PDOIS is the Only Genuine Gambian Party - Sidia Jatta




The Independent (Banjul)

July 2, 2001
Posted to the web July 2, 2001

Ali Jawo
Banjul, the Gambia

The PDOIS congress held in Taibatu, Wuli on Friday June 25 was the occasion
for a particularly strongly worded speech by the party's presidential
candidate Sidia Jatta who said that his party is the only genuine political
organisation in the country that can "thrash out" the long-running problems
of Gambians and end the misery of poverty and destitution.

Mr Jatta who is also the National Assembly member for Wuli said PDOIS is a
party for mature and progressive-thinking individuals who would not live by
exploiting the Gambian masses or trading insults and accusations with the
hope of discrediting their opponents.

Mr. Jatta said PDOIS as liberators take pride in being different from the
other political parties in The Gambia in view of their strenuous dedication
to the general welfare of all Gambians. He described the other political
parties as wearing gowns of destitution, ignorance and egoism. Mr. Jatta
said his party is peopled with genuine politicians who are not interested in
the accumulation of personal wealth, a situation which he believes is
characteristic of the other political parties. This he argued is being
exemplified in the National Assembly where he said he is the only politician
standing for the interest of Gambians.

Mr. Jatta also spoke of the gradual development of his party "from a seed to
a trunk" that serves as a unifying force for the Gambian community, which he
described as a melting pot of different ethnic groups.

The Wuli assembly member said the economy is declining, culminating in the
deteriorating standard at health facilities across the country.

On the educational sphere he said the university is like a mushroom which is
nominal. Mr. Jatta said the National Assembly is an institution of sacrifice
for the greater good instead of a position for flamboyance at the expense of
the state. As the only assembly member who deposits part of his salary to
the Wuli Development Fund Honourable Jatta vowed to serve his constituency
as long as the Wuli electorate entrusts him with their constituency. He said
he would neither intimidate his opponents nor rob his people of their
wealth.

He hoped that by the end of the congress delegates would have been able to
devise ways of redressing the helpless circumstance of their own people in
line with PDOIS' conviction to "free the masses from the sea of ignorance,
destitution and mental trauma".

He said they are teachers and learners who have ultimately realised the
situation that election can spawn.

The congress, which ended yesterday July 1 at the village makeshift
dispensary received a high powered delegation from the six divisions of The
Gambia.


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