By Makutu Manneh
A Gambian political analyst, Lamin Juwara, said in a recent interview that voters in The Gambia have historically not chosen their presidents based on policy issues, arguing that it took more than two decades for many citizens to recognize the problems associated with the rule of former President Yahya Jammeh.
Speaking on Politic Kaacha, Mr. Juwara said that despite persistent economic difficulties, governance failures, and documented human rights abuses, Mr. Jammeh continued to win elections for 22 years. “All of these issues were there,” he said, “but Jammeh kept winning.”
Mr. Juwara questioned what he described as a contradiction in current political discourse, noting that some of the same critics who fault President Adama Barrow’s administration for corruption and poor governance also predict that Mr. Barrow will win the December 5 presidential election.
“The same people highlighting corruption and poor governance still say the president will win, making you wonder if they are serious when they were talking about corruption. You will want to question that,” Juwara said.
He pointed to public remarks by President Barrow acknowledging the existence of corruption, including a statement that corruption is “as old as humankind.” Mr. Juwara also cited comments by the minister of health, Ahmed Lamin Samateh, who told lawmakers that corruption existed within his ministry and that it could not be fully eradicated.
“So it exists, but you will not expect them to admit to it. They will always come with countermeasures,” he said.
Drawing comparisons with the previous administration, Mr. Juwara recalled that Mr. Jammeh often blamed former President Dawda Jawara for corruption. Yet, he noted, subsequent findings by the Janneh Commission revealed extensive financial misconduct linked to Mr. Jammeh himself.
Mr. Juwara said that while corruption under Mr. Jammeh appeared to be tightly controlled from the center, he believes it has become more dispersed under the current government.
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