The Leader of the United Democratic Party Ousainou Darboe has branded President Adama Barrow as a heartless leader, who is living a flamboyant lifestyle at the expense of impoverished Gambian taxpayers. Mr. Darboe was speaking over the weekend during his party’s Congress.
While Gambians are battling with abject poverty, massive unemployment, collapsing healthcare sector, according to Darboe, Barrow has allocated himself a monthly food allowance of over D4 million dalasis.
“Our country today is saddled with a President and a leadership that subordinates the urgent and life sustaining needs of the citizens to the unseen, all scandalous allocations of the very scarce resources of the personal needs of the President and his cronies. There is no better example of this than farmers and the vital sector of agriculture, upon which three quarters of our people depend for their livelihood are treated in the 2021 budget,” the former Gambian Vice President lamented.
Darboe says Barrow’s maintenance is becoming unbearable, as it is costing the state several thousands of dalasis per day.
“How can it be just or moral that the President of this country is being paid a salary of D250,000 a month and can turn around and further allocate himself D150,000 dalasis a day to spend on food. What kind of unheard of gluttony would possess a leader of one of the world poorest country to spend more money on his personal food than is allocated for the medicine and equipment of our underfunded hospitals,” he further lamented.
Darboe added that vital sectors such as agriculture and Health have been neglected by the Barrow administration. He said the State House has more budgetary allocation than the Ministry of Agriculture.
“In total, this President proposed to spend D627 million dalasis on his office but allocating only D402 million dalasis to the entire ministry of agriculture. That is an outrage that every Gambian must refuse to accept because it condemns the majority of our population to poverty and neglect while their heard earned money is being schemed off and wasted by an uncaring administration,” the UDP leader asserted.
Darboe has been elected as the UDP leader and flag bearer in the upcoming 2021 elections. Since the advent of the UDP, Darboe has remained as the party’s leader and flag bearer.
The UDP was formed in 1996.