President Adama Barrow’s recent diplomatic appointments has been branded as a “waste of the country’s resources”.

Senior opposition figure Momodou Sabally made the statement following the appointments of allies and supporters of the president to key diplomatic posts. 

The 14 appointees included defeated National Assembly members Saikouba Jarjue and Saikou Marong as well as Rambo Jatta, the second deputy leader of the APRC party.

“Appointing people who lost the National Assembly election because people don’t trust them and they were voted out of office and he [Barrow] gave those people position to appease them.

“For him to take 135 million dalasis and spend on those people to me is a waste of state resources and the country’s resources shouldn’t be wasted because the country does not even have enough resources to run its affairs,” Sabally he told Gambiana on Sunday.

He continued: “The 135 million dalasis could have been spent on other issues like agriculture or supporting the flood victims.

“What angers me more is that Barrow government plans to spend that amount to fund the newly appointed diplomats who everyone knows are appointed based on Barrow’s interests and not of the country.”

Sabally urged Barrow to be careful with how he is spending the country’s resources, adding “because he doesn’t own it and he must know that the resources he is spending belong to those who voted for him and those who didn’t vote for him.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba