The president-elect of The Gambia, Adama Barrow has said that during his term in office the Gambia’s economy and legal system will have to be reformed. Barrow told RFI in an exclusive interview that what was needed was “an overhaul of basically everything in the government.”
Opposition candidate Barrow pulled off a sensational victory by comfortably winning the presidential election and putting an end to the 22-year rule of Yahya Jammeh.
Barrow won 54.54 per cent while Jammeh took 36.66 percent of the vote in the Thursday poll.
The 51-year-old Barrow was chosen as the opposition leader by a group of political parties who had joined forces for the first time.
Speaking to RFI’s Guillaume Thibault in the capital Banjul, he termed his win a revolution.
“It’s the victory of the people. People were ready to make the change. And with their determination and perseverance, it was possible. The impossible is possible today.
Promising freedom of the press and independent judiciary, Barrow said the new Gambia was a free Gambia. “New Gambia is a Gambia that is ready to work, ready to cooperate with everybody,” he said.
Gambian President elect Adama Barrow
As well as a free country, Barrow promised justice.
“Free in the sense that we want to bring a level playing field, free judiciary.”
“Media will be open so that people will get information. If you get information you get enlightened. If people are enlightened, the country develops,” he said.
Speaking about his priorities on assuming office, Barrow said that getting his cabinet in place was on the top of the list.
“That cabinet will start work very soon (… ) We want to start from reform. We have to reform things (… ) a lot of things. There are a lot of bad laws here. Economic reform. Judiciary. It’s an overhaul of basically almost everything in government.”
“22 years is a long time,” he said.
The newly elected president is urging exiles who fled during the 22-year reign of his predecessor to return from abroad and help him reform the tiny West African country.
Adama Barrow vowed to free all political prisoners and declared the birth of “a new Gambia.”
A former businessman and now real estate mogul who became the unlikely head of a formidable opposition coalition, the 51-year-old Barrow says he plans to preside over a three-year transition before another presidential election is held.
He also says he wants to reverse President Yahya Jammeh’s decisions to pull out of both the Commonwealth, a group made up mostly of former British colonies, and the International Criminal Court.
