In the years around 2000, a video skit purported to visualize a future of The Gambia in 2020 was regularly aired on the then GAM-TV. Edward Singhateh did the voice over. A middle income earning society was envisaged to be created by a “private-sector” led economy powered by manufacturing and the service sector. 

Now that 2020 is just a few hours away, it’s time for stock taking of the strides Gambia and Gambians have made to attain that utopian vision under the circumstances the country and its people were living under. 

Was the vision well thought out and tangible plans laid down to turn it into a reality? How and why has the vision turned into a nightmare for even its architects and proponents?  

The caption of this opinion write-up is only a rhetorical question. The Gambian State still does not have the instruments to measure the tangents that should indicate what gains or loses have been made in a certain period of time; either quarterly, half yearly or annually. So our governments have been dreaming visions without having a clue on how to measure achievements and failures. 

That was then. Now we have a forced five year transition that was meant to end in three years. But hold on. A new vision called the national development plan is being born. That plan is for all intent and purpose, going to be financed from debts worth billions. 

I don’t intend any long and depressive narration of the past here. My aim is to twitch our memories on a not so distant past so that we could build a brighter tomorrow for our children and their children’s children. 

If Gambians are serious about ending the stranglehold of poverty and it’s intending consequences, there is no way we can avoid reflecting on the past, take honest stock of our failures and learn to plan and execute based on our realities. 

Wishing all my esteemed readers a peaceful, healthy, prosperous and happy 2020. 

*Da One*