By Alagie Manneh
Maverick politician Hamat Bah has declared himself “the least tribalist Gambian” anyone can ever find.
In October, Bah, who is the head of NRP, came under coruscating condemnation for comments he made while addressing a political meeting at State House.
“Be alert and make sure you do not let them pass through any door or window,” Mr Bah said, while warning Gambians against voting for “rats”, saying that would prolong the suffering of Gambian Fulas.
However, speaking in an expansive interview with The Standard, Mr Bah who also doubles as tourism minister, fired back: “Let me tell you this… I can tell you that today, in Gambian politics, there is no tribe which is not comfortable with me. I am the least tribalist in the entire Gambian political landscape. I can put my hand up and say that. In our party, our official language we speak is Mandinka when we are not speaking English. Do you know that? I am the one who has developed a new political strategy in trying to eliminate tribalism, and I will tell you this strategy. If you go to Lower Saloum, we have three Mandinka villages there – Jahabur Mandinka, Kaur Janneh Kunda and Kaur Touray Kunda. There are 64 villages. From nowhere, I brought a Mandinka. He won the elections. No party would risk that here. No party. I did that.”
Minister Bah said his comments were distorted and that his track record in Gambian politics speaks for itself.
Explaining why he decided to put up a Mandinka candidate in a Fula dominated settlement, he said: “I wanted to make sure that we use our political parties to eradicate tribalism in the country. When they said you will not win [to the candidate], I said you will. And he won. We campaigned for a party and not a tribe. We went to Niamina Dankunku Constituency, largely, heavily Mandinka people. We put up a Fula candidate. He, too, won the elections.”
Mr Bah said his party has been building structures to eliminate tribalism. “And the only way you can do that is through elections,” he added.
Read more on Bantaba this Friday.
