By Kebba Ansu Manneh, in Basse, URR
Gambian President Adama Barrow said that the year 2019 will be a turning point for Gambia’s developmental aspirations and political landscape.
Barrow made this disclosure in Basse, URR, where he is currently laying the foundation stones for roads, bridges and a teachers training college funded by a Chinese grant amounting to eighty one million dollars for infrastructural development.
“I want to assure you that we (government) will continue to attract more meaningful projects to your doorsteps but I also want you to know that 2019 will be the turning point of The Gambia,” Barrow stated as he tighten his grip on the political driver’s seat of the country.
He said in 2019, his government will inaugurate a bridge at Farafenni where both him and President Macke Sall of Senegal will be in attendance, while also calling on Gambians to grace the event to be hosted in Farafenni.
Barrow said his government is also prepared to launching series of projects in 2019 which are all designed to improving the lots of The Gambians peoples especially the rural population.
“Journalist present here today I want you to make sure your cameras are well set. I want Gambian people to see this event even those who cannot attend the occasion so that they can all see the proceedings. The Chinese who are our partners, we want them also to see it all, so make sure (journalists) you sharpen your camera lens so that it can become an issue that others can gossip about but can’t dispute the fact,” Barrow told the crowd in Basse.
President Barrow said if you are wrestling with a wrestler who disputes defeats, the only way to provide empirical evidence against him is to wrest him in ashes which would be seen by everyone showing that the wrestler hit the ground during the contest. He added that this trip to Basse is to wrestle the wrestler in a fire.
Political observers said Barrow’s latest comments was directed either at his political Godfather and UDP Party leader, Vice President Ousainou Darboe, who recently branded President Barrow’s Youths for National Development as nothing but opportunists. Others also believed that he was referring to Mama Kandeh, the leader of the Gambia Democratic Movement (GMC), his longtime political rival in the local politics of Jimara Constituency and recent in the 2016 national politics. Some believed that these two men posed serious challenge to President Barrow if he decides to run for reelection.
He promised to blow apart any political contender or rival on his path to consolidating power through the 2021 election.
President Barrow said Gambian people are no more fools and he is optimistic that they are observing the political landscape of the country, adding that it is only The Gambian people who can elect a president and the only ones who can remove the president from power.
“I want to assure The Gambian people that the job they gave me is the only thing that I am focusing on right now until the end of my mandate, so I am calling on each Gambia to come forth to build this country,” Barrow said as he promised more landmark development for the Gambia in 2019.
Speaking in Mandinka parables president Barrow said one of his elderly mentor usually tells him that if people are arguing who is beautiful than the other, the best answer one could give them is to tell them to wait until in the morning when the sky becomes clear.
“My fellow Gambians I want to tell you that what you are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg,” Barrow bluffs as the Chinese0funded projects are being rolled out to rural Gambians.
He expressed his joy over the tumultuous welcome accorded him in URR, stressing that such a welcome has never been accorded to any Gambian president not even Jawara or Yahya Jammeh.
“No one forces anyone to come here, everyone came here on their free will. They came here to give me the support so that we can, together, build this country,” Barrow lashed out at his critics.
He strongly promises Gambians that his government is ready to implement unprecedented development that no Gambian leader ever brought to the country, who were only two in number—Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara and Yahya Jammeh. “The Gambian people, I want to assure you that I will bring development for this country that no other Gambian leader ever brought in this country, that you cannot compared to Jawara nor Yahya Jammeh,” President Barrow stated.
He disclosed that it was The Gambian people who prayed for him to win the 2016 election and once again he’s calling on them to do more prayers for his government to succeed.
“My wish is to work for this country until the end of my mandate and stay in the country as a private citizen after my presidency comes to an end. But by that time, I want to leave behind a legacy that every Gambian can be proud of. Therefore, all I want from the people of Basse and all Gambians is for all of you to rally behind me in our efforts to rebuilding this country. When we build this country, the benefits will not go to Barrow Kunda or Mankamang Kunda, but they will be for the benefit of the people of The Gambia,” President Barrow concluded as he coaxed Gambians to give him the political support for what he calls building the New Gambia.