Wuli West: We regret ever being in the opposition
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Monday, July 18, 2011
The people of Wuli West in the Upper River Region (URR) Thursday evening
expressed regret for ever being in the opposition and have now made it clear
to the Gambian leader, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya
Jammeh that they want to join the majority and support the APRC.

This was put into action as over a 1000 people from Sandu Darsilami, Wuli
Bajonkoto and Nyakoi Taibatou, most of them youths dressed in green, shifted
allegiance to the APRC during a meeting held Thursday evening in Sutokonding
village in Wuli West District, as part of the president’s ongoing nationwide
‘Dialogue with the people’s tour’. Welcoming the former opposition
supporters to the APRC, President Jammeh told them that if it is for the
sake of election, he would not have gone to the area. “Whether you vote for
me or not, I will win. Wuli West is just a minority in The Gambia,” he
said.

At that juncture, the Gambian leader asked the people of Wuli West how they
feel living in the area. “We are suffering,” was there reply.  “Your votes
did not make me the president and I am not here to persuade any of you to
vote for me, because whether you vote for me or not I have been winning.
Wuli West, you are just a minority and I told the people of Kiang West and
Salikene if they want to move  backward and continue suffering, let them
stay with the opposition and the same to you. The choice is yours. I will
reward those who like me and vote for me,” the president stated. He said
that Nyakoi was one of the first places in the country the APRC government
built a senior secondary school and recalled that when he went to officially
inaugurate the school, only the students attended the inauguration, as all
the elders refused to turn up because they were all in the opposition.

The president continued: “You must understand that there are three days in
life - yesterday, today and tomorrow but you refused to heed to my those
yesterday words, thinking that your whole life is limited to one day. You
said ‘we need a senior secondary school and we have got it, let us support
the opposition’. My grandfather used to tell me a proverb that ‘you cannot
catch the legs of a rabbit and a goat at the same time’ knowing that the
rabbit lives in the bush and the goat lives at home. And again if you sow a
pepper today that is what you will reap tomorrow. So, if you don’t want to
reap pepper, you should not have sowed it yesterday, but since you prefer to
sow pepper, that is what you will reap today because you refused to take my
advice. Even when the parliamentary election came, I told you that since you
did not vote for me that means you refused to listen to my advice, then
choose somebody that I can work with, for your interest and you refused that
too. If you vote for a National Assembly Member that does not discuss with
APRC, his problems will not be solved and you will be left isolated. Did you
ever hear Sidia Jatta standing in the parliament to say I need cold water
and he didn’t have it? You voted for him, he stays in Kombo, paid a good
salary and the school that you have been crying for, he went and built it in
the Kombos, can that person bring any development to you?

“I told you in 2001 that the coming election at the time was not to
determine whether I will become a president or not. The election to
determine who was the president was done in July 1994 and nobody voted for
me on that day. It was God who gave me that leadership power and nobody
else. In fact it was after the 2001 election you solidified support to the
opposition. The three days I mentioned earlier (yesterday, today and
tomorrow) are very important, and you the people of Nyakoi cannot deceive
me. You have been voting for the opposition since 1996 and when I came here
the other time, you said that won’t be repeated, and in 2001 you did the
worst but you cannot deceive me but yourselves.”

The president stressed that the coming election will, like the previous
ones, identify those who want development and those who want retrogression.
He added: “My mission in Wuli today is not about politics. I am here to meet
you at the grassroots level, see your condition and listen to your concerns
as Gambians to see how best we can improve your living condition. Your
welfare is my priority. My talking with you will be on the 25th of November
if possible, if not then that will be the end of us for the rest of my
tenure. I have heard all what you said including those who defected, but
there is this saying in English ‘seeing is the believing’ I want to see your
pledges on the 25th of November. I trust you, you the defectors, but you did
it to me in 2001 and in 2006. However, I have heard all what you said and I
will construct one of the best roads for you, this is because we all need
and use the road, but for the electricity and water to flow in Wuli is
banked on your performance in November this year . I am here to work for you
but if you refuse development that is left to you. My intention is to make
the whole Gambia a city state, I made this intention clear when I was even
in uniform and I swore for it and I will do it. I am not a politician and I
will not tell you something that you will like and will not benefit you.
Already we are on that move to make The Gambia a city state, we are
constructing roads and electrifying everywhere and telephone, so what do you
need now? The people of Nyakoi, you did something that you don’t know. You
also made yourselves lose something that you don’t know. If you had not
betrayed us since 1996, Nyakoi today would have been like something else,
not to talk of electricity.”

The president said he was impressed with the level of farming in URR, adding
that if the whole Gambia could emulate them, then the country will not have
any cause to import rice. “I am thanking you for that. As human beings you
don’t have to entirely depend on buying food, because there will come a time
you will have money and want to buy rice and you will not see it, let us be
careful with that. If you could remember in 1983 people scrambled for rice.
We don’t need replica of that, we have the potential to grow rice for
export, and the land is there. It is our land, let us make the best use of
it and this is only possible when we tighten our belts and go back to the
land,” the Gambian leader said.

Advice to youths
President Jammeh also repeated his earlier calls on young people to actively
venture into farming, as it is the only way they (the youths) could derive
blessing from their parents.

Speaking earlier, the minister for Information and Communication, Alagie
Cham hailed the president for the numerous developments registered over the
past 16 years. He commended the defectors for recognising the president’s
efforts in transforming The Gambia. Minister Cham also informed the
gathering that there is a giant telecommunication project in the pipeline
that has the potential to serve every village in the country. Dr Njogu Bah,
the minister for Works, Construction and Infrastructure expressed delight at
the large turnout of people, saying it was an indication of their
realisation that the APRC is the only party that can bring development to
Wuli.

Minister Bah told the people that though the road connecting Basse-Baja
kunda is part of the Laminkoto-Passimass road construction programme. The
ministers for Basic and Secondary Education and Forestry, Fatou Lamin Faye
and Jato Sillah respectively also spoke at the meeting. Minister Sillah, a
native of Wuli West, who is also the APRC  liaison officer for Wuli West
thanked Allah for helping the young people realise they made a mistake
following the opposition. He told his people that the opposition cannot
bring any development to them, and that the only party that can do that is
the APRC. He cited the recent donation of tractors to the area as a clear
manifestation of the Gambian leader’s love for the people of Wuli.

Local’s concerns
Speaking earlier at the meeting, Kemo Jatta, the alkalo of Sutukonding
welcomed the president and entourage to his village. He said the meeting was
very important to them, as it availed them the platform to express their
concerns to the president, as well as renew their loyalty to the APRC.  He
added that the people of Sutukonding are very grateful to the president.
Alkalo Jatta, brother to the head of the opposition PDOIS party, Sidia Jatta
assured the president of a big change in the political leaning in Wuli West,
an area widely known as an opposition stronghold.

For his part, Yusupha Jabbi, chief of Wuli West said people should be very
grateful to Almighty Allah for giving them President Jammeh, whom he
described as having a clean heart and good intentions for the country. He
also stated that a good leader like President Jammeh is hard to find. He
concluded by thanking the president for giving them tractors, fertilizers,
and rice seeds for the farming season, noting that this shows the importance
the president attaches to agriculture. For his part, Njun Bah, chief of
Sandu district renewed his district’s loyalty to the APRC. He said the
president has transformed the lives of the people, thus making the country
worth living for everyone. Chief Bah also on behalf of the women of Sandu
thanked President Jammeh for  donating them [women] tractors.

Chief Bah presented 250 defectors from Darsilami Sandu District at the
meeting  who decided to join the APRC from the opposition.He then pointed
out  some pressing concerns in his district, among which are the need for
more veterinary doctors, and the construction of the Sandu-Wuli road, which
he described as very bad. He also thanked the Gambian leader for promising
to construct the road.

For his part, Kolli Bah, Wuli West APRC Constituency chairman said victory
for the  party in the upcoming  presidential election is a forgone
conclusion, while welcoming the defectors to the party. He also appealed for
more veterinary doctors in the area and potable water for their animals. For
his part, Sulayman Fatty, a former opposition bigwig in Wuli, and someone
who has been described as the right hand  of  Sidia Jatta said a new page
has been opened in the country’s political arena. He told the gathering that
his defection was not influenced by anyone, but the developments that the
president is bringing to the doorstep of every Gambian. He declared that he
will forever be behind the president and the APRC, while welcoming defectors
from Wuli Nyakoi Taibatu, Sandu Darsilami and Wuli Bajonkoto who followed
him to the APRC.

For his part, Mansal Jawo, a strong APRC supporter also joined the previous
speakers in thanking the president for his visionary leadership, which he
said has brought uncountable development to every corner of the country. He
also thanked the chiefs in URR and the governor for their good leadership.
He, however appealed to the president to help in the construction of the
Sandu-Wuli road. For her part, lady councilor Sohna Marenah expressed thanks
to the Gambian leader for empowering the women. She assured that all the
women of Wuli are behind him and will vote massively for the APRC in the
upcoming election.  Malang Awa Malako of Bajonkoto; Sainey Touray of
Sutukonding; Ebrima Jabbi of Nyakoi Taibatou; and Saikouba Jawneh of
Sutukonding, all defectors unanimously assured President Jammeh of their
massive vote in the upcoming election, while expressing their regret for
supporting the opposition over the past 16 years with no positive outcome,
but only backwardness.

Other speakers at the meeting included Mawdo Fatty, Wuli West APRC
constituency youth mobiliser; and Mamadi Ceesay, a youth leader who appealed
for a youth centre in Wuli and as well as a stadium. They assured of the
youths’ continuous support to the party and President Jammeh’s government.
Author: *by Musa Ndow & Hatab Fadera*

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GOD BLESS THE GAMBIA.
LET US JOIN HANDS AND SUPPORT SHEIKH PROFESSOR DR. ALH YAHYA JAMMEH (NASIRU
DEEN) TO BUILD OUR COUNTRY. *


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