The Government of The Gambia has many sources from which citizens can get information about it and its style of governance. We have the Ministry of Information and Communication, we have the Government Spokesperson and we have the Director of Press, Office of the President.
Perhaps this is exactly the problem especially when we observe conflicting information coming from these different sources. Sometimes, it becomes difficult for ordinary folks to know which information is genuine and which is not.
We have seen for instance, when the Government Spokesperson was appointed, and it was announced on national television; later, the Director of Press, Office of the President denied knowledge of it only for the Minister of Information to confirm it later.
Again, we saw the announcement of the 11 million dalasis donated by a Saudi national to the 2018 batch of pilgrims from The Gambia and the way that information was handled.
The recent revelation by the Office of the President that The Gambia had secured a twenty-million-dollar grant from the United Nations for the TRRC which the executive secretary of the TRRC clarified as ‘not being only for the TRRC’. The Director of Press, Office of the President again gave conflicting information.
Information is very important, especially in governance. The Government of The Gambia should therefore come up with a better communication strategy so that they all speak the same language if they do not want to confuse the public.
It is difficult to choose who to trust when members of the same government keep giving us contradictory information about the same issue. Information is crucial in a democracy!
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