On 26 March, President Adama Barrow delivered his annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the National Assembly. For many Gambians, it felt familiar – another long list of inputs, promises, and statistics that do not reflect the daily struggles of ordinary people. The Gambia For All (GFA) believes the nation deserves more than recycled speeches and selective storytelling. Gambians deserve leadership that is honest about the challenges we face and serious about solving them.
The President boasted of a 5.9% GDP growth rate and a decline in inflation. Yet every Gambian who visits the market, pays school fees, or tries to keep the lights on knows that living standards continue to fall. Inflation may have slowed on paper, but prices remain painfully high. A statistic cannot feed a family, and it cannot hide the hardship people face every day.
The president claimed improvements in groundnut and cereal production. What he did not say is that his administration has presided over a collapse in agricultural productivity. Groundnut output last year was barely 60% of what it was under the previous Jammeh regime. No serious government should celebrate such a decline. Farmers deserve policies that lift them out of poverty, not speeches that seek to gloss over failures. President Barrow said he was elected “to change systems.” After nearly a decade in office, Gambians see the opposite: continuity of dysfunction.
The recent National Assembly’s Special Select Committee exposed serious misconduct in the management of forfeited assets belonging to Jammeh – yet no accountability followed. The government claims to have implemented 60 TRRC recommendations, but the majority remain untouched. Transitional justice cannot be selective, delayed, or politicized. It is troubling that the president speaks boldly about fighting corruption when the Anti-Corruption Commission was only confirmed in December 2025 – eight years into his tenure. Corruption did not wait for oversight; it flourished. Countless audit reports have documented misuse of public resources. Activating a commission on the eve of an election raises legitimate questions about motive.
The President briefly acknowledged irregular migration, calling it a loss of our youth. He is right – but he failed to confront the root cause. Gambians are not leaving because they want to; they are leaving because they see no opportunities at home. Celebrating a handful of overseas placements does nothing for the thousands risking their lives crossing the Atlantic.
GFA believes Gambians deserve a government that matches honesty with action. A government that:
- Makes the cost of living affordable through real economic reforms;
- Revives agriculture with modern tools, fair pricing, and farmer-centred policies;
- Creates jobs at home that allow the young people to build their future with dignity.
- Delivers quality healthcare and education for every family.
- Implements the TRRC recommendations fully and transparently;
- Fights corruption consistently, not selectively;
- Completes the constitutional reform that Gambians were promised.
Gambians deserve a government that listens, learns, and leads with integrity. They deserve a future built on opportunity for all, justice, and national renewal. They deserve a country where progress is not announced in speeches but felt in their homes, markets, and communities.
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