By Lamin Kujabi
The ruling National People’s Party (NPP) on Saturday, January 18th 2024 held its second national non-elective congress at Jarra Soma, in LRR.
Speaking at the colourful event, the President of the Republic and Secretary General of NPP, His Excellency Adama Barrow, seized the opportunity to highlight his NPP-led Government’s achievements since assuming power from the 2021 presidential election, and since he became President.
“Our 2021 presidential victory was an emphatic endorsement of our visionary leadership and re-defined political parameters. The NPP has since established an internationally acclaimed governance system to build a future anchored on innovation, action, and inclusive development.
He went on: “We have tuned our policies and programmes to the heart of their aspirations and have transformed their struggles, sufferings, desires, and despair into ease, hope, and progress through well-determined priorities and plans,” he stated.
He expressed gratitude to the entire NPP membership for the special privilege and honour of “leading this transformative political family”.
He said the congress provided an opportunity for him to acknowledge his party members’ trust in him and support for his government.
“Looking back, we have collectively transformed dreams and aspirations into visible achievements. To cite a few examples, health facilities, educational institutions, roads, bridges, modern markets, and electricity supply are no longer confined to the urban area for the privileged few”.
He added: “We have courageously achieved what no one dared imagine in the past, by dismantling social and physical barriers to reconnect the people and their communities, uplift their lives and livelihood, and change their world outlook”.
The President encouraged his party members to move forward together with renewed vigour, optimism, and firmness of purpose to build a Gambia that stands tall as a haven of peace, hope, progress, and unity.
“As the Party in government, politics for us is about a relentless pursuit of progress for the welfare of the people.
We are entrusted with the people’s dreams and aspirations; so, we draw inspiration from them and thusly stand undeterred, bound together by duty, strengthened by our singleness of purpose, and resolute in our commitment to serving the nation with excellence”.
President Barrow further advised his party to rise above unethical behaviour, divisive political tactics, and malicious commentaries and articles, especially on social media. “Let us reject propaganda that incites hate, violence, and disunity. Instead, let us champion a culture of dialogue, respect, and solidarity”.
He went on: “As the Party in government, we have a solemn responsibility to lead by example. To overcome hunger, drive national progress, and compete on the global stage, we must embrace a transformative shift towards building a robust economy. This requires aligning our actions with the noble ideals in our Party Manifesto and our philosophy of “Yirrwaa” - Progress!”
