The Independent Published Friday, October 12, 2001 As Darboe’s entourage walk into Kumbija Lame boy takes miraculous strides A lame four-year-old boy made a miraculous recovery after Ousainou Daroboe and his large entourage walked their way into Kumbija recently amidst much excitement from elated villagers. Yuba Jawara who never knew the use of his legs since he was born got infected with the excitement as children rushed to follow the UDP campaign team and straightened into a walk to follow a stream of excited children as they followed the opposition campaigners. On Ousainou Darboe’s arrival, the children were running and chanting ‘we want Darboe, we want Darboe’. I saw my son standing and starting to follow the other children as they got excited” Bibbe Jarba Yuba’s mother, told The Independent. Many people who witnessed the event sighed in disbelief. Some members of the UDP campaign team were jostling each other to have a glimpse of the boy and gave him money. Some among the crowd shed tears. Yuba father Baba Jawara confirmed the truth of the story to The Independent and prayed for Darboe to win the election as a show of gratitude. Yuba’s mother said despite a trip to Brussels, Belgium for medical attention Yuba’s condition had never improved. “They conducted an operation on him at a Brussels hospital but that did not make him walk,” she narrated. Jarba proclaimed that she is now a supporter of the UDP, “because my child started walking when he heard of Darboe.” “I was never a supporter of the UDP but because my son started walking when Darboe came here I thought it is good to give the coalition my support” she said. Meanwhile presidential aspirant Ousainou Darboe seriously condemned the Daily Observer newspaper as a political tool, used by members of the ruling clique for their own ends. He said the credibility of the paper as an independent press has waned significantly due to political interference in its editorial section. “The Daily Observer in 1995 is different from that of today,” he told a rally in Jangjanbureh, pointing out that before the change of ownership to Amadou Samba the Observer was the mouthpiece of the people. “But since the APRC bought the Daily Observer the paper became the mouthpiece of the APRC party,” Darboe claimed. The opposition coalition leader also said that the Daily Observer and the Gambia Daily share the same aim, “working side by side with the APRC regime.” Mr. Darboe accused President Jammeh of “eliminating press freedom and creating an unhelpful environment for journalists.” The UDP leader noted with confidence that in a UDP government, the press will enjoy maximum freedom and independence. “Journalists, he said, “will be trained and encouraged to specialise in economy, agriculture, environment and health reporting. He also promised that the Department of State for Works and Communication will “not be a bicycle authority for an media house.” On the arrest, detentions and harassment of journalists, Darboe warned that violation of press freedom would not be allowed by a UDP-led government. Meanwhile, Omar Amadou Jallow (OJ) has joined the UDP led opposition coalition in their nation-wide campaign tour, following his recent brush with the police. Speaking at UDP rally in Basse, Gambissara, Numuyel and Bakadagi OJ proclaimed that Ousainou Darboe has been selected as the president of The Gambia and would occupy State House after October 18, 2001 _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>