Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity! Who remembers these people and what do you remember them for? Not their current positions but their past accomplices aiding and promoting the dictator’s agenda for decades. The soul of a man is not known by his one on one niceness or his what he says behind doors, but what he stands for during times of injustice. These four people executed Jammeh’s brutal fiscal, foreign and security policies without an iota of hesitation. Despite all the atrocities and rights violations the former regime inflicted on Gambians, these people remained firm and mute around the dictator. Even if their love ones were touched, they remained loyal not to the country or Jammeh, but to their jobs and paychecks.
If any Gambian had no issues with the way Jammeh and his regime were operating in the Gambia, you are less than patriotic and your loyalty is to yourself only! These are the people who are still holding on to key positions in the Barrow government. They are the people President Barrow trust more than any other citizens to implement his security, foreign and financial policies. How is that working out Gambia?
What sectors of the Barrow regime are the biggest failures? Look no further than the security, financial and foreign policy! Can anybody point to anything that these sectors have accomplished for over four years? Corruption and financial indiscipline continue to be the order of the day. The country’s loan schemes have quadruple since Barrow came to power! Security sector reforms costing millions of dollars is no where to be heard of. Community policing and national security documents brought the biggest embarrassment in the country? Foreign policy and the Diaspora are nonexistent. One can safely say these people hate Gambians especially in the Diaspora and particularly Mr. Tangara!
One is then tempted to ask, if these people have decades of excellent success records in leadership, why are their respective departments doing extremely poor? Why has there been no reforms whatsoever instituted in the Gambia since 2018? The answer is not a rocket science. It is because these people are incompetent and have no sense of responsibility to nation. All they care about is their jobs and perhaps bringing in their close friends and family to share the national cake. They feel vindictive in their current roles jumping high that despite their past records, they still have their jobs to serve the country!
Do you necessarily blame them for staying mute and keeping their paychecks? not really! If all a man cares about is his paycheck, he will do anything to keep that paycheck! The blame squarely lies on President Adama Barrow whose zero experience in governing and or leadership had no foresight to simply understand that conventional norms dictates that if you want to make change, you have to first squash the leadership of any organization for change to happen. If you maintain the same people with the same narrow brains, you get exactly what you ask for ~ incompetence and zero accomplishment.
So the Gambian people have had four years to carefully evaluate who Adama Barrow is and if he has any backbone in making leadership decisions. He is intimidated to face the public, to make personnel decisions and certainly the man is terrified of change! As a result, he has nightmares making personnel decisions and his most comfortable zone ~ remain mute and block all the noise and doze off from your air conditioning.
Come December, the Gambian people must ask serious questions. Who is to be held accountable for all the failures of the last four years? Did you vote to change the President or did you vote to change the system? Stay tuned for subsequent editorials. For now Barrow’s men are at work dozing alongside while the country drifts off the cliff!
By Demba Baldeh Gainako Associate Editor