DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE WAS NOT WRITTEN NOR ENDORSED
BY ME JUST FORWARDING IT TO THE RIGHT EDITORIALS.     
                     

       STOP THE HYPOCRISY!   

I must begin by registering my utter disgust at the
incredible vilification in the allgambian.net bizarre
editorial of 18th January 2006, of a noble son of The
Gambia, Lawyer Ousainu Darboe. While I appreciate the
phenomenal endeavours that medium is making to help
keep NADD alive, I am appalled by the fact  that they
choose to do this at the expense of someone’s
credibility. To the extent that allgambian.net tried
to impugn Mr Darboe’s integrity, that editorial is
disgusting.

The UDP joined NADD on the basis of agreed terms as
enshrined in a Memorandum of understanding signed by
the constituent parties. The key criteria as contained
in that MOU in respect of ones eligibility for the
position of a flag bearer was that the person must be
electable. As a matter of opinion, any contender/
potential contender can easily claim to be more
electable than the others. We may be obliged to
respect such opinions but [for God sake] we cannot
reasonably use them as a determinant factor for
anyone’s eligibility. We must not gamble our own
future. We must use a non controversial litmus test 
formula for this purpose. In that respect I propose
that we use statistics. Statistically, who among the
contenders is a vote winner? I am sure Halifa Sallah
will agree to this proposition because he had always
believed and used statistics to back up his many crude
logic arguments in radio shows, in parliament and even
in the rambling Foroyaa Newspaper.

As a matter of statistical fact, Lawyer Ousainu Darboe
is the only opposition figure ever to have scored over
hundred thousand votes in the history of Gambia’s
multi-party democracy since independence. He is also
the only opposition figure ever to have scored more
than 30% of the total votes cast in two consecutive
elections since the birth of the second republic in
1994. These outstanding records were achieved against
a hostile background of police intimidation, military
oppression, torture, unwarranted arrests, false
imprisonments, state sponsored thuggry, police and
media restriction on campaigning, asylum, you name
them. Nevertheless and as a matter of fact they still
remain unbeatable, certainly not by the records of any
of the contenders or figures in the NADD Camp. Am sure
not even Halifa Sallah would want to contest this
claim. It is simply a statistical fact. Is this a good
foundation for NADD? Of course yes. In every
democracy, any politician/party that consistently wins
more than 25% of the total votes is capable of winning
an election. This means that among all the NADD
figures Mr Darboe is the only vote winner
statistically, and the only person who stands a 
greater chance to deliver a landslide victory for NADD
and the Gambian people in this year’s presidential
election. This is a fact which we all have to
acknowledge and be grateful for. If we are genuinely
serious about seeing the back of an almost entrenched,
well organised and resourceful APRC, we must accept Mr
Darboe’s electoral achievements as a solid foundation.
He is the only one who was ever close to doing the job
for us all. If we choose to do otherwise, we shall be
doing a splendid job for the APRC and an awesome
disservice to NADD. Lets forget about the hypocrisies
of PDOIS and the misguided and sometimes silly remarks
of Walter Mitty Lamin waa Juwara. I do not want to
talk much about NDAM because in the practical sense, I
do not think it is a party. Did anyone ever heard of a
NDAM launching or congress? Do they even dear to talk
about a nationwide tour? It is just a bizarre group of
erratic radicals calling themselves NDAM. What is even
more pathetic about them was that when their leader
was serving a prison sentence for sedition, the party
[so-called] was literally placed under the stewardship
of a yob.

When the idea of a coalition first surfaced in 2001,
Halifa in a radio show with Momodou Thomas of Radio
1FM, dismissed the idea maintaining that PDOIS needed
to test its electoral strength. As the idea gathers
public support, he lambasted the proponents for
failing to embrace PDOIS when other first Republican
parties were banned, rather than forming a party
called the UDP. He further went on to arrogantly
challenge them to support the formation of a coalition
to be headed only by Sedia jatta. It was a complete
non-starter and a manifestation of PDOIS’s utter
contempt for the UDP. What PDOIS and Halifa in
particular could not come to terms with and still
refuses to accept is that despite PDOIS being over
fifteen years old by 1996, it only managed to capture
less than 3% of the votes in that year’s presidential
election compared to the 36% of a 14 day old UDP.
Since then they have always struggled for survival in
the face of UDP popularity. Halifa’s election to
parliament in 2002 can only be attributed to a UDP
boycott.  So for PDOIS and indeed for Halifa, UDP is
and had always been an opponent, not a partner. That
is why when the fantasist Waa Juwara was given his
Marching orders by the UDP Central Committee, Halifa
was thrilled. He saw this as a split and therefore a
fantastic opportunity to siphoned UDP votes in any
future election. He was determined to vilify the UDP
as a mere personality based party with no policy
orientation, and to tore apart its widely claimed
credential as the biggest opposition grouping in the
country. So he remarked that the party had become
dysfunctional as a result of Juwara’s exit. He was
shamefully wrong. The UDP responded by staging a post
Juwara rally in Tallinding. The response was so
immense that not only a leading executive in the
person of Fabakary Kolior Camara deserted NDAM for the
UDP Youth Wing, where he was to become only an
ordinary member, it also rendered Halifa’s
ill-conceived political strategy obsolete. Anybody who
knows UDP well particulary the composition of its
shadow cabinet will undoubtedly agree with  me that 
it is utter nonsense for Halifa to claim that the UDP
lacks policy orientation. It is nonsense upon silt.
These people are sophiscated technocrats with proven
track records in the field of public policy
formulation and implementation. Who doesn’t know the
Yaya  Jallows, Amadou Taals Mrs Dentons, Dr Boro
Susos, Ebou Mannehs Amadou Sannehs Dr sheriff ceesays
, Femi Peters etc, and who doubts their academic and
professional credentials? You know what?Halifa and
Juwara are the biggest fantasists the Gambia has ever
seen. They may think the UDP will be the victim of
their clandestine behaviours but they are wrong. The
UDP had survived bigger storms before and am sure they
will bounce back at the appropriate time. ‘Do not
underestimate the determination of a quite man’-per
Iain Duncan Smith, Former Tory leader [UK]. In all
these, NADD is the ultimate victim. Unless we do away
with the hypocrites and hypocrisy and unless Halifa
and his dodgy cohorts start to respect UDP and accept
it as a genuine and [of course] an indispensable
partner, NADD’s future will always remain blink. We
can say that no person is indispensable but we cannot
certainly relate the same saying to institutions. That
is why we are all worried about a UDP pullout. Are we
not?

I personally adore OJ. However, I believed that his
apparent nomination and possible coronation as NADD’s
Flagbearer will land the coalition into a diabolic
dogfight. Obviously, NADD will become a PPP led
coalition in political terms, and that is not
withstanding the recent Supreme Court ruling. NADD aka
PPP….Doesn’t it sound weird? The most likely
consequence of this is that NADD will end up spending
all its time trying to defend the records of the PPP
in the face of Yankuba Touray’s robust onslaught
rather than exposing APRC grave short comings on the
economy, Public spending and debt servicing, the
justice system and public administration, respect for
the Rule of law and Human Rights [you name them]. I
wonder how Halifa sallah can do this. The PPP, as it
stands now, have a battered image, especially in the
eyes of the young voters. Presently, we are the cream
of the Gambia’s electoral population. Our votes are
very vital to any party’ success. How on earth can
NADD win our votes if they cannot talk about things
that matter to us and our parents? NADD is simply
becoming pathetic. Isn’t it?

During the 2001 Presidential election, Halifa severed
the blame for the groundnut trade turmoil between the
PPP and the APRC on a 50/50 basis. The PPP  for
Privatising [he called it selling] the GPMB, and the
APRC for kicking out ALMENTA [GGC].As former PPP
Agriculture Minister, where does this leave OJ. By
doing this, he had made it very difficult for the UDP
to fully exploit the groundnut trade issue due to its
alliance with the PPP, but that was typical Halifa
Sallah being good at his game. ‘Get them confused if
they are likely to vote UDP’. I personally do not hold
PPP responsible for the Groundnut trade turmoil. The
sole aim of any responsible government anywhere is to
promote the welfare of its citizenry. As the economy
grows bigger it is imperative for the government to
relinquish its firm control over certain sectors in
favour of private sector participation, provided that
does not transgress on the citizens’ welfare. That is
good for the purpose of economic liberalisation and
diversification, private section participation, and
job creation. Entrusting the world’s leading dealer in
groundnuts with the groundnut sub sector was actually
good because it guarantees lasting security. The
farmers can always be assured that their produce will
always be bought. That is what mattes to them, and
that is the guarantee APRC took way from them. My
parents tilled that soil to educate me and I am very
angry that someone out there is playing with their
lives in the name of politics. Nevertheless, this
issue is still a fertile ground waiting to be
exploited but can NADD do it? Certainly not when it is
under the stewardship of a former PPP Agriculture
minister, with dodgy Halifa as spokesperson. What a
nightmare? 

I hope that even at this crucial and difficult moment,
OJ will withdraw from the race in the interest of
harmony and better prospect for NADD. He just doesn’t
fit the bill. 


SS Daffeh
Anglia Ruskin University [UK]



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