I cannot but take a brief moment to express my special appreciation to His Excellency President Adama Barrow for his noble and historic visit to Kaninlai village yesterday, home of the former president Yahya Jammeh where he also informally met his family members. Wasn’t the wise message of the President about the Gambia on his watch now inclined on a positive reconciliatory orbit a big assurance to the APRC and all doubters of the substance of the coalition that his word in their agreement is his bond? That despite the portrayal of his image by the negligible cynics that he will betray the APRC, its leadership under Honorable Fabakary Tombong Jatta and the entire masses behind him so far reflected nothing of such character in President Adama Barrow but instead everything about his honesty, forthrightness and generosity.
I will, to avoid distraction from my main theme, suspend those accolades for another day or topic to better illustrate in this article the overriding importance of what the president demonstrated yesterday to all Gambians and non-Gambians alike. Clearly captured in his brief statement at Kaninlai was that President Adama Barrow strongly believes that the former President Yahya Jammeh was our indisputable former head of state who deserves all the respect of being treated as one which to me was a public declaration of his resolution to sooner rather than later use the powers of his office to formally facilitate the retirement of Jammeh back to his homeland with all his entitlements. Not a single prominent government official this time dared to challenge the president’s statement like the dishonorable Justice Minister Ba Tambadou was fond of doing in order to satisfy the imbecilic hustlers.
It however jogged our memories back to the president’s reiteration of the uniqueness of such achievement to have the political party in government that he had contested agaist during his presidential bid in 2016 and ousted from power to come back and wholeheartedly rally behind his campaign to seek a second term in office in 2021. It is not only a unique phenomenon in the history of any political development, the world over, but a Gambian model worth emulating everywhere in a world where such party rivalries had often promoted irreconcilable enmity and deadliness rather than unity the best and only option available regardless of the regrettable consequences. To put it differently, it is fair to say that President Barrow has achieved what no African leader in contemporary politics has ever realized and is now a great example worth copying everywhere possible.
It cost 3000 lives of political rivals in Ivory Coast in a mortal political conflict between current and former Presidents Alassane Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo respectfully instigated and funded by evil internal and external forces before they both finally realize the need to cast their differences aside and fall back to what will bring them final peace, reconciliation and stability after over a-decade-long-polarized people and society.
Thank God that the Gambia in 2016 was blessed with a peace-loving and humble leader in the person of President Barrow after we miraculously eluded the Ivorian kind of calamity; nevertheless for quite a while we had fallen into the trap of a treacherous and troublesome syndicate of conspirators aided and abetted by legal hoodlums and political agitators describing themselves as activists whose most potent arsenal was the TRRC that has ultimately failed woefully. The flag of Westfield-junction agitators has finally been permanently lowered and the masses will trample on it before burning it to ashes after December 4th 2021.
Obviously, most Gambians have now realized how corrupted, unreliable and incompetent the TRRC and its members have been of which only a foolish government will honor any report from them much more an unjustifiable recommendation. Is it not flabbergasting to now hear these low IQ activists peddling the false information in and out of the country that President Barrow has in three occasions refused to accept the finished-submitted report and recommendations of the TRRC because of his decision to forge a political alliance with the APRC, a report that is still incomplete and may never be completed due to share incompetency and chicanery?
President Barrow has indeed woken up from being politically misled by destructive elements in the country whose primary objective was geared towards (1) destroying the legacy of former President Jammeh and (2) to unceremoniously and illegally unseat President Barrow from office with disgraceful ramifications.
Hence, today, as we look forward towards the December presidential election, I am confident that the president’s gesture at Kaninlai will immensely boost his rating among the undecided voters who sincerely cherish a united rather than a divided Gambia as the only hope of maintaining a peaceful, prosperous, hopeful and above all very happy Gambia for all. Seeing myself in all this celebratory success makes it ever more refreshing.
So once again I salute you mister President for doing the right thing at the right place and at the right time.
May the Almighty Allah bless you, your family and the whole Gambian community.
Samsudeen Sarr
Banjul, The Gambia.
