Dear Editor,
I can’t agree more with Omar Ceesay! Political parties are the ones killing democracy in The Gambia. The failure to establish democratic standards, processes and values and uphold them accounts for the weak governance situation in the country. The quality of democracy in the country is determined by the quality of democracy within parties. Thus, if the parties are poorly governed with a poor democratic culture, then the country stands to lose. This is simply because political parties run the government. They produce the president. NAMs, mayors and councilors come from political parties. By virtue of that, political parties are the ones in charge of law and policy making, oversee national development and run the institutions of governance. Hence if a party is not democratic, the country cannot also be democratic and developed. Unfortunately, in The Gambia, political parties continue to be dominated and led by few people who claim to have founded the party. Yes, a political party may have a founder, but a political party is a national institution established by the constitution. Hence a political party is not private property or a cult. Gambian political parties require immense legal and institutional reforms from within to ensure the establishment of robust internal democratic governance. These reforms are about introducing term limits, separating the positions of party president or chairperson from secretary general, reducing their over bloated executive committees, strengthening youth, women and persons with disabilities wings, decentralising decision making so that central or executive committees do not monopolise decisions, as well as introduce robust transparency systems especially when it comes to party funding. These reforms and many more are required to institutionalise and professionalise the party. This is the only way to also de-personalise the party as the property of leaders and to demystify leaders so that they are seen as any other member. It is sad that political party leaders are revered as cult leaders when their performance is abysmally poor after spending years on top. It makes no democratic sense for people who founded PDOIS in 1986 or UDP in 1996 or NRP in 1996 still continue to be the party leaders, secretary general and members of the central or executive committee. It is the same with parties that were formed before 2017 such as GPDP, GMC, and GDC and still have the same individuals as party leaders and members of the executive. These are the people retarding the growth and development of their parties hence killing democracy and good governance in The Gambia. They should be forced to step down now since they have shown their unwillingness to step down until today. I wish there would be democratic revolutions inside these political parties to overturn the entrenched patriarchy and cultism in these parties. ASAP. NADD and Coalition 2016 were both formed with the objective of abolishing self-perpetuation in power. Yet today, those leaders who founded those coalitions continue to perpetuate themselves on top of their parties. Practice what you preach!
Madi Jobarteh
Kembujeh
What is the UDP waiting for?
Dear Editor,
What’s the UDP leadership waiting for? Two years to the presidential election, Gambians do not know who will lead the UDP into the election and the political agenda of the candidate for change and national development. Does the UDP leadership think that Gambians are stupid? What are we going to vote for is the question Gambians are looking for answers to. Yankuba Darboe or Bensouda or any other presidential candidate of the UDP must have to come forward with a political agenda for change and national development. Darboe and his leadership of the UDP must show some tact and guile in how the party is led and prepared for the 2026 presidential election. There’s not much time left for presentations and preparations for 2026. How does the UDP expect to win the 2026 presidential election without a capable presidential candidate and the political agenda for change and national development? Darboe must understand that UDP supporters on their own cannot elect the next president of The Gambia. The candidate and the political agenda of the UDP are pivotal to attracting the swing voters for change. What are Darboe and his leadership team waiting for? We are not going to vote for an empty political platform and or more of the same nonsense. The UDP is the only opposition party in The Gambia in contention for the presidency. Almost all the other political parties are nonsensical political parties looking for power sharing deals. But Darboe and his leadership of the UDP are still living in 1996. It’s 2024 guys!
Yusupha Bojang
Scotland, UK
