By Madi Jobarteh
It is not only insulting to the citizens but also threatening to national security for Pres. Adama Barrow to allow none other than a leading Dictatorship Denier and Enabler to come to State House to vouch for none other than Tyrant Yaya Jammeh. It is like Pres. Joe Biden of the US inviting an imbecile like Rudy Giuliani to the White House to speak for Donald Trump as a unifier for Americans. I am sure Joe Biden will not spend that night in peace in the White House.
This is simply because, according to their own history there has been no US President ever that has threatened the unity, survival and stability of their republic and democracy more than Donald Trump. In the Gambian context, Yaya Jammeh is worse than Donald Trump because of the blatant and gross human rights violations Jammeh meted out to scores of Gambians with impunity for 22 years. In 2016, just like Trump, Jammeh refused to concede defeat until he was forced out by a foreign military force. It was people like Sam Sarr who defended Jammeh to refuse the verdict of the people and continues to defend Jammeh until today!
But here we are with a President who does not seem to have a basic understanding of history, his role as President and the state of affairs of his country such that he could act in the most insensitive, irresponsible and dangerous manner by inviting Sam Sarr to the State House! This begs the question, what must be going on in the head of Adama Barrow and his technocrats to have the audacity to allow an unapologetic, unconscionable and unpatriotic dictator lover like Samsudeen Sarr to walk into State House to talk about according Yaya Jammeh the status of a former head of state and as a unifier?
Is it that Adama Barrow, as an adult human being, is ignorant of the true history and experience of his own people between 22nd July 1994 and 19th January 2017? Is Pres. Barrow unaware of the fact that until today, Yaya Jammeh remains the greatest threat to our country as he and his desperate supporters continue to deny their crimes, mock their victims and seek to destabilise the Gambia? Has Pres. Barrow forgotten that it was people like Samsudeen Sarr who had vigorously and deliberately aided and abetted Yaya Jammeh to damage every right of our citizens and every rule of our Constitution just to perpetuate one-man rule in this republic? Otherwise, could Adama Barrow ask himself why he still keeps ECOMIG in our country, if not for his fear of Yaya Jammeh and his loyalists!
Clearly Adama Barrow is not unaware of the crimes of Yaya Jammeh and the exceptional role enablers like Sam Sarr played in that national calamity. Why then is Pres. Barrow willing and ready to betray the Gambia by hobnobbing with Yaya Jammeh and his party and enablers in broad daylight? What is Adama Barrow looking for? What does he want to gain such that he would want to lose his soul and destroy the Gambia? For anyone to entertain even slightly the idea that Yaya Jammeh is a unifier of Gambians is indeed insulting and dishonest.
I think all Gambians must now see that the single most dangerous threat to the peace and stability of the Gambia is none other than President Adama Barrow himself. Experts have shown that societies that underwent autocratic rule or violent conflict should engage in a robust transitional justice process if they are to avoid future recurrences of those crimes. The examples of a lack of a robust transitional justice process leading to another round of autocratic rule and conflict are all too many such as the 1994 Rwanda Genocide.
That the Gambia underwent an authoritarian rule for decades is an open secret. In fact, it was precisely because of that, that Mr. Adama Barrow himself and his Government launched a transitional justice program in 2017. Yet even before the TRRC concluded its truth-seeking hearings, we witness how Barrow is so eager to ignore this country’s atrocious past by keeping key Enablers of that regime into his Cabinet and in his party and in strategic positions across his Government.
As if that is just the tip of the iceberg, it is all too clear that Barrow now wants to jump into bed with APRC while seeking to celebrate the Tyrant himself just for power! No wonder he orchestrated the killing of the draft constitution just to perpetuate himself in power indefinitely! If there is anything undeniably and evidently characteristic of Adama Barrow is that he is indeed power hungry. Extremely power hungry for that matter. In his quest to cling onto power, it appears Barrow is ready to continue to betray, sell, undermine and disrespect this republic as he wishes!
That Sam Sarr is a nonentity is clear like the sun at 2pm. He has no value to offer anything to this republic as he has never done so. His life of vanity has been spent only to harm the sovereignty of the Gambia and ridicule the dignity of the people. He has lived only as a parasite to suck the blood of Gambians but never to give anything back to his society. Indeed, Sam Sarr is the epitome of an ingrate and a prodigal son of the land!
But let Sam Sarr be whatever he wishes to be. What is unacceptable is for the President of the Republic to transform that historic and sacred mandate of the people into a weapon to harm the people by engaging with ignoble people like Sam Sarr to undermine the Republic. I consider the meeting between Adama Barrow and Sam Sarr as treasonable for which the President must be held accountable. Like Yaya Jammeh, Sam Sarr is an enemy of the Gambia for the treasonable crimes they committed and then to continue to deny those crimes and mock victims.
One would have expected that Pres. Adama Barrow would tell Sam Sarr in no uncertain terms that Yaya Jammeh bears primary responsibility for the 22 years of gross human rights violations in this country for which he will be held accountable. An honest, bold and patriotic President would have put it to Sam Sarr that the Gambia Government will not reconcile with a tinpot dictator until and unless there is first, truth, justice and accountability. Pres. Barrow, if he were decent, honest and a true leader should have told Sam Sarr that Yaya Jammeh does not deserve the status of a former Head of State for he misruled this country and subjected it to international ridicule and pariah status. Yaya Jammeh deserves nothing other than to be prosecuted and sent to jail for good!
But alas! Once again, as consistently as ever, Mr. Adama Barrow has distinguished himself as the leading betrayer and traitor of the Republic of the Gambia never seen before in the history of this country! This is the most infamous meeting and the most disrespectful act to have taken place inside the House of the Republic, the people’s house. It is as unforgivable as it is disappointing, insulting and nonsensical!
For The Gambia Our Homeland.
#GambiaDecides2021
By Dabakh Malick
Let’s start this piece with a quote by former leader of Burkina Faso Capt Thomas Sankara: “Our REVOLUTION is not a PUBLIC SPEAKING tournament. Our REVOLUTION is not a BATTLE of FINE PHRASES. Our REVOLUTION is not SIMPLY for SPOUTING SLOGANS that are NO more than SIGNALS used by MANIPULATORS trying to use them as CATCHWORDS, as a FOIL for their OWN display. Our REVOLUTION is, and SHOULD continue to be, the COLLECTIVE effort of REVOLUTIONARIES to TRANSFORM REALITY, to IMPROVE the CONCRETE SITUATION of the MASSES of our people.” It’s a statement that’s worth pondering over since it’s pertinent to our reality as a nation.
December 4th will be another important date in the political life of The Gambia. Certainly for various reasons but the most obvious is that it is the date upon which presidential elections will be held for the first time post-Jammeh era.
Elections are integral part of a democratic process. Yet, the December election is a massive event. For the first time in our nation’s history, we are having political pluralism of this magnitude – where you have 18 registered political parties and a number of aspiring independent candidates. And so this election is going to be a litmus test for the many political parties and independent candidates we have. It’s their political viability that stands to be tested.
The million dollars question in the minds of most Gambians is: who is going to go home with the bragging rights? Your guess is as good as mine. But one can safely say the election will be a two-horse race, a race between NPP and UDP. You will have President Adama Barrow on the one hand and Lawyer Ousainou A.N.M Darboe on the other.
But still, any wise person would say a day is too much to risk in politics. A lot could happen or change between now and December, events that could redefine the race. And so until then, your guess is as good as mine.
PDOIS faces a massive challenge in terms of winning but it’s my view the party would make significant gains due to the roles the party played in building the coalition in the 2016 election, the political impasse but also the party’s consistent record in standing up for the interest of the ordinary man when it mattered most. For a very long time, I began seeing the party’s message resonating with not only the educated class but also the common Joe of the everyday Gambian.
And then you have CA. Being a new party with a former political science lecturer at the University of the Gambia as leader, the party can only use 2021 to experiment and gather experience in preparation for 2026.
If you ask me about NRP, NCP, PPP and GPDP, these parties are most likely throwing their weight behind NPP/Barrow. And having at the back of their minds that the political careers of their leaders are almost over including the issue of age on the part of these leaders, their best shot is to form an Alliance to be able to save face.
Let’s then turn to GMC. This is a party that’s a one-man party. Its leader Mai Fatty is more active on social media than his party activities. Will the party put up a candidate for 2021 at all? I believe they will form Alliance and that is way better for them than putting up a candidate who will end up losing the deposit because they can’t score 5% of the votes cast.
For GDC and its flag bearer Mama Kandeh, I think they’re in trouble. They impressed in 2016 but it’s my prediction they will not be able to replicate their performance in 2016. GDC was able to do so well in 2016 for various reasons. For example, the party was new and many APRC and NRP supporters lost hope in their parties and voted for Mama. These are voters who could not vote for the Coalition’s candidate. A lot has happened in the past four years that continue to change the political fortunes of GDC. GDC is no longer the 2016 power party it once was and I doubt if they will play second fiddle to any candidate. I believe it will be hard for GDC to have a Coalition agreement in which Mama isn’t the flag bearer. Their best shot is for them to try get APRC since GDC is more like the prodigal son coming home.
With the Independent Candidates, for the first time I am seeing these many people who plan to run on an independent ticket but the truth is I think many are just playing to the hype of election year but even if they finally made it on the list, all of them will lose their deposit for not being able to pull 5% and I would be surprised if the performance of all of them combined isn’t up to that mark.
To close, this election will define the future of our nation. The best we can do is to register those who attain the right age, get involved by making sure the right person is chosen.
Do it for The Gambia And VOTE for your FUTURE!