By Alagie Manneh
Presidential adviser Hendry Gomez has responded to UDP leader Ousainu Darboe who recently described him as a “ incompetent and an appendage” person.
In an expansive interview with The Standard, Mr Darboe said people who cannot live on their own will always be an appendage to others, referring to Mr Gomez.
But in his response the deputy youth presidential adviser, who initially said he has nothing but respect for Darboe and would not talk about him, later threw punch back to the UDP leader: “I do not intend to throw words at Ousainu but to say that I am incompetent, well let him know that I am even more competent than him. He might have gone to university and learned this or that but I think if he was competent, he himself would not have gone to jail because he would have known that taking to the streets without permission is against the constitution and Yahya Jammeh wouldn’t have locked him up. But again, it is democracy, so let Ousainu say what he wants,” Henry said.
Mr Gomez questioned why if he is ‘good for nothing’, as claimed by Ousainu, did Darboe still went ahead to work with him in a coalition in 2006.
“I want to say that leaders like King Solomon, King David, Muhammad, Jesus Christ in the Islamic and Christian scriptures have never been to school, but they were born leaders and what I want to tell Ousainu is that I am a born leader,” Gomez said.
According to Henry, people are free to say whatever they feel in a free democratic society as long as they don’t insult anyone.
“It’s democracy, as long as he doesn’t insult me, or insult my family or my elders, then I have no problem with Ousainu. He has the right to criticise me, whether he is speaking the truth or not. My wife’s surname is Darboe and so I will not disrespect Ousainu. It’s politics. After the presidential election, nobody heard me talking about Ousainu. Ousainu is our father. He should have better things to do than sitting down and directing criticisms at Henry Gomez. I haven’t insulted him. What I said is that Allah took him to paradise and he decided to go back to hell. And that is the truth, whether he likes it or not,” he said.
