{"id":95397,"date":"2026-03-29T09:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T09:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/barrow-defends-leadership-claims-only-crime-is-presidency"},"modified":"2026-03-29T10:29:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:29:38","slug":"barrow-defends-leadership-claims-only-crime-is-presidency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/barrow-defends-leadership-claims-only-crime-is-presidency","title":{"rendered":"Barrow Defends Leadership, Claims only Crime is Presidency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong> <\/span><b>President Adama Barrow has said his \u201conly crime\u201d is becoming President of The Gambia, as he responded to critics during the commissioning of a newly acquired Green Ferry vessel at the Barra crossing terminal.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the event on Tuesday, President Barrow said he has not wronged anyone since assuming office, stressing that his administration remains focused on national development and expanding access to public services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have not offended anyone. I have not killed or jailed anyone. I am only focused on my work, and my only crime is becoming president of this country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Gambian leader also dismissed perceptions that political leadership should be reserved for the elite or individuals from privileged backgrounds, arguing that anyone, regardless of origin, can rise to high office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor them, it is only the privileged or elites who should be president in this country, or individuals from areas like Fajara or Pipeline,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>President Barrow further reflected on his personal background, saying his rise to the presidency demonstrates that people from modest origins can attain leadership positions. He also attributed his position to divine will, saying outcomes are determined by God.<\/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. President Adama Barrow has said his \u201conly crime\u201d is becoming President of The Gambia, as he responded to critics during the commissioning of a newly acquired Green Ferry vessel at the Barra crossing terminal. Speaking at the event on Tuesday, President Barrow said he has not wronged anyone since assuming office, stressing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":95396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-95397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","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>Barrow Defends Leadership, Claims only Crime is Presidency - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Gambia. 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