Halifa’s 3-Year Presidential Term Fixation!

Hon Halifa Sallah and his media Cheer-Leaders (mainly US-based Pa Nderry Mbai and his Freedom Newspaper) continue to distract Gambians and Friends of The Gambia from the urgent tasks of nation-building and peace-building that faces post-Jammeh Gambia.

On the issue of “Barrow’s 3-Year Mandate” it has been said that Halifa Sallah is in “TOTALLY IN DENIAL”. I Agree.

And, I would add, Halifa is also being utterly HYPOCRITICAL for a man who has made “Constitution, Constitution, Constitution” his MANTRA over the last 30 years.

So, let us state it concisely and clearly for Hon Halifa Sallah:

The “3-Year Presidential Mandate” was a private contract between parties who have now fallen out and disengaged on the just concluded NAM elections issue. The reasons why the Coalition contract between the parties fell apart is a private matter between the parties. The public were never a party to that private contract – nor did the public validate that contract through a referendum as required by the constitution of the Republic of The Gambia.

Section 63(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of the Gambia states that “the term of office of an elected president shall … be for a term of five years”.

This raises the following questions:

Why should Halifa sign a 3-year Presidential term agreement that he, Halifa himself, now ACKNOWLEDGES as being UNconstitutional? Halifa never misses an opportunity to chide anyone for even the most minor infringement of the Constitution. Halifa should now take his own medicine – and chide himself (and stop fanning political bickering just to try and convince the public that he was the good guy and the others were the bad guys. As with Mel-B here in London this week, the marriage is dead and the washing of dirty linen in public is unedifying. Just accept that the marriage is dead – and move on!). What is more, Halifa is flogging a dead horse on the “Coalition” issue – because the public have already decided by voting 4 seats (7%) for PDOIS – and 31 seats (58%) for UDP.

Why should the Barrow government embark on a fundamental constitutional change – and the required referendum – just to shorten this President’s term to three years when the Barrow government feels that there are more important matters of nation building to attend to in the next five years?

Why should Lawyer Darboe’s UDP waste valuable time on a “3-year Presidential term” amendment that needs an expensive and time-consuming nationwide referendum when there is so much work to be done?

What about after the 3-years? Will Gambians have to amend the Constitution again to return to a 5-year presidential term – and have a referendum again to approve that 5-year amendment?

THE UDP, PRESIDENT BARROW AND MOST GAMBIANS HAVE MOVED ONTO MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS OF CONCERN TO THE MAJORITY OF GAMBIANS – MATTERS SUCH AS HOW TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE FOR THEIR FAMILIES.

As in the children’s story of “The Boy Who Always Cried ‘WOLF’”, Halifa Sallah and Pa Nderry Mbai run the risk of being ignored – when they do actually sometimes have important messages. But I suppose they are BOTH PROFESSIONAL “WOLF-CRIERS” and will continue to do so!

Long Live Freedom of Speech!
(But not for my opponents, as Halifa’s FOROYAA would have it. In 25 years of reading Gambian media, I have never read a PDOIS/HALIFA-contradicting opinion in FOROYAA. Please correct me if I am wrong).

Dida Halake,
Notting Hill,
London, UK.

Ends

34 Comments

  1. Dida , it was the same mistake Halifa made with the regards to NADD as a political party and later UDP withdrew . It is interesting to see USA online media like Fatu radio network and freedom newspaper become the biggest supporters of PDOIS and Halifa . It is very hypocritical. Halifa of all people who refused to meet with diaspora during the struggle is now the darling of these two media houses . PDOIS leadership never acknowledged and recognized the importance roles of diaspora in our politics. These media houses are totally disconnected with the indigenous citizens especially those in the hinterland. I commend Mr suntun Touray , and his excellent team for their valuable roles they played in this election. Gambian people listened to WhatsApp better than Fatu radio or freedom. Fatu radio and freedom radio you will find some clueless intellectuals who think they know better than an ordinary Gambian . Halifa has the same problem. He think he knows the constitution and politics better than many UDP National Assembly members who are recently elected. Therefore he has started to complain about three years term he advocated and supported. Today we have many UDP representatives who earned at least a bachelor degree, so Mr Sallah need to understand that those days are gone when he might think he is the only educated person in the house .

    Fatu network is now PDOIS stronghold and anti-UDP . I don’t know what is their grievances towards UDP these days. We must remember that we fought to restore democracy and constitutional rule in the country because it was the right thing to do. Yes some in diaspora may be lobbying for positions but if they don’t get it , it doesn’t mean they should be anti regime . We need to criticize the regime based on constructive criticism and promote unity and inclusiveness.

    • Dormu Rewwum Gambia (aka Luntango Suun Gann Gi)

      Max, the UDP has solid support at home and in the Diaspora – and the new government is a democratic one. The Diaspora media houses had so much influence during Jammeh’s time because Jammeh was an isolated dictator. I think some Diaspora media houses are nostalgic for the power and influence they had during Jammeh’s time when they could fire or even jail people with a single story. Some media houses were actuaally used by Jammeh himself! But I see the likes of Gainako, Sidi Sanneh Blog, Kaironews and Jollofnews being really responsible, so we can’t generalize. Good luck to Pa and Fatu – Barrow’s government neither needs nor fears them.

      • Dormu Rewwum Gambia aka Luntango Suun Gan Gi.
        “Some media houses were actually used by Jammeh himself”. I sense this going on up to date. I can still see creepy Jammeh well energised and deadliest of all his times.
        Isn’t it still a matter of abiding by the formidable laws of the land, (the constitution) to conduct a referendum on any reform/s that may be deemed necessary in the interest of making available a good constitution……, having in mind that constitutions are not sacred, so may be liable to amendments. Constitutions in my view are guides to the rule of law flexible enough to amendments with respect to the good sense of rule of law. Sounds dumb if the constitution should be like a statue of stone that is always there to dictate the rule of law in a state of democracy.
        The term ‘transition’ was a main subject in the formation of the coalition and despite the fact I’m the least enlightened about constitutional matters, I am convinced that every constitution of democracies have in them provisions to deal with ‘transition periods’ should the situation arise. The financial crisis that a government might be situated in cannot in anyway supercede constitutional exercises such as referendums. The debates that highlighted the- from 3 to 5 years presidential term limit (transition period) came into motion when at last, everyone concerned have realised, the coalition/alliance have become a reality to exist. That was it. It’s like laying the traps to see who will fall in them. Such games of intellectual smartness are perhaps some of the reasons elders of the past would say, ”politics is dirty”, a favorite rhetoric of former dictator Jammeh, that stole him all the absolute power for him to be able to unleash a reign of terror on Gambian’s for more than two decades. I have critiqued Halifa of his short falls in democratic values in the past but alarmingly worst of recent, I can bet the emergence of red-eyed and horned demons in the online media whom I hope will never be near any leadership role in the Gambia.

      • Gibril Touray

        Barrow is only mandated to rule 3years. Gambians are not sleeping, we are all see what is going on. We want peace, there must be elections in 3 years as agreed and documented..Gibril Touray Oslo

    • Max, you cannot provide any better description of Halifa than you have just done. He is delusional.

      “He think he knows the constitution and politics better than many UDP National Assembly members who are recently elected. Therefore he has started to complain about three years term he advocated and supported.” And after all he has a twisted understanding of the constitution as displayed in the inconsistencies of his actions mentioned in the article. As the saying goes, ‘garbage in garbage out’. No wonder we have always been in constitutional quagmires whenever his ideas are followed… the current constitution it self, NADD, this unconstitutional 3 term limit for Barrow, and he is now saying Gambia has not decided because of partisan politics just to mention a few. Can’t he understand and accept that Gambia is a multiparty democracy and not a one party state, at least according to the constitution he has always been advocating for.

      I personally do not listen to those two online radios even during Yahya Jammeh’s rule. They are opportunists, cunning and deceptive. For example, Fatou worked with Yahya and was given a position she knew she was not qualified for. Had it not been the fact that she was humiliated and dismissed she would have been working with Yahya up to the time of his departure. She thought she would be given similar opportunities in the new government and having realised that is not the case she decided to turn against the new government. It should also be known that Fatou is doing this for her current immigration status purposes. To justify her stay in the US. For Pa Ndery, let us wait and see what the commissions of enquiry into Jammeh’s atrocities will reveal. Do not be surprised when the roles he played in some of them becomes known.

      They (the 2 radios) must realise that those days are gone forever when a mere mention of a person in their radio stations can result in disaster for the individual. There is now a responsible government in place.

      Morro Touray

      • Nothing gonna surprise Max. Isn’t? He knew about the tunnels from Kaninlai across the borders into Cassamance, the villa gates from North to South and East to West and escape routes from the kitchen. The telephone numbers of so many cabinet ministers and senior civil servants of Jammeh! A lot is possible within the art of counter espionage…isn’t it?
        Could the worst journalists, Fatou and PA be any closer to the dictator than Max. It is not Ggapm’s right to be trusted neither to trust.
        Reasonings on opinions and view of each other doesn’t necessarily dispute the fact that there is responsible government in place in the Gambia. It is incumbent open Adama Barrow himself to clear the air, if he and his cabinet ministers have declared their assets. This demand from a citizen or citizens does not generally imply that he/she/they lacks/lack trust in the government in place if not for the sake of scrupulousness within the public’s affairs.

        • Thank you for pointing out yet another blatant disregard of the law: the declaration of assets. Why are they not declaring their assets? I hope the National Assembly addresses that issue ASAP.

  2. Mr Halake I believe you are in error about the need for a referendum the term limit is a maximum period and no minimum so there is nothing preventing a president going back to the people early.
    Yes this is a private matter between parties to the agreement it can be argued that others already breached the agreement with their behaviour and utterances

    • Dormu Rewwum Gambia (aka Luntango Suun Gann Gi)

      “The term limit is a maximum period and no minimum so there is nothing preventing a president going back to the people early”.
      I think you may have a point there Momodou. Some Constitutions may not allow the incumbent “taking early advantage on prevailing circumstances” – I think in UK here Cameron established a FIXED-TERM 5-year Parliament – though Parliament can vote to change that at anytime. I don’t know whether the Gambian Constitution might be a FIXED-TERM 5 Yr. one. Thanks anyway.

    • Don’t buy a private contract argument, my brother. This was a contract entered into by politicians seeking political office. It cannot be a private matter between private citizens.
      Each signatory stakeholder was a public figure, who either represented a National Institution (as political parties are National Institutions ) or a group of citizens with political goals and ambitions.
      The MOU was a public document and ALL the signatories pledged to be bound by it. It’s now a question of whether people are trustworthy or not.

  3. ibrahim S

    Halifa Sallah, PA Nderry MBai and Fatu radio should know that this 3 years term issue is very irrelevant right now. Very premature to bring about this 3 years term limit by coalition MOU contract agreement by only 8 parties. Halifa Sallah right now Gambians are keen interested on nation building, development, justice for 22 years Yahya Jammeh’s victims by establishing truth and reconciliation commissions, and etc. Also, Gambians should know that Halifa Sallah, PDOIS PARTY will form coalition party with Mama Kandeh’s GMC and APRC PARTY. Let us watch and see. That’s Halifa Sallah’s secret motive but many of us don’t know that. Have any of you read the article by Halifa Sallah saying ” IS THIS OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLE ” meaning president Adama Barrow’s government is frequently arresting and removing head of civil servants like former President Yahya jammeh has done in his 22 years ruling. Then later week here the same Halifa Sallah said GAMBIA HAS NOT YET DECIDED. So let us ask ourselves what did Halifa Sallah really want? Based on my perspective, Halifa Sallah want to form coalition party with Mama Kandeh’s GMC and APRC for the next presidential election in order to become their coalition party leader; that’s why he Halifa Sallah is criticizing and complaining every little bit about president Adama Barrow’s government.

    • Well, 6 sitting APRC NAMS, led by Suku Singhateh, not only crossed over to the UDP, but accompanied Lawyer Darboe on his nation wide tour to campaign for UDP NA elections candidates.

      And we were also informed that hundreds, if not thousands, of APRC voters switched to UDP.

      If you don’t see a problem with that, why should you see a problem if APRC decides to join forces with PDOIS ? Why the double standards ?

    • Ibrahim S , I want to tell you one thing here please take note of , whoever form a coalition with Mr Sallah whether it is GDC or APRC , he is never going to win presidency in The Gambia. Gambian people know who he is since sir Dawda Jawara cleverly defined their political ideology to Gambian people in 1980s . Yes he is very good in making noises online just like the rest of PDOIS disciples who love to debate us here , I tell you 90% of population do not know Halifa Sallah is even a politician before the political impasse . He wanted to use the coalition to make name for himself but that did not work because he made so many political suicide by attacking coalition members. Example he attacked fatoumata Tambajang for saying that jammeh should be prosecuted and he attacked Mr mai fatty for saying that jammeh stole millions of dollars. The man has no credibility as far as Gambian citizens are concerned. He can make all the noises he wanted or he can give millions press conferences, do you think majority of citizens listen to those press conferences, ? No they do not . Those press conferences are for his disciples who love him reading from the papers . Halifa unfortunately cannot connect with the people in all his political career. I think PDOIS needs to go to university of The Gambia and start to recruit young people. Halifa Sallah and Yaya jammeh cannot be president of The Gambia.

      • I can sense that deep down in your heart you yourself know that you are not been honest in your critique of Mr Sallah. its like you are some how jealous of him. You may deny this to be true; But my advice is for you to take it easy and acknowledge that Mr Sallah is somebody who love our country so much though his views about how to move it forward may differ from yours. My brother look at your this statement again ”it was the same mistake Halifa made with the regards to NADD as a political party and later UDP withdrew.” this undoubtedly leads to the disintegration of NADD. If Halifa made a mistake with regard to the registration of NADD as a political party what do you honestly consider the resignation of Mr Darboe and the subsequent withdrawal of UDP from the Alliance. Is that not a bigger mistake ? Note that the MOU that established NADD in 2006 is not much different from that of coalition 2016. The formulas are all the same. Coincidentally, even the colour of the flags and the symbols are all the same. Which means if Mr Darboe and UDP had not withdrawn from NADD change could have been achieved Ten years ago. This means all the atrocities committed and the mismanagement of our economy and the looting by Jammeh could have been prevented. So my brother with this you can see that with all the inperfection of Halifa, he is not the enemy of our country. Please let us exercise honesty and know the we are going to be accounted for whatever comment we made here by our creator on the day of judgement whether one believe that or not.

        • Thank you fabaks. You are very adept at exposing Maxs inconsistencies and false claims. The truth shall always prevail. 2016, as you rightly indicated, is the same formulas NADD. We could have saved ourselves from 10 years of brutally, if we weren’t betrayed.

          • Bax , it is very clear to everyone that this year the coalition was not registered as a political party while NADD was registered as a political party. This was the biggest mistake Mr Sallah insisted on because of his lack of knowledge of constitution. UDP insisted that they cannot abandon their party and therefore withdrew . UDP leadership knew that they cannot be in two political parties at the same time and it was unfair to abandon a well structured political party for the NADD . It was the same strategy Mr Sallah wanted to employ in this year National Assembly election when he advocated for independent candidates for the coalition. UDP cannot go with such a political suicide. Then after the election he started to complain about the three years term he advocated and supported. It is therefore dishonest and false to claim that this year coalition was the same formula like the NADD . There was a problem of leadership selection. PDOIS has always been a stubborn stumbling block in all these years despite their extremely poor political influence or support base in the country. For 50 years PDOIS was repudiated time after time in every major and minor elections. This year PDOIS was humiliated at the convention and National Assembly elections.
            You guys are confused disciples. Whenever Halifa led any alliance, there was constitutional violations. This year coalition and NADD all committed constitutional violations.

        • Fabaks, it is funny that you claimed that I am jealous of Mr Sallah because of my criticism of his bad political strategy. As I told so many of you , I do not have any personal hatred for him and therefore, your suggestion that I am jealous is misleading , malicious and mischievous mischaracterization . For 50 years , Halifa has not made any real political achievements. Any time he won the election in serekunda, it was UDP symbolic and sympathetic help to ensure that he was elected. UDP withdrewal from NADD was a decision made because of constitutional violations but Halifa insisted that UDP should have abandoned their political party and joined NADD . How can you abandon a well structured political party for an alliance? Common sense tell us that we don’t do that . During the struggle , there was no single member of PDOIS who was killed or disappeared but it was UDP members who consistently faced the music of brutality. UDP recognized the urgency of time to save their members and the country which was why UDP leaders protested on behalf of the Gambian people for electoral reforms. PDOIS leadership claimed that it was a spontaneous protest and it was a mistake while some of their disciples claimed it was a distraction.

  4. Motafeh Mankajang

    Max, ur obsession with Halifa is gonna kill u soon.
    Since I joined this forum, I have never for once seen u critise Darboe, Barrow or UDP. Don’t tell me they ar infallible. Barrow is on record saying that “his Cabinet is complete”. How can his Cabinet be complete when the VP post is still vacant?

    • motafeh , as you name implied , you are lonely in your belief because no one is associated with the type of belief you have . therefore you are motafeh here.

  5. I would like to first of all thank all Who contributed one way or the other in the making of a new Gambia.However, I did came to the support of Halifa in this very forum when he was criticized for seemingly caving into most of Jammeh’s demands during the transition. That being said, I think Halifa is this time wrong to say that the president should serve a three year term as agreed to by the then coalition. My reason as previously stated by Max and others is the fact that the constitution of the Gambia supercedes a mere agreement of the coalition which was never ascended to by the general public nor the members of parliament. Nonetheless I would like Halifa to admit this as error and mistakenly shortsighted to have agreed to such unconstitutional point at the time.yet still, I would like all to understand that we are in a new Era of politics in the Gambia and one that need the likes of Halifa and many others to help steer the wheels of our new found democracy. To this point I will also argue that Halifa is not perfect but not a tribalist as accused by some.I believe that he is a good politician like Darboe, kandeh and all the rest.Yes they will continue to make mistakes and we the followers of the respective parties have all the rights to criticize them in any constructive way we could.

    • Halifa does not own the 3 Year transition, Mr Fatty. So, he should not be the only one criticised by those who disagree with it.

      I am surprised that whilst you accepted that the then coalition agreed to the 3 Year transition, you still think he is wrong to state that they should honour their pledge.

      Nevertheless, your maturity and sincerity is noted. Let’s keep the debate civil.

      • Dormu Rewwum Gambia (aka Luntango Suun Gann Gi)

        My in-law, my concern is how quickly we forgot the TERRIBLE TIME the nation was in between Solo and Co. ARRESTS/TORTURES/MURDERS of April 2016 and Jammeh’s Departure in January 2017. 3 days ago, one of those arrested with SOLO, journalist Ebrima Janko Ceesay died.
        Gambia was on the verge of a full-scale war and families were stocking up with food.
        Lawyer Darboe and Co. were HOSTAGES of Yahya Jammeh in Mile 2 Prison – and we are all relieved that Jammeh did not kill them (which I am absolutely certain will have crossed Jammeh’s mind).
        I expected Yahya Jammeh to arrest the Heroic Halifa Sallah in one of those ICONIC interviews and kill him.
        But God delivered The Gambia and its heroic sons and daughters with a PEACEFUL outcome.
        I JUST WISH GAMBIANS COULD STOP THE CHILDISH SQUABLING AND ENGAGE IN PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS.

        • Dida My Brother, Is this what you are saying now.
          ”I JUST WISH GAMBIANS COULD STOP THE CHILDISH SQUABLING AND ENGAGE IN PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS” after raising the following questions…

          Why should the Barrow government embark on a fundamental constitutional change – and the required referendum – just to shorten this President’s term to three years when the Barrow government feels that there are more important matters of nation building to attend to in the next five years?

          Why should Lawyer Darboe’s UDP waste valuable time on a “3-year Presidential term” amendment that needs an expensive and time-consuming nationwide referendum when there is so much work to be done?

          What about after the 3-years? Will Gambians have to amend the Constitution again to return to a 5-year presidential term – and have a referendum again to approve that 5-year amendment?

          By this you seem to confuse yourself and try to confuse everybody else in the process. You know very well that when the coalition partners were agreeing to a 3 year transition, they were not ignorant of the fact that the constitution has a 5-year presidential term and they must have thought of what it will require to practicalise the agreement. They all went ahead and willing agreed to it and put it before the people during the election campaign. It was not forced upon anyone of them. So what reasonable excuse is there for one to give for not honoring that agreement which gave us the change we need and desperately yearned for even if it requires a referendum.

  6. @Max…”Halifa has the same problem. He think he knows the constitution and politics better than many UDP National Assembly members who are recently elected. ”

    Comment: It is a sign of one’s own inadequacy to convince one self that the actions of a person who is contributing his/her quota to national development, are indicative or suggestive of the person pretending or believing to know more than everyone else. That’s what is called, “inferiority complex”, I believe.

    It is great that we have so many educated NAMs and this would make the house better, if they listened to experienced old hands, like Hon.Sallah.

    Stop lying against PDOIS Maxs. How can you claim that PDOIS never acknowledged the role of the diaspora, when PDOIS has diaspora branches, especially in Europe and America?

    Fatu and Pa Nderry are Gambians who have contributed in no small measure during the struggle. Today, they are Playing the same role of asking questions and pointing out what they believe are legitimate concerns. They should be engaged by people who think they should change style.

    • Bax, why did PDOIS never attend any meeting in diaspora when they were invited during the struggle? Among all the politicians in The Gambia, Halifa is the only one who refused to meet the diaspora. PDOIS has no zero members in USA, I am not aware of it. Tell me one prominent member for PDOIS in USA? Don’t tell me is Fatu Camara because she has no permanent position, she can drift to UDP today when they give her position. It cannot be pa Nderry because pa has no permanent friend or position either. I do not know any prominent Gambian who supports​ Halifa in USA.

      • Brother Max, please hear yourself again
        ”Bax, why did PDOIS never attend any meeting in diaspora when they were invited during the struggle?”
        Have you forgotten so soon that the idea of the establishment of NADD was conceived at a meeting in the US attended by PDOIS during which Halifa Sallah whose invaluable service to the nation you are refusing to acknowledge was selected as the coordinator of the process of bringing all the opposition parties together under an alliance. Or are you now trying to convince us Max that that was not during the struggle ?. Please our dear country need honest people to move forward; people who will put country before self. let us all strive to be counted as one of those.

        • Fabaks , I have met our political leaders during that time and that was once time opportunity for Halifa to come to USA . Since 2005/6 , how many invitations Halifa rejected and refused to meet with diaspora? If you are honest to yourself, why PDOIS never send their representatives to attend those meetings? During the past 22 years of jammeh’s dictatorship , Halifa went to diaspora one time , in fact the reason he went was because he was appointed as a coordinator of Nadd , if he was an ordinary member of NADD he would never show up. What was the result of NADD , it was a constitutional mistake and Halifa ended up appointing himself as the presidential candidate for NADD . He planned the same scenario this last election but he was humiliated in the convention to extend that his own delegates voted for Adama Barrow. But he was appointed as a spokesman for the coalition the position he still claim in him mind that he occupy despite the fact that there was no such position immediately after the installation of president Barrow . How many times lawyer Darboe met with diaspora? How many times OJ and Ahmed Bah met with diaspora? All the leaders met with diaspora more than two times and they acknowledged the roles of diaspora to bring about change in the country. As recently as before the solo Sanderg peaceful protest, lawyer Darboe was in U.K. . Where was Halifa Sallah all these years? Please tell us .

          • Max you seem to have again forgotten what you have just said which I responded ”Bax, why did PDOIS never attend any meeting in diaspora when they were invited during the struggle?” This is what I responded to.
            Again you are making a mistake by insisting that

            ”During the past 22 years of jammeh’s dictatorship , Halifa went to diaspora one time , in fact the reason he went was because he was appointed as a coordinator of Nadd , if he was an ordinary member of NADD he would never show up. What was the result of NADD , it was a constitutional mistake and Halifa ended up appointing himself as the presidential candidate for NADD.”

            I told you that all the parties where invited to the United States where the idea of establishing NADD was conceived. Halifa represented PDOIS at that meeting and was selected by all the other party representatives present to coordinate the process of bringing all the opposition parties that existed then under a alliance which later came be NADD. And you are saying that he was there as a coordinator of NADD. How can the reason for him been at that meeting be because of him been appointed as coordinator of NADD when NADD has not even exist at the time?. NADD which is not different from Coalition 2016 failed not because of it been registered as a party. On the contrary it failed because Mr Darboe and his party UDP pulled out of it. If that did not happen the change which was achieved in December 2016 could have been achieved in 2006; Ten years ago. All the killings, mismanagement and the looting of our economy by Yahya Jammeh during this period[ from 2006 to December 2016] could have been prevented. This is the fact Max, my brother. It is not Halifa who prolong our suffering under Jammeh.

      • Max, did you entertain the probability that by others standards, you don’t know any prominent Gambian in the United States. Be that as it probably is, what has “Prominence” have to do with the Allah/God given Privilege and Right for Free Expression to all and from all Gambians and Non Gambians alike. Or is your Statement more of another Insidious, Cynical Code word implying only those who believe and agree with you and UDP REGIME and Militants Matter? Endeavor to restrain yourself and treat all in a respectful and decent manner. First, comes Dismissiveness, Objectification, and then Dehumanizing Behavior before Ethnic CLEANSING and Potentially Genocidal Acts. Cease and Desist. GAMBIA is More than the Sum Total of One Individual, One Ethnic Group and Region. One GAMBIA, One People, One Destiny.

        • Sidi , I notice that you cannot engage in a civilized and rational discussion without bringing your tribalistic and bigotry viewpoint. In this discussion here , no one has mentioned anything about tribe , why are you bringing your bigotry and irrational argument. You cannot present a coherent argument and your argument is word salad and ignorance to say the least . Unless you do personal evaluation, there is no need to engage you in your futile and tribal inciting propaganda. Get over yourself . Gambian people have decided whether you like it or not . You should Contribute constructively and positively in National discourse than engage in your hateful vengeance you always present here .
          In any struggle, you must have leaders who have influence in the community and these are prominent people . These are change agents , opinion leaders or prominent members who has greater influence to effect change . You also have innovators of ideas who later can become prominent people when their ideas are known to vast majority. Example within PDOIS leadership, Haifa is a prominent leader. PDOIS do not have that kind of person in USA which I am aware of . They do not have prominent political activists like UDP have in USA . You need to go back to school . There cannot be any change without prominent people. These people advocate for ideas such as political ideology to effect change . So your limited understanding of the term “prominent ” has tipped you off to engage in your tribalistic and bigotry argument . Go to school and study leadership and communication then you will understand what I mean by prominent people in the community.

          • Halifa is a very focused leader. He has a busy, people cantered schedule on a daily basis. He has queues of people waiting to see him every day. He does not have to travel abroad unless it is absolutely necessary. PDOIS has other officials who can travel abroad to meet with the diaspora. Sidia Jatta, for example, has travelled abroad to meet with diaspora, and I’m sure others have also done so.

          • Bax, are you telling us that other political leaders are not busy? Please stop giving us excuses. Halifa refused to meet diaspora on many occasions, why did he not send PDOIS representatives to those meetings in USA?
            Fabaks, was NADD the only opportunity to effect change in The Gambia? Why are you so fixated with NADD failure. NADD failed because of many reasons but I know Halifa wanted to be a leader which was why he nominated himself as Presidential candidate for NADD. Stop blaming UDP for NADD failure. UDP recognized that NADD cannot be a political party because it violated the constitution but Halifa didn’t see that.

  7. My in law…

    I agree with your observation of how quickly we forgot, but for different reasons. I think it is important that we reflect, not only on the death of Solo and imprisonment of Lawyer Darboe and Co, as well as the many deaths and unjustified imprisonment, before and after them, but most importantly, on the reasons and the route we took to get to that stage.

    Many are concentrating on the “finished product”, Yaya Jammeh and his crimes, but he did not get to that stage overnight and by accident. And two of the factors that made this transformation possible, in my view, was the system he inherited and the practices in government and governance.

    A major feature of the failings in our governance practice, is the display of unquestioning support for the government by supporters and the passivity of the rest of the nation and this has characterised our national politics for as long we existed, as an independent country.

    The result was the possibility of ruling on practices that have no basis in the Constitution or blatant impunity with divastating consequences, at times, without any repercussions for a very long time. We have now got rid of a power consumed, semi mad man, and pledged to start afresh, but what have we got ?

    A President who has not appointed a VP almost 90 days into his term; A sizable portion of the population that is willing to defend and support the disregard of the law, as far as appointing a VP is concerned (not the age restriction), including a government minister who has misinterpreted the law to say that the appointment of VP is not time bound, when the Constitution clearly stated that,

    “There shall be a Cabinet comprising the President, Vice president and Ministers.” It also states that the VP should represent the President in the National Assembly.

    The intent of the Constitution for the VP to be appointed by the time the National Assembly is constituted is quite clear. So here, we have the disregard of the constitution and the readiness to defend the actions or omissions by a vast number of supporters of government, one of the factors I mentioned above.

    Then we have the 3 year Manifesto pledge of President Barrow, and even before he got to his land mark 90 days, there are doubts whether he will honour this pledge, yet the nation is supportive of this attempt not to honour a campaign pledge or completely silent, a passivity of the citizenry that is also another factor, because good governance will always be a casualty, without the active involvement of the citizens.

    To conclude, I want to use the example of the UK, since we are always referring to this Great Country. When Chancellor Hammond announced an increase in the NI contribution of the White van man (self employed ), there was a huge noise from every sector of society because he had, by so doing, failed to keep a campaign pledge of the Tories.

    What happened ? Within days, the decision was reversed. The entire nation, even hard core Tory voters, demanded that the Tories honour their campaign pledge, despite the fact that the increase affected ONLY the White Van Man. So, that is the power of an active citizenry that guarantees good governance.

    Here in The Gambia, though we aspire to start afresh, we are actually encouraging and supporting the person who should lead our efforts to achieve that change, to disregard his campaign pledge and set a precedent into the new republic. If that then becomes a habitual occurrence in the new republic, as it surely will by all indications, we only have ourselves to blame. We would have reaped the benefits of what we sowed, rightly and deservedly so too.

  8. Max, My borother, This may be my last comment on this issue because I have come to the conclusion that you have seen the truth but you decide just not to accept it for reasons best known to you. This is your last comment on the issue. Just honestly go over it again and see.

    ”Bax, are you telling us that other political leaders are not busy? Please stop giving us excuses. Halifa refused to meet diaspora on many occasions, why did he not send PDOIS representatives to those meetings in USA?”

    ”Fabaks, was NADD the only opportunity to effect change in The Gambia? Why are you so fixated with NADD failure. NADD failed because of many reasons but I know Halifa wanted to be a leader which was why he nominated himself as Presidential candidate for NADD. Stop blaming UDP for NADD failure. UDP recognized that NADD cannot be a political party because it violated the constitution but Halifa didn’t see that”

    Max, I can’t think of any other opportunity better, either before or after NADD. The only time that we’ve come close to it was in 2011 when the United Front was established which the UDP again refuse to be part of.

    About one year before the establishment of the United Front I myself, Alagie S Darboe now a National Assembly member for Brikama, Ebrima [Fabu] Sanneh now in the US, Lamin Jatta all UDP militants and some other youths organized ourselves into a group of concerned​ Gambians and came up with a proposal for a coalition which will include all the opposition parties to run a transition of just few months [just to ensure that Jammeh is dislodge from power]. After we wrote the proposal I recalled they were all saying that whoever of the Leaders do not accept it, we should know that that person is not seeking office for the sake of the interest of the people but his own.

    For your information Max, after presenting our proposal to all the opposition party leaders, we made a follow up to discuss its content. All of the Leaders accepted our proposal accept Mr Darboe. He rejected it outright saying it was not different from the MOU of NADD which he said he pulled out of for the same reasons. I could remember may be because of disappointment Mr Sanneh [Fabuu] remarked that if Mr Darboe felt that the proposal presented to him is useless which in our humble view is the best that one can come up with to unite all the parties under the circumstances, he should throw it in a dustbin and come up with one that is better.

    Max, the only alternative Mr Darboe offered us was for us to go back to the other party Leaders and ask them to come and rally behind his party because is the biggest party[ even though it was unable to effect change on its own despite it size]. This has all the time been his position; putting his party before the Nation. What is the point of going to a meeting in the USA with people with such a rigid posturing. Even many strong supporters of UDP now admits that if Mr Darboe was around the 2016 coalition would not have been possible.

    Yes brother Max, Mr Darboe’s resignation and the subsequent withdrawal of UDP is the only reason for the failure of NADD. The only reason he came at his first meeting after his resignation in Brikama was that others are trying to use his party as a ladder to get to power. And this has led many to loose hope and even to believe that Jammeh can never be defeated at the polls. My brother I am so fixated with NADD failure because of how much it cost us in term of loss of lives and all the others. I’m imaging that the lives of most of the bodies that are been exhumed recently could have been saved.

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