President Adama Barrow of the Gambia will Tuesday morning travel to China to push for stronger bilateral ties between Banjul and Beijing.
Mr Barrow who will be accompanied on the trip by senior government officials will hold bilateral talks and meetings with the Chinese head of government, Li Keqiang, premier of the State Council and Zhang Dejiang, the chair of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the Chinese legislature.
During his visit, President Barrow will also visit several development projects and industries in Beijing and several Chinese provinces, which would accord him the opportunity to promote the Gambia and its investment opportunities as well as strengthen the bilateral cooperation between Banjul and Beijing.
If the visit to China is to be of any benefit to the Gambia, that will be if the president and his entourage and government learn lessons from the path that country has taken to get to the level of development and the economic giant status it reached today which will never have been possible if their leaders only go around the capitalist world with a cap in hand looking for handouts in the form of loans and grants or daydreaming about foreign investments.
I agree; President Barrow’s photograph album is looking very impressive though.
It will be labelled ” When “we” were President”.
Think of all those free air miles ?
My thoughts inform me that there has been a 180 degree if not 360 degree Change of minds and Support on the Subject of Barrow’s Presidency by once upon a time Supporters of the UDP Led President Barrow government. There seems to be a Correlation between the Support for President Barrow and UDP Borrow government and the firing of the former “Minister of All Portfolios” and Master of None, Mai Fatty. Those who once agitated for Support of the UDP Led Government and President Barrow, now can’t restrain themselves from the Vitriol and Heart attack Fits of Anger against President Barrow and all things Barrow. All can be traced back to the firing of Mai Fatty. It is indeed unforturnate that a significant number of those who supported President Barrow did so on Party and Personality Cult Worship reasons. I don’t
mean personality Cult Worship of Barrow. Nooo. I mean personality Cult Worship of UDP, Ousainou Darbo and Mai Fatty. Were they elected? Can someone please provide Mai Fatty’s Credentials? That is, his degree that he is alleged to have been awarded in the legal field. What work experience did Mai Fatty have while in the US? What is his Legal Status with the US government? Was or is Mai Fatty the Landlord of all of the Gambia? He seems to be involved in such issues lately. Why? Is Mai Fatty the Gambia and Gambians’ Savior or the opposite? To some, the response to these questions is Yes. To more than the Sum Total of the Yes vote, are the majority who decidedly Voted a resounding “No” as a the Verdict on Mai Fatty. For them, Mai Fatty is part of the problem. He is the Personification of Ethnic Politics and Divisiveness as of December 2016 until his firing. Gambian Politics seem less ethnic group driven like it was under Mai Fatty’s Interior Ministry. That is not to say all is well with the current state of affairs. No. It is not. I would be a Liar if I say it is. The Gambian Government of the UDP LED REGIME’S Ministries are either Darbo, Dibba or Ceesay led. The “new” Gambia can’t be Sustained nor maintained under such staffing. The lessons of the past 52 years are yet to be learned. Gambians of all Tribes have qualified Candidates that can fill the Same Positions that have been DDC Dominated. Why is it so? We must confront these anormalies in a blunt and direct manner least the Past becomes the Present. Representative Democracy demands representative representation of all Citizens and Stakeholders. Marginalization and Selective Employment of one ethnic group at the expense of others or a specific ethnic group is the nurturing of Instability and Insecurity. No ECOMIG or OCCUPATION FORCE can Mitigate such eventuality if the causes of Instability and Insecurity are not addressed at the Roots. Look at the Rearview Mirror if you want to see where you just passed. Better Yet, look in the mirror and you will see the cause of Ethnic Politics and Divisiveness if you are a True Gambian and you are Silent about the current configuration of the Portfolios and Civil Service under the UDP LED REGIME. President Barrow and those who don’t want history to bear another child of discontent in the Gambia, Need to Resolve to Amend the Dangerous over representation of the Darbos, Dibbas and Ceesays in the current government. Peaceful Co-exitence and Mutual Respect Demand it. By the way when did it become the Prerogative of a Minister to choose his Permanent Secretary as the story of OJ at the Ministry of Agriculture seems to indicate. If OJ does not “feel comfortable” with a given Permanent Secretary” Appointed by the Designated Gambian Office or Official, he is not in his Private run Company. He has the privilege to Resign, but cannot act as a Lord over a Civil Service position that he was appointed to. I respect him as a brother but I just wanted to let it be known that no one Gambian is above or below another when it comes to Public Service. Gambian is More than the Sum Total of One Ethnic Group or Region.
Sidi,
Inner party divergence in opinion is a sign of progressive democractic thoughts. In situations like it, cinvergence on a common sense of reasoning is always the likely result.
Idiotic partisanship on the other hand creates brainless party militants and political-party-fallen-in-loves who sleep, eat and drink the name of a particular party or its leadership. Blind party supporters in the latter careless what the agendas of a party are with respect to the general citizenship’s welfare. Such clowns in politics are fine as far as oily-orange-coloured-rice-and-meat bowls and drinks are served in party events.
Mai Fatty’s legal status in the United States?? What is the United States legal status with nations?? How much lagal is the the United States’ legal status with nations and individuals in general?? Is it even relevant to Gambia’s common interest and state of affairs??
Proof of Mr. Fatty’s academic accomplishments is a necessary enquiry to make here if you want to be genuine in your arguments anyway but after all, your comment above have all indication you’re very much obsessed with a particular public figure, Mai Fatty. Yourself too probably are not out to be any good to the UDP/government crisis but an instigator to stir more confusion and suspicion.
Nonetheless, with respect to the matter itself, my doubt remains to be the question; if Mr. Barrow will even meet with his Chinese counterpart, president Xi jinping ..
Well, embarking on worthwhile foreign visits are part of the job of the President and I think China is a potential development partner worth visiting, but I hope President Barrow will “settle down” and concentrate on matters at home, once he returns from China, least he qualifies for the title of the most travelled president within a year.
Perhaps, he should also consider cutting out all the pomp and extravaganza and put that Red Carpet up for auction. That looks like Yaya Jammeh all over again.
May be, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda may pay the highest bid, as he prepares to become LIFE PRESIDENT of Uganda. Presidents and leaders of much influential nations around the world travel in and out of their countries, without a fuss. Humble service is what Gambia requires and demands now; not the same old “Burr Saloum” mentality, which is immoral, given the claims that his government inherited a D56 Billion debt port folio.
On a separate note: This week’s UN General Assembly session to consider a US vetoed Security Council draft Resolution on President Trump’s recognition of the whole of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, should dispel any doubts, should there still be any, that reliance on “foreign aid”, is not only an impediment to our development efforts, but a serious insult to our dignity, as human beings and sovereign citizens of independent nations.
The insulting letter to voting member nations of the General Assembly from US Ambassador to the UN, bullying and threatening those who may dare vote against the US, and the subsequent twit of President Trump, that “these people receive our money and vote against us”, after losing the vote, should be enough for any leader, who has an ounce of dignity in them, to say “No, but thanks” to US “assistance”. Foreign aid is a tool for CONTROL and MANIPULATION. It will never be the catalyst for any nation’s development efforts.
Shame on African clueless and shameless leaders. Learn from, and emulate late brother President Thomas Sankara, who said “No” to aid, no to flamboyance and “enough” of crippling debt and debt repayment nonsense. They engineered his killing because they can see that he has seen through their well designed plans and found the solution to our problems.
Your darn right Bax. I would say a hard working mule serves a much better citizenship than some African leaders in leadership capacities of their countries. Isn’t Museveni already not chronically addicted to public office and wealth??
Everything you said about the great Thomas Sankara is correct. If he had survived, Africa by now would have turned to a fresh new page. It wouldn’t have cost him gluing himself to power to set an example for the continent.
Anyway, as hopeless efforts to make Jerusalem Israel’s capital from Trump’s throne exert, don’t be surprised to hear that some of them African leaders have sold their votes to the Trump’s trouble trumpeting without even rethinking their decisions. Never say never!
It’ll makes you wonder whether African leaders do find pride in being a shame to their citizens.
If you can remember the same Trump’s meeting with African leaders at the time of the U.N general assembly, he thanked African leaders for being snoring leaders of their nations, a phenomenon that enabled a lot of his (Trump’s) clique of rogue, greedy and heartless business tycoons to exploit unimaginable fortunes across the continent. The whole situation is sad to think about considering the fact that the United States have mysteriously voted in a crew of mediocre and ignorant individuals to lead the affairs of a globally renowned democracy. But then, nothing is permanent in life. This seems to be the defeat of the American democracy, marking the era of the rise of rogue nation superpowers and mafia political systems. The world needs a miracle to turn such a threat to mankind around for better.
It is really sad still! The U.S ambassador to the U.N looks like an uneducated bartender who is Trump’s suitable kind of secretary who can cope with all sorts of his ….. Now they’ll ignorantly and arrogantly point fingers to voices counterpoised to their barbarities as ‘hate speech’. Isn’t she, (the U.S U.N ambassador) implying, the value of nations votes and their sovereignties at the U.N is what the USD can buy…??
She said, “I’m going to take names”, take names!! Shouldn’t one be convince without doubt that educated fools do exist?? “I will take names and report it to the white house”? Hah! Only Sam Sarr can be a disgrace of such magnitude to a nation. Have high profile madness ever ceased to amaze us??
Your right bro, president Barrow should settle down for serious business and save the country the cost of expensive presidential tours along with big entourage.