By Makutu Manneh
Madi Jobarteh, a human rights activist, has criticized President Adama Barrow’s response to The Gambia’s electricity crisis, saying the president’s remarks during visits to NAWEC power stations in Kotu and Brikama offered no clear plan for addressing persistent power outages.
Speaking on Kerr Fatou’s Politic Kaacha following protests Monday night over electricity shortages, Mr. Jobarteh described the president’s remarks as troubling and questioned whether his advisers were providing him with an accurate assessment of the country’s power situation.
Mr. Jobarteh also took issue with Mr. Barrow’s description of himself as a peaceful and tolerant president. He argued that such language was inappropriate in the context of public frustration over electricity shortages and could be interpreted as suggesting that the government’s restraint should not be taken for granted.
He said the president should dismiss the energy minister, NAWEC’s managing director, and members of his energy advisory team, arguing that the continued instability of the electricity supply pointed to failures in both policy and advice.
“Several protests over electricity have occurred during President Barrow’s tenure,” Mr. Jobarteh said. “So if anyone is telling the president that the country has enough generation capacity while power remains unstable, then either the president does not understand what capacity means or he is being misled.”
Mr. Jobarteh said it was difficult to reconcile government claims of sufficient generation capacity and reserve equipment with the recurring outages experienced by households and businesses.
He also referred to previous remarks by Information Minister Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, who had described Mr. Barrow as “clueless” before joining his government. Mr. Jobarteh suggested that the minister’s earlier assessment may have been accurate.
Mr. Jobarteh broadened his criticism to what he described as a culture of boastfulness among public officials, accusing some of exaggerating their accomplishments.
“You are there saying, ‘I constructed the Hakalang road, which none of the past governments could do,’” he said. “The arrogance of public officials in this country, saying things about themselves with no basis.”
His comments come amid growing public frustration over electricity disruptions and renewed scrutiny of the government’s management of the country’s power sector.
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