The problems of The Gambia are quite serious and the Barrow administration has to give them the attention they deserve. In 2023 imports amounted to D51 billion while exports amounted to a mere D864 million while re-export stands at 4.3 billion, giving a trade deficits of D46 billion; the budget deficit for 2024 is 4.45 billion dalasi, nearly half of the youthful population are unemployed, the value of the dalasi is plummeting, inflation is 11.7 percent, poverty rate is 53.4 percent. D7.5 billion dalasi has been budgeted for debt service payment (about a quarter of the budget and approximately equal to the total budget of education, health and agriculture put together). Women gardeners are crying for a market for their vegetables while we import vegetables. We can go on and on.
This is what the president should focus on, not the gossips as to whether he is stepping down and who is to replace him. The arrests and detention of citizens because of what they say should stop.
Instead of going to court on such trivial matters, the president should strengthen the media by repealing all obnoxious laws that impact negatively on the media in order to expand the democratic space.
