My Assassination Will Not Temper Our Zeal - Darboe



The Point (Banjul)

October 16, 2000

Banjul

President Yahya Jammeh's regime has ruined the country and with it parts of
Gambian's lives, according to UDP leader Ousainou Darboe, and that is why today
there is an unshakable determination on the part of the majority of Gambians to
make a swift change in forthcoming elections.

It is a verdict Jammeh and his sycophants cannot avoid, the opposition party
leader declared, adding that Jammeh will try every means available ranging from
interference with the electoral machinery to inducement of voters, from misuse
of public funds as has been evident in tractors issue, and the unleashing of
terror and unprecedented intimidation on the UDP and ordinary Gambians.

"But, I say to you my fellow countrymen, trying to assassinate me or my
collegues or supporters will neither temper our zeal nor derail this nation's
struggle to take control and management of its affairs by choosing leaders of
their choice. Yahya Jammeh and his cronies have to look somewhere else if he is
looking for people to enslave for I am confident they will find no willing
person anywhere along the length and breadth of this nation." The UDP party
leader Ousainou Darboe delivered a policy statement which touched on a wide
range of topical issues to thousands of party supporters and sympthisers at a
colourful meeting organised by the party's women's wing in Banjul on Saturday
evening.

Notwithstanding the APRC government's endless attempts at stifling democracy and
the rule of law, Darboe said, Gambians insists and will continue to insist on
their constitutionally guranteed rights to choose their leaders in accordance
with legally sanctioned methods and procedures.

The UDP, Darboe said, will not under any circumstances tolerate the government
abrogating their rights as a free people through judicial chicanery or other
means of repression. Gambians will not give up their rights to choose between
what the APRC government represents and what they proposed as an alternative.
Overall, Darboe went on, the people would decided if they want to continue to be
under a leadership that would ruthlessly trample on their
constitutionally-guaranteed rights to live peacefully under the equal protection
of the law, a leadership that has brought them economic ruin, a collapse in
health services and a future that offers no prospects.

"Because of their pariah status all our development partners have withdrawn
direct government to government aid. The most recent is the exclusion of the
Gambia from Clinton's list of nations eligible to benefit from expanded
opportunities for trade." Darboe said the limited revenue being generated by the
already overburdened Gambian taxpayer is being mismanaged and lavished on the
instruments of power that only serves to perpetuate this regime. Consequently,
the education, health and agricultural sectors are not receiving the required
attention, he added. The president is allocating himself and his favoured
security apparatus millions of Dalasis to meet dubious expenditures that are of
no intrinsic value to Gambians, he said.

The UDP would immediately defund and demobilise all strata of security
organizations that fall outside of the Gambia National Army and the Gambia
police force. The Jammeh regime, Darboe noted, has done nothing other than
undermine these two institutions that were once configured to defend the nation
and enforce its laws respectively. The APRC government, according to Mr. Darboe,
has made it a matter of policy to hijack the nation's airwaves in a bid to deny
the citizens the opportunity to entertain alternative viewpoints which all are
entitled to. However, according to him, the reason is they know their corrupt
and bankrupt government would on account of its ideas fail any time it is
publicly contrasted with what they and the other opponents have to offer.

Darboe also talked UDP's policy concerning women and youths. He emphasised that
we cannot afford to have an entire generation to be callously and deliberately
consigned to a life of hardship with no prospect, while millions of dalasis are
committed to and spent on poetically expedient and useless projects.

The salvation of the Gambian youths in this competitive world is a good solid
education that would equip them to live their dreams and also enables them to
uphold the traditions of Gambian life by enabling them to be of service and
benefit to their families and community, according to Darboe.

The April 10 and 11 events reflect Jammeh's attitude to Gambians in general and
the youths in particular, he declared.

"Five months into that wanton murder, this government does not have the decency
to make the basic (even though flawed) findings of a commission whose terms of
reference make an insidious mockery of the nation. That the shooting at close
range of un-armed students could be handled in the manner Jammeh and his
administration has done is utterly unacceptable to any decent Gambian. One of
UDP's first orders of business, if elected to office, Darboe said, is to
establish a judicial process that would thoroughly investigate the students
massacre. No one found culpable will escape the wrath of justice."

Concerning the women, Darboe said that his party will uplift them to enable them
fully participate in the affairs of the nation. To this end, his party will
develop a three-pronged strategy: paying special attention to the under
representation of girls in education; technical assistance to women in the
informal sector, and health care.

"To the youths and women of the Gambia, I say in a UDP government, you will find
an honest and dependable partner for your future...my hope, aim and ambition is
to hand over the baton of leadership to the youths of today to carry the task of
making the Gambia an even better place to live in." According to Mr. Darboe, the
forthcoming elections are the most important in the nation's history, because
the very viability of the Gambia is at stake. "Jammeh and the APRC are driving
this nation into a cul-de-sac and, therefore, Gambians have a responsibility to
change the direction.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------