Jaiteh Slams Government for “Politicizing Development” to Secure Barrow’s Re-election

Amadou Jaiteh, leader of the PROGRESS Movement

By Fatou Sillah

Amadou Jaiteh, leader of the PROGRESS Movement, has accused the government of politicizing national development initiatives in an effort to secure a third-term mandate for President Adama Barrow.

In an interview with West Coast Radio, Jaiteh alleged that government projects are increasingly being framed as political achievements rather than routine obligations to citizens.

“Government is actually politicizing everything just to get a renewal of a new mandate, a third-term mandate for the president,” he said.

Jaiteh argued that development efforts should not be used as campaign tools, emphasizing that delivering public services is a fundamental responsibility of any administration.

“These developments are a responsibility. If they are not delivered, that should be a matter of concern. Taxpayers fund these initiatives and expect nothing less,” he stated.

He further criticized what he described as a recurring pattern of comparing current projects to past administrations, saying such narratives effectively transform development announcements into political campaigning.

“Every time they present something new, they want to compare it to the past; it turns into a political campaign. The people deserve more,” he added.

Jaiteh also took issue with the government’s “Meet the People Tour,” describing it as a constitutional mandate that is being leveraged for political advantage at the expense of public resources.

“It provides an advantage to the president, paid for by taxpayers; he can go countrywide and put his political agenda on the forefront and not even talk about the real issues that affect the communities,” he said.

He disclosed that the Progress Movement intends to either abolish or reform the constitutional provision governing the tour, arguing that it enables the misuse of state resources.

“We are going to remove it from the constitution because once you make it constitutional, then you have now given them the legal right to abuse the system,” Jaiteh asserted.