By Juldeh Njie
Papa Faal, a grandson to former President Jawara, has claimed that contrary to what former PPP interim leader OJ claimed, Sir Dawda Jawara never endorsed Papa Njie as PPP leader.
The former agriculture minister OJ claimed in a rally last Saturday in Brikama-Ba that the Gambia’s first president Jawara endorsed Papa Njie as the new PPP leader.
But Mr Faal accused OJ of “lying and misleading” Gambians with false claims.
“My grandfather is an old man now and a statesman who did his time for his country and earned a lot of respect. He took this country to independence and was well respected around the world. But OJ of all people is now trying to undermine that standing with these false claims. He has a tendency of using Sir Dawda’s name to boost his popularity and to mislead the Gambian people. I spoke to Sir Dawda many times and he always clarified that he never gave or handover the PPP to OJ. He might be old, but he is not confused to usurp the decision of those people who elected him and hand the party over to somebody,” Faal said.
He said the Gambian people should know that Sir never endorsed Papa Njie.
“All what OJ did was to bring Papa Njie to Sir Dawda and took photos with him and started circulating that on social media to prepare the mindset of the people after knowing that the process of election was illegal and fraudulent,” Papa Faal said.
Faal said he is now advising OJ to refrain from ‘tarnishing the good image’ of the country’s first democratic ruler.
“It is not fair to the family members and it is not fair to the Gambian people. I want the Gambian people to respect Sir and reject OJ’s deceiving messages,” he concluded.
