By Astou Jawara
“We observed that the constitutionally mandated ‘Meet the People Tour’ was sometimes used by the President [H.E. Adama Barrow] to campaign for his party [NPP’s] candidates,” the anti-corruption crusader Mr. Marr Nyang, Founder and Executive Director of Gambia Participates, told members of the press on Thursday, 31 March 2022, during a press conference held at Metzy Residence Hotel.
Gambia Participates is a youth-led Civil Society Organization (CSO) that focuses on enhancing transparency and accountability in the public sector; inter alia “fighting against corruption in The Gambia by leveraging modern digital tools and other methods to track the expenditures of the government, and to engage people on these expenditures”.
Thursday’s media engagement on the ‘methodology and findings of Gambia Participates’ ‘Long-Term Observers’ across the country, saw the Executive Director shared with the press, the report of the organisation’s Long-term observation of the pre-election activities.
Nyang pointed out to them that the electoral cycle was the perfect timing for President Barrow to “use state resources” to conduct what was fully supposed to be apolitical, adding this created power inequality and provided unfair political advantages to the incumbent’s party and candidates.
“The Meet the People Tour is a state-funded activity whose objectives were partly defeated for political propaganda, thus violating section 91(b) of the Elections Act, and section 222 (15) of the 1997 constitution”, he underlined.
On abuse of state resources, he claimed that 8% of Observers witnessed the use of public resources during political campaigns, mostly state-owned vehicles. These were most frequent in Foni Bondali, Illiassa, Kombo South and Old Yundum, the head of Gambia Participates and Public Budget Research expert disclosed.
“Reports were received from Banjul Central, Banjul North and Banjul South constituencies. From the Greater Banjul, observers reported the use of state-owned vehicles by the NPP delegates at the nomination of Sammy Njie, Mohammed Ndow and Ousman Wada on March 10 2022.
“The Minister of Fisheries, Mr James Gomez was also seen attending the nominations during office working hours using state-owned vehicles,” he further reported. Nyang also highlighted their recommendations to IEC, Viz., to increase voter education efforts, particularly in underserved communities, regularize the use of state resources during elections as well as increase communication improvement, and also to frequently utilize its social media platform for communication and the use of info-graphics.
Gambia Participates has deployed sixty-five (65) Long-Term Observers (LTOs) stationed in all the 53 constituencies to monitor the nomination and political campaigns ahead of the April 9th Parliamentary elections.
Each LTO observes the political activities in their constituency and reports back to Gambia Participates, while the 12 Regional Focal Points supervise GP’s observation mission in the 7 Regions of the Gambia.
Prior to their deployment, Executive Director Nyang informed, a refresher training was conducted for the observers on GP’s election observation mission methodology, observation reporting tools and code of conduct.
Meanwhile, this medium could refresh that, the Director of Press and Public Relations (DPPR) at the presidency Madam Amie Bojang-Sissoho, in her recent response to an article authored by the former Information and Communication Minister under the Barrow dispensation, Mr. Demba Ali Jawo, better known as DA, critiquing the same ‘Meet the People Tour’, defended inter alia, “The author [DA] should not forget that wherever the Head of State is on The Gambian territory, the State apparatus has a responsibility towards him and deserves the services. That is a privilege he has as President.”
The President’s Press Director further argued, “President Barrow’s nationwide tour this time is to thank the voters. Gambians could recall that he canvassed for their votes, and about 90% of those who turned out voted for him.
“Moreover, his party and his allies have put up candidates, and he would campaign for his party to win the majority in the National Assembly. What is the abuse of incumbency in that?
“To demonstrate that President Barrow is not an abuser of incumbency, he got the private vehicles that he would use for his purely political party dominated missions.” Bojang-Sissoho also held that, as the Secretary-General (of NPP), President Barrow “ensures that he and his party take care of his party officials and militants during the tour. That does not stop the State from taking its responsibility towards him as a sitting President”.
