The Gambia going down in flames

I was extremely disturbed and terrified after listening to the president’s appalling assertion on Saturday the 27th of July at an NPP regional bureau inauguration rally held at the Brikama SSP football field. The president’s declaration that he would remain in power until the death of  Lawyer Ousainu Darboe was so horrendous. As if that was not already enough of an abominable cruelty, the president went further to affirm his will to attend Darboe’s burial before he would relinquish power. All of these were said with great pleasure as if nothing would delight him more than seeing the one he once called his father die. What sheer hatred! Not even the greatest enemies wish each other death. 

Such terrible statements must never come out from the president. They are filthy and divisive. Thus, Gambians from all walks of life have been asking questions.  They want to know what has gone wrong with the president. I therefore join the fray to condemn and denounce Adama Barrow’s utterances.  His words were not just a hate speech but also a huge threat to the life of a citizen and a leader of the biggest political party in the country. It is so disheartening to hear such a vile proclamation from the president.

Mr President, don’t you know that such comments can set a country on fire? Certainly, you have invited upon yourself so much aggression. A clear testimony of this is the negative and arrogant responses to your person by the Darboe family, the supporters or followers of Mr. Darboe and this if not handled properly could lead to political tension in our beloved country.

Mr. President, I hope you have learned from your mistakes and that such carelessness will not repeat itself ever again. You should have known better that such despicable utterances are neither friendly nor political and that a head of state must stay clear from such. You must never even try to joke about or sugar-quote such comments and to describe them as political comments just as the minister of information Dr Ismaila Ceesday did was the joke of the century.

We can all remember when a comment was made by Momodou Sabally when he was with the UDP, I quote “We will take this country”.  This comment did not go down well with the IGP and your government and he was arrested and charged for inciting violence. What is more violent than that of your comments directed to Lawyer Ousainu Darboe?

I want to implore the IGP to arrest and investigate you, Mr. President for your reckless utterance. You know pretty well that if we are to follow the dictates of the constitution that say no one is above the law you should have already been questioned.

Ebrima Dibba was the last to be arrested for his response to the comment made by the president and is currently undergoing trial in court. This is a clear manifestation that the IGP is not on the right track. The IGP and the interior minister must always follow the constitution.

It is crucial to remind you, Mr. President, that Gambians are in a difficult situation that needs attention and solution. People want to have a better life. They don’t need chaos or disunification of the nation. So, Mr. President, please let us be.

It is only Allah who decides or determines the life of an individual. And nobody knows his or her own fate i.e. when to die and this includes you, Mr President despite all the powers vested in you. The power to control life and death is beyond any human being.

Mr President, it has been a course of concern since the day you publicly stated that you sacrificed your own son just to become a president. You also said that you went to a graveyard to dig out dead bodies in order to put jujus in their mouths just to become a president. Now that you have strongly vowed at a public gathering that you have signed a contract that Ousainu Darboe will die and that you will attend his burial before you eventually step down as president. Mr President, what else won’t you do just to remain in that presidency?

Mr President, how would you face Ousainu Darboe’s family in the event that he dies and you want to attend his burial as you claimed? May Allah grant him a long life and good health. But, it may not even surprise me if you don’t even attend his burial just like you didn’t attend Sir Dawda’s burial.

I want to ask you, Mr President, about your many advisers, the IGP, the Chief Justice, and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice. Aren’t they advising you?  I challenge them to all humbly resign for failing to advise you to apologise to Ousainu Darboe, his family and the entire nation.

Mr. President, just in case you don’t know, I will put it to you that a day before your much talked about rally, there was a heavy flood at Brikama in which people lost their valuables. Wasn’t that Brikama rally the perfect ground to address the predicaments that those affected are going through?

Mr President, you are the number one person who must always speak with wisdom and preach and strive to maintain peace and stability in the country. You are not the one to engage in confrontations that may result in another political impasse. God forbid! The president’s remarks should always be in accordance with the rule of law. This is what the Gambians expected of him.

Mr. President, I wish to remind you that the presidency comes and goes, but life continues. Where is Libya’s Ghaddafi? Where is Iraq’s Sadam Hussain? Our own Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh and the Senegalese Macky Sall, where are they?  All of the aforementioned mentioned leaders were more powerful than you, but are all gone? They’re gone for good and the same fate awaits you too. Sooner or later you will join that list of ex-presidents.

Mr president, Gambians have more pressing issues that need attention. We need well-equipped health facilities, good roads, adequate electricity supply, youth employment, tackling the pandemic corruption going on in our offices and a lot more. The unnecessary inauguration of bureaus or fights against UDP or Darboe are of no consequence to us.

Mr President, I want to let you know that we want peace in this beautiful Gambia for it is the only Gambia that we have. We have no other place to run to as we have only Gambia, so please do not take us back to remember the days of the 2016 political impasse when Jammeh tried to cling to power after losing the elections.

Let me remind you also that it was this Ousainu Darboe who stood for you when there was no one else to stand for you. It was this Darboe who stood for you when the majority were demanding for you to step down after serving for three (3) years. Mr President, what has changed?

Finally, I want to call on the IGP, the so-called presidential advisers, the Chief Justice and the Minister of Justice, the African Union, the National Assembly and the Human Rights Commission to caution the president and demand him publicly apologise to Ousainu Darboe for making such life-threatening comments against him.