The legal, active and registered opposition political parties in the Gambia individually and in the aggregate have reached a fork on the road and they must make a historic and consequential decision that will result in either an opportunity for the Gambian people to renew their faith in democracy by embracing a united and determined opposition as they lead the fight to establish the will of the people or they can remain fractured, weighted down by petty politics, inertia and a lack of urgency to match the existential threat the nation and its people face. Significantly , the opposition as a collective has also run out of time and reasons for not settling on a unified program to rally the country and world around.
Their constituency, which is the majority of Gambians in and out of the country have only a single proposition for the opposition: Come together and represent us as one entity to fight for regime change, simple and straight forward. Those political parties who value that call as a supreme national duty must promptly and publicly accede to this reasonable demand of their diverse constituencies and their allies around the world who believe Gambia deserves a leadership and direction worthy of its people. With a unified political leadership in place accompanied by a clear road map for regime change, every Gambian that aspires to a better country will join our political leaders to fight the battle to ensure freedom and democracy for our people. We will provide resources, expertise , time, our physical bodies in various ways and to various degrees to ensure success by the will of Allah.All we ask the politicians to do is to provide robust and moral leadership commensurate to the rectitude of the cause they and all who have joined them over the years have dedicated themselves to.
Conversely, it should be clear to leaders of the opposition that their current trajectory of being content with the glacial pace of their consultations within the G6 framework and occasionally addressing the Gambian people through individual party events and or press releases is not adequate to the task at hand. In fact that approach has begin to irritate components of their constituency and undermined both morale within core supporters and faith in persuadable Gambians that the opposition is willing and able to move affirmatively as a united front.A continuation of a general perception of politicians set in their ways and refusing to accede to the common sense demands of their own supporters and democracy advocates around the world would risk a total rupture between the opposition and key elements of their support base. Absent a full and total unified force, a coalition of the willing with a clear and definite road map for regime change should present itself to the Gambian people in a matter of days and not weeks. The opposition in its current posture risk rebellion among its ranks and allies and that may portend for the indefinite foreclosure of the political parties being the vehicle of change. This would subject our country to greater risk of uncontrolled violence as citizens look for alternative ways of ending tyranny, a quest that will not end as long as there is a Gambia and Gambians willing to fight for it. Consequently, I propose the following:
1- A unified political front comprising of willing parties fully agreeing to a clear road map for regime change be announced within the next 7 days
2- Following the announcement, the diaspora will raise D1million in 14 days and work with the constituted political leadership to tour the whole of Gambia to explain and seek strong support for the cause of action they have agreed to lead the nation toward.
3-Immediately following the nationwide tour, the leadership would be flown to regional and world capitals to explain the cause of action and to seek political, diplomatic and other support from governments and other entities that have already indicated sympathy to our cause.
4-Substantial effort at resource gathering in the tens of millions of Dalasis using all available means would be directed at capacity building of the political infrastructure in country.
5-Support mechanisms and associated teams will be stood up to help with strategy, logistics, communication and other components necessary for the efficient execution of the cause of action outlined by the political leaders.
Within three months of being in business every Gambian will be in no doubt what the program of the opposition is and what the inevitable results would be. It will be a country without Yahya Jammeh or his vicious system.
