Africa-Press – Gambia. President Adama Barrow on Friday rejected mounting criticism that his annual “Meet the People Tour” has increasingly taken on the tone and trappings of a political campaign, insisting the cross-country visits are meant to foster dialogue with citizens, not electoral mobilization.
Speaking at a community meeting in Sifoe, in Kombo South, the president said the tour’s purpose is to “have conversations with Gambians,” and that any formal political activities would come only after its conclusion.
Barrow, who has faced accusations from opponents that he is using state resources to bolster his political standing, pushed back sharply by invoking his early years in office, when he governed in coalition with some of his current critics.
“I was in government with them in 2017 and 2018,” he said. “I did the ‘Meet the People Tour’ with them, and at the time there was a scarcity of yellow fabric in the country. They made everything yellow—‘Ashsobe.’ These same people are now saying we are politicizing the tour.”
The president said he has already instructed the Minister of Works Ebrima Sillah to identify five villages in Kombo for a political rally once the government tour ends. “We are not doing politics yet,” he said. “That is why we only touch on it lightly. We will come back to do politics—we are, after all, a political government.”
Barrow added that any political outreach by his administration would rest on “truth, trust, peace, development, and what benefits the people,” framing the impending campaign activities as an extension of his governance agenda rather than a diversion from it.
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