THEY ARE FLEEING NADD: ARE WE SURPRISE???
Demba Baldeh: Seattle, Washington
The news that PPP big wigs and political opportunist are fleeing the NADD camp should not come as a surprise to any politically informed Gambian. I wrote a few weeks ago on Allgambian that once the insincere and so called politicians recognized the road NADD is leading to, they will start packing their baggage.
Historically, Gambian politicians have search endlessly where ever there is opportunity for them to fill their pockets and occupy high ranking positions. This is specifically what forty years of misrule yield for the Gambian people. If anything, political opportunism and praise singing is the norm in our Gambian politics.
During the PPP reign, politicians were seen jumping from one band wagon to the other in search of greener pastures. Examples like Buba Baldeh, Hassan Musa Camara, and Sherriff Mustapha Dibba were seen to defect from the PPP to form their own parties hoping to dislodge the PPP and replace them with different faces but with the same platform. Several members of Parliament including Buba Baldeh were elected by the people on independent tickets only to see them defect to the ruling party without the consent of their electorates.
This same trend of defection and search for political identity and party affiliation continues right into the Jammeh regime. These are the same people who ran to hide after the PPP was overthrown and once the dust settled down, they started to converge onto Jammeh begging for positions and forgiveness. They have been arrested, thrown into Jails, and humiliated in front of their families and the whole world, only for them to kneel down before a dump president to ask for forgiveness. Some have been appointed and dismissed like dogs without humble owners. Are these really the kind of politicians Gambia and the world needs at this point in history?
It is indeed a disease in our born marrow for our educated elites to have so much low self esteem. No wonder our country only moves from bad to worst. If the basis for any human being to take up any representative position is to enrich themselves and occupy so called prestige positions, then they don’t even deserve to head a household much more a state. It is one thing for one to look out for themselves, but another thing for them to compromise anything in their lives including their family values and religious beliefs to get to the lowest of the low on earth. Probably the state of governing our country should be returned to the village “alkalos”, and heads of “cabelas”. These may safe our souls and allow the opportunity for return to values and humility.
Folks, I was with the impression that Gambian politics have reach a new threshold and political maturity, boy I couldn’t be so wrong. What is so disgusting about the whole debate is the fact that, those of us who have been exposed to world politics and the reality of our generation are so blinded by this vicious cycle of political junk.
Reading the editorial of Allgambian today about NADD almost made me throw up and retreat to a safe corner and succumb to ignorance. After all the debates we have had about the political future of our country, and a kind of government we need to free our people from these vicious tyrants, I thought we have signed off for a genuine change. I am convinced that the editorial did not lose its focus on the commitment to expose injustices and bad governance in the Gambia. Do we really want to change Jammeh’s face with another face only for our people to continue to suffer economically? Or do we truly mean for change for the better and not a return to the old days of Jawara?
One of the reasons many Gambians in the Diaspora and back home rallied behind NADD was not because of the personalities that constitutes the ranks, but because of the fact that we were presented with an option that is second to none that we have seen in political history. At least this was my impression, but I could have been overly optimistic. I could have misread all the contributions from various camps that Gambia was up for a change.
Another issue that is so disturbing is the fact that all these Gambian online newspapers came into being to enlightened our people and expose politics of domination and deception. They are here I belief, to compare what we have to what we are expose to in the west so our people can start to own themselves and control their own political destiny. However, reading from Pa Nderry’s editorial on Jawara with the comments that they don’t have any problem with the Old man and how he managed our economy, tells me that many of us have settled for less and accepted the norms imposed upon us.
In addition, Allgambian’s subsequent comments and endorsement of how the opposition is handling affairs on the ground, tells me we are far from being rescued from political tyranny. It ought to be made abundantly clear, that there is no room for any politician to hijack the interest of the Gambian people. It is the same kind of editorials that we see in the Daily Observer compromising and sometimes even endorsing how the Jammeh regime is treating our people. For goodness sake can we put aside our political bias and fight for what we all know is good for us all?
The Gambian people expect some strong criticism from all editorials on the current political set back in the Gambia. It is clear to any fair minded person that Jammeh has everything to game if the current political trend continues in the Gambia. Darboe/Bah, the so called PPP and NADD can stretch all the muscles they have, and it would mean zero at the end of the day. APRC can appear to be the most politically disarrayed as stated by the editorial, but at the end of the day, Yankuba and Jahumpa Ceesay will still have their vocalist jobs as opined.
Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot be satisfied with our current political and economic situation. Our people deserve better and we must not settle for anything less than great. We should all start to look in the mirror and see our selves as the problem. We are the people who accept our current situation and therefore send a message to politicians that they can do as they wish and we will go with the flow.
We expect all news outlets to raise the bar to a higher standard and demand nothing less than transparency and fair representation of the people. Anything less, history will judge us all harshly. Our responsibility is to inform the people and exposure hidden agendas we see in our political representatives. By now, all newspapers should be asking all political parties what is their agenda for the Gambian people. Take the responsibility to expose and publish their individual programs, so people can tell who wants to continue the Jammeh norm and who has a clear alternative. You should be given us weekly interviews on programs from all party leaders so we have something to compare. This is what your readership are interested in.
Peace.