Joe
You have definitely hit the nail on this issue of
Jawara returning to The Gambia.
I think the UDP would be the biggest winners if Jawara
was to sever links with the Coalition. Based on my
findings, it appears that one of the main reason why
UDP didn`t capture the Presidency was the fact that it
had "strong" links with Jawara. In fact, I have spoken
to people who said that UDP Presidential Campaign
Strategy was a failure due to its constant
praise-singing of Sir Dawda Jawara's record in office.
Assuming that Sir Dawda was to join forces with the
APRC, then the situation would be brighter for UDP;
they will be able to present its party programme which
is very distinct to what PPP did during its 30 reign
of office.
Whilst, much noise is made about Sir Dawda's return,
one must remember that He (Sir Dawda) has already made
a pledge that he only wishes return to the Gambia as
an elder statesman and to retire from active
politics.( See His Interview with GRTS on 4 January
2002)
Finally, if Sir Dawda was to join APRC, then it would
be the APRC that would have problems with their style
of politics. For the last eight years, APRC have
criticised Sir Dawda Jawara style of government and
assuming that he joins them, they will be faced with
the difficulty of formulating a genuine propaganda
machine against the Opposition-UDP in particular.
Just a thought, no hard feelings
Sanusi Owens
--- Joe Sambou <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Now that
the much gossiped arrival of Jawara has
> come to pass, I'm wondering
> what all this means for the UDP/PPP? If you
> recalled, Jawara was with the
> Coalition up to the last Presidential elections,
> what happened since then?
> Going by OJ's comments a few days ago in the papers,
> did Jawara cut a side
> deal with Jammeh to the exclusion of OJ and the
> Coalition's who is who? How
> come OJ, the guard dog of the PPP Frontier, up to a
> week ago was not aware
> of a date certain for Jawara's return? Does this
> explain the bizarre events
> that followed Jawara's arrival, from arriving at
> 4:00am to his muzzling from
> the airport to his residence? Or is Jawara in
> cahoots with the APRC is this
> silent comedy? Folks, this Jawara/APRC creeping
> looks more like a
> conspiracy against Gambians the more one looks at
> it. Are we seeing another
> Sheriff Dibba style cross-carpet? I'm asking these
> questions because I know
> that we are not going to get to the truth from
> either Jawara or the APRC.
> If Jawara is acted upon at this stage of the show,
> for what ever reason,
> watch out when Mansa Jammeh starts giving him some
> money. He might make
> Sheriff Dibba look like a Saint in this "Kora
> Affair". And who said "Kora"
> does not rhyme with "Bugarabu"? Please read on.
>
>
> The Independent Published Monday, June 3, 2002
>
>
> No ‘red carpet’ reception in spite of promise Sir
> Dawda’s return causes
> family furor
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
> Barely hours after he touched down at the Banjul
> International Airport early
> last Saturday, Sir Dawda’s family members have
> criticised the ‘unnecessarily
> heavy’ security presence, which prevented them from
> welcoming him to the
> country he left as a deposed leader almost eight
> years ago.
>
> Sir Dawda whose homecoming in the wee hours of
> Saturday was described as a
> low-key affair suddenly put paid to a maze of local
> speculation, hype and
> doubts over his return, which had spanned several
> months. Disappointed
> family members of the deposed Gambian leader most of
> whom came from Barajali
> (his home village) and Brikama told the press that
> Sir Dawda’s reunion with
> his homeland was supposed to be a happy and lively
> affair but had
> unfortunately passed off as a homecoming lacking in
> ceremony due to the
> absence of any state official to meet him in spite
> of a promise echoed by
> the Secretary of State for Tourism to give the
> erstwhile leader a ‘red
> carpet’ reception.
>
> Saikanding Jawara, the erstwhile leader’s elder
> brother who was with other
> members of the family at the airport said he was
> deeply dismayed over why
> they were denied entry by security officers who said
> they were acting on
> strict instructions.
>
> Saikanding said the welcome party was there upon the
> invitation of Sir Dawda
> who he explained had telephoned him from the UK with
> a request to be
> received by them. He said they were appalled that
> Sir Dawda was not allowed
> to speak to anyone. ‘Sir Dawda telephoned me hours
> before he arrived,
> wishing to see us at the Banjul International
> Airport but when we turned up
> at the appointed time, the security despite knowing
> that we are his own
> blood, refused us to even have a glimpse of him’ he
> said, as his voice
> strained with desperation. Some old men and women
> who complained that they
> were at the airport more than six hours before his
> arrival said it was
> inconceivable that such a high-profile figure could
> be given an official
> snub.
>
> Alhagie Higinkeh Jaiteh and Sankung Fatty also
> relatives of Sir Dawda said
> the security ‘cordon’ around him did not help to
> assure them that President
> Jammeh’s government was being friendly and
> accommodating towards Gambia’s
> president of thirty years. Immediately after
> disembarking from his plane,
> Sir Dawda was whisked away to a waiting array of
> cars, which sped to his
> Fajara residence, providing him no chance to meet
> his well-wishers some of
> whom were at the airport before 2 am Saturday.
>
> Despite earlier hints of a planned state reception
> headed by President
> Jammeh, there was no government official present at
> the airport.
>
> Only Abdoulie Kujabi the deputy director of the
> National Intelligence Agency
> with plainclothes security officers were his escorts
> as he was being
> accompanied by ten members of his immediate family
> among them Chilel Jawara.
> Sir Dawda’s family criticised the ‘indifferent’
> attitude of the country’s
> leadership to his homecoming, which they said was a
> deliberate attempt to
> downplay his national importance. ‘The importance of
> such a man is
> undeniable even to those who rule the country today’
> one family member
> enraged over the low-profile nature of Sir Dawda’s
> return remarked.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
_________________________________________________________________
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>
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