UNITE leader blasts Barrow over electricity crisis, urges national responsibility

By Mama A Touray

UNITE leader and Coalition 2026 standard-bearer, Talib Ahmed Bensouda, has criticised President Adama Barrow over the country’s worsening power outages, blaming the administration’s reliance on neighbouring Senegal for the national grid’s collapse

Speaking at Penchami Hotel in Senegambia, Bensouda said: “Gambia is now sourcing electricity in Senegal and now that things have changed and Senegal has their own issue to deal with the electricity in Senegal is what Senegalese are using that is why we did not have electricity.” He argued the problem reflected wider governance failures since 2016, adding: “when President Adama barrow was elected in 2016, he did what is simple so that he can be winning election but he did not do anything that will move Gambia forward”.

Bensouda criticised the government’s dependence on neighbouring Senegal for power, saying essential services were being left vulnerable. “You cannot take what is your country’s electricity crisis, what tailors, hospitals, women in the market and schools depend on, no matter how you love Senegal or how close you are to your neighbors, No one will take his responsibility and give it to your neighbor. Today Senegal has crises so before supplying Gambia they will supply themselves first,” he told supporters and alliance partners.

The UNITE leader’s remarks come amid persistent outages that have prompted public frustration and political debate. Bensouda urged the government to take responsibility for domestic energy security rather than relying on external sources.