Africa-Press – Gambia. As The Gambia stands at another crossroads in its democratic journey, one question continues to cast a long shadow over the future of the nation: Will President Adama Barrow seek a third term? Legally debatable, morally perilous, and politically destabilizing, the mere suggestion of extending his presidency beyond the two five years ‘term limit’ poses a serious test, not only to our young democracy, but to the very ideals of the New Gambia that President Barrow once promised.
There is a recurring lesson in African politics: that leaders often fail not only in governance, but in their inability to leave power at the right time. The Gambia has witnessed this firsthand in the first and second Republic.
Many remember the story of our founding father, Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, a man of remarkable intellect; international respect, and a pioneer of Gambian statehood. For nearly 30 years, Jawara led this country through post-independence stability, diplomacy, and economic experimentation. Yet in 1992, when he attempted to retire at a political gathering in Mansa Konko, the very people around him; ministers, advisors, loyalists cried at his feet and begged him to stay. They urged him to continue not for the sake of national progress, his legacy or the future of his family, but to protect their own status and interests. They couldn’t imagine a Gambia without Sir Dawda as president. It became a colossal mistake.
He relented at the detriment of his legacy and the future of the Gambia. Two years later, he was overthrown by a young military junta led by Yahya Jammeh in 1994. Jawara, once hailed as a father of the nation, ended up in exile in the UK, his long tenure now shadowed by the perception that he had overstayed and ignored the signs of change. What could have been one of the most dignified legacies in Gambian political history was forever tainted by the tragic mistake of not stepping down when the time was right.
Today, President Barrow stands in the same shoes, and is being surrounded by descendants of the same voices. Those urging him to seek a third term are not motivated by the love of country. They are protecting their own power, contracts, and immunity from accountability. They will cry and kill for him to stay so they could continue their extravagant lifestyles, but they will not cry for him when the day of reckoning comes. As history has shown, these people will not follow him into exile, prison, or disgrace. They will simply move on and kiss off to the next seat of power. This reality is too fresh in our minds for anyone to ignore or forget.
President Barrow has already served nearly ten years. That is more than enough for any democratic leader to leave a mark. Yet, instead of preparing for a smooth and historic transition, whispers of a third term have started to circulate, dangerously feeding a narrative that he alone is capable of leading the country!
This is how democratic gains begin to decay. If President Barrow runs for a third term, he risks doubling down on a myth of his own greatness; winning increasingly sham elections dictated by power of incumbency, and presiding over a government plagued by corruption, incompetence and coverups. Already, accusations of mismanagement and cronyism are piling up as revealed by his own commissions, the National Audit office and the National Assembly. In a third term, they would not just continue, they would worsen. And with each new scandal, the fear of what might happen after leaving office will grow. That fear will push him deeper into a corner, surrounded by fewer loyalists and more opportunists, desperately searching for someone, or anyone who can protect him from accountability once he’s eventually out of office. But by then, it will be too little, too late to salvage his legacy or protect his own personal safety and security as happened to his predecessor.
Yet, there is another path, one filled with honor, history, hope and a legacy that could never be erased in history!
For the first time in Gambian history, the National Assembly has passed a generous presidential retirement package, granting former presidents not just security, but dignity: a fully furnished residence, staff, security details, diplomatic privileges, and a lifelong salary for himself and his family including medical care. Barrow can become the first to benefit from this package, not through exile, not through disgrace, but through peaceful retirement at home, among his people. He will be the most respectable elder statesman to enjoy a lasting legacy!
And beyond national and International recognition, there lies the Moe Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, one of the most prestigious honors for former African presidents who demonstrate democratic leadership and willingly leave power. The prize is not awarded every year, it is reserved only for the exceptional who demonstrates good will and love for democratic gains. President Barrow has a genuine chance of winning it, but only if he walks away on his own terms and the most difficult and crucial times. It is often said; is not how you started but how you ended. Barrow could be a hero both how he started and how he ended. Potentially, there are even more lucrative international responsibilities both within Africa and outside for such a leader to be awarded honors or responsibilities as an example.
By leaving after two terms, Barrow can do what no other Gambian leader has ever done: govern peacefully, lead a transition from dictatorship to democracy, restore Gambia’s image in the international community, step down after ten years, and remain in The Gambia as a free and respected statesman. He can open the door to new leadership, fresh ideas, and a future unburdened by the stagnation of political recycling. He can set the example that democracy in Africa is not a myth, but a lived reality, a standard very few leaders set in Africa. More importantly, he can save his legacy and enjoy the fruits of his ten years of contribution to the Gambia.
President Barrow once made unprecedented history by ending a dictatorship with the backing of the Gambian people. He now has the rare opportunity to make history once again by ending the culture of clinging to power. The New Gambia under his watch was born with promises of change, reform, and democratic renewal. Those promises must not die on the altar of personal ambition.
If President Barrow is truly conscious of history, he would not fall prey to the psychopaths surrounding him who will do anything to keep him in power but will not hesitate to abandon him and his family when the going gets rough.
This is where leadership is truly demonstrated by differentiating between those who are selfishly interested in keeping the status quo for their own benefits, and those who truly care about you and the future of his family! Break the cycle of leaders spending the rest of their lives in exile, lonely and become nothing after decades of riding the highest position in the country!
Let Adama Barrow be remembered as the president who broke the cycle of exile, fear, and authoritarian drift, not the one who repeated it. Those who failed to learn from history and past mistakes are condemned to repeat them. Let him be remembered not as a man who overstayed, but as a leader who knew when it was time to go. That is the legacy that earns respect, dignity and admiration. Mr. President, a genuine critic far away is probably a better ally than the people who pretend to love you only to see you go down in history! The greatest equalizer is time and history!
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