President Yahya Jammeh, yesterday, at 10:00 am casted his vote at the A16A polling station at the July 22 Square in Banjul.

Speaking to reporters shortly after exercising his democratic right to cast his vote, President Jammeh expressed delight at the completion of the various election processes in the country, after which, according to him, Gambians should concentrate on national development.

According to President Jammeh, people have to make a choice between development and under-development.

“After the election, we will know who wants development and who does not want development because I do not believe that democracy brings development. Look at what is happening in other parts of the world.

Democracy always brings choas, allows ciminals to vandalise countries in the name of democracy which doesn’t exist. But allowing the people to choose what they want is the best form of democracy. Not only does it allow the leadership to know who wants progress or who does not want progress but it also distinguish members of society because in any society there are people who want progress and those who do not. Therefore, this exercise is very important,” he said.

Elaborating the importance of voting, President Jammeh called on Gambians to exercise their rights and make their choice so that at the end of the day, they can fix their problems.

“If you don’t vote, at the end of the day, if you have problem, who will fix it for you? These are the people who, on a daily basis, have direct contacts with the electorate because they are there to represent you and solve your communal problems.

So if you don’t vote for them, you can’t complain when your environment is dirty or you lack something that you are supposed to have. So if you don’t vote, that means you don’t care how you live and you don’t want anyone to help you. So it is representation,” he said.

According to him, the mayors and councillors directly influence your day-to-day life.

“So if you don’t vote and you don’t have electricity in your area, don’t complain to anybody because you have forfeited your right to exercise your democratic claim to whatever is the national cake.

You cannot take your problem to an alkalo that you did not vote for. If you say voting for the alkalo is not necessary, the Alkalo will also know that you have not voted for him and if you take your problem to him, he will never look into it. So, if you want your problems to be solved, you have to go and vote and then you have a claim on the person you have voted for so that he can work for you. But if you don’t vote, if things do not go well, you have nobody to complain to,” he said.

He, himself, set the example as the president of the Republic of The Gambia, by going out to vote so as to be able to complain to the mayor if anything goes wrong.

The Gambian leader was companied to the polling center by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Fatoumatta Jahunmpa-Ceesay and various secretaries of state.