News
Opposition alliance under attack
By Ebrima Jaw Manneh
Jan 20, 2005, 09:32

Barely a day after signing a memorandum of understanding that officially announced the formation of a united opposition alliance, a nominated member of the National Assembly and a ruling APRC executive committee member has said the new opposition alliance “offers nothing new” to Gambians.

“This is because the objectives of the memorandum on which the National Alliance for Democracy and Progress (Nadd) is going to base their programmes, is a carbon copy of the APRC election manifesto of 1996/2001.”

Speaking in a Daily Observer exclusive interview, Mrs Fatoumata Jahumpa-Ceesay said: “This so-called alliance has nothing [new] to offer the Gambian people. All that is entailed in their MOU have been captured in the APRC manifesto, which is 90 per cent development-oriented. What we had was a phenomenon; unprecedented in the political history of this country. Some of their [Nadd] strategic objectives and even their preamble are carbon copied from the 1997 [Second Republican] Constitution, which was brought about by President Jammeh. All their talk about the New Gambia as outlined in their MOU, was first talked about by Jammeh many years ago. Gambians are no fools, the APRC still remains strong, popular and inspired because it is the choice of the Gambian people. It is a joke that the alliance is a threat to the APRC government. If you live on the river bank, you need not use your saliva to wash your clothes. Jammeh is enough for Gambians,” she said.

She said it was hi-falutin to state that the alliance of Gambian opposition parties was unprecedented in Africa. “There is nothing novel in this so-called new alliance. It has happened in East and West Africa. We all know what happens, they don’t work. This is living, contemporary history.”

She said the ‘New Gambia’ the alliance was ‘parroting’, was actually captured in the foreword of the APRC 2001 election manifesto which stated: “Since the change of government in 1994, and during the first term in office of the APRC government, observers have witnessed the birth of a New Gambia. The Gambia has seen radical transformation of both her physical infrastructure and her people. The country has seen the proliferation of schools, the establishment of the University of The Gambia, hospitals, ultra-modern airport terminal, extension of road networks, construction of bridges, the acquisition of 18 MW electricity generators, among many other developments...”

False predictions?
Asked whether she admits being a false prophet for her earlier press comments that the alliance would disintegrate even before its formal birth, Mrs Jahumpa-Ceesay contended: “For the simple reason that they did not come out with their presidential candidate justifies that prediction.

“APRC is a big party that cannot be removed by a hodgepodge alliance of the minority. Gambians will never listen to egocentric politicians. Their eyes are open. We have a presidential timbre. Right now, the APRC is working on strategies for the 2011 election and not the 2006 election. The 2006 election is a foregone conclusion, and this has been proven in Jammeh’s achievements. The alliance cannot make it because tribalism is eating into their body politic.”

Warm-up
She said the last ten years had been a period of “political warming up” for President Jammeh. “He is now coming into his own and will continue to engage Gambians in the debate of development not the debate of mere politicking. He will continue to challenge Gambians into a sense of responsibility for the New Gambia,” she said. Countering a statement by the opposition NRP leader that public servants did not associate with opposition parties for fear of losing their jobs, Mrs Jahumpa-Ceesay said: “Section 25(1)(E) of the Constitution allows people to associate or belong to any party of their choice. Let the opposition stop the politics of misinformation. Instead, they should thank President Jammeh for creating the enabling environment for them to exercise their political rights. They should stop the politics of castigation, pettiness and false accusations and engage in the politics of issues of development.”

She said the acronym of the new opposition alliance, Nadd, literally translates in Wolof as “an animal nobody would want to welcome his guest with.”

“This shows that they are not welcoming Gambians [into their alliance]. And nobody from the APRC will ever think of joining them. I learned that one of them was dressed in traditional brown clothes all over, and was carrying a brown pen weighing half-a-kilo as prescribed by his marabout, while others dressed in bubbling agbadas. That is ridiculous. We in the APRC do not believe in such fetish and superstition. We are ahead of that,” she concluded.

Speculation
Meanwhile, another member of the APRC executive has said the alliance was reported to be looking for a female candidate as their flag bearer.

“This shows that they do not have trust and confidence in themselves [the five male party heads]. May be they realised that women form one of the president’s key constituencies. But they will be mightily disappointed if they think they can stop Gambian women from rallying behind President Jammeh.”

The Daily Observer contacted the coordinator of the alliance, Halifa Sallah for reaction to Mrs Jahumpa-Ceesay’s claims, but he was said to have travelled to South Africa to submit a report as the repertoire on the AU mission to Darfur, Sudan.

However, a senior member of the alliance who spoke under the condition of anonymity said: “What we have achieved now is the signing of an accord establishing the alliance. It is not true that we are per se looking for a woman to become the flag bearer of the alliance. The MOU provides that any person, male or female could be selected. People are free to speculate.”

However, speculations persist in discussion circles around town that a woman; a well-known gender activist and academician is being considered among others for the challenger to President Jammeh in the keenly anticipated presidential election of 2006.

© Copyright 2003 by Observer Company