By Mustapha Touray
Dear Editor,
Please allow me to tell Waa Juwara to shut up and leave Darboe and Hamat in peace.Waa has always been a block to the development of the Gambia, particularly the opposition.Thank God that Hamat despite loosing was able to have more than 2000 votes from his people.Its best known to Waa why he decided not to contest the elections.The truth is speak for itself. Waa again even in his own home town....It would have been a big surprise to me if he gets more than 15 votes if he had contested.Since Waa disgracefully left the UDP we all know he will never wish good for the party especially its leadership.Now that he is tired,he is praising the APRC,well you may become the next governor of CRD,but for Darboe and Hamat the fight to liberate Gambians has just began.
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By BY MADI CEESAY ,NEW YORK CITY
Many Gambians living at home and here in the diaspora would not disagree with me that one of the most vocal and genuine critics of President Yahya Jammeh and his administration for over a decade has been the Niamina-born political scientist-- Lamin Waa Juwara.But he got it all dead wrong when he told the online freedom newspaper on its January 27, edition that President Jammeh does not derserve to be labelled "dictator" anymore simply because he "subject himself to the will of the people in a free and fair elections". The so-called mouthy "mbarodi" further states that he has "changed " his mind on the title"dictator" he has attributed to Jammeh for the past twelve years.
These comments do not only validate the widely held belief that politicians are like the chameleon(they quickly metamorphose to the prevailing color in their surroundings), but they also equally signal the arrival of the fading political days of this recycled politician who has nothing to offer to the Gambian people but failed politics of tribalism and hate.While Waa is free to congratulate the APRC party for its landslide victory he possesses no freedom at all, to determine the definition that majority of Gambians think best fits Jammeh.And, Waa must be wisely reminded that ,even though Jammeh has a track record of recycling dead-wood politicians to harness more votes for his party,in order to achieve his ultimate goal of a one-party state,the ruined-beyond-recycle Niamina native would be the last political prostitute that, President would want in his camp.Jammeh does not need you , because he has absolute political control over your used-to-be political heartland --The Niaminas.
According to the Webster's New World Dictionary,revised and updated fourth edition, a dictator is "one who dictates ; especially , a ruler or tyrant with absolute power".If this definition does not fit Yahya Jammeh ,then the definition of the term "politician" does not suit you either-- probably the word "polytrician" defines you better. The Webster's definition describe exactly who Jammeh is. He dictates, makes national decisions for 1.5million people without consulting any one not even from his own circle.He is a tyrant with absolute power in his own rights.Do I need to go through the list of turtures(you know what I am talking about),deaths,disappearances, illegal arrests, dententions and kangaroo-court proceedings to proof the tyrannical attitude of the person we call our president ,who often publicly brags about the absolute power he receives from God ? Come on Waa! Wake up from your deep political slumber! You can go ahead with your intention of changing Jammeh's political name tag (dictator), but we Gambians are yet to see evidence sufficient enough to call him otherwise. Caution: you dare not call him a "democrat".If you do,you need to relocate to Campama Mental Home!
More disappointingly you further said that " this is the beginning of a democratic process and the next step should be good governance".Hey Waa, did you really say this or do I suggest that you have been wrongly misquoted? If you actually said this, it is time for you to go , not only out of Gambian politics,but to hit the political science and history texts books on the road to " the beginnig of a democratic process" and "good governance" and take case studies from around the African continent and the world at large.You really need refresher lessons on modern politics. I do not know of any country on this planet that has been led to a genuine "democratic process" and "good governance" by a world-class tyrant who wants to rule a country for forty-solid-years under one party; a dictator who plays the tribal card to concretise his grasp on power.Well , I stand to be corrected , but if you or any of your stalwarts in the Gambia and abroad,do know of one example tell me.
What makes you ,Waa believe that the January 25 National Assembly Elections were "free and fair" judging by our constitution?Where were you when your fellow opposition politicians complained about the arrests and dententions of some of their candidates on their campaign trail? Did you not hear Jammeh threaten voters in opposition strongholds with "no development projects" if they fail to vote in his imposed-APRC candidates?Did you not watch Jammeh on GRTS television campaigning for his party and recklessly castigating the opposition candidates just prior to the elections when political campaign was not only officially over, but, constitutionally illegal for any politician at that hour ?If these unconducive political atmospheric conditions are what constitute what you call "free and fair elections",then you owe the Gambian people(struggling for democratic reforms) an apology and shut up your buccal cavity. Period.
Just one last thing for you ,Waa: either talk sense or tell your "little mbarodis" here in the USA and Europe to hold a grand farewell ceremony( from Gambian politics) on a day that coincides with your "former dictator's" victory celebration behind the sandy beaches of the heavily fortified Green Zone of Banjul.