‘He can’t just go out and speak’- President Barrow’s spokeswoman responds to criticism

Director of Press and Public Relations at the Office of the President has said President Adama Barrow ‘cannot just go out and speak’, as she responded to criticism against the Gambian leader over his handling of the coronavirus crisis.

President Barrow has been savaged that he isn’t taking the crisis seriously. The president spoke to Gambians only once since the crisis started – an eight-minute address on 17 March. Many Gambians have insisted he should be speaking often in respect of the crisis.

But Amie Bojang Sissoho told The Fatu Network on Thursday: “There can never be enough for anything and anybody but as head of state, he has responsibility.

“To be able to make a decision, you need to get the right type of information and from the right sources and those information processing, they go through a lot of processes in terms of from the technicians until it reaches the policy meeting level.

“It’s okay for people to desire for the president to come [out] and talk. But they have to know that talking goes with responsibility and those responsibilities include having the right type of information.

“Because if the president comes out and speaks to the nation, that means it’s an authoritative voice that is speaking. So he cannot just go out and speak when he has not gotten the right information at the right time to be able to do so.”