President Adama Barrow’s Inauguration Day ceremony at the Independence Stadium was such a beautiful ceremony with prayers, parades, gun salute, the symbolic retirement of the Defence flag and the national flag, and the hoisting of new ones to signal the end of a term and the beginning of another five year mandate in office. 

Amid the celebrations of the inauguration of President Adama Barrow, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of the Gambia, let us all pause and reflect for a moment. 

The happiness, joy, and euphoria expressed by most Gambians and Gambians in the diaspora community on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, as President Adama Barrow took the Oath of office for his second term in office, and by the second Gambian born Chief Justice Cherno Hassan Bubacarr Jallow, who administered the Constitutional Oath of office of the Gambia is unquantifiable. 

President Adama Barrow, who is the country’s third democratically elected President, was sworn in at a ceremony in Bakau and he recited the entire Oath while placing his one hand on the Holy Quran.

Gambians popped champagne, danced, sang, and raised their voices to support President Barrow, the man in charge of the country’s affairs. Many worldwide were glued to their television sets and streaming online platforms, watching the historical event of this decade happen at the Independence Stadium. 

This was the day Gambians worldwide were proud to identify themselves with the country. Proudly, and maybe for once in many years, Gambians in Diaspora could walk down their streets from London to Seattle, from Oslo to Cameroon with their heads raised high.

The Gambia was the focus of the international media. Not even the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon as the Gambia participating for the first time in the continental football competition amidst the inauguration news of President Adama Barrow. 

Understandably, the inauguration of any president in the world is newsworthy, but the case of the Gambia is unique. The 2021 Presidential Election that culminated in today’s historic inauguration ceremony were a concern for the international community. 

Some predicted the 2021 presidential election would mark the end of the world’s smallest democracy, most prominently known as the ‘Smiling Coast of Africa’ and the domicile of the African Commission on Human and Pople’s Rights and home of the African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) a gift of pride to Africa and a gift to the Gambia. 

But the inauguration of President Barrow has indeed brought new hope to the nation. Gambians yearned for change, and President Barrow came in as the agent to effect it. 

Gambians needed a hero, so they reached for President Adama Barrow after his record first shot at the Presidency. The stage was set to finish his domestic affairs agenda and socio-economic development and infrastructural priorities for a second term. Gambian suddenly realised he was the only hope of the ordinary person. 

Gambians needed not much conviction to learn that there is hope for a better tomorrow if there is change. However, we need to tread softly. The mood in the nation today is similar to what we had five years ago when Gambians voted massively for President Barrow to send President Yahya Jammeh to exile in Equatorial Guinea.

The constitution does not outline how an inauguration ceremony should be conducted; a president, who has been elected for a first term, or re-elected for a second term in office, must take an oath of office. 

Over the years, certain traditions have also developed around presidential inaugurations; these may vary from one country to another. In the United States, an inaugural speech is standard practice. 

Every United States of America  President, except for about eight Presidents whose predecessors suddenly died before completing their term, have delivered an inaugural speech since George Washington (1789). 

Be it in Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, or India, Presidents or Prime Ministers use the opportunity of Inauguration Day to set the tone for their administration by articulating their vision and mission. 

A well-written inaugural speech captures the nation’s mood, reassures the people, connects with them, stirs hope, and builds confidence. The beginning of a new administration provides an opportunity for the leader to give the people something to look forward to. 

It can also be used as a platform to send a strong message to the citizens and the international community and assert leadership.

Great speeches have been made on Inauguration Day, particularly in the United States. Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural speech (1861), Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s inaugural speech (1933), and that of John F. Kennedy (1961) and Barack Obama first and second inaugural speeches ( 2008 and 2013), respectively, are among some of the most quoted and referenced inaugural addresses ever. 

To deepen the event, some American Presidents have even added a touch of poetry to the occasion as President Bill Clinton did with Maya Angelou in 1993. At Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration, youth poet Amanda Gorman read an inauguration poem, “the Hill We Climb.” 

Furthermore, the Gambia’s youth poet laureate Saffiyaa Joof also captures the moment in “The River We Drink As It Gleams,” who becomes the first and youngest poet to read a poet at a presidential event in The Gambia and for President Adama Barrow’s inauguration.

On January 19, 2022, swearing ceremony, President Barrow did well in his speech with an excellent opportunity to reach out to Gambians and the international community. 

He made it look as if the whole event was a day that  purposefully symbolises Gambian democracy and diversity with a piece of the convenience of patriotism.

And yet, the occasion called for a speech given during his election victory speech on December 4, 2021, when he made that famous statement: “I belong to everybody  and President for all Gambians, and I belong to nobody.” 

He tried to reassure all Gambians who had been entertaining fears that he would be vindictive President. 

He told Gambians: “..There will be no paying off old scores. I want to reconcile the country for security, stability, and peacebuilding. The past is prologue.” 

He reminded Gambians of the glory of the past and the nobility of our ancestors. Then he defined the priorities of his administration and his vision for the future. 

I was analysing President Adama Barrow’s 2022 inaugural speech. Finally, finally, there is hope in the air. President Barrow promised Gambians he would deal with the security challenge in the country, strengthen the economy, wage war against corruption, and reconcile a divided and polarized nation. Those who voted him into power were excited. Every country needs such a moment of re-awakening. 

A Presidential speech is not just words. Thousands have gone to war to defend their nation by just listening to the leader’s words. Sir Winston Churchill was most effective in using his gift of the gab to mobilize an entire nation in pursuit of defined goals. 

In the 2021 Presidential election, over 800,000 Gambians voted for President Barrow. During his speech, he thanked the Gambian people, his supporters, all the party coalition partners, his party members across the nation. 

They worked hard to ensure his re-election. There is no rule prescribing the format or nature of a Presidential inaugural speech. During his second inauguration in 1793, President George Washington’s speech was 135 words long!

Nonetheless, President Barrow had every reason to talk to Gambians. 

There is widespread poverty, unemployment, shortage of essential food, and hikes in actual food prices in the land, far worse than Gambians’ situation five years ago. 

If President Barrow had inherited specific challenges in 2017, those challenges would have become worse five years later. The Barrow government may have taken the Gambia out of economic recession. 

However, we have also been told by those who should know that we should expect slow growth, and the months ahead may bring tremendous hardship. The evidence is already available: the spate of shortage of essential food and hies in prices in the country continues to rise. 

The people are depressed; there is hunger, poverty, and despair. On today’s inaugural Day, President  Barrow talks to the people he leads and allays their fears. The people need someone to give them hope and who will back that promise with action. 

As Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the President also has addressed all Gambians, and  Gambians deserved the President’s recognition and appreciation on the occasion of his swearing-in for a second term in office. 

Some of the president’s handlers and supporters have done very well to make a good speech on Inauguration Day. The event became a successful ceremony, and the main celebration also became a  celebration of Democracy Day. 

The president of a country cannot be accused of talking too much. President Ronald Reagan addressed the American people virtually every week, on television, radio, or direct communication and appeal. 

Jeffrey K. Tulis, in his book, The Rhetorical Presidency (1987), Jeffrey K. Tulis says the essence of the modern Presidency lies in “rhetorical leadership,” that is, the power of words, engagement, and connection with the people whom the President has been elected to lead and serve. Charles O. Jones, in an essay titled “The Inaugural Address: Ceremony of Transitions” (2010), argues that “the inaugural address is the most exclusive of presidential speeches.”

President Barrow has invited more West  African leaders to come and celebrate his inauguration with Gambians, those sub-regional leaders who attended the inauguration event. 

President Barrow enjoyed the solidarity of all Heads of State in attendance. However, nobody has told us whether other opposition leaders were invited or not. Even if they showed up at the Inauguration  Day, did it make up for their conspicuous absence on January 19, 2022?

Every president can make a difference with their style. However, body language is such a confusing style that may be appropriate in the 19thcentury but certainly not in this century.

 

US President Woodrow Wilson observed in 1907 that “the president is at liberty, both in law and conscience, to be as big a man as he can.” 

Richard Neustadt tells us: “But nowadays he cannot be as small as he might like” (1960). Neustadt is right. The people ordinarily expect the President to rise to every occasion. 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in on May 25, three days after being elected to his first full term as President of South Africa. His party gained a majority in parliament, with 57.5% of the total votes. 

President Ramaphosa promised South Africans “a new era in his inaugural address.” He told them: “There shall be no longer be any person in this land who will be unable to meet their basic needs.” 

He invoked the name of Nelson Mandela. He paid tribute to him. Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Mr. Jacob Zuma, did not attend the inauguration. He said he did not have time. However, this has not stopped Ramaphosa from “hitting the ground running.” 

He has taken some crucial steps, including announcing a cabinet within four days of being sworn in. He has used the composition of his cabinet to make some statements. He reduced the size of the cabinet from 36 to 28 Ministers. 

He has also appointed an opposition member, Patricia de Lille (GOOD party), to head the Public Works and Infrastructure Ministry. He got rid of persons in the former cabinet who had been implicated one way or the other in acts of corruption, except perhaps Vice President David Mabuza, who seems to have been retained in order not to factionalize the ANC further. 

As a result, there are more young people and women. Women constitute 50% of the new South African cabinet. Ramaphosa says: “In appointing a new national executive, I have taken several considerations into account: including experience, continuity, competence, generational mix, and demographic and regional diversity.” 

I believe there are lessons here that can be learned from South Africa and India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi also provides an excellent example of how a leader can send the right signals. 

Modi was sworn in on Thursday, May 30. He announced a new cabinet immediately. 

Like President Barrow, Prime Minister Modi has been elected for a second term. 

Unlike Ramaphosa’s cabinet, Modi’s cabinet is big – 58 Ministers – and out of these, only six are women, and only three have been appointed to full ministerial positions. It is not necessarily an inclusive cabinet. There is even only one Muslim minister, and he is Minister of Minority Affairs! 

Every country has its politics. The Indian election of 2019 was a referendum on Modi’s leadership. He has proven to be the main issue in Indian politics. He ran a presidential-style campaign. He won by a landslide because the people trusted him. 

He continues to build on that trust, like Ramaphosa in South Africa, by settling down to work quickly after the election and swearing-in. In the Gambia, after the inauguration, we are still in the dark, stuck in limbo. 

Meanwhile, some aides of the President continue to work for him. By the sheer effluxion of time, the assignment of those aides automatically ended on January 19, 2022. If the President wants to reappoint them, it is within his prerogative, but they cannot continue to work for him by conduct. 

This would amount to a violation of Section Constitution. President Adama Barrow should quickly emulate the examples of President Ramaphosa (South Africa) and PM Modi (India) and get this “next level” thing off the ground. Gaining the momentum right is an essential part of Presidential power. 

The task before President Adama Barrow here is enormous. The challenge to lay the foundation of the new Gambia in which all the citizens are justly proud and ready to exert themselves for its well-being and development would be demanding than appointing a cabinet or close aides of the President. It would require the best endeavors of the President and hard work on the part of those he appointed into government.

So the question arises, with all the experience at his disposal, would President Adama Barrow ensure that under his watch, agitations for tribalism, complaints of marginalization, and all the wrongs and injustices that lead and agitations by ethnic nationalities that challenge the sovereignty of the nation are a thing of the past? 

Would President Barrow, in whom Gambians have invested much trust and hope, has a different approach to dealing with the problem of separatist agitation by disgruntled groups?

As an agent of change and a man of integrity, there is a task for President Barrow to find novel solutions to these manifestations of discontent by ensuring social justice and equity. 

It is vital that at the end of his tenure, Gambians should look back and say with pride, this is one man who left a worthy legacy by bequeathing to the people of the Gambia, a nation in which no one is oppressed different from the country Gambia where agitations of tribalism and complaints of injustice and neglect were the orders of the day.

By Alagi Yorro Jallow