By Musa Bassadi Jawara, Economist & Author
Opinion – Resign from the Presidency, President Adama Barrow, and postpone the December 5 Elections while the decayed and battered institutions are reconstructed and fixed! Where Did You Get 200 Million Dalasi In Barely 4 years in office, and the now-iconic multimillion-dollar mansions on some of the poorest real estate in the world being shown worldwide are an embarrassment!
President Barrow, I called on you in the past to step down when your term expires and preserve your legacy. Now I am calling on you to resign from the presidency and that you must do so without delay!
THE OATH — SCHEDULE 2, 1997 CONSTITUTION [VERBATIM]
I, having been elected to the high office of President of the Republic of The Gambia, do in the name of God swear/solemnly affirm – That I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Republic of The Gambia; That I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of the Republic of The Gambia; That I will at all times preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia; That I will do right to all manner of persons according to law without fear or favour, affection or ill will; That I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct or my official decisions; That I will not, directly or indirectly, communicate or reveal to any person any matter which shall be brought under my consideration or shall become known to me as President of the Republic of The Gambia, except as may be required for the due discharge of my duties as President, and that I dedicate myself to the service and wellbeing of the people of The Gambia; SO HELP ME GOD
That was your vow.
SECTION 68(4) [VERBATIM]
(4) The President shall not- (a) while he or she continues in office as President, hold any other office of profit or emolument whether public or private, occupy any other position carrying the right to remuneration for the rendering of services, or directly or indirectly carry on any trade, business or other undertaking; Provided that the President may undertake and carry on any agricultural business including farming, horticulture, livestock rearing and artisanal fishing; (b) undertake any activity inconsistent with his or her official position or expose himself or herself to any situation which carries with it the risk of a conflict developing between his or her official concerns and his or her private interests; (c) use his or her position as such or use information entrusted to or received by him or her in an official position directly or indirectly to enrich himself or herself or any other person.
WHERE DID YOU GET 200 MILLION IN BARELY 4 YEARS AND THE ICONIC MULTIMILLION DOLLAR MANSIONS IN ONE OF THE POOREST REAL ESTATE LAND IN THE WORLD BEING SHOWN WORLDWIDE?
Mr. President, when you filed your presidential nomination papers to the IEC in 2021 — barely 4 years in office after taking over a bankrupt treasury in 2017 — you declared financial assets of 200 Million Dalasi! Where did you get D200,000,000 in barely 4 years? Your salary in those 4 years was not even D24 Million!
Even 10 years’ salary D60M plus D200M = D260M, still under $4M today. Your two iconic multimillion dollar mansions alone — now being shown worldwide — are valued at well over $4 Million. This is unexplained wealth and prima facie violation of Section 68(4)(c).
THE ELECTRICITY CRISIS IN THE FACE OF SUPER RICHES — BREATHLESS AND LACK OF OXYGEN!
The electricity crisis in the face of the super riches being shown globally by the President has left us breathless and without oxygen! How can a Head of State display multimillion-dollar illuminated mansions to the world while his own people sleep, study, and die in total darkness? NAWEC is dead, businesses are collapsing from blackouts, hospitals cannot store vaccines, students cannot read at night — yet the presidential palaces glow like Christmas every night!
Every institution including NAWEC has been battered, bullied, and interfered with by a corrupt cartel never seen since the birth of our Republic in 1965! From NAWEC to GPA, from Gamtel to the IEC, everything has been captured, crippled, and monetized. This is not governance; it is organized looting.
A ROTTEN SYSTEM THAT NEEDS TOTAL OVERHAUL
The crisis in The Gambia is deep! Economic crisis! A bag of rice now consumes a considerable percentage of a civil servant’s salary. The very organization that is responsible for elections — the IEC — distributed hundreds of millions of taxpayer money to themselves after the last election for consolation. And after the Police High Command investigated, they found probable cause to prosecute, but the matter died in its infancy! The system is rotten and a total overhaul is in order!
If the December 5 elections proceed in the current environment, The Gambia will be plunged into civil unrest, instability, chaos and endless litigations! Therefore, I strongly recommend postponing the December 5 elections and fixing the broken system first!
THE FINAL WORD — TRUTH OR DARKNESS, THERE IS NO FENCE!
This verse says it all:
عَلَيْكُمْ بِالصِّدْقِ فَإِنَّ الصِّدْقَ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْبِرِّ
Be truthful, for truthfulness leads to righteousness.
• Sahih al-Bukhari 6094 • Sahih Muslim 2607 •
On the wealth of President Barrow, the subject of our article this Saturday, you cannot be sitting on the fence! It is a binary choice! You either stick with the truth or you fall in the lying, satanic and darkened category!
Mr. President, return the ill-gotten wealth for Allah to forgive you! The people of The Gambia are suffering. Truthfulness is the only path to redemption.
MY INTERNATIONAL STANDING
I have lived my adult life in Washington, D.C. and maintain deep connections in the corridors of power. The current United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, before becoming U.S. Senator, I frequented at the International Republican Institute (IRI) in Washington, D.C. / Virginia corridor. This article will be sent to his office and to other important global power capitals — ECOWAS, AU, EU, OIC and the UN.
Let the surrogates and security state personnel understand: This author is not cheaply intimidated.
The mansions have spoken. The people have seen. The Constitution has judged.
RESIGN PRESIDENT ADAMA BARROW!
Musa Bassadi Jawara
Economist & Author
Bintou’s Point, Kerewan
West Coast Region
The Gambia
