“It’s Uphill Task for Barrow to Convince Gambians” DA Jawo By Almamo Kamaso

Demba Ali Jawo had been a prominent journalist both in the first and second republics, including being President of the Gambia Press Union (GPU) for two consecutive terms. He was appointed the first Minister of Information and Communication Infrastructure in the new government formed by President Adama Barrow after the defeat of the Jammeh regime in 2016, cast doubt as how Barrow can convince Gambians that he is the man.

This is an excerpt from an exclusive interview with Demba Ali Jawo , which full text will come in our  Fridays edition.

The former minister of Information said  in response to a question on  what his  take is on the chances of Barrow winning the 20201 Presidential elections; he said  looking at the trend, it would be quite an uphill task for him to convince Gambians that he is the right person to lead this country for another five years.

It is often said that in politics, even a week is a long time. Therefore, it would not be easy to forecast President Barrow’s chances in 2021. Political fortunes change with circumstances.

In as why he spares Barrow, the former minister a big critics of the two regimes before Barrow said It is not a question of sparing the Barrow regime, but that one should understand that as he was a member of the administration until 2018, it would be disingenuous on his part to immediately start criticising the very regime that he was a member. Jaw said that  would look like venting  his  anger for his  removal from office.

“I am however by nature a critic and therefore, I am not ruling out criticising the regime or anything else I feel not being done right”.

Commenting on the new draft Constitution,   like everyone else, there are certain provisions of the draft Constitution that he would have wanted changed or removed, but generally, despite all those shortcomings, he feels that it is a good document that reflects the aspirations of Gambians. It is a big improvement on the 1997 Constitution, which was tailor-made to suit the whims and caprices of former President Yahya Jammeh.

 Editor’s Note: The full Interview which touches a wide ranging issues will be published in our Friday’s edition don’t miss it