By Kebba Ansu Manneh & Sheriff Musa Hydara
Gambian President Adama Barrow was sneaked through the backdoor of his Manhattan hotel to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) where he addressed the 77th Session meeting currently underway today Thursday in New York, The Voice reports.
According to sources, the president was escorted through the backdoor by US security officers attached to him due to a massive turnout of protesters who blocked the main entrance of the hotel, demanding a reduction of high commodity prices, ending corruption within the government, price hiking and high cost of living prevailing in the country.
The protesters, who blocked President Barrow from using the frontage of the hotel, were carrying banners and placards variously reading “End to corruption”, “Gambia Women Lives Matters”, “557 days cocaine case is hanging”, “D669 Million corruption scandal must be investigated”, and “cost of living is unaffordable”, among others.
Speaking to The Voice from the protest site in New York, Lamin Sillah, the prominent Gambian and one-time close friend of President Adama Barrow, stated that the protest was necessitated by the unbearable sufferings of Gambians back home who were finding it extremely hard to make their living.
He noted that the country was faced with the growing rise in corruption, mismanagement of public funds, high cost of living and increase in the frequency of killings of innocent Gambians.
According to him, many Gambians were very much disappointed with how the Barrow administration was running the affairs of the country, noting that the regime seemed to have no interest in addressing the suffering of the Gambian people.
According to him, more than 200 Gambians from different States in the US were taking part in the protest with the view to bringing the president and his government to check and balance, adding that protesters came mainly from New Jersey, Boston, Washington, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Massachusetts, who all converged to show their disapproval to the regimes lackluster attitudes towards good governance and upholding the rule of law in the country.
He said patriotic Gambians could not sit idly to see the country sinking due to mismanagement and bad governance, adding that while Gambians continued to suffer back home, President Barrow and his inner circles were not bothered and were only concerned with amassing wealth for themselves.
“Am very proud that Gambians from all walks of life are participating in this protest just for the sake of their country and the sufferings of their fellow citizens back home who are finding life very difficult.
“We are happy that Gambians have responded to our calls by coming to participate in the protest,” Sillah said
