Africa-Press – Gambia. Mindless submission to political parties, or party leaders, requires one to never see anything wrong with their political party, or the actions of their party leaders or prominent party members. You’ll defend anything your party and its members do because that’s the first rule of the political herd mentality.
The other rules include:
1. Always align yourself with the political party and prominent party members on all issues. If your party says the sky is red, make sure you say the sky you saw is indeed red.
2. Refuse to ever see any wrong with your party or actions of your party leaders. They must be treated with godlike status after all. If asked to name what your party leader or political party can improve on, simply blame others and never answer the question
3. Support your own at all costs and never deviate from the party line even if it makes no sense to anyone else but your party members. That is solidarity on steroids.
4. Speak against anyone not in your party and don’t ever see any positive in anything others do. After all, your party is the only right party for the nation.
5. Take no responsibility for anything; it is always the fault of others after all. And saying you were wrong means you will burn in hell plus taking responsibility is a crime
6. Be able to Gamsplain everything your party or party leaders do regardless of how wrong they may be. Gamsplaining is best when you can regurgitate party slogans that mean nothing.
7. Insist on personalising the problems facing your nation. Never focus on the actual issues because you cannot really articulate party programmes that are supposedly panaceas to every ill the nation faces, always make sure you make it about other persons
8. Treat everyone that is not in your party with suspicion; they belong to the others after all. Join all WhatsApp groups of your party and make sure you always call someone in your party when you see someone write something you think is about you. And if your party members associate with someone you think is an enemy of your party, make sure you report them
9. Make sure you always contribute to party affairs by wearing t-shirts and promoting party agendas that you don’t really have to understand. See what the smart ones in your party think of issues before you jump on the bandwagon.
10. Always insist that there are no independents. Your politics must be a zero-sum game. See politics in everything. If the guy says his name is Malloh bu tanga, check to see what party uses that as a slogan!
11. Pretend that none of the above rules applies to you and get angry with me for talking about you.
Alhagie Saidy Barrow
USA
The Gambia’s crossroads: Transactional politics or transformative governance?
Dear Editor,
The Gambia’s December 2016 election marked a seismic shift, as citizens resoundingly rejected Yahya Jammeh’s autocratic regime, demanding accountability and renewal. This watershed moment, fuelled by collective defiance during the post-election impasse, symbolised a nation’s yearning to transcend a legacy of repression and economic stagnation. Yet, as initial euphoria fades, the imperative for transformative governance grows urgent. The public’s mandate is clear: dismantle the transactional politics of patronage and inertia, and instead forge systems that reimagine the state’s role in fostering equity, productivity, and sustainable growth. The question now is whether the Barrow administration will channel this momentum into structural reform or succumb to the seduction of short-term fixes.
Central to this transformation are three economic pillars: fiscal consolidation through streamlined expenditure and efficient public sector operations; strategic debt resolution via rescheduling and innovative instruments; and growth anchored in agriculture, tourism, and fisheries. However, recent policy decisions notably the Ministry of Trade’s push to prioritise flour imports over domestic production risk undermining these goals. Import-centric strategies, while superficially easing consumer prices, erode industrial potential, suppress job creation, and perpetuate dependency. Local manufacturing, particularly in sectors like agribusiness, is not merely an economic lever but a catalyst for vertical integration; critical for poultry self-sufficiency, as byproducts like animal feed underpin ancillary industries. By favouring imports of subsidised foreign goods, the state stifles homegrown value chains, distorts pricing, and surrenders long-term sovereignty for ephemeral price reductions.
The Ministry of Trade’s rationale demands scrutiny. Price volatility, often manipulated by importers to dominate markets, offers illusory relief while crippling domestic producers.
Worse, such policies contradict the government’s industrialisation agenda, deterring investors who seek regulatory coherence. Gambia cannot afford myopic policymaking; sustainable development requires protecting nascent industries and aligning trade practices with broader macroeconomic visions. The Barrow administration must choose: Will it replicate the extractive merchant models of the colonial era, or cultivate an economy where local innovation drives prosperity? Transformative governance demands courage to prioritise structural change over transactional convenience. The world is watching whether this “New Gambia” will rise as a beacon of self-determination or lapse into old patterns, trading tomorrow’s potential for today’s expediency.
The jury is out Gambia opts for a transactional government hence the corruption and scandals plaguing our government.
Nyang Njie
Banjul
Source: The Standard Newspaper | Gambia
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