President Adama Barrow has delivered one of his sharpest political attacks in recent months, urging residents of the West Coast Region to vote out Brikama Area Council Chairman Yankuba Darboe in 2027 if they want to see the long-delayed Brikama Mega Market brought to completion.
Speaking on Sunday during his Meet the People Tour at the SSP Football Field in Brikama, Barrow accused the BAC chairman of causing the collapse of what he described as Gambia’s largest market project, a planned 1,200-shop complex. The President said the project was derailed by a dispute between Darboe and WCR Governor Ousman Bojang shortly after keys to several newly built shops were handed over.
According to Barrow, the state had invested fully in the construction phase and had no intention of managing the market afterward. He argued that the disagreement over management responsibility exposed what he called Darboe’s lack of leadership.
“If they want to see the long-promised Brikama market finally materialize, they must vote Chairman Darboe out in 2027,” Barrow told the crowd.
The President didn’t stop at the market issue. He accused Darboe of failing to provide essential services, pointing to persistent problems with roads, waste disposal and the general condition of public spaces in the region. Barrow said Brikama’s current market has been left in an unhygienic and neglected state, which he blamed on the council’s poor oversight.
Barrow also ridiculed the chairman’s criticism of the government’s D5 million allocation to each ward in the region. Darboe had argued that a future UDP government would raise the figure to D25 million. Barrow dismissed that claim as unrealistic, saying the amount would not even cover the cost of building a basic kilometer of road.
The remarks set a combative tone for the 2027 local government elections and underscored how the Brikama Mega Market has become a major political flashpoint. With construction stalled and frustrations growing, Barrow’s message positioned the vote as a choice between continuing delays and pushing the project forward under new leadership.
The coming months are likely to see even more heated exchanges as both sides use the unfinished market as a symbol of competing visions for the region’s development.
