Please be informed that the President of the Republic of The
Gambia has a very demanding job. The 1997 Constitution outlines many roles and responsibilities
that a President need to execute in making The Gambia the last place of hope on
earth. This role requires a president to be an inspiring example for the Gambian
people and stands for the highest values and ideals of the country.
Presidency is the action of leading people in a country
towards achieving goals and objectives. The President of the state do this by
influencing his citizenry behaviors in several ways through setting up a clear
vision for the country. According to the idea of transformational leadership,
an effective leader is a person who does the following; creates an inspiring
vision of the future, motivates and inspires people to engage with that vision.
The last time I checked your administration have lost touch
with the people of The Gambia and have lost ability to maintain order, command
and respect for the rule of law. This is
leading people to take the law into their own hands. With weak governance, and
lack of education and leadership some Gambian people have misinterpreted the
notion of democracy as having the freedom and right to act as they please
without due regard for others.
It is one year now your administration is yet to demonstrate
any leadership or clear direction. This
is believed to be an oversight due to your lack of familiarity and
understanding of the existing constitution.
To my information the ministerial position for Defense also remains
unfilled and has therefore been attached to the office of the President? Is it to be assumed therefore that Barrow
occupies the roles of President; Commander in Chief and Defense Minister at the
same time? To date there is lack of clarity over this issue.
I submit to you that education is widely regarded as
essential to economic growth, national development and overall prosperity. In
The Gambia, education is valued very highly and theoretically given a high
priority. Strangely enough, however, the teachers responsible for educating
Gambia’s youngsters are not valued that extremely as expected compared to other
jobs. Considering the rapid increase of goods and services, you would think
that teachers would be among the highest paid professionals. Yet teachers are
compensated unreasonably to their advanced education levels and are disrespected
by many people.
If the salary for teachers were higher, then more people
would want to join the profession. With more competition for teaching, the best
people would be the ones who are ultimately to be hired. With better teachers
at schools, more students would hopefully connect with what they are learning
and want to go on to a higher education. With more education, graduates from
the University of The Gambia would be better prepared to go out as far beyond Fatoto.
However, if we want to have a better educational system where
students learn to develop themselves and strive hard to learn the values of
life, we must focus our energy and resources on transforming the University of
The Gambia and The Gambia College for good where it all began.
The Gambia has a big youthful population, majority of whom
are poor, uneducated and are unemployed. Most of these youth have resorted to
drug abuse causing high prevalence rate of mental illnesses. The female youth
resort to prostitution as a quick way of earning money for a leaving.
To realize the dividend, your administration must invest in
the empowerment, education and employment of her young people. There are
thousands of young people in The Gambia today, representing a staggering amount
of human potential. Yet too many of them are trapped in poverty, with few
opportunities to learn or to earn a decent standard living.
Furthermore, your administration should consider steps to
effectively integrate youth in political processes by taking advantage of new
technologies. It is clear that we need to find another way forward.
Politicians, decision-making institutions and influencers must engage in more
open and transparent dialogue with young people that both elevates their voices
and builds the trustworthiness of the institutions they engage with
The Gambia Youth are well energetic in performing their tasks
and would be key to the growth and development of the nation. They are also
well aware of the technological advancement such as various app which makes
work easier. The youth should be given the opportunity to prove themselves by
making politics accessible to them.
Saidina Alieu Jarjou
Blogger/Political
Activist
prof.jarjou@gmail.com
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