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.