After almost two decades, The Gambia has finally got a Defence Minister. The appointment of Mr. Sheikh Omar Faye, a former army officer and diplomat, was announced in a mini cabinet reshuffle effected by President Adama Barrow.
Read below the reshuffle news contained in a presidential statement:
The Public is hereby informed that His Excellency, President Adama Barrow, acting under sections 71 (3), 71 (4), 167, and 168 of the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia has made the following changes in his Cabinet with effect from Thursday, 22nd August, 2019:
Mr. Sheikh Omar Faye has been appointed as the Minister of Defence. Until his appointment, Mr Faye was Consul General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Ebrima M. Mballow has been relieved of his duties as the Minister of Interior and re-deployed to the Foreign Service.
Mr. Yankuba Sonko replaces Honourable Mballow as the Minister of Interior. He has previously served as Inspector General of The Gambia Police Force.
Honorable Ebrima O. Camara has also been relieved of his appointment as the Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service and redeployed to the Foreign Service.
Mr. Muhammed B.S. Jallow replaces Ebrima O. Camara as the Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service. Until his appointment, Mr. Jallow was Permanent Secretary at the Office of the President.
Ends
President Adama Barrow Sold His Soul To The Devils And Former President Jammeh’s Return To The Gambia Might Be Used As A Political Bargaining Tool To Gain APRC Support In 2021 Election.
Dear editor,
Recent concern among social media commentators and many political observers about President Adama Barrow’s unpopularity and poor job performance is a clear indication that Mr Barrow is in deep trouble. President Barrow needs to resign at the end of his current term to save himself from further disgrace and any future possible political embarrassment which will lead to his political demise . Majority of Gambian people understands that President Barrow is indeed an accidental leader who lack moral integrity, intelligence and vision to lead The Gambia in a better direction. After two years in power , Barrow did not have any idea why he was elected as president in the first place. His lack of knowledge or disregard with respect to the main reason for regime change in the country during December 2016 presidential election is the greatest threat to our democracy and economic development. The fundamental reason for change of leadership is to ensure that the country has fresh start in economic, political and social development initiatives based on rule of law and constitutional rule. The National development initiatives in this new era could only be achieved when we have people with fresh ideas along with moral integrity, conscience and determination to transform our country but it cannot be achieved when we have the same old players from previous regime in Barrow’s government and we expect to have better economic development and social conditions. President Barrow has not demonstrated or committed to the basic fundamental idea that transformational change that our country needs should be based on new ideas and innovative vision, initiates and propagate by people of good will that serves as change agents for collective and common interest . Therefore, Barrow’s unpopularity shouldn’t have surprised any intelligent political analysts because of disastrous and unintelligent decisions he has been making since December 2016 presidential election. This is evidence as he continues to surrounds himself with people who not only looted and destroyed our economy during the last two decades but also dangerously abandoned the coalition agenda which propelled him into presidency. Thus , Adama Barrow with little political understanding became poster boy for former corrupt officials of the previous government he replaced. President Jammeh’s former enablers like Momodou Tankara a former Gambian ambassador to United Nations , mamburay Njie a former finance minister and Seedy Njie a short lived communication minister and once formidable political propagandist for Jammeh as well as many top senior officers who all played key roles in sustainability of military dictatorship in The Gambia are now key advisers to President Barrow . The appointments of these people is completely responsible for Mr Barrow’s unpopularity and outrageous job performance.
The Gambian people did not vote for Barrow to continue to hire these unprofessional and dishonest citizens but the basis of leadership change in 2016 election is to hire people with integrity and impeccable leadership skills and vision to change the trajectory of the country. Blaming the statehouse Press officials for Mr Barrow’s poor job performance as well as media and communication strategy to propagate positive message about incompetent leader is indeed a displacement of blame despite the fact that Barrow is totally responsible for his poor approval rating or unpopularity. Supporters and political commentators needs to reflect on this simple reason as they continues to promote the agenda of this president . Many so called advisers are also wolves in sheep clothing advocating for this president and as a result we cannot expect to see growing popularity for President Barrow, rather a negative and soaring disapproval among Gambian people. President Barrow continues to commit a political suicide as he associates himself with corrupt officials of former regime to serve as chief advisers and his relentless efforts to get top APRC officials in his inner circle for 2021 presidential election.
President Barrow and his cronies failed to remind themselves that these former corrupt officials were repudiated and disgraced by The Gambian people during last Presidential election. It is still fresh in the minds of genuine citizens that these former corrupt officials were the same people who supported Jammeh during the impasse which led to near catastrophic civil war in The Gambia and massive economic stagnation. Any intelligent leader with clear vision and true understanding of change that was aspired by the Gambian public would have disassociated himself from former corrupt , unprofessional and unprincipled officials who stood against the will and aspirations of majority of citizenry during the political impasse and had supported military dictatorship for 22 years . But Barrow’s lack of leadership skills and intelligent vision allows him to seek political alliance with these former corrupt officials for political expediency. Thus, the change that was envisioned by coalition leaders is now hijacked and taken over by former APRC government officials . This is the biggest betrayal , deception and disrespect for all those who sacrificed their lives for The Gambia.
There is no amount of media campaign which could save president Barrow from being one term president. It is also sheer greed as evidenced by numerous corruption allegations, ignorance of the constitution and lack of integrity which led to Barrow’s unprecedented unpopularity. Barrow’s unpopularity is direct result of the way and manner he carries out his constitutional duty as president , which is not different from former President Jammeh. His lack of respect for the constitution of The Gambia, relentless dishonest propaganda by his cronies and open arrogance whenever he communicates with Gambian people is a genuine reminder of Former President Jammeh’s character. As the chief Gambian bus driver, Barrow is indeed in a confuse state of mind . The recent appointments of sheikh Omar Faye and Yankuba Sonko as Defense and Interior ministers respectively adds more salts to injury . Mr Barrow’s supporters like Momodou Sabally even disapproved his recent cabinet reshuffle. According to Mr Sabally on appointments of Defense and Interior Minister , “this administration just might go down into history as the one that gave us our weakest cabinet and also our most polarised and inefficient public service since the colonial era”. Mr sheikh Omar Faye and Yankuba Sonko were both strong supporters of Jammeh’s lawlessness and dictatorship. These men were supporters of human rights violations and constitutional violations that took place during Jammeh’s regime . Sheikh Omar Faye was responsible for propagating positive image of former President Jammeh in the United States despite substantial economic exploitation and human rights violations that took place in the country while Mr Sonko was used as a puppet to defend human rights violations that took place in the country at the time. The appointments of supporters of human rights violations in recent cabinet reshuffle is also another indication that Mr Barrow is following the footsteps of former President Jammeh to stay in power at any cost and he would not hesitate to use these unprofessional people to safeguard and support his personal agenda. The appointments of former President Jammeh’s officials in key positions like foreign affairs , Defense , Interior , and Finance ministries are also strategic decisions for President Barrow’s entrenchment and perpetuation in power. These appointments further confirms the widespread belief that Barrow is in fact not only working with former corrupt officials for consolidation of his power but also working with APRC officials to use former President Jammeh as a political bargaining tool to gain the support of APRC in the next presidential election and ultimately return of Jammeh to The Gambia in 2021. The implication of these appointments also signifies that APRC regime is back in power since we have the same players in Barrow’s government . This would give opportunity for Jammeh to have direct relationship with President Barrow and knowledge of the inner working of this government. Majority of these former corrupt officials are still loyal to President Jammeh despite their public comments. It is this reason that one could safely speculate that President Barrow is unlikely going to take any drastic initiative against former President Jammeh to face justice either within or outside the country. The final report of Janneh commission is sitting in Barrow’s office without taking any tangible action to implement its recommendations against the former President Jammeh and his cronies. This should send a warning to every citizen that Mr Barrow is concern about his political future but not the supreme interest of The Gambian people . Barrow’s inaction to correct the wrong of the past and his efforts to repeat what had happened in Jammeh’s regime is indeed an insult to liberation struggle and conscience of every genuine Gambian who stood against military dictatorship.
President Adama Barrow’s betrayal of coalition agenda , lack of foresight and leadership skills has already began returning the country back to dictatorship. The country is now in the hands of the very people who were defeated in the last presidential election. President Barrow sold his soul to the devils . It is time to debate and change the trajectory of our country that Barrow and former President Jammeh’s enablers are leading the country to . Mr Barrow and former APRC officials needs to be stopped before economic mismanagement and human rights violations become the dominant issues again in The Gambia.
Thank you.
Maxs