These past few weeks, The Gambia has been filled with the sights and sounds of the embrace of democracy. All around, people are discussing the presidential election, debating the issues, and questioning the candidates. Both elders and youth sport their preferred candidates’ colors and cheer them on at campaign appearances. And, at the U.S. Embassy, we couldn’t miss the noise of the crowds as they escorted their parties’ standard-bearers to the Election House to formally nominate their candidate in mid-November. It was deafening – but the energy, the sound of democracy, was infectious.

I can only imagine that all these sounds are music to Gambians’ ears. Such beautiful sounds were far more muted just five years ago when freedom of expression was stifled, and opposition leaders jailed. It took the courageous Gambian people to go to the polls and change the course of history, inspiring those who aspire for democracy around the world. The resolve of the Gambian people is what made what we see today possible.

Today, The Gambia is a different place, and the United States celebrates the transformation that is underway. We join with the Gambian people in dreaming big to envision a brighter future of democracy and prosperity. This is why we are now investing more than $50 million in programs to advance democracy and human rights, along with development programs that foster economic prosperity. In November, for example, the United States signed a $25 million Millennium Challenge Corporation agreement with the Gambian government to launch a threshold project focused on supporting Gambian-led initiatives to improve The Gambia’s energy and electricity sector.

So much positive change does not come about without resolve and intention. The positive energy comes from Gambians young and old who are overwhelmingly committed to civic engagement and peacefully participating in the democratic process. Earlier this year, I saw this myself as we traveled throughout the country and visited even the smallest villages where people were lined up, calmly, to register to vote. I talked to hundreds of people, including many women eager to be part of the process and make important choices for their families. And young people, so full of vigor, said that they were excited to make decisions that would impact their futures.

While some parties missed out on the opportunity presented by a live, televised presidential debate to take their message to the Gambian people and demonstrate what clearly sets them apart from the other candidates, we applaud the candidates willing to do so through the Commission on Public Debates’ presidential debates. Gambian voters will only benefit from the opportunity to see those aspiring for the presidency answer a moderator’s questions, especially when submitted by citizens themselves.

As the vote draws near, we encourage all to continue the goodwill and peaceful competition of ideas we have seen thus far. We are confident that whether engaging in political discussions in person or on social media, the traditional Gambian cultural trait of treating others with dignity and respect – friend, family, or stranger –will be on display for all the world to learn from and admire.

We also take note that all the candidates have publicly committed to accepting the election results and the will of the Gambian voters, whether they win or lose, and are committed to working together to build a stronger Gambia. As I have said, the United States does not take sides in endorsing any candidate. Our top “candidate” is a peaceful continuation – and strengthening – of democracy. The will of the people, the active involvement of the Gambian people, is what must ultimately win.

On election day, our Embassy will be working in coordination with international partners and Gambian civil society organization to observe and support electoral processes across The Gambia. Our goal is to help ensure what we expect will be credible, free, and transparent election procedures.

Since this is my first Gambian presidential election, I am eager to watch as Gambians drop their marbles in the drums –a somewhat different process than in the United States. I can’t wait to hear those marbles drop, which is yet another encouraging sound of democracy in action. And most of all, it is the sound of #PeacefulVoteSmilingCoast.

The writer, R. Carl Paschall, is the Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of The Gambia.

By Dibba Chaku

The Independent Electoral Commission being the referee responsible for conducting elections in The Gambia should drift away from being notorious for habitual errors and gravitate towards operational excellence for the citizens to continue to have confidence in the electioneering process. This is a Commission that received a plethora of commendation for the pivotal role it played in ensuring that the will of the Gambian people was not subverted in the 2016 presidential election. One would have expected the IEC to build on that success, but the habitual errors and the feckless performance from this institution is forcing us to question the level of preparedness of the referee in this year’s election.

The last time that The Gambia had a presidential election was in December of 2016. One institution that is certainly not oblivious of the fact that the next round of presidential elections will be held in December 2021 is the IEC. That gives them ample time to prepare for this monumental event by streamlining and improving on their processes from voter registration, nomination of candidates, to the conduct of the elections. How did they perform at the voter registration stage? They issued a statement-long press release that the registration exercise was postponed until further notice, just a week before the commencement date of the voter registration. After the registration exercise, they told us that there were multiple registrations by some people. The IEC retracted that statement later by saying that was an error on their part. Then came the nominations which they made look like it was some WAEC exam meant to set a trap for candidates to fall into, and many fell into that trap, hence the many rejections. The sequel of events surrounding the CA and GMC court cases against the IEC is a clear indication that the institution’s performance is just not good enough.

The final leg of this contest is the casting of the ballots, collation, and declaration of the winner. The IEC keeps inundating us with the assurance that the presidential election will be free, fair, and credible. We may not doubt that but their track record of committing errors, and inability to do it right the first time are reasons to question their level of preparedness. Looking at the number of candidates contesting in this year’s elections, the tenacity of Gambians in the democratization process, and the euphoria surrounding the political campaign, it is without a jot of doubt that this election is unprecedented. Therefore, the independent referee to conduct such a high-stake election cannot be unprepared and unbothered. They need to dot their i’s and cross their t’s come December 4. Failing to do that means this institution does not understand that its decisions and actions have more profound consequences than one may think. Election 2021 is a monumental event that Gambian voters are looking forward to, considering the level of political activity in the country despite the global pandemic that has ravaged communities and confronted every level of the world economy. The quality of refereeing in this national event should neither be mediocre nor feckless.

Sidi Sanneh, the despondent Gambian octogenarian infamous for living a worthless and quarantined life in the USA has finally come out last night to endorse Lawyer Ousainou Darbo and the UDP in the December presidential race.

I am not necessarily advising the UDP not to accept the endorsement of the ignoramus but if they really plan to do so I only hope they will think twice or read this paper first before making it public.

To start with Sidi is notorious for every reason imaginable about an underachiever and is a genius in using his reprehensible track record as source of weapons to fabricate all sorts of allegations against his perceived enemies whether real or imagined.

After futilely trying every conceivable machination to gain employment from President Barrow he now as habitual digs deep into his reservoir of toxicity for weapons to spew against our well-loved president. Sidi Sanneh a man whose name during the PPP government was synonymous with corruption, scandalously committed the worst economic crimes in the Gambia as a tender-board member especially at the education department; and while working at the ADB in Ivory Coast was dishonorably dismissed and denied all his retirement benefits due to his unscrupulousness with the Bank’s funds; amazingly, this idiot was yesterday accusing  President Adama Barrow of being a corrupt leader. I am not making this up at all!

That said, if you want to know the most loathed scumbag in the so-called “diaspora” look for no person other than Sidi Sanneh whose record of treachery, untrustworthiness and deception matches none today. He again wants to reverse that hatred against him to accuse President Barrow of venting malicious remarks against those living in the diaspora. He shamelessly tried to associate himself with the positive “Diasporans” contributing immensely to the Gambian economy through remittance when he has no job and has never sent a dime here; but that aside, who has ever heard President Adama Barrow making any derogatory remarks against the hundreds and thousands of Gambians living and working honestly abroad that prompted this jackass to fabricate such nonsense? Other than consistently praising them, he has never discredited or degraded any of their efforts.

As a matter of fact, the last time I checked, the overwhelming majority of Gambians currently living abroad are in total support of President Barrow and his government and are zealously rooting for his reelection on December 4, 2021. All of them have recognized and cherished  the good work of Barrow for particularly putting his foot down against the deportation of Gambian migrants from the West, following his shocking discovery that when Lawyer Ousainou Darbo was foreign minister he clandestinely signed the deportation agreement with Western governments. Thanks to the permanent secretary at the ministry of foreign affairs then the secret file bearing the entente was revealed to President Barrow and his government.

Trust me, all that Sidi Sanneh needs in a UDP government that I am afraid will not happen in his lifetime is his appointment to a position of cash to revitalize his extravagant life of dining, wining and wifing recklessly. If not there, to be appointed to a position-preferably an ambassadorial job-where to finally unleash his vindictive strategy of making life for every Gambian migrant living abroad miserable and unproductive. I can attest to the fact that he definitely hates all of them. His isolation in the West, without friends or genuine family members, is the bitterness slowly but surely consuming the heart of this scalawag.

But hopefully the UDP and Lawyer Darbo will soon be forwarded the audio made by his own daughter accusing him of repeatedly raping her in Abidjan while he was working there for the ADB hence compelling her to study law somewhere in Senegal just to get her nasty father after graduating.

Talking about cases of human immorality and filth, find me one worst than Sidi-no-good-for-nothing Sanneh and receive a special reward from me.

But trust me, time and events will eventually teach him the lesson he properly deserves.

SAMSUDEEN SARR

FOR: PRESIDENT ADAMA BARROW, 2021.

By Dibba Chaku

The commencement of the public hearings of the TRRC marks a watershed in our history as Gambians and the world were eager to know the truth about the plethora of human rights violations that occurred during Yahya Jammeh’s tyrannical rule. The public hearings became the centerpiece of discussions across the length and breadth of the country and in the diaspora. To some, these hearings revealed things they never imagine happened or could have happened in The Gambia. To others, some of the testimonies were confirmations of human rights violations or crimes they have heard about. As we look forward to the submission of the TRRC report and recommendations, I thought I would share with you my take on the TRRC and some of the things that stood out to me.

We have heard several witnesses narrate their ordeals as unpleasant as this may be, and you wonder if some of them had seen the silhouette of ‘Malak al Maut’ or angel of death in the hands of state agents who should have been their first line of defense under normal circumstances. Their victimization arose from unprofessional conduct by professionals believed to have been acting on orders from the top, high on some intoxicant or abuse of positional power. The only ‘crime’ committed by some of the victims was subscribing to a different political ideology or being on the other side of the political aisle. Others got victimized because of kin punishment, which is the practice of punishing family members of someone accused of a crime, either in place of or in addition to the alleged perpetrator. Those that got victimized because of their involvement in coup d’état or trying to do something about a brutal dictatorship that symbolizes terror were given “VIP treatment” which was nothing but inhumane treatment at the highest level in the nastiest of forms. Despite the state and its apparatus knowing the lawful and right things to do in those circumstances, they chose the ‘keresubang’ route. Unfortunately for some, their victimization stemmed from lies peddled against them, so they suffered for things not of their own making. Others got victimized because they put their faith and trust in a leader and a system that would turn out to be their worst nightmare. Nonetheless, the victims must be commended for narrating their unpleasant ordeals. It is important to mention that not everything that was narrated at the TRRC represents the truth. There could be misrepresentation of facts at times, mistaken identity, or confusion over the sequence of events. However, that does not negate the existence of human rights violations.

The testimonies of the alleged perpetrators also stood out to me. There were those that spoke the truth and showed remorse for their involvement in the committal of crimes, and thanks to these people, the Commission was able to unearth the truth about some of the rights violations orchestrated clandestinely. Others came to the Commission fully prepared to mislead everybody by trimming, sanitizing and being economical with the truth as if the truth was some scarce resource that needed to be rationed. These witnesses either gave arguments that died on their lips, created alibis that never checked out, or resorted to amnesic syndromes that were never diagnosed. Their goal was to minimize their level of involvement in the perpetration of crimes or extricate themselves from responsibility. To these people, all efforts must be made to keep that skeleton in the cupboard. There were educated elite witnesses who were under the illusion that they are at par with the team of counsels, so they could ‘fiti fiti’ themselves out of that hot seat when beleaguered to cough out the truth or get it elicited from them, reluctantly. These are the ones that would deny something for hours only to turn around and accept it, hence wasting the Commission’s time. We also saw uncooperative witnesses who from the get-go proved to be difficult to guide. They refused to answer questions asked, instead preferred to answer their own questions. The uncooperative conduct and demeanor during their testimonies are clear indications of an intent to hide incriminating information. It was perplexing to watch them try to divert the attention of the Commission to some rare gesture of kindness on their part. They want us to believe that all allegations against them are unfounded, and that their version is veracious. Even when confronted with overwhelming corroborating evidence from multiple victims and witnesses, they still attempted to extricate themselves by cooking up stories that made absolutely no sense, not even to a first grader.

One institution that could be described as The Gambia’s shame is the notorious NIA as it was a major crime scene where lives were treated in a manner that was animalistic. The testimonies of its operatives and directors were startling in the sense that they all had been given a chance to help the TRRC, themselves and the Gambian people uncover the truth about our ugly and shameful past so we could create a roadmap that would prevent us from slipping back into that perilous ravine. Pathetically, the chance had been squandered by many, despite knowing fully well that no NIA operative or torture specialist is waiting to beat the crap out of them or even snuff the life out of them as that was the modus operandi when they were under the illusion that the world was at their feet and that the status quo would continue in perpetuity. Working for the NIA was ‘prestigious’ or ‘ostentatious’ at the time because the society feared them. They were believed to have too much power emanating from the State House, and they could do anything and everything without consequences. They performed their duties with pride, ferocity, and even went above and beyond defined duties at times. But there they were at the TRRC facing a whole nation and reluctant to describe their daily operations. The culpability of the NIA in committing gross human rights violations is unequivocal by all indications. The institution’s current director gave a marathon testimony in which he was very economical with the truth, withheld vital information and even attempted to mislead the Commission. There was a witness that escaped the coils of torture from the NIA and ran naked to the police headquarters. If a fully grown man would prefer running down the streets of Banjul naked to continuing to endure the torture meted out on him, you need not be an expert to imagine the gravity of the ‘keresubang’ act being inflicted on him. Masking the truth about this institution and the nefarious acts of its directors and operatives amounts to nothing but disingenuity.

Kudos to the TRRC for doing a fantastic job of unearthing the truth about our ugly and shameful past. As the saying goes, we cannot change the past, but we can certainly learn from it to shape the future. The naysayers can deny the revelations or call this exercise a witch-hunt, but it is without a jot of doubt that there were serious human rights violations that consumed lives, incapacitated people, ravaged families beyond repairs, severed ties and displaced many. Pregnant women had their husbands snatched away from them for good. Lactating mothers had to fend for their babies alone as their husbands got usurped from them. Able-bodied men got electrocuted, castrated, maimed, strangled, and buried in shallow graves. We had a severely messed up system in which the vaguest suspicion was enough to arrest, abduct, torture, and even kill at times. Let us remind ourselves that these perpetrators did not emanate from planet Mars or descend from the Banjul skies. They are our very own fathers, uncles, nephews, brothers, sons, cousins, or ordinary everyday Gambians. Now whether the report and recommendations will be implemented to the letter, just shelved, or some cherry-picking will happen at the implementation stage is the prerogative of the government of the day.

IEC’s gamble with the law has backfired big time. In this Gambian day and age, you can’t go about breaking the law and think you will not get caught.

When the IEC announced that 15 out of the 21 candidates who filed their nomination for president have been rejected, it for a moment felt they were out to decongest the room by all means necessary.

From the off, the IEC did not look prepared to have so many candidates contest the December election. That the chairman of the commission stood up at a meeting and said paper ballot must be used for this election is an indictment. But that IEC officials were throwing out people’s nomination without regard for law is what one will struggle to fathom.

All along, the IEC peddled one misguided contention: that their decision is final and cannot be questioned by anyone. Well, the high court has just settled that.

This IEC bunch were arrogant towards Dr Ismaila Ceesay as the clearly wronged PhD holder politician sought answers from them. They treated him and his party with contempt by effing them off and arrogantly telling them: ‘go to court if you like, we have been sued seven times this year and nothing has come out of it’.

The IEC came out of court on Tuesday humiliated and looking out-of-sorts. They were also demystified. No wonder their director of admin told me ‘I will not say anything’ when I tried to sound him out.

Still, IEC is set for further humiliation in court as Mai Fatty too is after them and will now be licking his lips. This has clearly given him an idea as to how his own case could look like in the end.

But for the first time, I got scared of this IEC and went to bed thinking about them – if they will be able to really deliver this election. They are taking this election to be a play when it clearly is not.

By Basidia M Drammeh

Former Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh is belligerently poking his nose in Gambia’s domestic politics, making hate speeches and promising his supporters that he will return to the country to restore his legacy that “the incumbent leader President Barrow had destroyed.”

Jammeh has been living in exile in Equatorial Guinea since his election defeat in 2016 at the hands of the Coalition led by President Adama Barrow.

The former Tyrant must be reminded that the Gambians still have vivid memories of his authoritarian and iron-fist rule that has inflicted immeasurable physical and psychological scars on the Gambian people. Hence, they will make sure that dictatorship never rears its ugly head in the country. Some of the victims of Jammeh’s despotic regime still live with trauma and distress and would like to see him tried for the atrocities he has committed. Countless witnesses, who appeared before the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, have narrated agonizing tales of torture, arbitrary detentions, humiliation, forced disappearances, cold-blooded murders, unlawful dismissals, among others. If Jammeh was not the culprit, why didn’t he face the commission to clear his name?  Or is it profanity that prevented him from doing so?

Perhaps unhappy with Jammeh’s failure to bless the marriage between APRC and NPP as well his consequent and frequent attacks on him and his Government, President Barrow issued a rare stern warning against the leader of Gambia Democratic Congress, (GDC) Mamma Kandeh, to refrain from inviting Jammeh to his rallies. Mr. Barrow warned of legal measures if Kandeh continued to invite Jammeh to his political platforms. The latter defiantly reposited, insisting that he would continue to invite Jammeh to his rallies to speak. However, the Government has not met reacted to Kandeh’s defiant action.

Critics would suggest that the blame should be placed at the doorstep of President Barrow, who paved the way for Jammeh to interfere in domestic politics since he extended an olive branch to the former president, allying with his party; and even visiting his family out of “courtesy.”  Since then, Jammeh has frequently been addressing rallies organized by his supporters and rallies.

Jammeh’s speeches may undermine national security and spark a stifling political crisis in the country if the necessary measures are not taken to clip his wings.

By Madi Jobarteh

Special commendation to Commission on Political Debates (CPD) for hosting the first-ever true presidential debate because the debaters were indeed the actual candidates and not their representatives. For that matter, kudos to Halifa Sallah and Essa Faal for showing up and presenting their case and challenging each other as is expected. Both candidates were indeed passionate and forceful in presenting their case to convince citizens that one is better than the other.

Thus, contrary to other views, I find the tempo, attitudes and words of both Halifa and Essa to be appropriate. Their veiled and open attacks, the condescension, humour and the sarcasm and their underhand jabs are all common to debates and necessary for citizens to see and know who is who. Their interactions help to expose the quality of their ideas and policies and even their characters. This helps the listener to get more insight through their challenging each other’s ideas, rightly or wrongly. There was no indecency, hate, offensive or violence expression hence the debate was indeed fine. Halifa and Essa are therefore the winners of this debate.

This means the losers indeed are Adama Barrow, Ousainou Darboe, Mamma Kandeh and Abdoulie Jammeh. They did not only fail themselves and their parties but above all they also failed Gambians, woefully.

Coming to this debate is not about one’s opponent. Rather coming to this debate is about taking responsibility for your ideas as well as taking the leadership to share those ideas with citizens in asking them to give you their mandate. It is to have the will to face accountability for your ideas and to convince citizens that you have a well-thought-out agenda that is fit for purpose. Hence coming to this debate is about respecting the voter and citizens in general that one is humble and tolerant to face the people to explain oneself as to what you wish to do for their country.

Yes, one can argue that a political debate has not much value to promote a candidate’s agenda because they hold rallies across the country anyway. Such a view is myopic and unproductive. A presidential debate is an organised event in which debaters also get their thoughts organised and present it in a methodical manner. Where a rally may be big but it does not necessarily have substance because generally there are no organised thoughts and coherent presentations and no one is holding anyone accountable for what comes out of these rallies. In our typical rallies, it is usually only supporters who attend amidst lot of fanfare.

A presidential debate is different. Not only do you have more audience in a presidential debate since it is on live television and livestreamed, but the debate is also led by professional moderators who pose relevant and analytical questions. Furthermore, the debate is watched by everyone especially by various experts from different fields such as law, economy, security, health or education, who now come to provide expert analysis and fact-check the debate for the better understanding of the rest of the population. With this, a presidential candidate has the benefit of swinging undecided voters to one side as well as pull voters from one side to another.

A presidential debate is therefore the biggest rally ever. It is an indispensable campaign tool that no smart politician who is convinced of the correctness of his or her ideas should miss. Apart from these benefits, a presidential debate is also about courage of candidates to face opponents, moderators and experts as well as the audience to articulate one’s ideas. While a political rally is a friendly environment, a political debate on the other hand is basically a confrontational and even hostile platform that requires courage, self-control and maturity to take part.

Furthermore, a political debate serves to promote political tolerance and reduce the incidence of violence as citizens can see how their respective candidates can stand together to exchange ideas without the use of hateful or violent speech. Thus, the culture of political debate is good for any democracy.

Above all, political debates enhance our democracy and encourage citizen participation hence increase voter turnout. Many people do not go to rallies or watch them on television because rallies are very informal and full of propaganda and disinformation not to mention the vanity that flies around. Hence many more citizens are interested in a political debate because it is formal, organised, and propaganda and disinformation are exposed hence there is substance in political debates which is in the best interest of a candidate. Equally important also is that a political debate is a knowledge sharing platform that benefits the entire society.

Therefore, the decision by Barrow, Darboe, Kandeh and Jammeh not to take part in this debate is inexcusable, unacceptable, cowardly and a demonstration of poor leadership. They have denied citizens immense opportunity to better know them and their ideas and help make informed choices. These candidates have therefore undermined both themselves and the progressive realisation of democracy and popular participation in this country. They have wasted the resources of CPD unnecessarily which have spent a lot to host this event. Above all, these candidates have denied Gambians to get to know and see, not only their agenda and ideas but also to know and see their character in such a confrontational environment.

I hope they will take part in the next debate!

Tell a man who has been in a particular business before you’re born that his ideas are bad and you’re going to have a problem with him.

Essa Faal learnt this truth on Saturday when he attacked Halifa Sallah’s ideas in a way that has never been seen before. He treated Mr Sallah’s ideas to development with every disdain and no wonder the PDOIS leader resisted.

“This is not the type of debate I wanted to engage in, it is very combative. I expected something different. But then when personal assault comes, I will hit the person right in the face and people must be careful,” Mr Sallah warned right at the end of the debate while reacting to Essa’s behavior towards him.

Essa came to this debate ready for war, a war he never contemplating losing. He wanted to come out of this impressing the entire nation. That’s Essa. He loves being seen as the best and must be and that’s why he hated it the rest were not there.

The first signs of these two men not getting along came in the first segment when Essa attacked Mr Sallah’s cooperative bank. Sallah wants to set up a cooperative bank to support farmers in their agriculture but an unimpressed Essa blasted: “We have had the agricultural development bank, it failed woefully. Sovereign wealth funds can fail. They are just like state-owned enterprises that are given resources to manage but if they are to be managed in the manner suggested by Honourable Sallah, I think it’s going to fail.”

While Halifa remained patient as Essa went about castigating his ideas, there was every indication it’s only a matter of time before Halifa had enough of him. Essa wanted voters to know Halifa has outdated ideas that can’t work anywhere. And for Halifa to attempt to describe Essa as someone who going about enabling the Jammeh dictatorship by prosecuting him showed he has been provoked.

One top official of Essa asked my expert media view on how the two men fared and this is what I told him: ‘for me, neither of the leaders was clear enough in terms of their policies. They don’t look like people who have a full understanding of their own policies’.

I say this because for example, when asked how he is going improve quality education in Gambia, Mr Faal only stop at saying we need quality professionals (teachers) but did not say how he is going to ensure that. He also talked about vocational and skills training which he said is what the country needs. Education mismatch has nothing to do with improving quality.

Equally, when asked the same question, Halifa also could not say much other than putting experts together to look at the entire education system and providing free education. Those are clearly not clear-cut solutions to the issue of quality.

In the end the two men walked to each other and hugged. But that’s just for the optics.

Jammeh’s latest address is reassurance he can give away anything but his arrogance. Only death can make him part with that.

The former dictator called again from his Equatorial Guinea hideout despite President Adama Barrow’s warning to Mamma Kandeh to stop inviting the former president to his platforms. Mamma vowed he will continue to let the former president speak at his rallies, and Jammeh speaking on Thursday meant he has dared the president.

Jammeh’s address on Thursday showed he remains a bitter man. He has still not been able to come to terms with his electoral defeat in 2016. No wonder he continues to be the Trump of The Gambia by continuing with his lie the election was stolen. Nobody stole that election. Gambians had enough of his madness and sacked him.

President Barrow must stand firm against Jammeh. He is right that Jammeh is trying to create chaos in the country. Jammeh’s recent hate speech against the Mandinkas is more than enough to take action against him. Jammeh is on an asylum and has no business with Gambian politics.

Throughout his 21-minute address, Jammeh simply addressed President Adama Barrow as Adama Barrow. Jammeh can’t even accept what God decreed: the presidency of President Barrow. The sooner the president sees this the better.

But Jammeh is delusional too to say he will take Gambia to the Promised Land when he comes back whether President Adama Barrow likes it or not.

Still, Jammeh is like Commander Alincak. Alincak was a top Mongolian commander who conquered nearly half of the world and then headed for Anatolia. Just as he was about to conquer the entire world, he got destroyed by a brave Turkish warrior who had only a few hundred men at his disposal. Arrogance destroys a man and Jammeh should ask Alincak or even the Pharoah.

As the Gambia heads for presidential elections on December 4th, we should evaluate which factors could potentially impact voter behavior.

Demographic-based alignments should be openly accepted as the most useful analytical tools for political analysts in the Gambia although, some people downplayed it for political correctness

The NPP-led coalition must watch ESSA MBYE FAAL (independent Candidate) very closely. He could be the biggest spoiler for the Grand coalition, as was the case in 2016. Coalition 2016 would not have won the election if Mama Kandeh (GDC) had joined them would have been a landslide for Yaya Jammeh and the APRC.

Identity politics is visible in our everyday politics. Let us look at the map showing voter preferences in the 2016 presidential election, 2017 National assembly election, and the recent By-election in Niamina West and Jokardo, which indicates physical segregation of citizens based on their political preferences.

Most Gambian are conservative people who prefer to live near to people similar to them. The predictability of voter behavior in regions or constituencies is widely observed in The Gambia.

From the regional level to constituencies, there are many areas dominated by a particular party. This trend can also be observed within cities with voters of different parties concentrated in different areas.

NPP-led Coalition already won the psychology of the race the recent endorsement of various presidential candidates that got rejected by the IEC demonstrated they are way ahead of the UDP when it comes to the perception of who will win the election.

The biggest blessing of the NPP Led coalition is they are all-inclusive, and all demographics take ownership of the NPP. UDP is struggling in that regard, and they still did not have the right strategy. Any election between UDP and NPP alone would be a landslide for the NPP.

Essa Faal is the biggest threat to NPP’s ability to win in this election, for if Essa Mbye Faal does very well in this election could affect the NPP margin of votes. The NPP Led Coalition must not be complacent because thinking beyond identity requires cognitive effort, and in the case of The Gambia, it is our reality, and it is almost impossible to change such perception within this period.

Taking a closer look at the Essa Mbye Faal Campaign Itinerary would further concretize my argument by looking at the demographics he is targeting. NPP Led Coalition must focus on regions, constituencies where Essa Faal would be doing meetings and rallies to ensure he did not cause an upset in favor of the UDP.

NPP should not rely on media focus must be on grassroots Campaigns, for the media have faced challenges in terms of perception of voters. Supporters of different political parties are receiving their news from totally different sources and form their opinions based on those.

Moreover, almost all supporters of Political Parties have decided to choose which news media to trust and deliberately accused certain news sources of others as biased, unlike their own.

News media in the Gambia also has been polarized, and mainstream platforms have been wiped out over time. Personal opinions are formed by judging the source of news items rather than by evaluating their content.

People accept the arguments of the members of their parties without questioning their validity, and they can be prejudiced against those of the other opponents.

In this election, many voters genuinely feel they live in a time in which their survival is threatened by political instability if a particular party wins. This is helping the NPP in many ways due to their all-inclusiveness in comparison to their political opponents.

I believe NPP Led coalition has a compelling argument to make if they focus and continue making such arguments using their all-inclusiveness, the message of peace, national unity, and reconciliation.

The more Gambian are getting educated, the more they showcase identity solidarity. On various Facebook platforms, comments echoing tribal sentiments; are made by people that should be role models in our society. Although, identity politics is not unique to the Gambia; it can be observed from the United States, the United Kingdom, etc.

Finally, I am predicting the NPP Led coalition will win the December 4th presidential election from 60% to 70% if they adhere to the above advice.

Kebba L Nanko

New York, USA

By Madi Jobarteh

More importantly, if a person is appointed in a position why would his or her ethnicity count as the basis of that appointment? If we should go by that view of the Tinpot Dictator, will it be fair to say all his appointments when he was President were also driven by tribalism as he levied against Barrow?

Certainly Dictator Jammeh appointed so many officials to strategic and top positions who came from his own ethnic group yet he has always said he was against tribalism. Were those appointments coincidence and based on merit or they were driven by tribalism by design? Jammeh needs to answer that.

Therefore what justification is there to claim that the current President’s appointments were ethnic driven but Jammeh’s own appointments were not ethnic driven even though he had more top officials from his own ethnic group appointed to top positions? This needs serious interrogation.

When we do the analysis therefore it will be apparent that indeed it was Jammeh who was ethnic-inclined than anyone contrary to his claims – that is, going by his own claims of tribalism against others.

Thanks to Malagen for this succinct fact checking to expose his falsehoods and bigotry. People should reject the false narratives of this disgraced Tinpot Dictator which are intended for only one thing: To manufacture a way to divide and destabilize The Gambia for his own survival and escape from justice.

Nominations for the presidency have now been completed and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has produced a list of those who have made the cut. Successful candidates are now preparing for the second crucial stage of this democratic process, official campaigns. For the next three weeks, presidential hopefuls, including incumbent Adama Barrow, will be crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country, selling their agenda in every political unit of this country.

But this election will be the most consequential and competitive poll in our nation’s recent history. It is the first time in over two decades that Gambians are actively and freely engaging in a democratic process that has almost been flawless thus far, albeit the two “politically-motivated” episodes – arrest and charges of factional APRC Leader, Jerrending Sanyang, and the freezing of the business accounts of businessman cum UDP opposition sympathizer Alhagie Conteh of Dabani Electricals. While the two incidents seem small, they have the potential to impair the electoral process as they resemble dictatorial tendencies, synonymous with the past.

Without making those incidents the focus of this essay, overall, the electoral process has been freer, credit to Gambians on the other hand (they brought the change), and the government institutions to a large extent.

It is not just the freedoms and a tolerant political environment that is important to the masses given the never-ending task of State building. As the award-winning journalist, Naomi Klein noted, “Democracy is not just the right to vote, it is the right to live in dignity.” To interrogate Naomi’s points, democratic gains must be consolidated by instituting a capable government that is well-placed to guaranteeing the dignity of the citizens through meaningful sustainable development and functioning institutions. In essence, democracy is an ongoing process requiring that citizens always hold their government accountable. And there is no better way of doing that than having a consistent active voice and voting in an election.

Thus, for this election, few but critical issues should come to voters’ minds when they enter the polling booth to drop their marble. Follow this piece as I discuss those points.

Competent Leadership

While 2016 was an exceptional case – an agitated nation wanted a dictator out at all cost regardless of who led-, The Gambia must begin to inject seriousness in our governance process. To be blunt about my assessment over the last five years, governance and leadership were characterized by utter mediocrity and complete disdain for meritocracy. The last five years saw the appointments of semi-literates as advisers to the Head of State, people with clear dearth of policy knowledge or experience. The resultant effects of these appointments were several embarrassing decisions that emanated from the State House only to have them revised because they were either in contravention of the law or were non-compliance to best practices in a democracy.  The bar was lowered to the extent a chef in a certain European country with no political clout or social influence could brag about placing a direct line to the President to discuss policy matters that affect the lives of the people. And to mention the elephant in the room, the President woefully failed to learn and grow on his job despite the resources and privileges at his disposal. Several opportunities for the country became lost opportunities due to the inept nature of the Head of State and his sheer lack of confidence and learnability. For example, The Gambia should have by now been playing an effective role in the comity of nations as a model of democracy given our rare history of booting out one of Africa’s most brutal dictators in the last five decades. Our story as a nation received so much international goodwill that it only takes a smart leader with a storytelling ability to sell our image and desire to develop. Alas, Barrow’s lack of self-confidence to sell this beautiful story has cost the nation. Just recently, Sierra Leonean President Maada Bio, who only ascended to power in 2018, was the only African leader participating in the global summit on Action to Achieve Equality and Inclusion on the margins of the UN General Assembly. Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo was also standing side by side with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris holding a bilateral presser. Zambia’s new leader Hakainde Hichilema, who only took power a few months ago, was also with Vice President Harris in Washington. Of all these countries, The Gambia’s story is outstanding. The difference is that, their leaders, who only came to power after Barrow, have an incredible storytelling ability, vision, and the wherewithal to forge their countries’ strategic interest at the citadel of global diplomacy.

Back home, The Gambia also lost on the gains of the famous Brussels Donor Conference that garnered a whopping $1.7 billion in pledges. Government officials would always make bold claims that a good percentage of that money was received, but it is hard to imagine how much of that translated into the improvement of livelihoods. For an economy, this small, such money, when effectively utilized, should have had a profound impact on the country’s development trajectory and citizens’ livelihood.

Thus, to avoid the April 2018 Chatham House disaster, voters should consider competence in leadership. Those willing to offer their services on our behalf must be extremely competent, they must be beyond reproach. To borrow from Author John J. Pershing, “A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary, an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops.” To want to lead a country of two million people is a serious undertaking that should require that the best of us is chosen for the top job. That is simple arithmetic! Because the bar for the presidency has been lowered, a presidential hopeful can present a poem-like single page as his manifesto before our Election House. He would eventually be received for endorsement by the highest office after his failed bid.

Therefore, competent leadership should inform voters’ choice in the election. The presidency shouldn’t be an experimental office for amateurs and unsophisticated politicians. The analogy is like asking a clueless person to enter a medical theater and begin playing with tools to perform surgical operations. Managing a state is a surgical process requiring extraordinary skills to succeed.

Draft Constitution

When the coalition leaders hit the 2016 campaign trail, they promised Heaven to abandon Dictator Yahya Jammeh’s retrogressive constitution and deliver Gambians a new progressive constitution that will adhere to democratic values. As part of this promise, they singled out the need for term limits, that no Gambian should ever rule more than two five-year terms.

Fast-forward to 2018, the Barrow-led government instituted the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) through the National Assembly at a cost of a whopping D116M. At its launch, Barrow boldly declared, “I hold the view, as some other Gambians do, that a two-term limit for all Heads of State of the Republic should be entrenched in the new constitution.” However, it soon became apparent that Barrow’s words were mere political rhetoric meant to appease the unsuspecting public. After the CRC made wide consultations both domestically and abroad, they produced a draft constitution that won the praise of Gambians and her development partners.  Indeed, constitutions can never meet the needs of everyone, but the CRC draft was generally hailed as a masterpiece for its progressive and comprehensive nature.

As citizens began to digest the provisions of the draft, leaked documents emerged from State House, showing Barrow’s displeasure at provisions he deemed “biased” and “unfair.” Of all the provisions, the section on the retroactive application of two five-year term limits that counted Barrow’s current mandate became the most frowned upon section by the Barrow’s cabinet (The Standard, 2020). To Barrow and his surrogates, the two-term mandate should start after the end of his current mandate. Simply put, Barrow wants 15 years or more in power! For a President who pledged to serve only three years and step down, serving 10 years isn’t enough a time. To Barrow, Gambians, who he let down, were unfair to him; that the current term is his luck and therefore should not be counted.

The leaked State House papers, serialized in The Standard newspaper, apparently triggered anxiety and intense debate about the fate of the draft. As the draft headed for the National Assembly, there was growing concern that Barrow and his legislative allies were hatching a plot to kill the draft national document. And the fears were confirmed when 23 of the 56 lawmakers dramatically scuttled the draft in what many Gambians concluded was the mother of all betrayals of the Barrow presidency. Had the constitution passed, The Gambia would have been in the Third Republic with a constitution befitting of the democratic order. But as many analysts have noted, one man’s interest had to force its way against the collective interest of the masses. This is something to decipher as Gambians head to the poll. Voters must reflect on this brazen betrayal of trust and hold Barrow accountable for denying Gambians a chance to have a progressive constitution.

Justice and Accountability for Jammeh-era Crimes

One would have thought that after the failure of the CRC project, Barrow would make good on the last hope of the transitional mechanism processes – accountability and justice for Jammeh-era crimes. The stories that came out of the Truth Commission were like horror series. The harrowing testimonials of the murder, rape, and torture at the behest of Dictator Jammeh brought to fore the country’s darkest chapter. The tales were so disturbing that many ever doubted that political expediency would be considered at the altar of justice and accountability. Jammeh’s victims were being mocked by his APRC supporters who continue to deny these abominable State-sanctioned crimes.

As victims bravely sat before national airwaves to tell their difficult ordeals, little did they know that they were being mortgaged by President Barrow for political expediency. Unbeknown to them, Barrow was engaged in political brinkmanship to achieve longevity of power. This is a President who never set foot at the Victim’s Center. He never invited victims to State House to console them. This is a President who rarely acknowledges the plight of the victims in his national addresses. But this is the President who hatched a perpetrator-centered approach to reconciliation by visiting Dictator Jammeh’s extended family in Kanilai.

As if that was not enough, Barrow went ahead to formally announce a marriage with Dictator Jammeh’s party, declaring the decision, “My wisest decision in my political history.” And on his nomination day, this same President declared again that his alliance with the APRC is “in the national interest.” Ex-Justice Minister Ba Tambadou must be silently weeping at the fruitless outcome of his patriotic work – that man gave his all for the transition program mechanisms. Gambian voters must reflect on this and hold Barrow accountable for they were promised #NeverAgain.

Anti-corruption and Public Sector Graft

The Barrow government has indeed crafted an Anti-Corruption Commission Bill that currently sits at the National Assembly. For whatever reason, that draft bill never seemed to move through the floor. However, this government has been hit by several corruption scandals – the unresolved fertilizer scandal involving then Agriculture Minister Amadou Omar Jallow and his deputy permanent secretary (Kerr Fatou, 2018), the Fisheries scandal that involved then Permanent Secretary Dr. Bamba Banja and Minister James Gomez (Malagen, 2020), the diplomatic passport scandal (The Standard, 2019), the infamous D33M scandal involving Barrow and the First Lady (The Fatu Network, 2018), lawmakers’ presidential brown envelop scandal (Freedom, 2018), the D2.2M Malagasy Covid-19 herbal medicine transport scandal (Malagen, 2021), etc. To cap the scandals, Barrow recently confessed that a luxurious four-wheel drive that he was driving was gifted to him by a wealthy Senegalese businessman, Kalidou Waggeh, a man alleged to have several business interests and political ties in The Gambia since 2017. That one confession alone speaks volumes of the President’s approach to public sector graft. It would have triggered an impeachment proceeding in an advanced democracy where the State institutions are strong. Alas, it came and passed without even CSOs raising a red flag.

To date, this government only brought to court one senior government official – Dr. Bamba Banja – for allegedly collecting bribes from the Chinese. A critical look at Banja’s case indicates that it’s a mere attempt to whitewashing the narrative as the State only rushed it to court knowing elections draw close. Banja’s minister, meanwhile, has been left to roam despite audios implicating him. Gomez is among a pool of other senior government officials who have been left to carry on despite their complicity/involvement in corrupt practices. In a nutshell, the Barrow administration has never taken public sector graft seriously and has seemingly turned a blind eye to this problem as confirmed by the U.S. State Department in its Investment Climate Statements of 2021 (The Standard, 2021).

Failing Security Sector Reforms, Police Force in Focus

It only takes one to read the recently published outrageous statement of Deputy Inspector General of Police Modou Sowe to understand why the country’s much-trumpeted Security Sector Reform (SSR) hasn’t still gathered steam. In that The Standard newspaper article that has now attracted the wrath of the Bar Association, Sowe claimed that executive orders from the President are “considered law.” This thinking at the police hierarchy gives one an idea of why certain actions of the police continue to worry citizens. The most recent of these actions was the disruption of a press conference and arrest of the leader of the factional APRC, Jerending Sanyang. This was a new low in the enforcement history of the police. Sowe’s statement also explains the reason why the Police Intervention Unit (PIU) would engage themselves in an administrative affair involving Kanifing Municipal Council and the Ministry of Lands. Sowe’s statement explains why Human Rights Defender Madi Jobarteh would be arrested and slammed with bogus charges of “false information and broadcasting” (Article 19, 2020). Sowe’s statement further demonstrates why the State security agents would storm radio stations, force them off the air, and arrest and detain incommunicado their journalists (The Standard, 2020). And Sowe’s statement explains why the police would deliberately arrest and harass journalists only to release them on the pretext that they were mistakenly taken in.

Of all the state security institutions, the police remain the most unreformed institution. The police have not emulated the military that has since seemingly departed from its norm and is now projecting an apolitical image. The failing of the police is due to the lack of political will towards SSR. It is troublesome that a police high command still thinks it is okay to implement whatever orders the President gives.

To conclude, the five issues discussed above should inform every Gambian voter as they prepare to cast their vote on December 4^th. Voters should hold any politician who has reneged on his promises. Every voter should ask the toughest questions bearing in mind the fact that their livelihoods depend on the answers the politicians provide. Those who failed to deliver on the issues addressed above must not be voted.

Hatab Fadera is a Master of Arts Candidate in Emerging Media Design and Development at Ball State University, Indiana, USA.

Now that the die is cast with only 6 presidential candidates endorsed by the IEC, Gambians can now be rest assured that President Adama Barrow will have a second term on December 4th 2021.

Skeptics were concerned about the possible disqualification of Lawyer Ousainou Darbo and its political and security ramifications but after contesting and losing four times in the past 22 years another chance for him to run against Barrow will simply add the 5th notch of defeat in his unflattering record of always losing.

Anything different from allowing Mr. Darbo to contest would have muddied the political waters and probably cause avoidable chaos.

His criminal record upheld by the Gambia Supreme Court and ECOWAS courts was throughout feared to be his Achilles heel and perhaps his dismissal from office as vice president which in our constitution were both causes for disqualifying a presidential contender.

However talking to an independent reporter privy to the twelve points listed by the IEC as their qualification criteria the constitutional interdiction of criminals, dismissed persons and even those carrying dual citizenships were excluded. Why? I sure don’t know and hope that that decision by the ICC is defensible when challenged in the courts.

Notwithstanding we in the NPP-led coalition impressively reinforced by the mighty APRC are not complaining because of our confidence to win big on December 4th 2021.

Sorry that Dr. Ismaila Ceesay really miscalculated the intricacies of the political battleground regardless of his wisdom, education and charm. Failure to secure the required number of cardholders in his nomination process to take him across the most critical battleline only manifested his shortcomings or inadequacies of a political science doctor zealously challenging a humble businessman. In his mandatory assets declaration to the IEC it is reported that he only had D20,000.00 in his bank account. Without enough campaign-donor funs necessarily to win supporters I find it naive of him to believe that Gambian voters will elect him for only his good looks on huge billboards.

Barrow the underrated businessman has ultimately outmanoeuvred the smart doctor this time even before the game began. But the question is, how did Essa Faal with his “mbojombojo” and “katchapan” crowd beat Dr. Ceesay in the game of politics? Think about that folks.

In the case of Mai Fatty the embarrassment of exposing the weakness of his party by his failure to qualify further confirmed the long-conceived notion that the GMC was a briefcase party with no significant number of followers to win him any elections.

But Mr. Fatty may have known his fate on the nomination day and as a result started showning the UDP as his party of preference; along with his party’s flag in his right hand that morning he had hoisted the UDP yellow flag in his left hand after completing his nomination process. I will not therefore be surprised if Fatty in the coming days pledges his alligence to Darbo and the UDP. He could come back to the NPP and will without doubt be unconditionally accepted by President Adama Barrow and his accommodating NPP. But will he do it? I wouldn’t bet on it.

Anyway accordingly to President Barrow the NPP’s doors are still opened for everybody willing to come including Dr. Ismaila Ceesay,  Mr. Mai Fatty and definitely Sheikh Tijan Hydara of GANU and the rest of the disqualified candidates.

The NPP will indeed accept Mr. Shiekh Tijan Hydara whom I understand was these days toying with the idea of either joining the NPP or the UDP.

The NPP will nevertheless win and nothing can stop that in five weeks time. Take it from me that we will converge at the Statehouse the day after for the big celebration. Weew Barrow ?????

Samsudeen Sarr

For NPP-led coalition party