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THE TRUTH SHALL SET HIM FREE
THE TRUTH SHALL SET HIM FREE
By Musa Camara
It is interesting to see how Mr. Ousainou Darboe in his letter to Hon.
Halifa Sallah on the failed attempt to reunite the opposition parties in The
Gambia tried in desperation not to be overshadowed by the iconic
intellectual and charismatic politician. Unfortunately for Mr. Darboe,
little did he know that he needed not to have bothered himself because The
Gambian people have long since known the difference between the two: that he
Mr. Darboe is incoherent and blithering a politician; and Mr. Sallah
powerful, an orator and astute a political educator.
The lack of quality and the deceptive claim of Mr. Darboe’s letter that the
United Democratic Party (UDP) cannot join the National Alliance for
Democracy and Development (NADD) of which it was a former member before and
even after the Supreme Court ruling are not surprising to me. One particular
thing I paid attention to in the letter was the style of its author that
revealed his growing frustration. In his attempt to show originality and at
the same time emulate the humble trademark signature of Hon. Sallah’s
letters, “yours in the service of the nation,” Mr. Darboe concluded his
letter thus: “yours in the service of the truth.” I have already written
elsewhere that intellectual dishonesty is one of the biggest problems that
ever faced The Gambia especially by those of our compatriots who arrogated
themselves with the exclusive possession of the ultimate truth and that no
other earthly being dared challenge their postures. Since Mr. Darboe has
once again reminded us of truth, I urge all Gambians to use that cardinal
factor as the yardstick for the measurement of the integrity and honesty of
the contestants in the September 2006 Presidential election. I must state,
however, that President Yaya Jammeh is not on my list for consideration. He
flunked the preliminary prerequisite to this test.
Hon. Sallah has been very consistent, honest, considerate, tolerant, and
profoundly informed in his views. The proofs of these are found in
encyclopedic collections of materials: written, printed, audio, cyber and
digital. This point was perfectly expressed by Foday Samateh in these lines:
“Hon. Halifa Sallah is a superlatively eloquent man with time-tested solid
integrity matched by un-dimming strength of vision to light our way into the
future.”
Mr. Darboe, to me has a huge credibility deficiency that must be considered
by anyone who means well for our country. After he resigned from the
National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD), Mr. Darboe told a
rally in Brikama that he did not leave because of power-hunger but that
there was mistrust in the party; and that he was left without any other
choice but to leave. Contrary to his claim, this was Mr. Darboe dismissal of
allegations of mistrust levied against him as a member of NADD in an
interview with the Independent Newspaper on January 9th 2006:
I don’t know what sort of mistrust people are talking about. What I know is
that people are capable of saying things based on their personal
imaginations. This should not be strange, especially to an organization such
as NADD, which comprise of five political parties and their leaderships -
and hopefully, there may be additional parties joining the coalition.
However, this may also be the work of opponents or those pretending to be
NADD supporters, pretending to be committed to NADD when in fact they are on
the payroll of the opponents. These are the sorts of people who will go
around saying there is distrust within NADD leadership
Decent people the world over are now compelled to the jury stand to reach
final verdict as to whether Mr. Darboe was in anyway saying the truth in
that interview to The Gambian people. If he was not, can such a person,
whose only interaction with the ordinary citizens as president will be
entirely through the news media, be entrusted to be in the command of the
wheels to steer our destiny? This jury must also make its judgment whether
Mr. Darboe incriminated himself by pretending to be an executive member of
NADD or on the payroll of its opponents, and presumably President Yaya
Jammeh and his Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction. I also
have no doubt that Mr. Darboe is in the servitude of his political ambition:
the anachronistic “Mansa Mission”.
Gone are the days when our politicians would speak recklessly with the
complacency that the people will not hold them accountable for their
pronouncements.
To rest my case, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Mr. Darboe throughout his
political career has a history of insatiable appetite for pathological
contradictions. The truth shall set him free; however, the truth must first
be freed from the captivity of his personal conquest and monopoly.
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Posted on Wednesday, September 06, 2006 (Archive on Sunday, October 29, 2006)
Posted by PNMBAI Contributed by PNMBAI
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