President Barrow’s comment on “selling The Gambia” taken out of context

Claim: TikTok user Marwan Leigh shared a video claiming President Adama Barrow said he would sell the Gambia.  

Verdict: False! Although President Adama Barrow said, “We will sell the Gambia,” his comment was omitted. He made this statement at the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI) trade fair, where he discussed the promotion of the Gambia globally.

Full Text

Recently, a short video clip of The Gambia’s President, Adama Barrow, stating that he would sell The Gambia, went viral on social media platforms, particularly TikTok. This video sparked controversy, ridicule, and widespread misunderstanding, particularly among young Gambians in the digital sphere.

The controversy led to hundreds of reposts, memes, satirical videos, and critical commentary. The video’s controversy and misinterpretation led to public ridicule, embarrassment, and a trend among many young Gambians, especially TikTok users.

Marwan Leigh, a content creator who focuses solely on jokes and mockery (satire), created a video to add humour to his statement, which sparked various comments from many individuals.

A TikTok user @Harley said, “You guys are misquoting the president. What he meant by we can sell the Gambia is that we can take the Gambia’s name to many places, like selling the face of the Gambia!”

@Bby Ayshaa said, “Okay, after selling those properties, Gambia is the next target. You’re taking it as a joke. This man knows he’s going down next year, eyooo.”

@Hydarakara also stated that this is the impact of choosing a businessman as the president, see, he is mistaking the country for a project.

GambiaUnseen is another TikTok user who recreated the same video with a different sense of humour, alongside Kemo Jr. and other content creators, to attract a mass audience and followership. 

As of June 25, 2025, Marwan’s post had garnered over 108,000 views, 350 comments, 576 reposts, 10,300 likes, and 1,313 bookmarks.

Since this is a political issue and given the conflicting reactions, DUBAWA investigated the claim.

Verification

A detailed interview with Adama Barrow by Star TV was a clear highlight of the video extracted from Adama’s speech during his visit to the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI) trade fair, in which he expressed his intention to sell the country. His speech was intended to address the global market competition, but many Gambians distorted the context of his message. 

DUBAWA looked into the context of his statement from QTV’s report on selling the Gambia, which referred to marketing, showcasing, or promoting the Gambia in the international commerce system or trade zone.

We also interviewed with the president’s Deputy Spokesperson, Abubacarr Sankanu, who clarified that Adama’s notion of “Selling The Gambia” was words of encouragement from the president, which ”contextually meant to market or promote the Gambia. It doesn’t mean physically giving up everything; it means promotion, attracting investors, ideas, and interest in what we are offering. That’s what it means.

He further explained that these rhetorical expressions are common in political and economic speeches, where “selling” a country refers to promoting it as an investment destination or raising its global profile, not selling it as an asset.

Conclusion

The claim that Barrow said he would “sell The Gambia” is false and taken out of context. The edited video clip misrepresents a metaphorical statement intended to promote international trade and entrepreneurship. While social media users have widely shared and mocked the statement, responsible media consumers should seek full context before forming conclusions.