtually every speech or activity was geared towards campaigning for President Barrow for the December 5 presidential elections.

We have heard how the ubiquitous minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Dr. Ismaila Ceesay had been justifying the effectiveness of the tour by the fact that virtually everyone who spoke was praising President Barrow for what he did for them. Of course, we were all witnesses to what would happen to anyone who dared to have a contrary view. A good case in point was during the meeting in Manduar when one Seedy Nyassi complained about lack of development in his own village. We all heard how he was eventually castigated and maligned by no less a person than President Barrow himself and the Minister of Regional Governments, Hamat Bah, for simply speaking about what he is living through in his village. There is no doubt that neither President Barrow nor Hamat Bah had ever stepped foot in that village and yet they would still dismiss Nyassi’s observations and concerns.

Therefore, it should not have been a surprise that every speaker would sing praises of President Barrow and his administration because that was exactly what was expected of them, especially hearing what happened to people like Nyassi who chose to say things as he saw them.

Another unfortunate aspect of the tour was the use of the facilities of the public broadcaster, GRTS, to heap all kinds of criticism and castigations against President Barrow’s opponents while they were denied the opportunity to respond through the same medium. If that is not quite a vivid example of unfair use of public resources and “Naafuloo Pissir-Passar” one would wonder what it is.

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