The regime propaganda machinations have been very effective over the past twenty-two year putting meat on the conceptual bones of absurdities—that erroneously vilifies the opposition parties, causing needless worries of fears about the opposition in the mind of some Gambians. Nevertheless, they are hoping too that Gambians will hold out hope of a new beginning with the opposition for a hard –nosed settlement on the continuation of the status quo. Today’s fluid and murky situation of our country should be an eye opener that— we need change of leadership, fresh thinking to meet challenges and the need for unorthodox maneuvers to steer our country back to the right direction. They are desperately trying to put uncertainties in the minds of some unsuspecting Gambians — with a big misleading — dishonest statement that— the opposition would quickly spin up a new War in Gambia by settling scores with the Gambians— if voted into office. To that effect, they are going down meekly hiding behind tall grasses whiles the opposition candidates are on tour, fooling Gambians by engaging into bad illegal practices of buying their voters cards and going door to door misrepresenting themselves as opposition vying for GOFER convention— with the sole purpose of creating animosity within the opposition camps.
It is hard to believe despite all the events of dark terror that made world headlines, adversarial relationship that harms us more than benefit us, challenges of hardship that knocks the doors of every Gambia family, the regime propaganda machinations have been extraordinarily effective in maintaining the dishonest statement that— the opposition will spin up a new kind of war against members of the regime. Well Yaya Jammeh’s family is living freely among us here and no one has their time or much think about revenge. That’s not our nature. We are good descent people who just want opportunity to thrive. Most of the former regime agents or people who harmed our families, are in Senegal and elsewhere to this day enjoying our benevolence and seeking our assistance . Does any Gambian in their right minds think Halifa Sallah, lawyer Darboe, Isatou Tourey, Fatoumata Tambajang and rest of the opposition will even harm even a fly? Then why are Gambians keeping our opposition on their heels by tiptoeing right up to — or over — implicit traps set up by the regime? It seams sometimes, people still display openly remarkably friendly attitude towards the regime killing our fellow citizens and openly display their displeasures on the matters of significance “ Coaliation”— our only opposition’s parties guiding light to victory . The regime has shown over and again that they cannot be trusted to strike any kind of mutually advantageous deal for the opposition, except terror against their member as evident on April14-16 events.
The regime is tainted forever with scandals that degraded of moral standards of our nation. The self-inflected blow of stonewalling Gambians out of opportunities have now back fired on them. Also the mysterious practices of raffling our lives and blood for the pleasures of their idols/spiritual doctors’ evil wishes, have shielded our country from much needed blessings to prosper. We were all sadden by the abrupt cutting of diplomatic relations with commonwealth and other nations—that ended the dreams of many Gambians education ambitions— at the high institutions at Taiwan. To that end, they are putting dust in the eyes of Gambians who are blithely unaware of their strategy for the general election slaughter of the oppositions, just to avoid the shellacking that will disgrace them in history. Even though a record number of Gambians believe the Gambian dream is out of reach and most have fallen to the crack of their ambitions ladders— to the risky backway journeys, some exiled out of the country, whiles others send early to their graves. it is all because of their dreams intertwines with the dictator’s absolute love of power. We should remind our fellow Gambians about how much pain there is in this country and life has gotten worse for people like them over the last twenty-two years. The better course for all Gambians—including the diasporians— who are appalled by this prospect of the regime to gain legitimacy again— should not to step back and take the long view of leaving all the work on the shoulders of the opposition candidates. The job for the rest of us is to figure out the right response of education our families and friends to standup with the opposition—with their votes in meeting that challenged.
There isn’t a crisis of solidarity but the crisis of misconceptions, which is just slowing the walk to coalition line. Once we cross that line, then solidarity can be rekindled nationally. We are pervasively betrayed by Yaya Jammeh with his big flashing light of dictatorship— that has partly blinded some of our folks. We are imprisoned by his old reticent—stoical ideal ideology of the past, and his policies with awashed our country into moral and financial debts of enormous proportions. We have tasked our opposition to build the coalition ladder of hope— to rescue our country adrift by the toxic waves of dictatorship that eat away all the pillars of our nationhood. The opposition are on our side to restore our traditions and allow us to dust off our values of ideals that aren’t working anymore. They have plans to curb out poor standards of education failing our kids and the high education dropout rates. They have policies to put an immediate stop the senseless high incarceration rates and free our elders at prisons around Gambia. They will work together to eliminate the rampant corruption practices that contributed stalling of opportunities. Eliminate the culture of intolerance that made us strangers in foreign lands and help bring back of brothers who fell through the cracks of their dreams into prisons of backway or our sisters— held against their wishes as domestic slaves in arab countries. They will create policies to enhance job growth and end the monopoly of business that contributed to the low labor force— that made our youths adrift into backway crisis.
Over the course of Gambian history, we produce patriot sons and daughters who took the responsibility to do one activity that leaps across the chasms of segmentation that afflict our country. Kunta Kinteh stood up against the practice of Slavery and the fight later picked on by Martin Luther King elsewhere. Sir Dawda and his compatriots stood up to rescue us from colonialism and GOD blessed their efforts with the vibrant democracy— that also gave Yaya Jammeh all the opportunities of life. Now, we are at that point again at the moment of history that a “Coalition” of all our political parties will untie the shoes of dictatorship for us to regain our national story line of the smiling coast of Africa again. Yes we can Gambia!
By Habib ( A Concerned Gambia)
