Africa-Press – Gambia. Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Service, has pushed back against growing criticism from opposition figures who argue that President Adama Barrow’s annual meet-the-people tour has evolved into a partisan exercise.
Speaking in an interview with West Coast Radio, Dr. Ceesay maintained that the tour remains a constitutional obligation and a crucial forum for citizens to articulate their development priorities—regardless of their political affiliation.
“The tour is not politicized to favor the incumbent,” Dr. Ceesay said. “People who are not aligned with the government are given the platform to say what they want to say.”
He acknowledged that politics is naturally intertwined with the tour but argued that this does not undermine its purpose. “You cannot divorce politics from the tour because the whole tour is about governance and accountability,” he said. “The aim is to interface with citizens, understand their issues, and respond to their needs.”
Dr. Ceesay further noted that other countries are looking to The Gambia’s annual outreach model as an example of direct engagement between the presidency and the population. The framework, he said, ensures that citizens can speak openly with the head of state and hold the government to account.
“Countries are trying to emulate what we are having in Gambia as a constitution for the president, at least once a year, to go and meet the people, interact with them, interface with them, listen to their concerns, but also they can hold them accountable,” he said.
Responding to complaints about the cost and logistics of the tour, he insisted that the benefits outweigh the concerns. The tour, he said, strengthens transparency and provides a direct channel for communities to communicate with the country’s leadership. “It is good for accountability,” he added.
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