By Saul Saidykhan
It’s no secret that Adama Barrow and his clique hate, intensely dislike, or have real contempt for most diaspora Gambians. We need not speculate about this or play lawyers by tagging such as “allegations” because they told us openly.
Yet, using easily accessible data from the Bretton Woods institutions and the Barrow government itself, the importance of the Gambian diaspora to the country’s survival cannot be exaggerated.
As could be seen from the attached table I’ve put together that summarize Diaspora Remittances into 4 categories by year from 2017 to 2025:
1.) By US Dollar amount in million; 2.) Percentage of Total GDP; 3.) Yearly percentage increase in remittances; 4.) Gambia’s REAL GDP growth rate percentages.
To those who understand figures, this table speaks volumes. To those unfamiliar, just compare the Real GDP growth rates versus the Remittance Increment rates year over year. Except for 2024, the remittance uptick far outpaces the real GDP growth of the economy in the NPP era. The significance? In a nutshell, without our remittances, there would have been ZERO real GDP growth since 2017.
What this tells us is that Barrow is unfit to continue leading our country. From remitting $160 million USD in 2017, we sent back more than FIVE times that amount last year! And unlike the so-called “Development Partners”, our contributions have no strings attached or debt traps designed to keep us as modern age slaves. A true patriotic leader will actively court and show respect to such a uniquely vital constituency.
Yet, because Barrow has been unable to co-opt, fool, or compromise most of us like he has been doing to the naive and those of easy virtue, he continues to devalue us. What is incontestable at this point is that it’s impossible to be a true Gambian patriot and still support someone whose personal (NOT our national) interest is his topmost concern.
One can’t help but feel sorry for those who still view Barrow’s threat to our country in partisan terms. Given the ongoing industrial scale looting, the rampant crimes, insecurity in the country, and the carnage on the high seas due to the surge in the numbers of desperate youths fleeing his misgovernance, this is no longer a Barrow versus party X issue, it’s a matter of our country’s survival!
