The chief strategist of the National People’s Party has indicated that an assessment of the delivery and performance records of the Gambia’s first president, his predecessor and President Adama Barrow will show that the incumbent is the person to be embraced by The Gambian people.
“Fellow Gambians, I want us to cast our minds back a little to the rule of the White man. Which development was attained in The Gambia during that time? When the White people left and when President Jawara came, what was achieved in The Gambia in terms of development? When Jawara left the stage and up came Yahya Jammeh, which kind of development took place in The Gambia? Yahya left and in came President Barrow, and what kind of development took place in The Gambia. So Gambians, let’s sieve this and when we do that, we will know that President Barrow is the person to be embraced,” Cham said as he addressed delegations from Jokadu, Lower Niumi and Upper Niumi, who came to the Presidency over the weekend to express their appreciation to President Adama Barrow for fulfilling his campaign promise of constructing the Hakalang Road.
Cham, however, acknowledged that The Gambia’s first ruler Sir Dawda Jawara did not torment the ruled.
“When Jawara announced in 1992 in Mansakonko that he was about to step down, many people shed tears because Jawara never tormented those he ruled over. That was why they never wished him gone. But when the people pushed Jawara until he left, someone came and the hardship that people went through under his dispensation was witnessed by everyone. That was the time that Allah taught us a lesson that “embrace peace because if you don’t take the peace I give you, I will give you the opposite of peace” and that’s the violence that Yaya dished out to Gambians,” Cham asserted. “Relatives cannot trust each other, neighbours lacked trust for each other, tribes were suspicious of each other because we were all pitched against each other. You even have to look behind your shoulders when saying something because of fear of being recorded or reported by someone, someone, you were living in fear in your own country.”
Cham urged Gambians to work with President Barrow he was the embodiment of Gambia’s peace.
“If Allah broke that shackle of bondage and restored peace through President Adama Barrow…He [President Barrow] gave peace to everyone. You can sleep in your home till the time you want, you can say whatever you want or do without fear of backlash. He does not bring any suffering onto anyone. His focus is how to deliver to Gambians, what kind of development to bring to Gambians and what are the needs of Gambians. This is his preoccupation and mission. So, if you are blessed with such a leader, Gambians let’s join forces with him. Let us give him the necessary support and that is to our collective benefit. Peace is incomparable to nothing. It’s because of the peace that one is able to attend school, naming ceremonies and funerals,” he stated.
Earlier on, the NPP’s campaign manager stressed that the secretary-general and leader of the ruling party has delivered and continues to make good on his promises to The Gambian people.
To the NPP’s chief propagandist, the “special visit” to the State House by the delegations from Niumi was a cause for celebration.
“Your Excellency, today is a day of rejoicing because of the work that has been accomplished for the people [people of Niumi] and they have come to congratulate you for that. You have always reiterated in your remarks that leadership does not change a man, but it shows your true character. You are indeed pursuing the noble objectives that you have for this country. The constructed Hakalang Road is one of the roads that encouraged you to construct other roads across the country,” Cham highlighted as he addressed the delegations from the Niumis.
“I know there are a few roads that were your main motivation to embark on massive road construction, Hakalang is one of them, Wuli is one of those roads, Koina forms part of those roads, Kiang West is among those roads because when we chose you in 2016 as a UDP candidate, we toured the country to present you to the masses and our arrival at Hakalang coincided with the nighttime and we held a meeting in Al Jamdou. Afterwards, you insisted that we drive to the other end of the road in Kuntair, but we drove on and on until we were inquiring from each other as to whether we were heading towards Senegal because of the slow pace of the journey as the road was not good,” he stated, adding, “When vehicles descended certain parts of the road, they veered off into the bushes only to subsequently converge on the road. When we woke up the next morning, you stated that Hakalang was a difficult terrain to navigate and that you would construct it if you become President. You have delivered on the promise that you made to the people of Hakalang. If you do a good thing for the people and they are unable to pay you back, they can at least thank you and that’s what they are here for today.”
Cham emphasized that President Barrow has fulfilled a similar promise he made in other parts of the country.
“As regards the same terrible road conditions in the country at the time, when we reached Wuli also we encountered more challenging road conditions there. When we reached the river bank, our vehicles could not get to the other side of the river and we had to use boats. When we got to the Wuli side of the river, we had to hire the big sprinter vehicles to continue with our tour of Wuli. When we got back to Basse, you[President Barrow] promised to construct the Wuli road, which you did as you should. This is why in one of the meet the people tours, one elderly man called the President aside and whispered to him that if the opposition ascends the bridge [Basse/Wuli Bridge] and rides on these roads, what can he or she present [to masses] that could be bigger than these infrastructures? That’s an indication that the people of Wuli are satisfied with your infrastructural work,” Cham said.
“The third thing that motivated you more to lay greater emphasis on road construction is the Basse-Koina Road. The day we were driving to Koina, we were considerably delayed on the way, sometimes you had to veer off into the bushes to get onto the main road again. That day we went to sleep at Fangtungbung but before we could reach Fangtungbung, it was so tough for us. On the next day, you made a promise to build the road and you constructed the road and fulfilled your promise to those people also,” stated Cham. He continued: “We left there and came up to Kiang West and that time that area was also inaccessible to the people, but you promised them that you would build their road and you constructed that also and it’s virtually completed. Therefore, President Barrow is delivering on the promises that he made to the Gambian people and that’s what a good leader does. You must translate your words into action.”
