Lare Sisay To Government: Do Not Weaponise State Institutions Against Critics

 

By Sheriff Saidykhan

Lare Sisay, retired Senior Manager at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a leading voice of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), has criticised President Adama Barrow for his continues weaponisation of the state institutions against the opposition voices in the country. 

He made these remarks on Tuesday 13, June 2023 at the West Coast Radio popular Coffee Time show with Peters Gomez. 

In his own words: “The recent example is a UDP MP who filed a case in Bundung against a lady who was insulting , using a tribal carte to pit Mandinka and Jolas against one another. He went to the police station and filed the case. 

The station commander got a called from upstairs, and according to him, the station officer called him in his office  and said I can't do anything about this because upstairs called to say let her go. So this is a weaponisation of the police.

And of course the issue of arresting opponents. Momodou Sabally was arrested  and kept without preferring any charged against him. And others are also facing the same consequences,” he argued. 

He said  President Barrow is consolidating his grip on power, without showing any sign of stepping down. 

“Nobody can do anything about it, because the legal framework allowed him. It is one of the reasons why he killed the draft constitution. 

Things are coming out about what we were speculating  seven years ago. Now it is clearly to everybody  that Barrow want to self-perpetuate, and that is why he is operating on the 1997 constitution,” he said.

On The State Of The Nation Address

The former veteran civil servant said Barrow's recent State of the Nation speech did not address the current challenges facing the nation, adding that he (Adama Barrow) does not have any visionary plans to solve the problems. 

“What the President is writting and informing Gambians, is that our economy is influence by several exogenous and endogenous economic factors and headwinds.

 What he did not tell us is how his government will deal with the headwinds with a specific vision , and a specific set of policies and proposals. He ( Adama Barrow) should have a vision. If he tell us we are in a world where we need to respond to certain external factors. 

When you identified those external factors. You need to tell us how you intend to deal with those external factors; by way of policy, by way of a vision. The policy is anchored on a vision. The Problem with this President is that, he does not have a vision,” he lambasted.

He added: “I think is a shamed! In 2016 when the coalition was put together, and Barrow being elected President, he inherited a unified country, in spirit, in purpose and in objective. 

The objective was to uproot  the ruthless dictatorship. He inherited a United country, and now he is destroying that unity using tribalism and other mechanisms of state power to stay in power,” he concluded.