The efficacy of good intention as an economic policy is an interesting one, and to those that found it rather unsettling, I will say that is all we have in the Gambia in the face of a huge pending economic problem.
I will go out in a limb to say, President Jammed really wants to see a socio-economic prosperous Gambia, and generally has good intentions for the country, in his own mind. But as the old adage suggest and I paraphrase, the road leading to failure is laze with good intentions. Good intention alone cannot take our country to the next level of development in the twenty-first century.

As I spoke yesterday with a friend in the Gambia, essentially about the Dalasi issue and other issues, his basic conclusion was the situation is grim and there are challenges ahead. In fact the government has already begun the exercise of price controls, and businessmen are being scapegoat has the people creating this problem with price increases. AFPRC supporters are helping in pointing fingers at the businessmen, and from a political standpoint the scapegoat of the businessmen seems to be working as far as public opinion is concern. The President held a meeting with the business community, and urged them to lower prices to make it affordable to the people. Just last week, the President held a somewhat similar meeting with SOS and Permanent Secretaries, and gave them the threats that make him infamous. The above in essence is the government policy to the economic challenges the country is face with.

 In our time of need, Gambia needs leadership, assurance, capable hands and serious people to steer the ship to safe harbor.
It is important for every Gambia to understand, there are serious issues at hand and the survival of a whole country is at stake that goes  much more beyond the politics of liking President Jammeh or not, but rather having people with the wherewithal and the capacity to see things past the usual politics. Maybe, Mr.Jammeh needs to sit down with his Finance Secretary and leaders of the Central bank to break it down to him on what is really going on, obviously I am under the assumption base on what he has been doing that he is yet to get their advice. And together they would come up with strategies and action plans that are much more reassuring. It is a bit unsettling to see our government getting into the wholesale businesses of ordering rice and oil as a way to fix the economy. It is a clear manifestation of leaders who are actually at a lost, and I trying to hang on to anything to reassure people that they do have good intentions. On a personal note, I thing they do, but unfortunately, they honestly do not have what it takes to take the Gambia to the nest level of our development.

Thanks

Musa Jeng

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