The Rise and Fall of NADD 
By Saikou Jammeh 

In our bid to clearing issues surrounding the rise and fall of NADD, Daily News ran a series of interviews with stakeholders in the politics of our dear country the Gambia, especially those in the opposition camp. It was first with, Omar Jallow alias OJ, the leader of PPP, Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, Leader of the opposition UDP, Halifa Sallah of PDOIS and Lamin Waa Juwara leader of NDAM, all of whom together formed NADD. Daily News will not rest on its laurels until it talks to all stakeholders. 

It is in this light that in this edition of Discourse, we went beyond our frontiers and our guest is Musa Jeng, who was at the time of the formation of NADD the Chairperson of Save The Gambia Democracy Project (STGDP). Read on for more on the rise and fall of NADD. 

Please can you tell our readers something about yourself? 

My name is Musa Jeng, and presently residing in Atlanta, Georgia. I am married with two kids. As a career, I am a financial controller with a Hospitality company. I consider myself a community activist with a strong belief that it is important to play a role in making a difference in our community at home and in the Diaspora. I was the Chairperson of STGDP during the 2006 NADD coalition. STGDP is now under the leadership of our able new Chairperson, Banka Manneh. 

How did you find yourself in the Diaspora (Gambian?) 

Interesting question, I guess by virtue of living outside of the Gambia, specifically in the US, makes me a Diasporan. I came to the US in the early eighties, and after I Graduated from school came back to the Gambia and took up employment for a period of three years, then migrated back to the US in the mid nineties with my new family, of course looking for greener pastures. 

What role did your organization play in the overall formation of NADD? 

Save The Gambia Democracy Project (STGDP) is a political interest group based in the United States, with a mission to bring real democracy to the shores of the Gambia. STGDP was really the vehicle, or maybe to be more precise the initiator of opposition Allianceas a strategy to contest the 2006 General elections. 

As Gambians living in the Diaspora, we have the luxury to make a choice: some only see value in focusing on family affairs and to their own survival as immigrants. Few of us believe that there is value in trying to make a difference in the development of our country, notwithstanding living thousands of miles away. For the past fifteen years, Diasporans have used the internet to discuss ideas, sometimes engaged in partisan politics but most of the time deliberating on important debates on how to build a better Gambia. These debates are not always constructive or pretty, but at the end of the day give us all a democratic platform to talk about our country. STGDP was able to take these ideas, and really built real action plans which resulted in the formation of NADD. 

However, the actual formation of NADD belonged to opposition leaders who basically accepted our proposal of the need to form an alliance to confront the status quo which was and still continues to slide into autocracy. STGDP’s role was more of a facilitator, but our main role was to raise funds to help with the funding of the alliance. During this period, we made numerous telephone conference calls with all the leaders, making suggestions on strategy and other relevant issues. Under the leadership of STGDP, with the participations of other organizations in the Diaspora, we raised funds to finance the by-elections, which NADD contested and won the most popular votes against the APRC government. We were also able to bring the leaders to the Diaspora where several meetings were held all over the USA. 

What is the vision behind the formation of NADD? 

For STGDP, the vision behind the formation is really a need for an effective opposition if we are ever going to build a developed Gambia. The political realities in Gambian politics over the years have always been that all powers resided in the hands of the executive, and frankly speaking in the hands of one man. 

This was the reality under the first republic and it is the same thing we are witnessing today. If you really look at the developed countries of today, power is really decentralized, and even though the power of the presidency is unquestionable there are other institutions like the legislature where you have opposition parties engaging in real debates for decisions affecting the lives of citizens. In addition, you will find a robust media playing a critical role in not only informing citizens, but holding public officials accountable to decisions and powers vested in them. 

For STGDP, this was never about being anti or pro government, but a real need for an effective opposition which will lead to the widening of the democratic space and ultimately building a stable and prosperous country. The bottom line is, show me any country without an effective opposition and surely it will be a country confronted with abject poverty, underdevelopment and instability. NADD was needed as a strategy to bring about an effective voice for the minority and to hold the government of the day accountable to the people. 

What led to the failure of NADD? 

It was really unfortunate that the NADD strategy was not able to carry on to the end, and we were disappointed and it did create a rift among activist in the Diaspora. STGDP and other organizations in the Diaspora were really tied like an umbilical cord to the NADD enterprise and when it collapsed it affected our effectiveness. The other political reality is that the difficulties and challenges in trying to build a coalition of political parties are really not rare, even in mature democracies. 

All of the opposition parties involved were committed to the NADD enterprise, and saw it as the best strategy if they were going to uproot an entrenched dictator. Unfortunately, they all strongly believed that they made the compromises that were needed to make it happen, but at the end we fell short of the ideals of the NADD formula we really thought could defeat Jammeh and so we could not make it to the end. You posed this same question to the opposition leaders, and they all gave you answers that I have no doubt are absolutely correct from their point of view. 

STGDP has come to the conclusion that really the strategy itself played out, and all the opposition leaders gave it a chance; they were committed to the alliance as a strategy to bring an end to the Jammeh regime; they traveled all over the USA and Europe. Unfortunately, at the end the reality of politics caught up with all of us. Anytime you ask politicians to abandon their party platforms and come together as a unified force, even though they know that it is the safe strategy the realities of politics prevents them from carrying the ball beyond the goal line. 

Again, For STGDP, we were disappointed that NADD could not see it to the end, but we really never saw it as a question of their commitment, sincerity or integrity for that matter. It will be unfortunate for any serious and honest Gambian to question the sincerity or commitment of the opposition leaders, knowing fully well that being in opposition by itself is not the easiest place to be in present day Gambia. They have chosen this path and have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives and those of their families for the last fifteen years. 

In 2003 they came to Atlanta and answered to our call to consider coming together; they had their reservations about the enormity of the task but they embraced it and worked tirelessly to the end. Unfortunately, some of their reservations from the outset caught up with them which eventually prevented all of us from seeing NADD to the end. That was then, and we have all learned from it. 

STGDP still believes that there is a need for an effective opposition to fight for the rights of Gambians and bring an alternative voice to the development of our country, and we think an alliance of opposition parties is still the best tactical move to rescue our country from autocracy. 

Are there fresh efforts underway in reuniting the Opposition? 

STGDP has never seen this effort as a one shot deal, and even though we were disappointed in 2006, we refused to walk away just because of the difficulty. The Diaspora as a constituency is very relevant in the development of our country, and without doubt can play a role in our quest for a prosperous, stable and developed country. Gambian Diasporans have become a major contributor to the sustenance of our economy, and economists have it that their full potential is yet to be utilized. 

We happen to live in developed countries, and would like to see the same standard of living and stability in these countries to come through in our own country of birth. STGDP is committed to see a widening of the democratic space, the building of democratic institutions and the rule of law; these are vital if we are ever going to build a developed economy. 

STGDP still believes that there is a need for an opposition alliance as a strategy if we are to confront the autocracy of president Jammeh. There are lessons to be learned from 2006, and we are determined to vigorously pursue bringing the opposition together to challenge president Jammeh come 2011. The plans have already begun, and we want to pursue them with due diligence and to avoid the same mistakes we might have made. 

Do you think the opposition stands a chance against Jammeh? 

First, let us look at what we know: it is fair to say that they stand no chance by going it alone, and there will definitely be a repetition of voter apathy if there is no coalition of opposition parties. We are absolutely convinced that if they were to come together in the most effective way, by campaigning together from Banjul to Koina, in every town, village and hamlet and talk directly to the Gambian people, telling them what has been happening to our country in the past fifteen years, Jammeh indeed can be defeated. Elections are won by playing your best hand and doing all the things you are supposed to do and aggressively reassuring the electorate that they are here to win. People will come out and support the opposition if they believe that they have a chance of winning, and that starts with a coalition of all parties, not just a few of the parties. 

What is the Way forward for the opposition parties? 

The way forward in my humble opinion is for the opposition parties to come together in whatever arrangement, and make it absolutely clear to the Gambian people that there will be changes come 2011. It is indeed a reality that these are parties that have their own agenda and platforms – the very reasons for which these parties came into existence. But, our country is at a cross roads and there is a need for serious change if we are to remain viable and not to become a failed state. The agenda for 2011 should squarely focus on how to rescue our country from autocracy and give ourselves the opportunity to start building the institutions of democracy, rule of law and the very peace we have always cherished. The way forward is for all opposition parties to come together now, and start talking directly to the Gambian people, telling them that they are ready to help them take our country back from the hands of Jammeh. 


What is your assessment of president Jammeh? 

It is unfortunate that president Jammeh has squandered, in my view, the opportunity to make our country the envy of the sub region. For starters, the Gambian Diasporans was the first constituency that gave total support to the coup back in 1994, even though it was totally against the dictates of democracy. 

Former President Jawara was gallivanting in most capitals in the USA and Europe just after the coup seeking support for the Diaspora and people would not give him a listening ear. There was a general consensus to give the new leaders the chance, and change was the driving force. There is of course this belief that the Diaspora is against Jammeh, but the reality is that Jammeh is the one that walked away from the very reasons we supported him. 

President Jammeh, after fifteen years, has done something that we never had during the first republic, especially in terms of infrastructure, education and to some extent the health sector, but in the process created an environment we never had during the first republic. There is no semblance of democracy, power is in the hands of only Jammeh, the rule of law has a lot to be desired and there is general fear that we never dreamt of during the first republic. The president believes he loves the country, and is committed to do whatever it takes to develop the country. 

To build a country involves the participation of an entire nation, but this belief that everything has to be about him for it to work is really primitive. As long as Jammeh sees the country as his chiefdom whereby all powers belong to him and him alone, and that institutions do not really matter, micromanagement is the order of the day, Gambia will eventually become a failed state and will always be threaten by instability. You cannot build a modern state without creating the environment for bold initiatives, with people believing that at least there is the rule of law that one can count on, and ultimately allowing the ingenuity of the people to develop the nation. Finally, I think it is a mistake for president Jammeh to hold his view: that as long as he is committed to developing the country, at least in his own mind, then everything is fair game and it is only him who can actually get it done. How about millions of us that also believe that we can make a difference but do not buy into the fallacy that all roads lead to him and him alone. Who makes him accountable? I am not sure whether he has the tolerance for that. In conclusion, I am absolutely certain that the majority of Gambians in the Diaspora loves their country, and would want to see the ideal environment that they can participate and contribute to the future development of the country. We are yet to see tangible gestures from the Jammeh government that they are seriously interested in building partnerships among the opposition parties and Gambians living in the Diaspora. What we have seen is really an ineffective legislature with absolutely no powers; a judiciary that one can see gets its cues from the executive and an entire country gripped with fear. This, my friend, I do not think is the path to build a modern nation. 

Conclusion 

Thanks again for giving me the opportunity to talk to your readers, and to assure them that STGDP will do whatever it takes to contribute to bringing about a coalition of parties that they can vote for, which will ultimately bring an end to tyranny in the Gambia. Now is the time to start the arduous task of taking our country back. May God the almighty help us in this effort of saving our country of birth. Ameen! 




"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.



 

                                          
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