Daily News
How THe Presdential Nomination Went on in the Gambia By Mohammed L Sillah and Mbaye B sarr
Aug 29, 2006, 08:35
On Monday 28th August 2006, tens of thousands of Gambians thronged the main streets adjacent to the office of the IEC(Independent Electoral Commission) to cheer their choice of candidates for the coming September 22nd presidential election. There were also many who were casual onlookers and passers-by out to look at the spectacle of a military occupation of the area. Hundreds of soldiers and other security details were all over stopping all traffic as well as pedestians along the
main Kairaba Avenue in Serekunda. Already by 09.00hrs in the morning people dressed in their various party colors were jam-packed in cars, vans and even trucks drumming and singing. One could see about a dozen forty-footer lorries, belonging to Yahya Jammeh's privately owned Kaninlai Farms filled with singing and clapping people, mostly women, dressed in APRC uniform-type clothing that bear the pictures of President Jammeh and his wife. Everywhere in the neighborhood, people seemed to be in a carnival mood.
Though it proved out that the day was not an official public holiday as many people had feared, few could be reached in their offices, most especially civil servants. This harassed professional caste of Gambians had been compelled to buy the uniforms from their heads of Departments, the Gambia Journal has learnt, wear them in the morning and made sure they were visibly present during the nomination exercise. Even many private sector players felt compelled to also attend the nominations dressed in the ruling party's campaign gears. According to IEC regulations each presidential candidate had to pay a deposit of D 10,000 and must be nominated by 5000 registered voters. They also had to register thesupport of at least 200 registered voters in each of the seven administrative areas to be qualified as presidential candidates
The NADD crowd who walked and drove slowly behind Hon. Halifa Sallah, dressed in blue haftan gown and escorted by Wa Juwara, Seedia Jatta, Landing Jallow Sonko and other members of the party's Executive Committee. A notable absentee was O.J. Jallow, former Minister of Agriculture of the First Republic who is now an Executive Committee Member of NADD. We hear he has taken ill and being hospitalize at the West Field Clinic. According to the time schedule for the nomination Hon.
Halifa Sallah, presidential candidate for National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD) should have been the first on the row of four, to tender his nomination documents at 10:00am but he arrived late. Mr. Sallah said later that he came late because he and his followers were stopped by soldiers guarding the West Field Junction. They were forced to use a long detour. He protested strongly against that action of the soldiers, say he and his supporter would not be intimidated. Though the crowd following Mr. Sallah was relatively small, , they were highly spirited. So Mr. Sallah;s nomination was done just after 11.00 hrs. He later talked to journalists, denouncing the Jammeh government as "a failure" and promising a five-year transition of rectification if NADD should win te presidential election.
Then came President Jammeh's nomination team, that was the largest. He was to have submitted his nomination papers by 11.00, but that had been disrupted by the late arrival of the NADD procession. The din of drumming, dancing and singing filled the air erupting out of a sea of people dressed in green. Two days ago, state media started calling on APRC supporters from all over the country to come and join the nomination. The announcements said that President Jammeh was
inviting all of them to a match by foot to Banjul where a feast of free food awaited. After his nomination the Gambian leader was true to the words of the announcement and led his supporters to Banjul.
After this came the UDP procession led by Lawyer Ousainou Darbo, Hamat Bah and other prominent leaders of the UDP/NRP Alliance. The size of their crowd surprised many as very little political rallies have yet been seen organized by the Alliance, especially in the Greater Banjul Area. The turnout was very big and only a little less than of incumbent President Jammeh, if the 25 000 that some APRC militants boast is right, then the UDP/NRP crowd could be safely taken as 20 000, determined and enthusiastic people. Already on Sunday evening, the massive size and spirited people coming from the UDP/NRP rally at the opposition-stronghold of Bakau should have served as an indication. The Gambia Journal has learnt that the police wanted to revoke the permits for that meeting at the last minute on Sunday, August 27th. But Mr. Darboe who talked over the telephone with the Inspector General of Police, was said to have flatly refused to call off the meeting. We learned the Minister of the Interior later called Lawyer Darboe apologizing for the incident. Mr. Darboe and his crowd later held a well attended meeting at the square adjacent to the Latri Kunda Mosque.
Last to arrive at the IEC headquarters to be nominated was Mr. Henry Gomez of the GPDP (Gambia Peoples Democratic Party), a newly formed party headed by a Gambian resident in Germany. Citing Section 62, C, of the constitution, the IEC refused to accept Mr. Gomez's nomination based on a residency argument. The IEC holds it that Mr. Gomez had not been continuously resident in The Gambia long enough. Mr. Gomez was obviously upset by the turning down of his nomination and claimed it was because only he could defeat Jammeh. Now that the nominations have been dawn and the way open for a three=way presidential contest., many people are praying for a peaceful election.
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