Africa-Press – Gambia. Landing B. Sanneh, the United Democratic Party’s chairman for the Mansakonko Area Council, on Tuesday pushed back against President Adama Barrow’s recent criticism of opposition chairmen and mayors, challenging the governing party to account for its own record of local development.
Speaking at a UDP nationwide tour meeting in Jarra Soma, Mr. Sanneh questioned what chairmen affiliated with the National People’s Party, the president’s political vehicle, had accomplished in comparison with opposition-led councils. He rejected the notion that opposition leaders merely wait for central government action, arguing instead that they have taken an active role in local governance.
“Your president has nothing to say since he is comparing himself with local governments,” Mr. Sanneh told party supporters. “He cannot achieve what we have done.”
The remarks were part of a broader critique by opposition figures aimed at the Barrow administration’s economic and development priorities. Also addressing the gathering was Yankuba Darboe, the chairman of the Brikama Area Council, who accused the president of mismanaging the economy through asset sales and heavy borrowing, leaving the country burdened with debt.
“This is the situation Barrow put us in,” Mr. Darboe said.
Mr. Darboe pointed to what he described as underutilized farmlands and rising youth unemployment, which he said were fueling migration. He questioned the government’s emphasis on large-scale road construction, arguing that comparable investment in agriculture would have generated jobs, strengthened the economy, and ultimately financed infrastructure development.
“The president has taken billions constructing roads,” he said. “If he put these billions into farmlands, the youth will have work, the country will have money to construct roads, and Gambians will have a good living.”
He also criticized the administration for failing to raise groundnut prices for three consecutive years while approving salary increases for ministers and the president himself. Agriculture, Mr. Darboe said, remains the backbone of the country’s economy and should be treated as such.
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