Dear Editor,
Thank you Gibbi Mballow. Indeed, you have proven that you deserve to be called ‘HONOURABLE’. You have fulfilled one of the most difficult aspects and highest qualities of leadership which is to challenge your society on its fundamental cultural beliefs and practices in order to secure and serve their best interest today and tomorrow!
In other words, you have demonstrated your ability to know and understand the conditions and circumstances of your people and are able to recognise the fault lines and to have the courage and strength to confront and correct these fault lines in their own interest. You have demonstrated that you are courageous to interrogate deep seated socio-cultural beliefs and practices of your people to recognise the harm therein and have the audacity to tell them to stop.
Leaders lead by not just holding titles and positions and receiving fat salaries. But leaders are those who see and know what is wrong in the way of life of their people to stand firm to save them from themselves. By doing so, you have risked your position which can be taken away by your electorates, but you chose to stand with the truth and the best interest of the people even if they do not agree with you. That is called conscience and faith.
Those who claim that standing against female circumcision is a Western plot either lack information and knowledge or lack conscience and courage. You have all these values. No one knows and loves Islam and culture more than you. You have shown that standing against female circumcision is an Islamic and cultural duty to do no harm and an act of salvaging your people from backward cultural beliefs and practices. When folks begin to blame the West when we deal with the lives and rights of our citizens, they only expose their own patriarchal, oppressive, and selfish motives. For example, when Yahya Jammeh was insulting Americans and Europeans, he was at the same time stealing our money to buy a 2.5-million-dollar house in Washington! He was conniving with European crooks to create fake businesses just to defraud The Gambia. Read the Janneh Commission Report to know.
When Gaddafi was insulting the West, he and his son Saif Islam were the biggest donors to businesses in the UK and Italy. When Yahya Jammeh was pretending to be an ‘Islamic leader’ he was importing prostitutes, engaged in witchcraft, arresting independent and Allah-fearing imams, murdering innocent citizens, and raping young girls. Read the TRRC Report!
By that time, those who claim to be defenders of Islam today did not abandon the tyrant for his anti-Islam crimes. Rather, they were hobnobbing with him in broad daylight and conferred on him the title of ‘Nasirudeen’ – The Defender of the Faith’ of Islam! You can fool some people sometimes, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. Honourable Gibbi Mballow, stand up and raise your head, you are on the right side of history. You shall be absolved! For The Gambia Our Homeland.
Madi Jobarteh
Kembujeh
Dear Editor,
Gambian politicians are a joke compared to Sonko and Diomaye in Senegal. Sonko raised two important issues that are also commonly mentioned in Gambian politics gauging the suitability of one to hold public office in government, competency and experience. Sonko asked competency And experience in what, stealing public money? Some half-wits have come out questioning the suitability of Bassirou Diomaye Fye to be the next president of Senegal. These are the colonially educated morons.
There’s no political group and person in Senegal who are more competent and experienced like Sonko and Co to lead Senegal for change and national development. In The Gambia, we have the meaningless phrase “educated and competent” thrown around in reference to one’s qualifications to hold senior public office in government. I asked the same question, educated and competent at what? There’s no politics nor politicians in The Gambia educated and competent enough for the purposes of change and the national development of the country. So when in The Gambia they say that so and so are educated and competent to lead the country or appointed to higher public office in government, I ask educated and competent at what?
Yusupha ‘Major’ Bojang
Scotland
