By Fatou Sillah
Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, The Gambia’s minister of information, media, and broadcasting services, said in a radio interview that he never described President Adama Barrow as “clueless,” arguing that his past criticism was aimed at the government’s actions rather than the president personally.
Speaking on West Coast Radio, Dr. Ceesay addressed remarks that have resurfaced from his time in the opposition, saying they had been misinterpreted.
“No, I never said Barrow was a clueless president,” he said. “I don’t want to go back to that, I said; what the government was doing, they seemed to be clueless. There is a difference between what they are doing; they seem to be clueless, and somebody’s clueless.”
Dr. Ceesay, who was a prominent government critic before joining Mr. Barrow’s administration, said many of his earlier assessments were formed without firsthand knowledge of how the government functions. Serving in office, he said, has given him a broader understanding of policymaking and the challenges of governance.
He acknowledged that some of the positions he took while in the opposition were based on incomplete information, adding that his perspective changed after assuming office.
“When I came into government, I saw the light” he said. “When I saw the light, I realized that when you are outside in the dark, what you think and what you assume, and when you are inside, what you see is different.”
Dr. Ceesay said his experience as a political science lecturer, an opposition figure, and now a cabinet minister has given him both an academic and practical understanding of governance.
That combination of experience, he said, has reinforced his belief that governing is often far more complex than it appears from outside government.
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