By Fatou Sillah
During the parliamentary debate on President Barrow’s State of the Nation Address on Monday, Alhagie Babou Ceesay, National Assembly Member (NAM) for Sabach Sanjal, urged Gambians to recognize the government’s achievements in agriculture and infrastructure development. He highlighted the transformative efforts of the administration and encouraged citizens to appreciate the progress made under President Barrow’s leadership.
“The President has made it very clear in his statement that the Gambia we have today is different from the Gambia of the past. And that is a fact,” Ceesay stated.
Focusing on agriculture, he noted that government interventions, including fertilizer subsidies and improved access to electricity, have positively impacted farmers’ incomes.
“Last year, a farmer who was buying rice for D2,300 after selling a bag of groundnut for D2,300 this year, the same farmer is selling the same bag of groundnut for D2,300 and will buy a bag of rice for D1,600 in Sabach Sanjal. How much money is the government putting into your pocket as a farmer and as a citizen, for that matter?” he explained.
Ceesay also underscored advancements in road construction and local infrastructure projects, emphasizing that these developments are largely funded domestically rather than relying on international aid.
“Most of these transformations are all from our Gambia Local Funding, our own funding, and they are trying to strengthen domestic resource mobilization,” he said.
The NAM further encouraged citizens to participate actively in national development rather than focusing solely on criticism. “If you love this country and if you have this country in your heart, he has given you the opportunity to come and join him; he has a place for you,” he said.
He further emphasized, “So you don’t need to be a president to also support or play a part in the development of this country. If you know that you love the country and you are a specialist in economics, go to the Ministry of Finance and work there. If you are a lawyer, go to the Ministry of Justice, but not those lawyers who call themselves lawyers and then loot our country, and then at the end of the day, you come here and start criticizing our government,” he said.
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