{"id":94110,"date":"2026-02-14T11:51:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T11:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/faal-blames-barrow-for-joblessness-and-rising-costs"},"modified":"2026-02-14T17:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T17:26:07","slug":"faal-blames-barrow-for-joblessness-and-rising-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/faal-blames-barrow-for-joblessness-and-rising-costs","title":{"rendered":"Faal Blames Barrow for Joblessness and Rising Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong> <\/span><b>Essa Mbye Faal, leader of APP-Sobeyaa, has called on women to oppose the re-election of Adama Barrow in the December 5 presidential vote, warning that supporting the incumbent would amount to \u201cdisappointing your children.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Mr. Faal made the remarks during a meeting with a women\u2019s group, where he urged voters to demand change and hold the government accountable for what he described as worsening economic conditions and limited opportunities for young people.<\/p>\n<p>He argued that Gambian youth are being marginalized, dismissing claims that they are unwilling to work. Instead, he pointed to the growing number of young people risking dangerous journeys abroad in search of better prospects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat alone shows they are ready to work,\u201d Mr. Faal said. \u201cWhat they lack are opportunities at home. Give them a chance here, and they will deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Addressing criticism of his confrontational tone, Mr. Faal said his anger stems from systemic failures rather than personal hardship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you are not angry about the state of things in this country, then something might be wrong with you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He cited graduate unemployment, limited career pathways for young people, and what he described as tokenistic approaches to women\u2019s empowerment. He accused the administration of favoring select individuals instead of pursuing inclusive development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am angry because graduates are jobless while football and irregular migration have become the only options left for our youth,\u201d he said. \u201cI am angry because women are sidelined, empowerment is just lip service, and leadership picks favorites instead of lifting Gambian women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Faal also drew attention to the rising cost of living, particularly housing, noting that many families struggle to survive as rents climb while wages remain stagnant. He said it was unrealistic for a worker earning D4,000 a month to sustain a household while paying rent of D8,000.<\/p>\n<p>He accused the Barrow administration of lacking compassion for ordinary citizens and prioritizing its own interests over public welfare.<\/p>\n<p>Concluding his remarks, Mr. Faal warned that re-electing President Barrow would deepen the country\u2019s challenges, urging women to vote for leadership guided by competence and vision rather than personal gain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Gambia<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. Essa Mbye Faal, leader of APP-Sobeyaa, has called on women to oppose the re-election of Adama Barrow in the December 5 presidential vote, warning that supporting the incumbent would amount to \u201cdisappointing your children.\u201d Mr. Faal made the remarks during a meeting with a women\u2019s group, where he urged voters to demand [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":94109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-94110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Faal Blames Barrow for Joblessness and Rising Costs - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Gambia. 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