Jawo says, “While President Jammeh and the APRC feel that because they have the power to use the public media and other state resources exclusively to their own advantage, while denying the opposition and all others with dissenting opinion access to such facilities, but they fail to realize that such unfairness tends to drive more frustration into the people and no doubt lead them to think of alternative means of effecting changes to the system.”

While the forthcoming presidential elections are still about three months away, and we are told that the IEC has allocated only 11 days for official campaign, but it is quite obvious that campaigning is already in full swing. Both the ruling APRC and to a limited extent, the only two active opposition parties on the ground; UDP and PDOIS, are busy campaigning.
The only difference however is the fact that while the opposition are using their meager resources to organise rallies and other functions, as well as having to spend so much of their valuable time to chase after the police for permits to hold their meetings, the APRC are using the public media and other state resources to do their campaign, and at the same time holding their rallies and other functions when and wherever they want without being constrained by applying for police permits.
That scenario alone is enough indictment of the unfair type of political playing field operating in this country. It is therefore neigh impossible for anyone to expect any semblance of free and fair elections under such a situation.
While President Jammeh has constantly bragged that he was not going to campaign for the elections, but looking at what happened during the just concluded ‘Dialogue with the People’ tour, the whole event, despite being state-sponsored, was transformed into a big campaign tour, with almost all speakers were being encouraged to sing lofty praises of him as the only person capable of developing this country, while some spoke in demeaning terms about the opposition leadership.  
We have for instance all listened to the disgraceful speech delivered by Basiru Jawara during the ‘Dialogue with the People’ tour in Jareng in the Central River Region, in which he used a state-sponsored platform to insult the leader of the UDP.
While even in a political rally, such personal insults are not expected from a person of Basiru Jawara’s caliber and status, but it was certainly even much more out of tune in such a meeting sponsored and paid for by the Gambian tax-payers.
Indeed everyone expected President Jammeh not to have allowed such personal character assassination of his opponents by a desperate businessman who may have been merely currying for commercial favours.
However, the very fact that people like Basiru Jawara and several others accompanying the president on the tour were encouraged to make such provocative speeches against the leadership of the opposition, which are often given prominence on the public media, while their victims are denied the right to response through the same media, is enough indication that there is no intention on the part of the regime to let go of its current iron-grip hold on to the political terrain.
It is therefore hard to see how free and fair elections can be held under such a climate.
This is in addition to President Jammeh going around telling the people that he will not bring development to areas that support the opposition, despite the fact that the money and resources used to bring such development neither belong to him nor to the APRC, but instead they belong to all Gambians regardless of regional or political affiliation.
It is even hard to understand why the opposition have not challenged such statements because they seem to go against the very grain of constitutionality.
While President Jammeh and the APRC feel that because they have the power to use the public media and other state resources exclusively to their own advantage, while denying the opposition and all others with dissenting opinion access to such facilities, but they fail to realize that such unfairness tends to drive more frustration into the people and no doubt lead them to think of alternative means of effecting changes to the system.
Of course we have seen what is happening to despotic regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, including President Jammeh’s once most loyal friend and mentor in the world, Colonel Muammar Qaddafi of Libya, and if recent events in Malawi and even neighbouring Senegal, are anything to go by, such a scenario is gradually creeping into sub-Saharan Africa.
Therefore, as they say in Wollof; ‘hodekul balaa nga lakale’ (take precautions to prevent a mishap) is the advice that should be given to APARC regime.
While Gambians are quite a resilient and peace loving people, but like everyone else, we also value our freedom.
It is therefore extremely important that those in control of the political power and the resources of this country should take cognizance of the fact that all Gambians have an equal stake in this country and as such, everyone, regardless of their political or regional affiliation, deserve to be treated with respect and fairness.  
Our political leaders should understand that with this era of the internet and social networking, whatever happens in any part of the world has a bearing on the rest of humankind.
It is therefore foolhardy for anyone to think that by arbitrarily closing down Citizen FM, Sud FM, The Independent, as well as preventing Teranga FM, for instance, from reviewing the newspapers in the local languages or blocking access to Gambian online newspapers in the country, are enough to prevent ordinary Gambians from accessing relevant information.
Gambians certainly deserve a much more open and fairer political system than we are having under the APRC hegemony, where a small political clique seems to have hijacked the system for personal aggrandizement, while using all methods to cling on to power.
 
ENDS