Dear Editor,
It is about time that the people of The Gambia start listening to statements by Honourable Sidia Jatta and Honourable Halifa Sallah of the People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism. For donkey’s years these men have spoken with their conscience about how to lift this country from the hole it has fallen in.
People brush them off as being too elitist, too doctrinal, too proceduralist et cetera. But time after time, events have proven them right. When the Constitutional Review Commission was being set up, they warned that it was a superfluous idea and that a review of the constitution could best be done through parliament and the people could have their final say in a referendum.
But President Barrow and his men, chiefly the Attorney General and Minister of Justice decided to spend more than D116 million on setting up a bloated commission and flew its members and staff round the world in the name of reaching out to Gambians when they could simply have done that through Skype, Zoom, emails or even WhatsApp.
And look at what happened to the draft constitution. It was struck down dead as a stillbirth. Barrow’s Justice Minister abandoned the ship before it anchored and Barrow himself said it was not good enough for him. It was a total exercise in futility. Gambians should listen to Sidia and Halifa because they are genuine and sincere. The Gambia matters more to them than themselves or their party, PDOIS. That is patriotism.
Nuha Ceesay
University of The Gambia
