{"id":95433,"date":"2026-03-30T09:20:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/saho-criticizes-barrows-address-predicts-udp-leader-next"},"modified":"2026-03-30T09:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:59:09","slug":"saho-criticizes-barrows-address-predicts-udp-leader-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/saho-criticizes-barrows-address-predicts-udp-leader-next","title":{"rendered":"Saho Criticizes Barrow&#8217;S Address, Predicts UDP Leader Next"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong> <\/span><b>Sulayman Saho, a National Assembly member for Central Badibou and organizing secretary of the United Democratic Party, sharply criticized President Adama Barrow\u2019s State of the Nation Address, arguing that it failed to reflect the economic and social realities facing Gambians.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In an interview, Mr. Saho dismissed key elements of the president\u2019s speech, including official figures on economic growth and inflation, and questioned the government\u2019s account of progress across several sectors.<\/p>\n<p>He went further, asserting\u2014without providing details\u2014that the next State of the Nation Address would not be delivered by Mr. Barrow but instead by the leader of his own party, ANM Ousainu Darboe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe content of the speech does not align with the realities on the ground,\u201d Mr. Saho said. \u201cYou talk about GDP growth of 5.9 percent\u2014is that the reality? You say inflation has declined, but prices are skyrocketing.\u201dMr. Saho said the government\u2019s economic narrative was at odds with the rising cost of living, which has become a central concern for many households.<\/p>\n<p>He also raised doubts about the impact of government-backed agricultural initiatives, including projects aimed at improving food security. While the president cited progress in the sector, Mr. Saho said tangible results were not evident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to see the outcomes,\u201d he said. \u201cFarmers are still struggling to access seeds and fertilizers. Food security is not what is being portrayed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lawmaker further criticized the government for what he described as a lack of transparency on fiscal measures, including a recent tax increase. He said the administration had not adequately explained the rationale behind the policy to the public.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are leakages in the system, and the recent tax increment was not properly justified,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Saho also questioned the state of the country\u2019s health care system, acknowledging the construction of new facilities but arguing that many lacked the staffing and equipment necessary to function effectively.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you call something a hospital, it should meet certain standards,\u201d he said. \u201cThe buildings alone are not enough.\u201d<\/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. Sulayman Saho, a National Assembly member for Central Badibou and organizing secretary of the United Democratic Party, sharply criticized President Adama Barrow\u2019s State of the Nation Address, arguing that it failed to reflect the economic and social realities facing Gambians. In an interview, Mr. Saho dismissed key elements of the president\u2019s speech, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":95432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-95433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-parties","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>Saho Criticizes Barrow&#039;S Address, Predicts UDP Leader Next - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Gambia. Sulayman Saho, a National Ass ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/saho-criticizes-barrows-address-predicts-udp-leader-next\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saho Criticizes Barrow&#039;S Address, Predicts UDP Leader Next\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Gambia. 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