Halipha Sallah warns Modou Nyang - maafanta.com (via @Fatou Jaw Manneh)

Re: PDOIS must not have missed Raleigh

Dear Modou Nyang,

After reading the brilliant interviews conducted by Maafanta, the Central Committee of PDOIS has resolved to issue a statement of the Raleigh Conference which we still consider to be a brilliant initiative even though people like you have misconceived the direction it should have taken. This was a conference aimed at bringing people together and not to knock heads against each other. It was a conference for the humble and purposeful and not for the conceited and self-righteous.

It was a conference to search together for answers and not to direct angry invectives against each other. It should have been a unifying conference not a divisive one. It is unfortunate that you have used the language you did to interrogate what Mr Ousianou Darbo said. We would not use such a language against a person who has not given us any cause to do so. You as a Gambian citizen are entitled to the way you view things and make use of the English language. Prudence dictates that you weigh your words before putting them down. What are you really trying to gain for making the remark you made in the public space? How will this enhance the integrity of what you stand for or the cause of the Gambian people?

What you have succeeded in doing is not the defence of principles but the pitting of PDOIS against everyone in opposition. I do not know how such a positioning of PDOIS on the political landscape of the Gambia could ever earn it the confidence of any one. What the Gambian people need at this stage is not endless bickering or the depicting of the opposition as a force in disarray. What the Gambian people need is a message of hope and solidarity to promote their liberation.
The opposition leadership on the ground has been showing tremendous respect for each other since the Presidential elections. This is reflected at the grassroots level. The Diaspora should be reinforcing this instead of putting iodine on healed wounds.

We hope you will take your time and read the statement issued by the Central Committee which you would be able to interrogate in your own Committee meetings abroad and at any Congress. Internal party Democracy is the way forward for the future. Clarity however is indispensable if it is to breed a consensus based on truth, good faith and the National interest.

Halifa Sallah