Foroyaa has been following the Senegalese media to get grassroots opinion on the closure of the border. Initially, there were demands for the Senegalese government to take harsher actions as a sign of retaliation for the introduction of some of charges by the Gambia on Senegalese transporters.
Apparently, as the president of ECOWAS, the Senegalese President, Macky SALL, may have considered it wise to leave the transport unions to react the way they did. The fact that the security apparatus in Senegal tends to collaborate shows that the Senegalese state is not in favour of opening the border unless the Gambia government returns to the status quo.
Now the people of the two countries are suffering from the undesirable state of affairs.
The Senegalese media is no longer focusing on the problem as they were doing initially which shows that coping strategies are evolving.
If the border is closed for long, many small and big businesses on both sides are likely to be seriously affected and poverty is likely to increase.
Flight of capital should also be expected. Something needs to give way.
Political leadership is designed to end hardship and not to exacerbate it.
