OPINION
By: Musa Bassadi Jawara
Frankly, after my last article in the form of a letter to President Barrow, I wanted to stay away from the business of expressing opinions publicly and focus on the overseas trip am about to embark on. It happens that events are happening with supersonic speed in the political arena. The Gambia is one of the smallest countries on earth and one of the poorest. This is not a hyperbole, but the brutal truth and nothing but the truth. The die has been cast and it is open season for political gamesmanship & mudslinging in The Gambia. I am disoriented and appalled by it!
My background and experience licensed me with unique authority to intervene in this fracas between the president and the opposition. The ranting and diatribe can only plunge this tiny and impoverished country into a diabolical and messy situation. I was involved with a more challenging situation in war-torn regions in Africa, i.e., Central African Republic, Cote D’Ivoire, DRC Congo, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, … just to name a few. If you witnessed conflict first-hand as I did in the foregoing nations, one would be worried about what’s oozing its way into the political theatre of The Gambia.
I don’t care who said what, or who is to be blamed…. it’s in the vital and strategic interest of all Gambians to live in peace and harmony and we must be tolerant toward one another! The peace is our natural resource, and we must not lose it! As a country, we must return to civility and together recognize the myriad of challenges facing our country. Not only is The Gambia one of the poorest countries in the world, intellectually, it’s backward; it ranks at the very bottom of the UN Human Development Index (HDI) measurement. The decadence is total! The focus from the president should be how to improve these miserable social and economic conditions our country is mired in! Exchanges of barbs and threats of imprisonment of citizens can only deepen the
wounds of the sorry state we are in.
I would like to call for rapprochement between the president and the opposition. The state of affairs as it stands is not in the best interest of peace and stability of the country. President Barrow must recognize that he’s the president for all Gambians, without exception. What we all witnessed in 22 years of autocratic rule was self-evident and we must learn from that experience. You can’t rewrite history but it sure can be repeated.
President Adama Barrow, please use your good offices and withdraw the court case: the State versus Yankuba Darboe (BAC Chairman) and let the peace handshakes commence with that. We must not be under the delusion that these petty differences could not fester into grand troubles that may hinder the proper functions of the Republican Institutions of the state. Let’s come together as a family in the spirit of brotherhood and fell this bitterness and cynicism in the supreme interest of the motherland!
