By Fatou Sillah
Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, has warned that electing Talib Ahmed Bensouda as president would turn The Gambia into a “family affair.” He accused the current Kanifing Municipality (KM) mayor of transforming the council into a family-run dynasty.
“We know currently that the KM has been turned into a dynasty. What I can tell you is that someone like that, if given a country, will turn this country into a dynasty. It’s going to be a family affair, and Gambians are not sleeping,” Dr. Ceesay stated.
When asked to name the relatives of Talib currently working at KMC, Dr. Ceesay declined, explaining that he did not wish to target individuals currently working with Talib. However, he expressed concern about Talib’s potential to govern, claiming that his leadership would lead to a dynastic regime.
“What I know is that there are tendencies that a guy like that, if given the chance to govern this country, will transform this country into a dynasty. And that is a fact, and we know what is happening. So for me, I think for him to come here and sit and try to give false information and lie to the public, it’s very disappointing,” he said.
Dr. Ceesay also expressed his disappointment with Talib’s statement about President Barrow’s reelection, calling it an “authoritarian” comment. He described it as “very disingenuous, dishonest, and tasteless.”
“And I was really taken aback when I heard that the president’s reelection will bring an authoritarian regime in this country. That was a very, very disingenuous, very dishonest, very bad statement, very tasteless statement,” he said.
In response to Talib’s criticisms regarding farmers, Dr. Ceesay defended the Barrow administration’s efforts, emphasizing that no government has done as much for farmers as the current one. He revealed that nearly a billion dalasis were spent on agricultural support, including buying groundnuts at D38,000 per ton, despite reselling them at D20,000 per ton, which resulted in a subsidy of D18,000 per ton.
“What we have spent on farmers, no government has done on farmers. We spent almost nearly close to a billion Dalasi to help farmers last season. We bought the groundnuts at D38,000 per ton, even though we have to resell it at D20,000 per ton,
“It means that we subsidized D18,000 per ton. We bought the price of fertilizer per bag, D2,600 almost, and we resold it to farmers at D1,150, losing by almost D1,500, which is subsidized. Apart from that, the provision of seeds, the support with tractors, the flow of land, all these things are done for farmers, and farmers appreciate it. I think let farmers speak for themselves,” he said.
Dr. Ceesay further criticized Talib, asserting that he is not an advocate for farmers and urged him to focus on his responsibilities at KMC rather than making political attacks.
“He is not the advocate for farmers. Let him focus on his job at the KM. And also, one thing he also mentioned, which I think was very disingenuous, and it was an attempt to really deceive and play some dirty politics, which he is not known for,” he said.