Who said a Gambian president isn’t capable of going to the world stage without swearing at everyone? It must be refreshing for the British not to hear the president of their former colony hauling insults and mockery at the queen. They were not the only ones auspicious though, Gambians all over the globe cheered and watch their jejune president with pride.
But we are NOT here for the rave. As Agitators-In-Chief and Anti- Conformist, we have to perform our duty as “Group-think” Busters and it’s about to get real. Yes, we know our reputation it has earn JollofNerds.com both abettors and calumniators but we would rather be real with our friends than fake to fit-in.
Mr. President as always was super-HOT, whoever convinced him to mimic Pres. Jawara’s dressing style was right he looks swank, unfortunately, it lacks ingenuity like almost everything Mr. president does.
It was a tantalizing speech according to many, especially folks on the other side, I can’t name names before they unleash Foday Jawla on me. The irony was many were praise-singing even before listening to the speech. The bar is so low for Pres. Barrow that he simply cannot do anything wrong, he just doesn’t have to do anything. “He did better than Jammeh.” is the new national anthem Smh!
It wasn’t surprising that it took less than 24hrs before Social-media reverse course and took down the president’s speech. A speech full of grammatical blunders and direct translation, it was so basic you’ll think it was written by Gambia’s amateur diplomat “Facuru Sillah”. It is NOT my style to tell other’s what to do but I believe UDP should consider hiring Sainey Sisay (Seattle) he’s probably the only UDP fellow I have seen with a decent Grammar. Foday Jawla would have been a good candidate but he is way too aggressive and delusional, whoever told him there was a tribal war going on in the Gambia should go back and tell him it was all a joke because he is NOT taking it lightly. Plus, my friend doesn’t talk kindly of women (join Trump buddy).
Was Barrow Speaking to Walls & Empty Chairs, why speak if you’re going to speak to an empty room?
I couldn’t tell if he was crying or reading lol. Why was Barrow even nervous when the only people in the room were Gambian Delegates? The rest were taking lunch-break or too lazy to leave the room. Which begs the question, why take 50+ people to New York City (one of the priciest cities in the world) just to listen to your speech, obviously no one cares what you have to say. That room was so empty I thought he was in a class on the last day of a school year.
Stop wasting our dinky resources, we are a poor, undeveloped nation. That trip at the end of the day will cost nothing less than D120,000,000.00 (Hundred & Twenty Million Dalasis) factoring a Chartered Flight. If that amount was invested in a Solar-Farm it would be sufficient to provide 24hrs uninterrupted Electricity and Water throughout the GBA. What is wrong with Africans?
UN, EU, World Bank, IMF, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Ecowas and countless other nations and organization pumped unimaginable amount of money & resources into the country so we can build strong institutions and be self-reliant. So far, NOT a single development project has been enacted by Darboe and his stooge Pres. Barrow. They are spending our money left and right on everything but Gambia’s need. Yet, all I kept hearing “At-least he did better than Jammeh.” WTF.. does that even mean, you think we fought for the bare minimum? In the main time, The Gambia remains a poor, dirty, hopeless country. The saddest part is, those who will be affected the most are probably the ones boiling inside while reading this article. Hating on Intellectual Bug when the politician is robbing your future. Guess what, I have 24hrs uninterrupted electricity & water supply, can you say the same?
Wake-up Gambians, wake-up Africans. It is NO accident that we’re the poorest nation in the poorest continent. Stop supporting political parties and politicians blindly, don’t be fooled, politicians will always convince you that you’re doing it for your TRIBE. They’re lying to you, they’re in it for themselves.
While you’re busy picking war with me, your government is busy spending money on themselves that was supposed to help lift the country from it's current state. They’re building Mansions that you’re NOT even aware of, yet if you get sick you you’ll end up in a hospital with no medicines. You live in a country were a mere headache can take your life, don't be mad at me for calling the politicians out.
I fought for SYSTEM-CHANGE. What did you fight for, PERSONNEL-CHANGE??
EXCUSE MY LANGUAGE!!
One of the leading opposition politician in the Gambian Hon. Mama Kandeh recently leveled a serious accusation against the Government of Lawyer Darboe and his Stooge Pres. Barrow. He alleges that the Government was embezzling public funds for private use. Many wondered why a man known to be very honest and measured would level such a serious indictment of African’s youngest government. Supporters or may I say militants of the ruling UDP party wasted no time to go for the jugulars, a party dominated by uncultured fanatics, it wasn’t surprising that they not only dismiss Hon. Kandeh but they went further to do what they do best “Personal Insults and Intimidation.”
Independent observers like Intellectual Bug decided to look deeper into this matter. Having observe Hon. Kandeh, and the level of integrity he has maintained throughout his political career, I thought he was up to something, politicians have info that the ordinary joe does not. It was clear there was more to the story than the lazy gov would like us to postulate and you won’t believe what we found.
It’s been 9 months since Darboe and his team took over, not a single project has been enacted since. Even in the face of endless flow of foreign money into the country. So far it appears the only people benefiting is Darboe and his chums just like it was during Jammeh's era. Before I elaborated let me remind you how much money has poured into the country and this is just what I am aware of:
- In February 2017: Just after taking office, EU gave The Gambian Government 225 Million Euros.
- In February 2017: World Bank gave the Gambian Government $7.8 Million Grant.
- In May 2017: China announced a Grant of $50 million to The Gambian Government.
- In July 2017: The European Union gave The Gambian Government another 30 Million Euros Grant.
- In July 2017: World Bank approve another $56 Million Grant to the Gambian Government.
- In August 2017: The European Union gave 25 Million Euros to the Gambian Government again.
Now you know why this guy here is celebrating birthdays and acting like a teenager, pardon me, I meant to say Fashionista smh.
Let me ask nicely. WHERE THE HELL IS ALL THAT MONEY?? Nine (9) months counting, the best this lazy government has done is bribe our lawmakers by buying them over 50 expensive cars and going on tourism to Saudi Arabia even in the midst of a devastating natural disaster. Hello! haven't you learned anything from Jammeh's 20 years misrule? Why can’t this government take us seriously, we fought to end Dictatorship and Corruption, some lost their lives, some sent to jail only to watch our effort go in vain.
What is more disheartening is this government's willingness to lie to us whenever cornered. "Saudi Arabia invited Barrow and sent a Private Jet to pick him up" yeah right or the "$48 Million Forensic lab is being built by a foreign company but they won't release details or the company's name." Are we supposed to accept anything you tell us, how credulous we must be. That brings me to the question "Where the hell are the journalist?" Don't you know there is something called Investigative Journalism. Quit reporting Sports and Court Cases all day. Do your job, stop robbing shoulders with government officials! Even a cough from the government you're ready to go to print or share the story on social-media. You're NOT an extended arm of the government, it's your job to hold them accountable and get the facts to the public. Smh!
If you're not aware already, The Gambia is among the top 10 poorest nations on earth. Kissing our government's ass is not gonna dig us out of that mess neither is praise-singing our politicians. Where is our money? The people of Kuntaur, the people of Ebo-town, the people of Banjul want to know. We need Electricity and Water, we need Jobs. Hello! are you listening?? Give NAWEC the funds they require to build better Public Utility services. Where is all the millions?
While you are obsessing about the commission of inquiry another dubious daylight Robin-hood is happening right now under your noise. What is even funnier, this is a pattern now, when there is a heat on the government they break a new Yahya Jammeh news and everyone goes on the meltdown. Give me a break, we're too sophisticated to be a Sucker for anything. Tell me what I don't know about Jammeh already. What are you doing right now to prevent another Jammeh? Absolutely Nothing, there is no anti-corruption mechanism implemented under this sleepy government and I am beginning to believe it is intentional.
I hope you'll learn from this guy here. Call him names all day but he cares and he proves it everyday through action.
We are aware of the funds you're diverting into your personal accounts and the homes you're building. We'll NOT rest until we exposed all of you, Not revealing/declaring your assets will NOT save you.
Before I conclude, Gambian journalist I have an assignment for you. Two months after taking office Barrow & Darboe gave D40,000.00 to each National Assembly member hmmm.. what is the source of that money?
Finally, finally, Jollof-Nerds would like to thank Hon. Kandeh for exposing the deep corruption spearheaded by Darboe and his pals. Who thought Lawyer Darboe would forget the ordinary guy so soon!!
***WHERE IS OUR MONEY??***
Baddibu is one of the biggest and bedrock regions of The Gambia, their citizens one of the most educated and resourceful. They have an unmistakable stamp in every sector of our economy and civil service. To put it in simple terms, without BADDIBOU, Gambia will not be Gambia. Period!
While I am not Baddibunka, I recognize the significant contribution they have rendered to our country. But that is NOT all, Baddibunkas were in the fore-front of the fight against the Jammeh dictatorship and in so doing they lost lot of their sons and daughters for the liberation of our country. Thank you!
In every facet of our economy, Baddibu is a force to be reckon with and they can match any region in terms of successful citizens.
While all of the above are true. Baddibu struggles to reciprocate those successes in Gambian politics. In both the first and second republic, Baddibu has been largely ignored by the government and nothing seems to be different with this Bansang led UDP government.
The region has largely thrown their weight behind the UDP party but their loyalty HAS NOT been rewarded by Darboe & Co. So far, the fanciest role they have occupied in the Darboe lead government is the position of “Protocol Officer” which by the way is a fancy name for “Sectary or Clerk.” Every influential position in this government has either gone to Waa Bansang or a CRD native, from Amadou Sanneh (Finance Minister) to Assan Jallow (Chief Justice).
How long are Waa Baddibu willing to tolerate the Not-Good-Enough treatment from the UDP? So far, it appears Darboe is willing to use Waa Baddibu for their vote but marginalize them when it counts. That wasn’t the only nefarious treatment Baddibunkas have been subjected to by Darboe. During the selection to pick the presidential candidate to represent UDP in the general elections, Darboe throws his weight behind a former store security-guard in the UK who has neither the educational qualification nor leadership experience in expense of well-educated and experience Baddibunkas.
Even in jail, Lawyer Darboe’s command was clear, anybody but someone from Baddibu and he fought tooth-and-nail to dwindle their influence and power in the party. He would rather have a guy whose biggest experience was owning a 2-person Real Estate Boutique than allowing a power-shift to Baddibu. This is an insult, how long are waa Baddibu willing to accept the disrespect, maltreatment, marginalization and the suppressive acts from Darboe and his gang.
It is time to send a clear message to the UDP party, Baddibu cannot be ignored any longer and their support will NOT be taken for granted. A Political Party from Baddibu will be too strong to stop, not even the almighty Papa Lawyer Darboe can stop the mighty Baddibu. The time is now, the smart, experienced and resourceful Baddibunkas must take their rightful place in Gambian politics. Send a message to Darboe and his Bansang Gang, show us what you got. Create a POLITICAL PARTY now!!
First Jawara, then Jammeh and now the Darboe government. Enough is enough!
Minutes after the conclusion of a meeting between Italy and The Gambian government. Our attention-obsessed Minister Mai Fatty eager to take credit and pump his ego ran to his favorite platform Facebook to prowl and scout applause from his often naïve, unsuspecting and lowbrow fans. In doing so, he fail to acknowledge the President or at-least allow his to take credit as it is customary in any government. When the Seal Team 6 kill Bin Laden they didn’t run to Twitter or Facebook neither did their Commanders. No! They understand the chain of command just like you should that the President is the Commander-in-Chief and head of the Executive-Branch in your case. As such, he deserves the privilege to be the face of such important news but don’t tell that to inerudite Mai Fatty.
But that wasn’t the end of his cardinal-sin, in a hurry to run his mouth he made a claim that I regretfully have to call a blatant lie. Just so no one confuse the fact that he “Mai Fatty” deserve the acclaim and only him, he said “The gift was from Italy’s Interior Ministry” quietly making a correlation since he is Gambia’s Interior Minister. Such a farce, what a character this guy is smh lol.
I don’t know the details of the deal but the claim that the gift is from Italy’s Interior Ministry stands out, because that is not how we understand Interior Ministries to operate anywhere in the world. Interior Ministries do not conduct foreign relations and their budget doesn’t include foreign-aid, I thought Mai Fatty would know this.
Last year I wrote an article titled “Half-Truth are Lies” and talked about how half-truth can be as deadly as total-lies. Mai Fatty has mastered the art of not telling the whole truth thereby giving impressions that might be deceiving just to advance his PR agenda. Let me give you an examples; remember how Mai claimed that he has signed a deal for the building of a $48 million Forensic-Lab only to change his story after we found out it was actually a Clinical Lab that performs Diagnosis and Research in Molecular Medicine, the forensic crime aspect of it was actually a small component of this project. Which makes sense, because Gambian does not have the crime-rate to warrant a $48 Million Forensic-Lab even if it was for free but you won’t have that impression when you listen to cretinous Mai Fatty.
Here we are again with the same half-truth from Mai. Don’t get me wrong it very possible that Italy’s Interior Minister was allowed to hangover the gifts that might be actually coming from the State Dept (Foreign Affairs) etc, governments does this all the times. Just because he handed over the Welfare-Check doesn’t mean it came from Italy’s Interior Ministry. Nice try!
Some of you might be like, but Intellectual-Bug this is not a big deal it was a just a small lie. If someone is capable of telling a small lie they're capable of telling a bigger, more consequential lie and remember we're entrusting these guys with our country at it's most vulnerable time.
That brings me to my last point. Who is Mai Fatty accountable to? It seems he is working in solo with no coordination with the President/Sectary-General’s office or any of the other government institutions and that say a lot about the dysfunction and structural problem within this administration. They are just not jelling, there is a serious leadership vacuum and people like Mai Fatty are taking advantage of this environment to hike their stock. My advice to Mai Fatty “Stop it,” please just stop it. If you work hard we will see it, you don't have to convince us. You might be older but some of us are more educated, more battle-tested in any areas, be it Governance, Economics or Int'l Affairs. Quit selling us Crap, please!
Is everything alright in the UDP fraternity? This is no hyperbole, something is brewing!
After the National Assembly elections, Papa Lawyer Darboe drop a new tune in the Mandingo language, it goes like this: “Yee-ye-ye-ye Lawyer Darboe ye banko tar,” translated “Yee-ye-ye-ye Lawyer Darboe has taken over the country.” Many people thought the song was inappropriate for various reason, one of which is instead of recognizing Barrow’s leadership in lifting the party at its lowest point and leading it to victory plus all the sacrifices made along the way. Lawyer Darboe chooses to personalize the victory and reserved all the credit for himself for a victory he probably had very little to do with. As you can imagine this didn’t help his image and selfish reputation but the Old-man couldn’t help himself.
There has been lot of talk recently whether Barrow should serve 3 years as agreed in the coalition-memorandum or should he ignore/betray the agreement and force the 5 years constitutional term? The question no one is asking; who benefits the least if Barrow forces a 5 years term or extend his stay?
Well, I can tell you right now, there is an Old-man shitting in a corner, scrunching his face and screaming “Not Fair.” Our favorite old-man Papa Lawyer Darboe is destine to be the next president, Gambia is a one-party state at this point, sadly UDP has position itself as the sole beneficiary of the post Jammeh era and I do not see any other party reclaiming the crown for the next 30 years. It’s the fact. Now here comes the trouble, is Barrow going to make Papa Lawyer Darboe wait longer than he has to and how do you think that idea is sitting with the old-man?
It looks like this is going to be war, my prediction unfortunately our favorite Old-man is going to lose. Here is the thing, while UDP is enjoying the expanding size of their party the new comers have less loyalty to the party and more to Barrow as an individual and the rest of the new-comers are just gold-diggers. The voters who help topple Jammeh’s government mostly in their teens and early twenties do not have any significant memories of Darboe and sadly his old age doesn’t help. Barrow is closer to their age, he is younger and cuter and most importantly they see Barrow as the guy who saved them not Darboe and that’s a powerful image in their head.
The UDP old-guards see Barrow differently, while they like him, they see him nothing but someone there only to warm the car for the ultimate driver. Their loyalty is to the Old-man and it’s unshakeable, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen when Barrow exceed his welcome and decides to stay for 5 years or more.
Going by his recent interviews, it looks like Barrow is going to stay longer than even 5 years. I can say for certain Barrow is going nowhere anytime soon, the presidency is getting into his head, and he is loving the attention and the power that comes with it. How long is Lawyer Darboe willing to tolerate him is anyone's guess. We shall see. My advice, brace yourself for the unthinkable. “3 years or 5 years, I’ll do whatever the Gambian people want me to do” is what Barrow said in a recent interview. Let me translate it to you; it means “I am not leaving, I’ll serve the whole 5 years.” This is Barrow’s civilize way of saying “go screw yourself.”
African presidents are cursed, they do not have it in themselves to share power. Democracy is just a convenience, they use the word whenever it suits their needs. It becomes worst when you give someone a role they do not deserve or qualify for, they would not want to give it back. We see the same thing happen when Jammeh found himself in a role he was neither qualify nor expected. Anyways, that’s not the end of this stories, think about it if Barrow can force his way into serving 5 years what will stops him from shaking another 5 years? All of this at the detriment of Papa Lawyer Darboe, I feel bad for the Old-man, I love him.
My fear is the fall-out between these two colleagues will be ugly. Power corrupts, Presidents are jealous, they do not want to share the crown and Darboe is circling that crown like an eagle. Once the Banjul Socialites start getting close to the president and constantly reminding him how Darboe is trying to take his Job that would be the end of Lawyer Darboe. I just hope he doesn’t sent him back to where he rescued him from.
Anyways, I have no bone to pick in this fight. My Fula friends say “Mburru fof ko faringe.” As a none-UDP, Independent observer I don’t care who wins, the petty-side of me is looking forward to the fight though and can't wait for the blows to start flying lol. You bet I would put flame to the fire while hypocritically chuckling on the side. Nothing beats a UDP fight, lol.
My name is Intellectual Bug, I am a Jollof-Nerd, a Political-Junkie and a Love-Wizard.
This is a platform for Intellectuals :) but we do NOT discriminate, we suppress no ideas as long as you're cool as we are.
Do you get the chills reading "The Lion and the Jewel." Do you get excited by poems, prose and appreciate the beauty of words. Or get butterflies in your stomach from reading a beautiful Romantic story. Maybe you're the political junkie who needs a proper dose of political cogitation without filter. Jollof Nerds! is the platform.
Disclaimer: This is an opinionated Blog NOT a News-website.
