By Landing Colley
The government of The Gambia-led by President Adama Barrow has once again received a zero mark for failing to create jobs to reduce the rate of unemployment in the country since he came into power in 2017.
Speaking to this reporter in an interview, Mr John Charles Njie, Chairman of TANGO said the Barrow-led government has failed to create employment while he described his administration’s food distribution as a sign of myopic for African governments.
“Before government will distribute bag of rice to people in the provinces why could they not do something that will ensure people have enough income to buy the rice on their own for the next 12 months,” he asked rhetorically.
“The thinking of governments in Africa is so myopic, instead of investing in the lives of people for them to develop they just keep giving them fish, as a saying goes ‘teach a man to fish before giving them the fish,” he said
According to him, instead of looking at their holistic need they are looking at their one need and that is food citing that everything African cares about is food and that is the problem with regards to development.
Mr Njie said bluntly that government could have done much better if they really intended to support and help this nation by giving support to people on their businesses that will help them to earn income so that they can buy bag of rice on their own rather ‘giving them a bag that will not even take them a month,” he added.
“There are lots of irresponsibility among people likewise lack of leadership from the government [because] when they went to the province for the burial of former IGP, they all witnessed what happened at that funeral. Though people put on facemasks but there was no social distancing. The government should try as much as possible to do what is right by taking responsibilities and show leadership with regards to covid-19,” he lamented.