When I look around us, all I see are the scars of betrayal. While we exchange New Year greetings, families continue to battle rising costs of living amid stagnant wages, insecurity, political disappointment, and the painful loss of our young people to dangerous migration routes. Simply put, the economic reality facing Gambians is harsh and unforgiving. I have watched with a heavy heart as our national assets, the heritage of our children, and the symbols of our sovereignty are sold off to the highest bidder in opaque deals that benefit the few at the expense of the many. The reckless privatization of strategic national assets, including the Senegambia Bridge, Banjul Port, GAMTEL, and GAMCEL. These reckless transactions deprive the country of control over critical infrastructure.
These are not just economic transactions- they are the liquidation of our sovereignty. This pillaging is compounded by a cost of living that has spiralled beyond the reach of the common man, where the price of a simple bag of rice or a cup of oil has become a daily source of anxiety for mothers trying to feed their families. We have seen our construction sector paralysed, our dreams of building homes stalled by patronizing policies choking our local development while prices soared unchecked.
Even more disturbing is the systematic dismantling of the institutions meant to protect us. The sacking of the Auditor General was not an administrative error; it was a calculated strike against accountability, a desperate move to silence the watchdog so that the wolves could feast on our national coffers uninterrupted. When those charged with guarding the public purse are removed for doing their job, we know that transparency has been exiled from the corridors of power. This lack of patriotic leadership extends to our waters, where the mortgaging of our seas through the disastrous fishing agreements has left our local fishermen returning with empty nets, watching helplessly as foreign trawlers plunder the wealth that belongs to our children, driving our young men to the perilous "backway" in search of dignity they are denied at home.
And perhaps most tragic of all is the shadow of fear that has spiraled through our communities. We have mourned the loss of innocent, hard-working young Gambian women, brutally cut down in their workplaces, sanctuaries where they should have been safe to earn their living. These killings are not just statistics; they are our daughters, our sisters, and our friends, and their blood cry out to a weak justice system and broken security institutions that have failed to protect the most vulnerable among us. This breakdown in public security, coupled with the tears of families whose children have vanished into the Mediterranean because they saw no future here, paints a picture of a government that has abdicated its most sacred duty: the protection of life and livelihoods of its citizens.
My fellow Gambians, I do not recount these sorrows to lead you into despair, but to awaken you into action. This moment calls for truth, courage, and responsibility. It demands more than optimism; it demands leadership, solutions, and decisive change. The All People’s Party, APP-Sobeyaa, feel your pain. We stand ready not just with promises, but with a solemn covenant to ease your pain and restore the dignity of this nation. We represent the seriousness (the Sobeyaa) required to fix this broken system, this hurting nation. We understand that the remedy to these ills is not found in empty rhetoric, but in a radical return to integrity, where our resources are managed efficiently and effectively for the people, where our women are safe, and where our youth can dream of a future on Gambian soil.
This coming year is pivotal. The 2026 elections are not merely a political contest; they are a referendum on our collective survival. I speak specifically to the youth: do not let your frustration translate into apathy. Your vote is the only weapon powerful enough to dismantle this machinery of incompetence that has strangled our country. I urge you to go out, register, and prepare to take back your country in the upcoming elections. Let us move forward with the courage of our convictions, knowing that change is not a gift given by the powerful, but a prize won by those who persistently demand it. Together, under the banner of APP-Sobeyaa, we will reclaim the Gambia, not for the privileged few, but for all her people.
May God bless you, and may God bless The Gambia.
Happy New Year to you all and to your loved ones.
