Dear
President Barrow,
Welcome.
It’s your first day behind the desk and you have an enormous job on your
hands. Former President Yahya Jammeh has
finally left the country after a tense stand-off; many of the people who fled
in fear of violence last week are returning; businesses reopening; and the
whole nation is preparing to listen to what your first moves will be.
Your
Excellency, I’d like you to take a moment to think about that. I’d like you
to imagine a little girl standing
alongside her parents in the crowd listening to you address the public. This little girl’s future is now in your
hands.
For
the past 22 years, her parents, like all of our citizens, have been forced into
silence. They were unable to complain when they could not access basic services
such as healthcare or education and saw their rights being derailed by a
dictator. If they did have the courage
to speak out they may well have faced arrest, disappearance or torture. This
silencing, this fear, this terrible way of operating must stop. Now.
