It was the darkest day in the history of my village, Sami, CRR. As soon as he arrived at the village “bantaba”, he (Captain Momodou Bojang) disrespectfully raised his foot and placed it on the village bantaba and vowed to deal with the villagers for merely supporting the UDP. He came with soldiers from the Kudang Barracks. This was sometime in 1995, the armed soldiers under the instruction of Yahya Jammeh and under direct supervision of Commissioner Captain (later Major) Momodou Bojang arrogantly and rudely oversaw the arrest and subsequent torture of some elderly villagers including the then 80-year-old, the late Alkalo Bakey Ceesay at the Janjanbureh prisons. Their only crime was because they were opposition sympathizers, something unacceptable to Jammeh and Momodou Bojang. The arrestees together with the old man were ruthlessly and sadistically tortured. Upon his release, the old man could not sustain the torture pains and humiliation meted out to him by then powerful Commissioner Momodou Bojang in front of his villagers. Few days later, he died. He was a great man. A noble man and a great hunter. He died a dignified man while Major Momodou lives peacefully in exile in Wisconsin, US and the torturers, that is, the soldiers also living in peace in Gambia.

 
As I sat for a special chat while on holidays from Bwiam to listen to the old man’s ordeal in the hands on soldiers and Commissioner Momodou Bojang, I saw my late dad, and for the first time, I noticed fear mixed with anger and resignation over his face. I tried to console to forget the ordeal and regain strength, but he continued to tell the me the story of the armed men, the arrest and torture of our Alkalo. I must admit that I was too naive then to have support the junta at the time. I advised him to stay out of politics entirely. I came to realize over the years these are the heroes. They know the landscape of Gambian politics more than me. As the arrests and tortures continue over the years I came to realize that there is a demon at the highest office of my country. I started to speak out when I was in Gambia.

My message to Captain or Major Momodou Bojang is to come out of his current comfort zone in Wisconsin to apologize to the villagers of Sami, CRR for his wrongdoing in beating their elders for merely exercising their political rights, especially to the late old Alkalo who died from your torture orders. We knew you were a powerful vocal commissioner who rained insults on our elders in that year. We would forgive you when you apologize. In conclusion, we look forward to seeing again in my village, this time on an apology mission.

By A Concerned Citizen of Sami

Please allow me to use some space in your well respected newspaper to express my disquiet over the disappearance and possible abduction and detention of the former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Momodou Sarjor Jallow. Mr. Jallow is a close friend, a former comrade in the struggle for justice in The Gambia and in countries all over Africa as well as a persistent colleague in the efforts in empowering the poor, disadvantaged and dispossessed and helping them to be self-employed, independent minded and productive citizens of our beloved Gambia. Knowing who he is I know there is a possible misunderstanding within circles of the APRC government

Though Mr. Jallow has from 1994 been a supporter of the AFPRC and APRC governments, I have never been a supporter of the AFPRC or APRC governments. I take it as a principle never to support a government coming into power through military coups, or through the hatching of plots by isolated groups of conspirators or ad vanguard revolutionaries because of my belief that the masses are their own liberators, not isolated groups of individuals claiming to be liberating on behalf of the masses. So while Mr. Jallow was a supporter of the AFPRC` and APRC governments I never have been. But this did not stop the comradely brotherhood between Mr. Sarjor Jallow and myself because we were both part of MOJA-Gambia where political pluralism was the ideological norm. Comrade Sarjor and I could continue sharing general ideological convictions while still deferring in our political appraisal and understanding of situations. We could agree on the belief on the need for a non-capitalist path to development while not agreeing on whether the current APRC regime is the way forward to ultimate solution of the problems of the nation.

But despite this dissonance in views Mr. Jallow and myself have respected each other’s views and continued to respectfully agree to disagree. Based on this I have known Mr. Jallow to be a patriotic official of the APRC government and an extremely loyal supporter of the current government. Mr. Jallow and I have long stopped trying to convince each other over to our respective political persuasions and I have no doubt that he has been extremely loyal to the APRC and its government.

His current predicament is something he most likely do not even understand. It is may be because of his wife’s recent support and membership to the United Democratic Party, UDP, but that has nothing to do with Sarjor’s loyalty. Both wife and husband have long been MOJA members, brought up and trained in MOJA’s tradition of political pluralism. In MOJA we were trained to believe and respect that spouses, friends and relatives can hold different views and yet live and tolerate each other.and the differences of views. This is why Sarjor Jallow could not stop his wife from expressing her support for the opposition UDP.

This I understand so much that I must write to call for the immediate release of Sarjor Jsllow by the authorities concerned. I am, in fact, ready to hand over myself for arrest by Gambian security forces in exchange for his release as soon as I can make myself available if you find him liable for arrest. Information on my arrival will be made on your convenience.

Ousman Manjang

Bakoteh Layout 6^th September 2016

No doubt dictatorship has fractured our country. Most importantly, Gambia is about to go on another level of hyperactive downright dangerous brutal dictatorship, binge with new breeds of crocodiles if we don’t knit our divisions together. We already went through a generation of “Lost children of smiling coast episodes”, our society turn upside down and national embarrassments that lend us the “crying coast of west Africa”. Here we are, smack in the month of September, with two months left for a chance of getting through all the information we need about those aspiring to lead us and their initiatives but when you read the news stories about what is being said every day on the online radios, you get bored to confusion. And when you browse to the cauldron of social media, you really experience the depth of that divide. The most consequential election is around the corner but it probably should not be a surprised to many Gambians that we might actually earn our way to a united coalition after many bruises and frustrations along the way by “Gambian time” sharp 11:59pm at worst case scenario.

However, at the core of everything, Gambian online celebrity prognosticators are at work again claiming not to be belonging to— neither here —nor there— but everywhere, Inculcating Gambians with a sense that the Diasporia is the enemy of progress instead of Yaya Jammeh and his IEC. That is not a recipe for ensuring unity and harmony but eventually, we hope they will come back to reality walking back many of their provocative positions almost daily until they get to where all our hearts are to rally behind the unity line. Every in-depth conversation or facts that were once based on merit, is now devolve into animosity with lingering bitterness— by people engaged in sloganeering and self- aggrandizement campaign against a particular candidate. This upcoming presidential elections yarns for unity in order to encourage Gambians to grow out of fear, more hopeful about their future, and be influence by the dire conditions on the ground to cast that vote of “NO” to dictatorship. We should all be encouraging the Gambians to take on the rotten system because we all agree that we are not in pleasant times but in darkest days of terror. Let’s not kid ourselves, every Gambian knows far more than they will admit — Yaya Jammeh is bad news for Gambia and we need to put all our energy behind one candidate to take on Yaya Jammeh.

The twenty-year odyssey of depression our country went through should become an urgent rallying cry for unity. Sound familiar? But the vitriol campaign of few surrogates have bring out one of the worst character traits of some Gambians— the self-centered who feel their name recognition will enable them to beat online radio listeners and news site readers into submission. Sometimes, though, those who think they are the smartest planners or have an incredible insight of things, lose sight of what matters most. Such people are suddenly empowered to enforce their views on us as if we are their subordinates in the barracks. Rather than jump on the bandwagon, take into account their uncompromising resistance of a qualified independent candidate and if you don’t think that the rigid resistance from some people over the past week wasn’t a bit over the top, challenge yourself to imagine: the hope that those political prisoners across the country, the extraordinary challenges our mothers face daily making ends meet, and probability waking up with the worst dictator in the history of our country in state house.

Lastly, I want to narrate an event during which a man came hurling obscenities to a scholar sitting among his students. Everybody seems to be surprised that the scholar didn’t utter a word back to the man insulting him. When the man left, the students asked him “Why didn’t you say anything or let us do something”? He responded. If I responded to him, then how would I explain the chapter with the verse “…when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace”. The lesson we derive from that episode is, lets continue our work on uniting all the candidates on a united front — to lead the way to victory. We should all be working hard together to unite all the candidates under one ticket just as we do to help repatriate a dead body or funds to assist a Gambian in need. We all should be highly motivated to put our difference aside for Gambia too, genuinely open to finding shared common ground, help turned the anger and frustration of Gambian people into a winning strategy to end dictatorship.

Gambians prefer the vision of government we can finally trust to move us closer to the freedom we yearn for on December 2nd, reconcile our differences and showcase our belief in ourselves as one indivisible nation. We do not have the time to counterbalance autocratic impulse because our challenges are mounting each day when Yaya Jammeh sits behind that desk. Manipulating Gambians into believing misleading stories leaves behind broken glasses on your pathway on your way back to reality. One lone individual Gambian politician does not have all the answers and cannot build back all our broken institutions, bring in developmental projects, implement new energy systems to solve the electricity crisis, new interstate highways to connect the whole country, new recycling systems to clean up our neighborhoods, better healthcare systems and a government that works for all. Those are things that we have to do together working in unity. We need a president who shall treat our state house with dignity and respect, and would not allow the monumental problems of petty divisiveness to undermine their optimism and confidence in executing their duties with decorum. So Gambians beware of going it alone and lets not pay attention to non-issues to divide us.

By habib ( A concerned Gambian)

Partly due to his threats of genocide and promise of hell against the majority of Gambians, I am convinced that less than 30% of Gambians will vote for Jammeh in Dec. Therefore, anyone of our opposition candidates who contest alone against Jammeh will certainly win irrespective of gender, education, popularity, tribe or charisma. The candidate does not even have to campaign because Jammeh has already done enough anti-campaigning for Gambians to boot him out of office. Even if Kitabu the comedian is nominated as a flag-bearer, he will defeat Jammeh with a landslide.

However, while Jammeh’s defeat is quite inevitable, the difficult and challenging part of the political equation is for Jammeh to hand-over power peacefully without turning our beautiful country into another Libya or Gabon. Based on this perspective, I will use a simple and direct analogy to explain my reason for saying that the UDP must not lead a coalition (if there will ever be one) for our Dec polls.

The situation of The Gambia is like a ship that is seized by a pirate (Jammeh) who is heavily armed with different types of weapons (the country’s security services and judiciary) with which he has been using and is still using to harm a lot of people in the ship.

Now an opportunity (election) has come for only one person to come forward to take-over the power from the pirate and to stop the carnage. But knowing full well that Jammeh is highly paranoid and seriously worried about vengeance/retribution for his atrocities, is it strategic and wise to nominate a candidate/party which has been a direct victim of Jammeh’s impunity?

It is common knowledge that apart from the security forces, the group of people who are the worst victims of Jammeh’s atrocities are the members of the UDP. In this regard therefore, can anyone imagine Jammeh conceding defeat and handing over the command and control of the armed and security services to the UDP after all the heinous abuses/violations he recently perpetrated against the UDP leadership and its members? My bet is that Jammeh would prefer to go like Ghadaffi, Campaore or Gbagbo than to hand over the keys to the barracks, police stations, NIA and Mile II to Adama Barrow

My fellow compatriots, ladies and gentlemen. Please let us stop deceiving ourselves and let us face the reality at least for once in order to get rid of Jammeh. We are dealing with a brutal leader and our country is not in a state of normal democracy. As a result, we must also be flexible and willing to deviate from conventional factors such as party size, political experience, educational background, popularity or charisma when choosing a flag-bearer.

Considering the precarious situation in which we are in, my opinion is that the most important factor to consider in choosing a flag-bearer is the preservation of the peace and stability of our country. Simply put, the safeguarding of the lives and property of our people is more important than the political ambitions, ideologies and manifestos of all our opposition parties/leaders combined. For most of us, to have a peaceful transition of power is our biggest concern and aspiration.

From a security point of view therefore, Mama Kandeh is the safest and the best candidate to run solo against Jammeh in Dec. This is mostly because Kandeh has no record of impunity or violence perpetrated against him by Jammeh or the system and therefore he has no grudges, hard feelings or any motive of personal vendetta against anyone. He therefore poses no threat whatsoever to the personal safety of Jammeh or anyone else and therefore I see no reason why Jammeh would hesitate to hand-over power to him..

And to add icing to the cake, Mama Kandeh is highly electable, humble, eloquent, and charismatic. And to cap it all, Kandeh has demonstrated his capability to pull massive crowds as well as the ability to win the hearts and minds of the APRC support base including our security personnel. If we are really true to our quest for peace and stability in our beautiful country, then we should all accept, endorse and support Kandeh to lead us safely into the Third Republic

Before I conclude, I would like to clarify that my contributions to our political discourse is born out of a genuine desire for peace and stability in our beloved country. It is not based on any affiliation/loyalty to to any party, individual, group or organization. I have seen at firsthand the devastating effects of violent conflicts in six different African countries while directly participating in the peace efforts of three of them. My abhorrence of violence and bloodshed is the driving force of my blogging. Our country must never experience the horrors of violent conflict.

Long live the Republic of The Gambia, long live our peace, stability and harmonious co-existence.

 
Author Gano

September 8, 2016

What Gambians, and the world, saw on Friday if they sat through Dr. Isatou Touray convention, was not only history in the making as the first women Presidential candidate, or a woman with enormous experience to tackle a long list of our inventory of our pains from all directions, but it was rather how she brilliantly articulated powerful narratives of how the grace that flowed in her, gave her the confidence in taking on difficult issues head on , her tenacity in fighting for the ordinary people, and her capacity to fight for the ordinary people grew out her even more stronger. Furthermore, she is committed to her country and suppler to carry on her fight to rescue Gambia. We appreciate UDP flag Bearer Mr. Barrow, UDP deputy party leader, Ousainou Darboe’s wife, three NPR party executives and others party members who all grace the occasion. Historically, it was a revealing moment. Dr. Touray came out of that convention with so much political capital and strength as a credible voice. People come alongside from all directions of the country to show her support and trust in her candor to lead the Gambian cause when given the chance. Meanwhile, it was refreshing to hear from someone who understands our advent of sophisticated issues our nations from the grass root level and her wiliness to addressed the legitimate concerns of many Gambians who feel left out, used and misused by the regime. I have derived three pills of wisdoms from this historical day Gambians have to pay attention to.

First Pill of Wisdom for Gambians: It is our country too and the era for next generation

Her uplifting message of hope resonated very well to the Gambians and she delivered with the utmost humility. The graciousness she displayed in her looking for the good news in people and not the bad habits in contrast to the current regime seeing us as material to use and disposed of was so refreshing. She embraced Gambians at home in the most gracious manner, greeted Gambians in the diaspora openly — by giving us the respect, recognizing our nationalism whiles pledging to maximizing our influence and effectiveness for the good of our own homeland. she pledges to relinquish power after one term in an effort for all the political parties to come under one umbrella because we cannot afford another 5 more years of momentous humiliation. She is brave enough to step forward and have gone through a lot of experience of hell with this regime — like the challenges ordinary Gambians face daily. As our elders often say, you can learn some lessons from other people’s experience but wisdom is not lodged inside of you until its truth has been engraved by some moment of disappointments — when you are falsely accused, humiliated, and some other firsthand experience. So her goal is to end Gambians losing their lives in high seas through back way — as a result of dictatorship, put an end to people dying in the hands of the regime, put an end to one man controlling everything and instead replacing it with projects for whole community to benefit from.

Second Pill of Wisdom for Regime: APRC Regime have overstayed their welcome

We all know the APRC regime ways of misleading Gambians with reckless language is too often their preferred method of running the country and scapegoating some of the most vulnerable people in the country. Yaya Jammeh who felt he is a “Mr. know it all” and does not need to engage the advice of Gambians, preferring to try to ignore them, have put our nation in total collapse by killing all our pillars of democracy. The APRC regime with military mindset and a very superstitious leader who believes in “jalangs “, misinterpreted government as a battlefield and perceived citizens as enemies to be killed or those loyal to their cause be rewarded on the expense of the country. This system of governance will not move a nation towards its development goals and has failed us with filthy littered streets, poor roads conditions, stagnant drainage, and failed institutions. Yaya Jammeh and his military APRC regime wants to maintain control at all times — even if it means killing people, mismatching positions with unqualified people to break system of good governance, hoarding access from public and close themselves off to those who can help. The results are the failures we see today and total collapse of our society. The wisdom we learn from this is: If you treat the world as a friendly and hopeful place to find developmental projects for your country, as a web of relationships to seek buyers of Gambian products or farm produces, the whole nation will succeed. On the other hand, what have Yaya Jammeh gain form making headlines for the wrong reason? In places of competence or facts, Yaya Jammeh relies on spiritual jalangs and witchcrafts which have only caused doom and gloom for our country. And this is not the type of faith most Gambians believes in. He will promise Gambians every magnificent vision around election time and he makes sure it is has a five, ten or twenty years life-span difference. when pressed for how he will produce those visions? He answers “Have faith and believe me”. What a con man! We don’t believe in these evil things.

Third Pill of Wisdom for the politicians: Perils of going it alone is too risky for the nation

For decades, experts and ordinary Gambians have debated the perils of individual parties trying to go it alone with Dictator who have dismantle everything about Gambia. But no clear consensus emerged, especially when the political parties tangled up with exactly who should lead among themselves which further kept us trapped in a dysfunctional brutal dictatorship era. That’s not to say there haven’t been some genuine advances but they failed to bear fruit. All of the party leaders have sacrifice a lot for Gambia and UDP have bear the scars of brutally by this regime. The scale and audacity of the attacks of their party members over the span of twenty-two years, have cause them to lose lives, some of their members thrown in jail, there executives serving in mile two prison and some exiled. To this day, an unconventional and frightening assault on the opposition parties continues daily. This is something that Mama Kandeh and his party have to remember as they feel a sense of personal privilege of entitlement because of having the backing of “closet” APRC backers or connections, hundreds of followers and praise singers around you makes you feel that you are quite better than what you think about yourself, stonewalling information about you, dissembling facts, and unwillingness to ever come clean. The momentum you forget the sacrifice of the other opposition parties have made over the years, partisans showering you with all kind of praises, will lead you to care less about what others think, less self-conscious, and to get out on own way. Nonetheless, the argument still doesn’t hold up. It is a senseless and dangerous idea to go it alone. Take that lesson to heart and work hard with all of the parties involved for a united front. Otherwise GDC and their leader will become a polarizing political figure or provocateurs who infiltrated the election venue to give victory to the dictator.

Fourth Pill of Wisdom for spoilers: last-minute tinkering issue to cause delay

In an election year as contentious as this one, Gambians are facing a dizzying array of choices. The rare, last-minute tinkering of personalities meddling in both sides of the debate are causing further confusion must end for God’s sake. Certainly, we can see how the people putting their personal interest instead of preaching unity at this hour. More seriously, it’s a shame their points of arguments were addressed but they are always doing the kind of devil-in-the-details situation to cause further delays. We should all be working together to support the initiatives from politicians convincingly and provide or suggestions were necessary to do-over languages we disagree with to enhance the process of uniting all the parties. More seriously, unaffiliated members of the major parties are decrying issues which are not the position of the party leaders. I wonder sometimes Yaya Jammeh’s men are infiltrated among us to further delay any genuine initiatives. Indeed, we should all be united in anger to bring this bad system of governance for our country. And reasonable people should not be quibbling at the last minute botched to delay us coming together. It could not have been more clear that Gambians are tired and want change. We all know Yaya Jammeh will be shopping for an activist willing to overturn the public will. However, not surprisingly, some people have been working hard to downplay the significance of Dr. Touray throwing her hat on the race and their predictions all along have proved unfounded. Yaya Jammeh and his regime can no longer have the luxury of turning a deaf ear to the cries of Gambians because we know how she has taken on difficult issues and deliver.

Finally, the destruction of Gambia by Yaya Jammeh hiding behind his service man and development must be ended. Gambians don’t trust Yaya Jammeh anymore, and we don’t think the nation is ready to follow him to his Islamic state and terror. From the time he took over our country by coup in 1994 and scarifying his comrades to gain the seat of power, the air of Gambia has never quite been clear of from scandals to national embarrassments. One issue Yaya Jammeh does well is to use nations wealth to destroy anything that seems to have a sort of unity. The willingness of some Gambians to be inconsistent when it is in their own personal interest with nations interest have been a problem of the past. it not our desire as Gambians to referee anything but expect all political parties to rally one candidate. We cannot afford Gambia continuing to face an even more dispiriting future and increase the chances of a harsh tradeoff of our lives for the Dictators liberty. We encourage all voters to participate in the elections and to follow their consciences in making the best choice of voting in the opposition to save our country. Let’s get it done .

Habib ( A Concerned Gambian)

In the midst of heightened tensions as diplomats assemble to negotiate the Iranian nuclear deal, the world stood breathless watching the clock tick towards midnight deadline with no sign of a deal. And with the finer details yet to be resolved nuclear scientists and experts within the foreign policy community had cautioned against another Middle-East war which Israel and its neo-conservative affiliates are pushing for. By dawn, however, breaking news soon emerged of an extraordinary deal signalling intent and compromise from all sides, showcasing the power of diplomacy when peace is given a chance.

Conversely, on that fateful day in 1981 when ‘’Kukoi’’ led an armed rebellion planning to depose the democratically elected government of Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, few had anticipated the role Senegal was to play in the events that soon followed. As dramatized on this Network, the diplomatic entanglement that was the Senegambia confederation, thus was born forming a closer union. Although short-lived, the merger highlighted shared-history and deep-ties between the sister-republics, and a masterful art in diplomacy by president Jawara in further consolidating power.

Diplomacy, in short, is a form of negotiation and compromise, of a give-and-take, in an attempt at striking an agreement. It is also about shared values between countries and political systems finding commonality on a range of issues. In U.S. foreign policy, diplomacy and war are avenues by which America press its agenda onto others thru its diplomats who use such coercive tools as the threat of war, even as a bluff, in furthering its interest.

In diplomacy, however, experts lie all the time to their host country. Having the front-man say one thing whilst planning something else entirely different. For example, in 1939, with the drums of war beating in Europe, Hitler had a ‘Jewish’ Foreign Minister tasked with negotiating a Pact with the Russians. But as war grew closer, he was fired and placed under arrest, unaware of the NAZI plan.

As globalisation and terrorism encroach on national boundaries, states should react accordingly in understanding diplomacy as a source of peace. It is still troubling watching the demise of Gambia’s diplomatic prowess around the world which states within the periphery had turned to in settling disputes. Prior to Dakar, Banjul was the trusted impartial referee with a foreign policy to match. In recent years, however, deception has blindsided relations, and ultimately with Bissau. In bilateral affairs, rival states value honesty and credibility, but also predictability. Foreign policy should not be reckless, contemptuous, or greedy. And just like financial markets, countries also like certainty, international norms, in that a government will fulfil its promises. African, though, continues to be held hostage amidst tainted leadership obsessed with self-aggrandisement. Fellow Gambians – Yaya Jammeh is unpredictable, duplicitous, and an untrustworthy bandit.

A classic situation manifested in the manner Banjul had mishandled Taipei. Although China is the preeminent trading partner this century, Banjul could have gone for Beijing in a much humane manner in light of all that Taiwan has done for the country. The Gambian leadership took the bold steps and it has reasons for the tactical manoeuvre. However, a well-placed source had signalled to me there was willingness on both sides to engage each other. Understandably, China’s uncompromising stance on the issue of Taiwan was communicated to Banjul in a stern, but honest and friendly manner.

Nevertheless, I’m all for rapprochement resuming ties with Beijing; in fact, I’d encouraged it. That was a screwed diplomatic move by the leadership in Banjul, hence the Gambia is an independent sovereign nation at liberty to chart its own destiny in pursuance of national interest. The country’s relationship with states within the periphery should be of mutual interest aligning programmes and policies designed in Pan-Africanism, of win-win outcomes. Our luck and destinies are inter-linked, and unless Banjul and Dakar quit the zero-sum games wake-up sober to the realities, the world is developing fast elsewhere! States are self-interested actors, and Africa has been further unfortunate with irrational leaders, egoistic, and clueless in that order.

In a fast-paced world shored up by technology, states such as China, Brazil, and Senegal are turning to public diplomacy in an effort to boost their image abroad. Just like a person’s credit history or criminal record, reputation is all a country has in marketing itself internationally. Under President Jawara, the Gambia was consistent in both rhetoric and deed. The country was trusted. Its foreign policy measured. World leaders would visit Banjul impressed by governmental set-up in a separation-of-powers institutional make-up, boosted by a competent and non-partisan civil service.

Modern diplomatic-relations has seen embassies include such non-state experts into postings, as trade and business facilitators, financial experts, tourism gurus, among others. Today, Multinational companies continue to exercise significant clout in the diplomatic system with global assets in excess of trillions of dollars. The IMF has reported that more than half of the world’s top economies are not countries, but global MNCs. In Western Europe, countries have come to learn that for European prosperity to endure all states within the EU should do well too. That shared prosperity formula designed in economic and trade policies ensure European fate and destinies are interdependent. They consult and align policies at the supranational and macro levels so as to breed unison, but in showing strength too.

In an international political system consisting of 195 nation-states, countries around the world continue to improve their global standing, alliances, and wealth, preparing for the challenges ahead. And for the Gambia to realise its developmental objectives, its neighbours must do well too. The Gambia shall always fail in its vision as a highly developed city-state – as long as ‘Cassamance’ continue to pose an existential threat within the periphery. Both Dakar and Banjul must embark on honest diplomacy calling on various factions on the ground, and formulating ways to tackle poverty in the region. The ‘Cassamance’ crisis must be resolved sooner or later, and that pragmatism will allow the Gambia and Senegal to align and coordinate foreign policy on regional issues adding weight to a Senegambia collaboration in international affairs. Both countries can stabilise Guinea Bissau within months if the will is sincere, moving onto Mali in a double-pronged diplomatic and coercive military strategy backed by the African Union. In recent years, however, Guinea Bissau has become a proxy for both countries with Banjul and Dakar meddling in Bissau politics. This is a clear breach of the African Union charter stressing the sovereignty and non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs.

In discourse circles, there are people out there opining that war is sometimes a necessity. To them, I ask, how would you justify the killing of children and innocent lives? Wars are not only unnecessary, but unfortunate too. For, diplomacy offers the best chance society has to replace the norm of conflict with that of stability and peace. Through negotiation, dialogue, and compromise, diplomacy offers an alternative to violence, with pillars through which many international problems can be solved.

So, the next time you hear Benjamin Netanyahu’s lies for the urgency to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities, or conduct military strikes on Palestine, ask what continuous war has done for Israel in its 70-year history? And anytime your government is caught spending vast sums on its military budget than on social programmes that better the lives of ordinary citizens, conscious people should organise and rise up demanding answers from a dictatorial regime, extenuated by rapid military build-up at the border. There, stood a paranoid leader fuelling regional conflicts in a bid to cancel impending elections – further clinging onto power.

Mr Gibril Saine

UK

I have been following and analyzing the views and positions of the various parties and their surrogates as well as the generality of Gambians about the state of affairs in the country and how best to address the deplorable situation in the Gambia. The more I analyze these views in order to understand your positions, I constantly get to the point that indeed there is something missing in your positions and views. I have come to realize that for most times, the arguments are premised on the assumption that the country is in a normal situation, politically. Yet this is wrong, and I know the parties also know that we are not in a normal situation even though they have not been able to respond to that fact accordingly, so far. What most people do not realize is that the very reason we are speaking about a coalition even before the election starts is because by law and practice, the environment is fundamentally flawed against the opposition, change and progress. That is only the critical missing link in the opposition arguments. They continue to skip this point, knowingly or unknowingly hence your inability to bring about unity within your camp for the past decade and more. Yet I strongly believe the opposition have the capacity to unite but you are not fully utilizing that potential.

We must remember that the opposition are weak and highly disadvantaged today mainly because of the undemocratic electoral laws and the unconstitutional practices of the incumbent to give itself undue advantage. It is precisely because of this situation that the opposition and indeed all Gambians felt that inevitably there needs to be a coalition even before we get to the election if there is going to be change. Failure to form a coalition behind a single candidate, but going ahead to field multiple candidates then the opposition are defeated even before the election starts. This fact must not be lost on anyone seriously concerned about the state of affairs in the Gambia. Secondly, I wish to beg these parties and their surrogates not to ever downplay the value of history. We are in this unfortunate situation at the national level as well as within the opposition simply because there was history to the how and why we decided and acted this way or that way over the years. Hence when we arrive at this moment we cannot but refer to history to make us understand why we are in this present moment and then use that history to guide us to the future.

So yes, we must refer to the various attempts and efforts by the opposition to bring about a coalition in order to bring about democratic change in the Gambia. While we applaud their efforts and initiatives, yet the history is incontestable that regardless of the reasons, the opposition have been unable to do so. If we wish the opposition could try once more. But what we have to bear in mind is that every time the opposition fails (and most likely it will again) and so long as the Gambia continues in this state of affairs we are also correspondingly pushing the country towards a conflagration. Again the facts are very clear in our history. In 1996, 1997 and 2014 we had armed citizens attack the country because of their desire to remove the government which they claim is undemocratic and oppressive. Just few weeks ago the head office of the APRC was firebombed. We have had many Gambians at home and abroad publicly declare their intention to use armed violence to remove the regime. We have also seen the increasing shrinking of fundamental rights and freedoms in the country as the regime clamps down on the opposition and dissent. The numbers of Gambians facing arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, enforced disappearances and killings continues to increase. More than anyone else, it is Foroyaa that continues to do the good job in exposing these violations and atrocities better to the world in its periodic ‘Detention Without Trial and Disappearance Without Trace’. We have a president who has used violent language against almost all sections of our country including declaring the Gambia an Islamic State contrary to our constitution and so many uncountable undemocratic actions. If these incidents and trends do not raise the alarm for any Gambian, then something is fundamentally wrong with Gambians.

Therefore any Gambian who is indeed sober must be aware that this country is heading towards a violent disintegration if this regime continues on the path that it has been for the past 22 years. The question therefore you and I need to raise is that should we allow that to happen or should we use all possible means to avert violent conflict in our dear motherland? For me, we should use all possible means even if that means more compromise, more sacrifice, or total abandonment of our positions or complete withdrawal just to give chance to national salvation.

Since the electoral laws where changed more than 10 years ago thereby creating the necessity for a coalition before elections, the opposition parties somehow have been unable to create one. NADD was an immense opportunity that was lost just like that. Each and every political party could give its version of the story and this debate can go unendingly yet it serves us no progress. We can continue to try coalescing and still no results produced. In light of this fact, I am of the view that the parties must be humble and honest to themselves to accept their inability to coalesce, not because they do not love the country but because they just have deep and uncompromising differences in opinion about methodology. In view of that, is it not therefore reasonable that if some credible citizen in the caliber of Isatou Touray emerges that all the parties say Alhamdulillah, Thank Jesus, wonderful, here is a way out for us to save our country.

Since the fine lady wants to spend only 5 years in power, then the parties must be excited that soon they will come back to the playing field and fight it out among themselves in an environment that will be so clean because they will be the very ones to clean up that environment themselves as members of Isatou’s transitional or unity government. Now if we refuse to do that, I think we will see multiple candidates in this election which can only return Jammeh to power. If that happens, then anything that happens to and in the Gambia from January 2017, we should put the responsibility squarely at the feet of the opposition. The hard truth has to be told.

Our opposition must realize that they are not involved in a competition in a casino or in the Olympics. Rather they are engaged with the soul and future of their people hence all allegiance must be to the deepest aspirations of the people first and foremost, and not to the interests of their parties and leaders. The average Gambian wants to see a coalition in place to free the country. Forming a coalition behind Dr. Isatou Touray as the single opposition flag bearer is not going to disempower or kill any party in anyway. Rather it offers immense opportunity to the parties to rejuvenate and breath fresh air as we remove the country from the clutches of tyranny and usher in a democratic third republic. What better environment could the opposition ask for?

I would therefore implore all the opposition parties, their leaders and supporters and surrogates to step back for a moment and look at the particular situation of the country in order to understand the pitfalls that could happen if we make yet again another slightest mistake. I am definitely saddened that our parties and leaders and their surrogates continue to be deeply and exclusively partisan in the face of the fact that the house is on fire. Putting forward logical or mathematical arguments will not get us to the desired conclusion and solution. We need to go beyond the maths and logic and bring in a lot of compassion and wisdom to help ourselves. And the wisdom is while Isatou will hold the flag but it is the parties that will lead from behind her to carry the nation to the promised land. Thus in essence, an Isatou Touray victory is the victory of GDC, GMC, GPDP, NDAM, NCP, NRP, PDOIS, PPP and UDP.

I wish all the opposition parties will give these ideas of mine the due attention it deserves. Sorry for so long a letter but for the sake of the Gambia I think it is necessary we are absolutely clear regardless of the length of the message. Thank you

Yours in the Service of the Gambia

Signed

Madi Jobarteh

Today, as most Gambians set their minds to a new Gambia, we begin to hope the upcoming elections will yield us our desired results. We understand that the APRC regime have swept many government-created obstacles to our prosperity as a nation, place the welfare of the country squarely on the hands of individuals, and put the harshest Legislation in effect to dawned our electoral laws making it difficult for a level playing field. At the same time, the regime will cease our wealth, put in laws of retribution, place hurdles for ordinary Gambians not to prosper and allocate the largest chunk of budgets to the state house as a sort of central distribution point for Yaya Jammeh — to deny us everything — for his own personal pleasures or prestige for his family instead of making the hard work of the people worthwhile for the whole nation.

In our fight against dictatorship, we must all be committed to this just cause wholeheartedly— to preserve our society, culture, traditions and most important of all, our people to be free. This will enable us to seek our own goals, placed in a government that assures us the freedom to climb as high as our own drive, fulfil our long awaited ambitions and harness our talent to where it can take us in life. Let us make our goal very clear: Our country is what brought us together from all over the world. Our quest should be to work together and built Gambia to be a great nation of possibilities and built our broken institutions to surpass the highest standards ever imagined, through the hard work of our people. The world knows the kind of people Gambia produces in academia, agriculture, and the great minds able to roll up their sleeves to contribute to any society. I would match the Gambia worker against any in the world because we are very dedicated when given the opportunity .The Gambians are all over the world and their talents fuels many industries and economies of the world. All such people need to be in Gambia — to move our country towards development it needs to sustain itself.

But too many Gambians have moved on because- many are disappointed about happenings in our motherland and others smothered in despair. The regime has created animosities among societies, families and communities. Most people reflect too much on past events in which they were victims, cases in which their family members were wronged, and think deeply about their previous failed relationships to shape their participation into anything. This has made it too difficult to move on and at times too risky to trust people in working together for our common good. Our people, have cried out for change, and in the last 22years, have achieved a historic reversal of our goals and wishes. We all grew up with this proverb and it serves the lesson we need “ A stick thrown in a river and left there for hundred years shall never be a fish or crocodile”. So we can’t fail the next Generation as “the lost children of the smiling coast of Africa”. Hence, we should recognize this enormous challenge and move to meet it in faith, in thought and in courage to free our country. We must act today in the name of generations still to come otherwise history will judge us harshly.

However, we must return to the principles that made us great as one nation with different cultures and traditions to take on this enormous task. All of us must take advantage of the moment of opportunity that presented itself on December 1st to end dictatorship and restore confidence for next future generation. But we should offer our help to the best of our abilities and let others who have expertise, creative energies and the experience to give us the tutelage we need. Out of many Gambians, there are few people who stood amongst many over the span of 22 years to make sure the needs of country comes first before their own interest. They have been way too lonely at times in the fight but have accomplished much boost of the morals we needed. Others have sat on the sidelines criticizing everything but it merely helped to give us the instant cure for our shortcomings.
As we work to end this brutal regime and drive Yaya Jammeh away from our home land, let us try our best to tap that well of human spirit. For too many years now, we’ve trusted some people and placed trust in rules which the regime dictates to save us. Now we know laws are meant to be broken for Yaya Jammeh and his promises failed us miserably. Well, it is true that some amongst us wish conditions to remain as they are for their own personal interest. They, wish conditions of injustice remain to be used on people they despise. They enjoy the provocation to instill fear among the population. They peddle on our misunderstanding to stir the bad feeling among people in order to cripple our resolve to work together. Every setback we encounter in this fight, is used as a new argument to say, “That’s our point you see or I warn you people before”. We must be on guard against such very dangerous notions. It is a great pity people behave as such. We ask such people to fear [GOD] and work honestly with people instead of playing tricks. They should remember people are denied sunlight in chains on solitary confinement in mile 2 prisons. Women are used as pleasures against their will and tortured. Infants are dying as means of rituals to empower Yaya Jammeh’s “Jalangs”. We cannot play fast and loose with damaging information just to be recognized while messing all the good deeds we get from it.

I think it’s about time that we placed trust in ourselves and in each other. The welfare of the country is squarely up to us as Gambians. No other country in this day and age will put aside their needs to come and rescue us. And the country will stand most secure if we all rally behind a united front with the right and honest leadership instead of Yaya Jammeh . This is a man whose ego today have driven him to heights of self-absorption that, he thinks of himself as the best son of Gambia, the bravest to end life, so much materialistic minded, obsession with African trademarks and always advocating for policies or declarations that assure the failure of the next generation and our country. He makes sure he put the most incompetent people as leaders of our prestige institutions who ideas rest on a culture of selfishness and denying the right people chance to fix their broken institutions instead waiting for UNDP or IMF intervention. Yaya Jammeh and his people will be opposing few developmental aid dollars to clean up the filthy neighborhoods, deny providing medication for the hospitals ,sell farm equipment’s donated or loaned to Gambia to neighboring countries and give scholarships to their linage instead of deserving students. They think nothing of spending lavishly on luxury items for their girlfriends and musical jamburees. This phenomenon can be seen in many communities across the country.

 
Finally, those aspiring to lead our new Gambia are not well served by the low esteem self-appointed spokespeople. Less noted is that they also seem to reject the sensible approach of working together spirit epitomized by the party leaders instead of protectionism. They are actually underplaying the importance of the letting Gambians know their leaders positions well and whether they have the right policies to solves the crisis Yaya jammeh put our country through instead of tailoring messages to demographic groups on the online radios. This will ensure the broader range of voices from all sides and deeper political analysis giving us all these headaches to end soon. This time by God’s grace, the dictator will not manipulate his way into the presidency. Gambians are determine to end this regime and this time, most people are aware that their votes are not for sale to the highest bidder, banging benachins, nice assorbi dresses and soothing sounds coming from drums “Sabarrs”. At the end of the day, Gambians have wrap their heads around the idea of fundamental change is needed to save our country from dictatorship. We can do it this time Gambia.

By Habib ( A Concerned Gambian)

By Lamin Gano

It is indisputable that in order to maximize the chance of defeating Jammeh this year, it is crucial for only one candidate to run against him. However, there is one important reason why it is too early to identify/endorse that special candidate and an equally important reason why it is extremely dangerous to do so right now. I will start with the security reason.

When Jammeh said a few months ago in Lamin that some people will not live to witness the elections, he was not referring to people like Ebrima Solo Kurumah (May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace) but instead he was referring to the main opposition leaders. Jammeh has absolutely no doubt that he is defeatable in elections and most especially in this year’s election. Jammeh knows that Gambians will not give him a new mandate but nonetheless he will not be going to the elections like a lamb to the slaughter.

In this regard, Jammeh will most like try a number of tricks to get rid of any opposition leaders who poses a serious threat to him in the election. First, he will try to manipulate the constitution/electoral laws by coming up with some weird/flimsy fabrications such as educational qualifications or some sharia laws against any such candidate(s). If he cannot make that to stick, then he will magic some criminal offences against any threatening opponent(s) to entangle him/her with Justice Dada until after the election. And if he cannot find any legal dirt/obstacles to throw in their ways, Jammeh may finally resort to his nine feet deep option.

My serious concern and fear is that one or two of the most prominent opposition leaders at the moment will not make it through to the nomination. And if our opposition leaders identify and selects a single leader at this moment, then Jammeh’s target will have in fact been presented to him on a silver platter. All he has to do is to wait until the first week of November and force Alhajie Alieu Momar Njie to reject his/her nomination based on some bogus fabrications.

In my opinion therefore, the best way to avert this existential security threat against our opposition leaders is for them to hit the campaign trails individually and separately until after the nomination. If the major opposition leaders of Gabon can throw their weights behind Jean Ping a few days before their election, our leaders can also do it. November will not be too late to decide and agree on a single candidate to take on Jammeh in the final showdown.

The reason why it is too early to decide on a single candidate is that there are four brand new presidential aspirants who have not yet hit the campaign trail; they have not yet met the people that really matters; and therefore there is no hardcore empirical evidence to judge their electability. These candidates are Mr. Barrow of the UDP, Dr. Bojang of the NCP and our two independents Dr. Touray and Lawyer Joof . Majority of the voters knows little or nothing about some or all of thems.

To simply rely on educational achievement/experience as the basis to claim that a candidate will be a political success may not be accurate. If anyone believes that a high level of education/intelligence is an automatic ticket to the presidency, then you were not following the US Republican presidential nomination contest. In spite of all his university degrees, great intellect and scientific discoveries, Dr. Ben Carson could not even expressed himself properly and was quickly bundled out of the race by the less educated Trump.

In fact, even political experience and super loaded manifestos cannot be used as a basis to determine the electability of a candidate. If you don’t believe me, please go and ask Halifa Sallah and Seedia Jatta. These two fine gentlemen may have the broadest political knowledge/experience in our country and yet their party has never been able to win even 10% of the votes in 30 years of active politicking.

And if anyone thinks that belonging to a majority tribe/party is an indication of political strength/success, please go and ask Mr. Hamat Bah and Lawyer Darboe. These two gentlemen and seasoned politicians are from the two biggest tribes in the Gambia totaling to about 72% of the population and yet 72% of the population voted against them in the 2011 presidential elections.

The most important qualities that makes a candidate popular/successful in elections is his or her personality and charisma which is manifested by the ability to captivate and win the hearts and minds of the people. This is what democratic elections are all about. You don’t necessarily even have to have a good message or manifesto because Trump had neither and yet he was able to win the Republican votes. Therefore, a Gambian candidate can have multiple degrees with 30 years of political experience and be a Mandinka, Fula, Jola, Karoninka, Aku, Bambara, Wollof, Serrer, Njago, Sarahulley, Jahanka, and a Bainunka all rolled into one and yet s/he can be a terrible politician like Dr. Ben Carson.

There are two months for the official IEC nomination and all our presidential aspirants (most especially the four newcomers) should use this period to hit the campaign trails to see how many fruits they can unplug/gather by shaking the big green Kanilai tree. That is the only way the elections will be won but not by making fancy speeches in five star hotels or by throwing smoke and shooting fancy videos from one’s support bases.

In a previous blog, I made a claim that the APRC will not get more than 30% in this year’s elections which means that out of the 72% who voted for Jammeh in 2011, 42% APRC votes are out there for the grabs. It is this group of potential APRC cross-carpeters who will be the decisive factor in determining who will be the president of the Third Republic. Any candidate who cannot get the APRC supporters to cross-carpet by winning their trust then s/he will not make it to State House.

In conclusion, my prediction is that only three of our opposition presidential aspirants will make it through the nomination process. In my opinion, November will be the best time to start any serious talks about coalition and the few finalists are the only ones who have the right to sit around a negotiation table to talk about a coalition formation. And by that time, it would be absolutely clear who is the most popular, promising and formidable to defeat Jammeh. I am hopeful that when that moment arrives, common sense and love for country will prevail and these finalists will do the right thing by agreeing (through whatever formula) for only one person to contest against Jammeh.

Long live the Republic of The Gambia and long live our peaceful and harmonious co-existence.

September 3, 2016

By Abdoulie Lowe

Before I go any further, let me remind you that this post will be a combination of facts and opinions. I may not be entitled to my facts, but I am totally entitled to my opinion. I will try to be as clear as possible, but how you understand and interpret this blog is entirely your prerogative.

Dear Dr. Touray Supporters,

I wholeheartedly welcome the candidature of Dr. Isatou Touray as the first woman presidential candidate in Gambian history. I am glad to witness this historic milestone in our nation’s history. Nobody will doubt the ability of Dr. Touray to deliver us from the encroaching hands of a brutal dictator. She is a phenomenal woman indeed. However, even though her candidacy is worthy of jubilation, her female supporters should avoid turning her campaign into a feminist movement. Remember, we still have male chauvinists, especially in the rural areas, and Religious fanatics like Imam Fatty, who believe that a woman shouldn’t be president of a nation. Therefore, one should not only support Isatou based on her gender, instead support her because she’s the best/right candidate capable of unifying and leading us to peace, progress, and prosperity.

To the Diaspora, I say- get your act together and stop the petty bickering and subliminal attacks against each other. This is by far the most important elections in our nation’s history; therefore, we can’t let our superficial differences detract us from our goals and objectives. While we at it, we have political prisoners languishing in our notorious jails, scores of Gambians in exile, and our economy in peril. Imagine what a Jammeh victory would do to us? It will be a mandate for him to continue what he was doing- arbitrary arrests, detentions without charges/trials, extrajudicial killings, human rights abuses, and poor governance. And I am afraid Jammeh will be victorious if we continue to be divided and supercilious in the way we deal with each other. Remember, this election cycle shouldn’t be about tribe, gender, or social status; instead, it should be about our livelihoods and future as a nation and as a people. Gambians on the ground are badly yearning for change, so this ongoing malevolence against each other must stop.

To the “No Elections with Jammeh on it” camp…. I respectfully ask- How do we end this madness without elections? Please come up with a viable strategy for change that you’re ready and willing to relentlessly support and lead. Remember an uprising can only succeed when the people hit rock bottom and are ready and willing to risk it all. Vox populi amongst Gambians suggest that election is their only and most viable option to effect effective change. If Jammeh can kill the two Solos, jail the executive of the leading opposition party, insult the biggest tribe, and sleeps soundly at night, then we are not ready for a popular uprising. Personally, elections is my only choice to effect meaningful change; the stakes are too high and the maleficence and callousness of Jammeh to kill in order to remain in power can’t be underrated.

To the Opposition Parties…. I say…..

We have reached the nodus of this election cycle and the key to our freedom rests heavily in your hands. Some people, myself included, believe that it’s easier for a camel to enter a needle’s eye than for the opposition parties to form a coalition. But, I would like to remind you that only ONE person will be elected president on December 1, 2016; therefore, rallying behind a single candidate is paramount and imminent. We should learn from other countries like Senegal, who has defeated an incumbent twice by forming an alliance of some sort. Yes, it is almost impossible to remove a dictator through the ballot box, but forming a united front is definitely our best option if you ask me. Let us not fool ourselves with roaring crowds, most of those showing up to your rallies are there to feed their curiosity, eat your Benachin, or to enjoy the ‘Ndowrabbin’ and ‘Hupajamm.’ Make no mistake, the opposition will be much stronger when they’re united than when they’re divided. So I say- let’s stop the inertia, get off our high horses, rally behind a single formidable candidate and free the Gambia from tyranny and oppression. Shall we?

To the Voter…..

We must desist from voter apathy and don’t listen to anyone who tells you that your vote won’t count. Fact is- your vote won’t count if you stay home on Election Day. And when Jammeh tells you that if Gambians don’t vote for him, the Jinn will vote for him, he’s only discouraging your from exercising your civic duty and your right to be heard. Gaddafi and Mubarak claimed their people loved them days before they were ousted. These claims are made to discourage opponents and encourage loyalists and those contemplating of defecting to stay put. Voting is your citizenship right, so give it up without a fight.

To the security forces, I say…. Er… Never mind, I won’t waste my time addressing you… Nevertheless, always remember that your main role is to serve and protect all citizens from harm, intimidation, and exploitation, so you shouldn’t be the perpetrators of these atrocities. Jammeh’s departure is long overdue, so don’t let him use you for his own selfish interests. A word to the wise is enough.

To All Gambians….   During the past 22 years, one man has held our nation hostage, insulted our people and elders, stole and wasted our resources, tortured, maimed, killed, and isolated us from the rest of the world. And the reality is that things will not get better until we have a change of leadership. Change isn’t easy, but anything is possible if we come together for a common purpose and seek a common ground based on mutual interest and respect. This election is not about any particular Gambian, it’s not even about Jammeh, it is actually about our posterity. Therefore, let’s put our tribal, ideological, and individual differences aside and salvage the nation before it is too late. I urge all Gambians to come together and put our partisanship aside and rescue our beloved Gambia. I have no doubt that we can do it. Yes We Can!

By Makam Sowe

As a supporter of the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), I would like to make a disclaimer that this article does not in any way represent the position of the GDC, but mine and mine only.

First of all, I would to take this opportunity and congratulate Mr. Adama Barrow for being chosen as The United Democratic Party (UDP) flag bearer and Dr. Isatou Touray for launching her independent candidacy for the Presidency. I reiterate my call on the state to release Lawyer Ousainou ANM Darboe and his colleagues from custody. Lawyer Darboe is an outstanding citizen who has contributed immensely to the well- being of our country and more importantly, he has not committed any crime to warrant him spending a single second in that jailhouse. He should therefore be released to go home to his family and friends.

The reason for this article is to dissect the political situation and how best we can bring about the much needed alliance that can finally free our country from the clutches of tyranny. It is without a doubt, the entrance of Hon. Mamma Kandeh of the GDC and Dr. Isatou Touray that has revitalized our hope that once again, we are capable of ending the dictatorship through the ballot box.

I believe that elections are the best and surest way of ending Jammeh’s 22 years of misrule. There is no other option that is viable at this moment in Jammeh’s Presidency. After 22 years, he has succeeded in eliminating all potential threats of army mutiny to bring his government down. There is no single institution, civil society or political party that is going out on the streets to force him out, absent of a stolen or rigged elections. Senegal or any other country out there is not going to force him out because we don’t want to go elections with him. Remember, Gambia is a sovereign country and our borders are protected by international law. Again, Senegal is also not going to allow an insurgency to be waged from their territory against the Gambia however terrible the government in place in Gambia happens to be.

I have chosen the election route because I am convinced we can do it if we come together. With regards to Dr. Isatou Touray, I believe she is very qualified and experienced enough to run our country well, but that alone or being the darling of the Diaspora pundits is not enough to guarantee victory. Political parties are built on the grass roots and they do or die depending on their support on the home turf. I like her very much myself, and if the political parties back home choose her to lead them in a coalition, I will be happy to give her my support as well.

But before we gamble on her electability or otherwise, my advice to her and her supporters is for her to conduct a national tour like the UDP, GDC and all the other political parties have been doing. It is in that case, we can be able to gauge her support on the ground and know what base she has been able to create. What I always say is for any political party or individual to succeed in politics, you need a tangible support base first (Both UDP and GDC have that) and then expand beyond your base to be able to win a general election. Since we don’t have opinion polls in The Gambia, our best option is for her to go and meet the people and see the enthusiasm she brings to the table. Then we can have an idea what her support level looks like among the voters. After that is done, the discussion starts in earnest and we see among the candidates we have who is capable of building a winning coalition and free our country once and for all. In the absence of that, I remain skeptical as to her ability to win or bring about a coalition that she can lead to victory. Just being a woman or being highly educated and experienced does not guarantee you the keys to the state house. Those who understand Senegalese politics well know who Issata Tall Sall of the PS is. Nobody can be more charismatic or popular than her and she has a lot of experience but these never translate to anything meaningful in the polls.

In the meantime, I urge the UDP, GDC, PDOIS, NRP and Dr. Isatou Touray to continue the dialogue among themselves. And I am confident we will reach a common ground. My understanding is that Dr. Touray has in fact been doing just that and she met Hon. Kandeh few days ago and I have no doubt they had a good discussion. May God help the Gambia and may God protect the Gambian people in their quest to regain the dignity that they have lost in the last 22 years. Thank you.

Wassalam