Gentlemen, be informed that you be busy canvassing for votes. Tell the electorate what the APRC manifesto entails!
The
Gambia is at a cross roads. Within 72 hours, we will be going to the
pools to elect a new leader who will be mandated by the citizenry to
direct the affairs of the Republic of the Gambia . In short, a new
Chief Executive Officer commonly called The President of the Republic.
This person will occupy Number 1 Marina Parade known as the State House
or Government House. Who will get the nod of the Gambian people? What
is the country’s future especially the Gambian young people? What do we
want as a nation, how do we change the status quo, is what we should be
pondering now and beyond. This should be a cause for concern for all
right thinking Gambians.
During
the 12 years of the A (F) PRC administration under the leadership of
Chairman turned President Yaya Jammeh, lot of water have passed under
the bridge. Every right thinking Gambian knows how it went and the
politics and people surrounding the Presidency. The 2006 Presidential
is a forgone conclusion to me and others who already knew what was
happening behind the scenes. I did report it in this very column on the
4th September and even went beyond to state figures. Today,
we have been told as a nation by the panel of IEC headed by Chairman
Crayol over national television that all those whose names did not
appear on the master register will be permitted to vote. To me and the
Freedom team, this is a confirmation of what we already knew about
prior to the comments. How did they come to conclude that there are
people who whose names will appear on the master register and why? The
answer is simple. Because secret registrations centres existed where
such heinous activities were taking place. Such locations were as far
as Buyal, Cassamance, to facilitate the registration of non-Gambians. A
friend of mine who is a serving soldier stationed at the state house in
Banjul , is a native of that village, Buyal.
Gambisara
can authoritatively advise the Gambia people to break free once and for
all from the failed policies of the APRC and its entire leadership. The
12 years have witnessed more than enough misplaced national priorities.
The Gambia desperately needs change of leadership. That opportunity has
eluded the country. That could have been achieved had NADD remained
without its disintegration. The Gambia needs a new style of leadership
that is disciplined and capable of moving forward towards a more
meaningful economic, social and human resources development. Therefore,
Gambisara calls on all Gambian voters to reject the APRC on Friday and
vote for anyone of the 2 opposition candidates both during the
presidential and parliamentary elections. Gambisara do not have the
right and cannot dictate to people to vote for either candidate, but
anyone of them other than Jammeh will do in the best interest of the
Gambia as a nation. For the Gambia our homeland, we strive and work and pray that all may live in unity, freedom and peace each day. That national song should be our guiding principle as a nation, not otherwise.
In
any of my write-ups, I would mention young people. Why? Because they
are the future leaders of the country. How they contribute to the
socio-economic development of the country in the future rest in the
hands of those in authority today. I was flabbergasted when I heard
Yankuba Touray and his master, Yaya Jammeh saying that the APRC have
100, 000 job opportunities for the youth which will soon be opened by
Yaya Jammeh at the Yundum International Airport to be called the July 22nd
Investment Park. They even mentioned of plans to bring in a 200MW
generator that will supply the whole country with electricity. This
confirms that Toray, his master Yaya Jammeh and the entire APRC are a
joke. They don’t even know why they are touring the country. Gentlemen,
be informed that you be busy canvassing for votes. Tell the electorate
what your manifesto entails. Example: How many innocent people Jammeh
will send to be summarily executed, be them Gambians or foreign.
Foreign because a case in point was the Ghana town in Brufut. How many
foiled coups the APRC intend to announce, how many secretaries of state
to be appointed, who will be sacked and jailed, etc. But the APRC have
no development projects for the country, only hardship. Yankuba Touray,
think twice and think hard. You have been disgraced, humiliated through
the Paul commission and then reinstated to help Jammeh. Your days are
numbered. Gambisara can categorically say that the Gambian young people
are being used as political stooges. How many young Gambians are in
employment? Young people are the future leaders; do not give them empty
promises as you always did over the years. Politicians like persons
come and go, but the country remains. Where is Chief Manneh, Pa Malick
Mboob, Lamin Bojang, etc? All are missing. They are very brilliant
young people contributing positively to national development. Yankuba
Touray, Yaya Jammeh and the APRC, think hard and know that we know the
kind of politics you are playing.
The
electoral observer missions should pack up and leave to their various
destinations and not waste their valuable time in the Gambia . All they
should do is declare the event not free and fair. They should not
comment more than that. Prior to the official registration, during the
registration and now the huge influx of so-called refugees from
Cassamance being hosted in various community places and schools are
clear examples of why they should leave. The arrest, detention and
sacking of national TV Journalist, Dodou Sanneh while on national duty
are another key testimony. His reinstatement is for the international
community. He will definitely be re-arrested again soon after the
election. In 2001, it was the Gambia college campus, 2006, is across
the city and its suburbs. This was a calculated move by Yaya Jammeh,
Salif Sadio and Alexandra Gibba along with other rebel leaders to
create unrest in Cassamance so that they will have a way to cross the
border into the Gambia in the pretext of refugees and vote massively
for Jammeh and the APRC. That way, they will stay for a long period
while the indelible ink dries off their fingers. In 2001, alongside
Gambian national document such as ID and voter cards, it was the ink
that the Senegalese authorities were able to proof that they
participated in the elections.
It
should be clearly understood by the international community that for
Yaya Jammeh and the APRC to allow foreign voters since the 1996
election, have created a mechanism of self-perpetuation and greatly
subverted the will of the Gambian people. It has also legitimised the
APRC’s tyrannical regime over the years which in itself are a threat to
both national integrity and sovereignty. It has resulted to the extra
judicial killings of many innocent Gambian people who could have been
in various positions in the service of the country. The persons of Daba
Marena and co. have all been declared missing by the state. The killing
in cold blood of Deyda Hydra, etc.The election observers should called
it a day, pack up and leave, declare the election nowhere near free,
fair and transparent.
The author can be reached through gambisara1@yahoo.com