Dear editor,
Certain actions and utterances of our leaders are supposed to be received with collective outrage and an unsparing condemnation from the citizenry especially when these behaviors pose clear and significant danger to the society. But when citizens are so immersed or engulfed in petty politics to the point of trivializing, excusing and downplaying the exploding dangers, perpetrators win. And always.
President Barrow’s decision to use the State House, our nation’s highest office, to formally validate tribalism in our country by giving it a voice and face, is not a win or a victory to any particular tribe or ethnicity; it is a colossal loss to every tribe and the country. It is a triumph for Barrow because a tribalized and divisive Gambia can only benefit and play into his dangerous politics since citizens would be focusing on tearing each other down as opposed to holding the President accountable for his governance failures.
Although Barrow’s desire to serve at least 15 years in power is not in doubt, he knows he hasn’t got the minimum policy accomplishments, governance successes and leadership credentials to earn him even another mandate. The desperate formula now is to appeal to our dark instincts and divide us along ethnic lines.
One does not have to be a Mandinka or a Wollof, etc, to be disgusted by the repugnant political maneuvering from the Presidency; you only have to be a decent Gambian to see the nakedness, divisiveness and the dangerousness of the scheming political ploy at the expense of our sacred values of unity.
Let this unite us! And thank you all immensely for your many warm wishes and prayers on my birthday.
Zakaria Kemo Konteh
Queens, USA
