The Independent Published Monday, June 10, 2002


OJ responds to Sir Dawda’s 'unfair' critics




Omar Jallow commonly called OJ has dismissed as unfounded reports suggesting
a rift between Sir Dawda Jawara and other members of the Peoples’
Progressive Party who criticised the erstwhile leader for allegedly failing
to seek a blanket amnesty that would have covered other members of his
ousted government still living in exile. OJ who has built a reputation as
one of the staunchest loyalists of the PPP during the entire length of Sir
Dawda’s eight years in exile in the United Kingdom, was reacting to
unidentified PPP malcontents who vehemently criticised the ex Gambian leader
over what they called his hands-off attitude to the fate of other members of
his administration who were ‘selectively excluded’ from benefiting from
President Jammeh’s amnesty to him.

They charged that Jawara had acted selfishly by ‘springing to the amnesty
offer’ without considering what should become of other members of his
erstwhile administration who were being allegedly victimised for his own
sake. OJ in turn vehemently denied that there was any genuine member of the
PPP who is disaffected with the turn of events for Sir Dawda particularly
over the amnesty and his subsequent return to the country. He said The
Independent had carried comments by some unidentified individuals unfairly
critical of Sir Dawda, who OJ said is poised to steer the destiny of the
PPP. OJ vilified the criticism of Sir Dawda as a ‘cruel act of black
painting the good’ emphasising that the entire leadership of the party had
been quick to register its ‘overwhelming pleasure’ for the return of their
leader from whom they will take their directives as the secretary-general of
the PPP.

OJ said while Jawara was in exile there have been constant consultations
between the PPP elites and the ex-president and that no situation had arose
that would have prompted the PPP to criticise and complain against Sir
Dawda. ‘We have been communicating on issues pertaining to the party and
there was never a time when any member of the party has been critical of his
return’ said. OJ believes that instead of criticising him, individual
members of the PPP should show a more accommodating spirit by excusing the
‘old man’ for the time being. ‘It is necessary for the people to be patient
and allow Sir Dawda to sort out his domestic and family affairs after being
away for eight years’ he suggested.

He said as home-based members of the party who have been advocating for
President Jammeh to allow Sir Dawda to return, it would be ludicrous to
imagine that some members of the party would oppose the turn of events. He
said the campaign for Sir Dawda’s homecoming was conducted locally and
internationally and it mustered enough pressure on President Jammeh to
decide on that effect. ‘I was one of the first if not the first to support
the proclamation by the president and categorically declared in reports that
Sir Dawda’s return is the only lasting means to true peace and genuine
reconciliation’ OJ claimed. He said it was ‘more than disappointing’ that
reports of a ‘silent protest’ against Sir Dawda had made the rounds from
so-called bigwigs of the party who are deliberately out to tarnish the image
of otherwise honest and sincere members of the PPP among them Jawara.

He said far from rocking the PPP apart, Sir Dawda’s return has provided a
refreshing start to the party, which had dominated Gambian politics for
three decades. He also said that the homecoming is the positive beginning to
the reconciliation process, which will eventually lead to a vibrant
democracy in The Gambia. On whether Sir Dawda will be actively involved with
the PPP considering his declared retirement from politics, OJ said ‘Jawara
is a fatherly figure to the nation and should be expected to use his
position to facilitate national reconciliation and influence issues that
could promote democracy, respect for the rule of law and human rights, just
like what Nyerere was doing in Tanzania’.

However, in the same breath he emphasised that Sir Dawda would not be
expected to participate in any process to make The Gambia a one-party state
since this does not sit comfortably with his pioneering role in steering The
Gambia to multi-partyism during his tenure as president. He said this was
happening at a time when a majority of African states were taking the path
to either one party rule or military dictatorship. ‘If Sir Dawda retires as
the PPP secretary-general we will call an emergency congress to select a new
leadership cadre’ he explained. ‘Party leadership come and go, but parties
stay to pursue their programmes’ he added, citing the Labour Party in the
United Kingdom as an example of a political organisation that has outlived
its founding fathers.




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