The most unfortunate incident that is confronting the Barrow administration is the Farato incident. The arrest and prosecution of Lamin Darboe, Sainey Bayo, Alieu Touray, Ebrima Secka, Alieu Faal, Bakary Manneh and Alieu Faal has now given birth to a new reality.
The election that brought President Barrow to power and the other that gave birth to a new national assembly are now behind us. What type of country is to follow is now the question. It is very clear from the arrestees of the Farato incident that ethno linguistic (tribal) origin is not significant in state administration. Political affiliation is also immaterial. The arrestees belong to different groupings. However they are all in custody because of land dispute and the manner of land administration.
Since the change occurred many did point out that people were giving different interpretations of what democracy was. Some argued that there was a tendency to take the law into one’s own hands. Instead of educating the people in order to have a desired outcome as the coalition did during the impasse, Gambians resorted to the blame game. Instead of providing solutions to address burning issues like land disputes, state administrators continued as before.
The Farato incident therefore should be a wakeup call. GRTS should now be utlised to educate the Gambian people on all issues of importance to their general welfare.
Institutions should be established to address all burning issues. One must do everything necessary to handle the Farato incident in its status of national reconciliation and prevent recurrence.
