Barrow, Jammeh’s political
adresses threaten national security
Dear editor,
What the political fugitive Yahya Jammeh is doing to President Barrow and Gambians is unprecedented. Yahya Jammeh still seems to be in complete denial that he was ruthlessly voted out of power by a determined citizenry in 2016. To this date, this tinpot cannot reconcile with this reality and he is exploring every opportunity to create chaos in the country. The fugitive who had refused burials in country of his perceived political opponemts (late Buba Baldeh and Kukoi etc.) is openly challenging the authority of President Barrow by making political addresses that poise to continue dividing us as a nation, setting us against each other, and creating unnecessary tensions just a month plus to a critical poll. Who would have thought that Jammeh would have such a latitude and freedom to behave and act in the way he is doing amidst the horrors that emerged out of his reign of terror? What is Jammeh’s real end game in a situation where the citizens continue continue to say #NeverAgain?
To President Barrow, this is no longer politics; it’s a brazen mockery and an affront to our tranquility and national security. You cannot sleep while your predecessor is pouring gasoline on fire and do nothing. You must, without delay, summon Dakar-based EG Ambassador to The Gambia, launch a formal complaint to ECOWAS and the African Union to put a stop to Jammeh’s madness. There are times when a leader got to say enough is enough.
Mr. President, throughout your presidential stint, you have embraced a very lenient approach to Yahya Jammeh despite setting up well-intentioned and productive commissions against him. You have not firmly reacted to Jammeh or even bothered to care despite his unrelenting provocations.
When your former Justice Minister Baa Tambadou made a bold declaration on Jammeh regarding his rumored planned return, you didn’t emphasize that statement. You turned a deaf ear and continued to pursue political brinkmanship.
Mr. President, when Jammeh humiliated you by announcing his rejection to your party’s alliance with his, you only gave a tacit reaction a day after that episode.
Mr. President, you have shown and advanced so much goodwill to Jammeh yet he continues to treat you in contempt. Isn’t it time you realize that Jammeh will never accept your presidency? Isn’t it time you see evil of this monster? What more do you hope to gain from Jammeh after all of these episodes?
Mr. President, I implore you to find a way of addressing Jammeh’s public addresses. This is the man who sent late Femi Peters to Mile II for using a public addressing system in one of UDP’s rallies. Under your watch, the same man is breaking all protocols of an asylum by brazenly attacking your authority and mocking Gambians.
Mr. President, too late, but time to show some muscles to Jammeh.
