Government is established in a Republic to serve a sovereign people in whom sovereignty resides. When one serves a people one must know what they need, prioritise them, determine strategic plans to address them, mobilise human and material resources to implement the strategic plans and deliver real development.
On the other hand, governments that are interested in being rulers think and do what is believed to be attractive to the sight. Hence, they build structures that had never been built before even if the living conditions of the people continue to deteriorate. Billions are spent on infrastructural development while the poverty indicators rise.
This is what constitutes cosmetic development. Hence each leader has responsibility to decide which side of the development spectrum one wants to lean on. In our view, the pursuit of real development is the demand of the 2st Century. The pursuit of cosmetic development is what has made Gambia to be classified among the least developed countries since 1965.We will only graduate out of such an existence when we take the route to self–reliant and self-determined development aimed at addressing the real needs and aspirations of our people.
