This is part two of the introspective of the president’s dialogue with the people. This is looking at the president’s personal interventions rather than government interventions in addressing matters in governance.  It reads: What I found difficult to understand is the issues of your personal intervention regarding prices of basic commodities (RICE) and your gifts that amounts to 100^th of thousands of dalais.

Rice which is the basic food commodity the price of which rocketed from D150 in 1994 to D800 this year and the failure of your government to address it is a course for concern. Your government seems to run out of solutions to the skyrocketing prices of Rice, all you have as a solution is asking people to go back to the land.

Yes a clarion call but it take more to get people back to the land d, than a mere call. One has to make agriculture attractive. Farmers should have guaranteed that their products will be marketed and not to be given promise notes in place of payments.

If your government takes good stocks, you will realized that our farmers are really frustrated by the lack of  market for their farms produce for many years now–cash crops has to go   hand in hand  with subsistence crops.

When you cross from Barra May 5^th 2008, you were confronted by the women farmers who told you that they did answer your call to go back to the land but could have a market for their crops/ produce. Your response was that you personally will buy all their produce that is good but how sustainable is that? You are an individual; will you guarantee that you will keep on buying such produce?  Once done for a particular group others will follow. Because you are the president of all.

One would have thought your government would have put in place a sound government policy to address such a problem rather than personal intervention, like the one you offer. Does it mean that your government has run sort of solutions? No it is a good news that you are now in charge of Agriculture and that you vow not to give it to anyone again as all the previous agriculture minister have failed to deliver……….

If department of state for education cannot address the issues of transportation for students one has to ask what went wrong. If Department of state for Agriculture cannot bring any solution to food production or the marketing of farmers produce then there is a problem.

In the recent days we have seen you personally donates buses to schools not one, two, or three but to more. We have seen you offer bags of rice, cash, Hajj tickets –the question is where are all these monies coming from?                                                                                  

The people need explanation since you hold a public office. You have little privacy –Mr. President you owe Gambian an explanation. With such it gives you more credit now and after.

I would suggest that a think Tank be in place immediately you finish the tour to find solutions to the numerous concerns raised by the people during your tour. This TT could also be charge with provision of policies to address identified problems.