Fatoumatta: President Adama Barrow’s relationship with United Democratic Party (UDP) goes back to the early formative stage of the party. The UDP has been the political party where Adama’ Barrow s political baptism and politics began, but from the political affinity to animosity has turned sour with his estranged political Godfather, Mr. Ousainou Darboe, and the entire executive of the UDP resentment as the affective response of grievance, toxic and divisive politics; here is a tell-all story published barely two months President Barrow elected into office by the intellectual power of the UDP executive members namely Mr. Ebou Manneh and Mr. Amadou Taal when according to party leader and Godfather Mr. Ousainou Darboe in a 2018 interview said: “President Barrow is our Barrow come rain come shine.” Again on September 25, 2017, Mr. Darboe blasphemously described as “Prophet Musa.” Mr. Ousainou Darboe, appointed as Foreign Minister, compared President Adama Barrow’s ascending to power to that of the prophet of Musa( AS), whom Allah has sent to rescue the people of Israel. Lawyer Darboe said that if it were not for the united actions of Gambians and Barrow, he would still have been in jail.
Meeting Gambians Diasporans in New York and reported by the Standard newspaper, then Foreign Minister Ousainou Darboe said, “On December 5 when I walked to freedom, I found President-elect Adama Barrow at my house in Pipeline, he embraced me virtually in tears, and I said, ‘Adama you are like the Moses of The Gambia,'” Darboe said.
“Gambians were like the people of Israel tormented by their ruler. People were incarcerated, killed, and disappeared by their leaders. But just as Moses had people working with him who listened to him, so did Adama, and that is you, the great Gambian people. As a result, I was able to gain my freedom. Otherwise, I would still have been in jail.”
Fatoumatta: Some UDP members and supporters are natural President Barrow sycophants. Some achieve Barrow sycophancy. Moreover, some have Barrow sycophancy thrust upon them — since he is a star, they let him do that. You find the fawning, best-selling pro-President Barrow book authors. The latter bind their allegiance in hard covers for all eternity. These UDP authors have elevated the reflexive defense of President Barrow to an art form, even if, as often as not, in “Adama Barrow: The Making of A New Gambia,” there is a particular way to write a book and display comfort without cynicism, talent for the tautology, the book weakness for flattery and freakish rhetorical and moral contortions. The UDP authors often dance around their central character, euphemizing him, extolling his “vivid” leadership, point-outs, or decision-making style that “emphasizes speed than mistake avoidance” and ignores his more sordid traits. Submission and sycophancy reveal themselves through omission. Even for the UDP, it is easier to defend President Adama Barrow by attacking his natural and invented enemies and painting the scars of our political divide; by waving flags, shouting slogans, and reliving 2017 Gambia ” #Has Decided” all over again.
In the book “Adama Barrow: “The Making of A New Gambia,” the Book UDP intellectual powerhouse has written on their new political patron, and calls the president a force for change, “the likes of which we have rarely seen in Gambian history. When the writers must confront odious behavior or statements on the president’s part, instead, they revel in his political savvy or personal determination.
Fatoumatta: Once, and not so long ago, running for political office was comparatively simple. Politicians assembled their teams, announced their candidacies, and took to the campaign trail. Now, a president — and, of course, a book. President Barrow: The Making of a New Gambia: subtitled comprises 17 solid chapters filled with insightful information that is authentic and authoritative.
Oh, there must be a book. If a candidate has already published one, perhaps it is time for another. Books have become the telltale sign that someone in one office is serious about being published. Presidential publications mark the advent of an avalanche of political books because nothing quite says “beach read,” like learning about your favorite politicians’ early life or the current policies. So instead of a chicken in every pot, a crowded field of candidates hopes for a book on every nightstand. ‘President Barrow: ‘The Making of a New Gambia: The Book seeks to present to the reader President Adama Barrow his background and historic and meteoric rise to the zenith of political power in The Gambia. It simultaneously shows the dramatic circumstances that created the environment for his incredible and remarkable surge. In other words, it chronicles the historical events that ushered the dawn of the renewed Gambia.
Fatoumatta: Six years, a flock of politicians cum writers including, but not limited to, Ebraima Manneh and Amadou Taal, Joseph Akagha, and Abdoulaye Touray authored a book on President Adama Barrow to educate readers (and potential voters) about his childhood influences and his visions for a far better tomorrow. ‘President Barrow: The Making of A New Gambia:’ It is the story of seven Political Party Leaders, one Independent Presidential Aspirant, who with the support of a strong and committed woman, took a valiant and self-sacrificing step to end Party fragmentation, joined their resources together to liberate their people from the clutches of tyranny and terror. The book is similar to the odyssey of the docile and peace-loving people of the Gambia who decided to take their destiny into their own hands and salvage their future from the pain and terror of a dictatorship that had held them captive for more than two decades.
It is a narrative about the value and merit of ‘Ubuntu’ defined by Taal and Manneh as the principle of solidarity and brotherliness among Africans, and how Gambians succeeded in averting a looming genocide without the loss of a single human life.
The book follows President Barrow from humble beginnings, his rise into politics, and the political situation and tension. The martyrdom of the late Solo Sandeng to the imprisonment of the entire executive of the United Democratic Party inevitably gave rise to the liaising and alliance of political parties giving birth to the coalition 2016.
It makes sense from the politicians’ standpoint. In his exact words, the media universe has become much more fractured than it used to be, politicians who want to reach a potentially significant audience. So writing a book may seem appealing. However, also, there is severe me-tooism. Since almost every president these days wants a book to keep up with their rivals.
Fatoumatta: What is less fathomable is why writers continue to acquire and produce these titles, many of which are, let us face it, as tedious as the campaign trail, lacking fresh insights or candor, carefully designed not to offend along the path to victory.
The volume is skillfully structured, mainly using profiles of key figures and institutions that form pillars of the hard-won battle for freedom and democracy. It is written in a high-level but straightforward erudite language. It is well researched, as demonstrated by the book’s vast and wide-ranging references, allusions, extracts, and citations. The display of knowledge from all spheres of human experience and every part of the globe- Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, Russia, and Asia- is exceedingly extraordinary and undoubtedly amplifies the book’s immense value and superiority. It is basically what we have all borne witness to – the admirable, implausible, and relentless effort of the Gambian people to take back their country where their rights and freedom have been infringed and trampled upon for the past two decades and the Incredible wave of brotherhood and love of the land that is an awe-inspiring phenomenon that every Gambian has demonstrated in their little way. Thus, giving rise to the New Gambia, New Era, New President, and newly restored Hope. The book follows President Barrow from humble beginnings, his rise into politics, and the political situation and tension. The martyrdom of the late Solo Sandeng to the imprisonment of the entire executive of the United Democratic Party inevitably gave rise to the liaising and alliance of political parties giving birth to the coalition 2016. The book further narrates the efforts of ECOWAS, the African Union, and international bodies and singles out our Sister Nation and neighbor and her relentless leader’s tremendous role before the elections and during and after the political impasse.
However, the publishing and political worlds appear awash in the belief that every candidate must have a memoir, a political tract, or both, despite the lack of indication that the public is clamoring to buy them. Books by politicians continue to appear with stunning regularity and frightening alacrity, not so much written as belched.
Fatoumatta: Everyone wants to publish a terrific book by a president or would-be president who has worked on many political tomes. Nevertheless, most notable is the political book as a trial balloon. One of the strongest motives for politicians today to write books is to test the waters for a future run for office. This is true even when they deny any such plans. This book is one of the most the sycophantic pro-President Adama Barrow books in history.
