By Lamin Cham
The family of the main opposition United democratic Party leader Ousainu Darboe has written a letter to the Inspector General of Police, expressing concern about statements attributed to President Barrow against ‘their father’,’ at a rally in Brikama.
The letter, signed on behalf of the family by one Numukunda Darboe, was copied to the National Human Rights Commission, the Ministry of Interior among others. It reads in full:
“As the immediate and extended family members of His Excellency Ousainu Darboe, we would like to express our deep concern regarding the recent remarks uttered by the President of the Republic, Adama Barrow, at a political rally in Brikama. At the said rally, the President made statements directly concerning our father. Footage of the statement went viral and it triggered strong condemnation from a diverse spectrum of our society, both here and in the diaspora, and across the political divide.
At our family’s level, we are naturally extremely alarmed and disturbed by the dangerous statements made by the President that were directed at our father, and what motivated him to make those utterances in the first place. Our father is the leader of the country’s largest political party and a former Foreign Minister and Vice President of The Gambia. Our father, in his role as leader of the main opposition party, is relentless in his pursuit of strengthening our democracy and promoting good governance and inherently holding the president and government accountable on important national issues. This, in our family’s opinion, is conventional in a democratic dispensation.
Our deep fear and concern is that the President is prone to taking these criticisms personally and as a result, he comes out and personally attacks our father. Oftentimes, these attacks are devoid of political substance and are vulgar in nature. However, on this occasion, we as a family, are not willing to ignore the latest statements because in as much as we try to be circumspect about the President’s ulterior motives behind making such dangerous statements, we are also fearful of our father’s personal security and safety. In his speech, The President mentioned; signing a contract’. We are deeply concerned as to what this contract entails, and when and if it will be executed. The President, in making such threatening statements can result in intended or at times unintended consequences. These statements are such that we cannot simply act like they are not as menacing as they are hurtful to all that care about the wellbeing of Hon. Darboe.
We had wanted to write to you immediately as the IGP and the primary custodian of law and order, the protection of property, the prevention of crime and enforcement of all laws and regulations with which the police are charged. However, we did not want our concerns and message to be diminished within the uproar and unprecedented condemnation that followed We wanted to wait until the dust settles to write to you for two reasons. First, we did not want our letter to be confused or seen as political. Second, we wanted to express our heartfelt hurt, anguish and anxiety within the immediate and extended family. We love our father dearly. He has sacrificed his blood, sweat and tears for this country and helped salvage this country from the clutches of dictatorship. He achieved all of these through peaceful means and the due process of the law
By this letter, we, as the family of Hon. Darboe, are formally notifying you that we view the President’s statements as veiled threats to our father’s wellbeing and life. For these reasons, we would like you to be acutely aware that if anything happens to our father, President Barrow could be held responsible. If you would like to speak to us to further discuss this matter, please let us know.’’
