Halifa Sallah is back again working for Yaya Jammeh . 
Readers, it should not be a surprise for anyone who
knows Halifa Sallah to see him going to work for Yaya
Jammeh and the APRC regime one more time.  I have
always said it in many internet forums that Halifa
Sallah is as arrogant, selfish,stained, deceptive as
Yaya Jammeh.

Frankly I was astonished to read Halifa Sallah's
letter to NRP/UDP Alliance repeating himself over and
over again without making any point.  Most people
would recall I have always challenged Halifa on this
particular forum about his role in installing Yaya
Jamme.  He never responded to those facts that I
presented until on or about May 20, 2006 when he
attempted to justify NAAD's humiliating performance in
the recent Kombo East by-elections.  In that
irresponsible and self deceiving statement, Halifa,
just as typical of him, went on huffing and hoofing
again, contradicting himself and exposing his
arrogance and insensitivity about the political wishes
of the Gambian opposition electorates.  Halifa claimed
that the NAAD candidate was from Pirang Village, that
NAAD was frequently seen in that by-election campaign
than UDP and APRC parties,that NAAD suffered most from
the APRC vote buying, that there was no basis for
measuring of gaining or losing popularity in that
election, and that there was someone in the United
Sates who sent money to the people of Kafuta to
discourage them from voting for NAAD, among many other
deceptive claims.  I did not have time to respond on
time to these irresponsible statements aimed at
keeping his NAAD sponsors in the United States and
elsewhere.

First of all, Halifa did not even know that the NAAD
candidate (Lamin Touray) is not from Pirang, but
Berending Village.  

Secondly, I truly wonder if there are sound minded
supporters of NAAD?  I would have expected some
reasonable person to quickly ask Halifa why NAAD
performed so badly in an election that his party was
"more visible, more involved with the grass roots, and
above all as Halifa claimed, "their candidate was more
comfortable explaining NAAD's programs than UDP".  

Third, as far as UDP is concerned, we did not have any
evidence to suggest that APRC had engaged in vote
buying.  Halifa did not present any evidence including
the number of votes APRC bought from potential NAAD
voters.  I hope this article will lead us to having
those facts presented on this forum. 


Fourth, Halifa fooled himself and of course those
blind followers by arguing that the by-election was
not the basis for measuring gaining or losing
popularity.  Halifa and his comrades in The Gambia,
and of course SINK THE GAMBIA PROJECT(SAVE THE GAMBIA
PROJECT)based in the United States have painted a
false picture to the people in the diaspora that NAAD
is the popular party in the Gambia, and that it has
the backing of most if not all opposition supporters. 
Unfortunately, Halifa and his comrades' persistent
lies and personal attacks on Ousainou Darboe instead
of the APRC did not save them from the humiliation
NAAD suffered when the Kombo East by-election results
were announced.  If politics is not about measuring
popularity I don't know what it is about.

Fifth, Halifa's allegation that someone in the United
States sent money to discourage Kafutarians from
voting for NAAD is as baseless and irresponsible as
his allegations have always been.  As far as I know,
there was no Kafutarian in the United States or
elsewhere who had sent money directly to Kafuta to
induce voters.  I am from Kafuta and Halifa very well
knows that.  Therefore, I will never hesitate to set
the records straight here.  The votes that were
counted for NAAD as in most all the polling stations
were Lamin Touray votes and not NAAD as a party. 
Kafutarians in particular, were receiving mixed
message before they got the facts.  There were others
who did not change their positions even after they
came to know the truth that UDP had nothing to do with
NAAD.  The Lamin Touray campaign introduced themselves
in the name of UDP and in many of his supporters in
Kafuta used my own name to attract voters.  I
personally had high regards for Lamin Touray for many
reasons, but most importantly as a citizen of The
Gambia, and Kombo East District.  You better be ad
viced that we in the Kombo East are closely related
just as in all parts of The The Gambia.  NAAD can only
be remembered for being the only custodian of the
SPOILER VOTES that effectively helped APRC narrowly
carried  seat in the Kombo East by-election.  I would
like assure Halifa that NAAD's two hundred votes in
Kafuta has long been shattered.

I have repeatedly reminded Gambia-L readers about the
role Halifa played in installing Yaya Jammeh.  When
the military overthrew the Jawara regime, they
immediately put a ban on all political parties and
persons with the exception of PDOIS, Halifa Sallah,
Sedia Jatta and Sam Sarr.  During the entire military
two year transition period, Halifa was the only
politician who had openly and aggressively promoted
the AFPRC programs.  I argued several times in this
forum that had Halifa's arrogance and selfishness did
not gripped him, the Draft Constitution as bad as it
was, would not have been passed through his arrogant
and selfishness campaign.  Those fair minded readers
of my contributions would recall all the facts I
presented about Halifa's deeds.  Halifa aggressively
campaigned for the adoption of the badly diluted and
omitted Draft Constitution even before it was debated
on. He was the only politician who occupied The
Gambian air waves through radio one FM, in addition to
the thousands of audio cassettes that he made and sent
across the country urging Gambians to accept the draft
constitution by voting "YES" in the 1996 Referendum. 
The original Draft Constitution seeked not only for a
two five-year term limit for the presidency,it also
seeked for a forty-year age limit.  But the diluted
draft that Halifa promoted did not contain these most
important clauses.  

Lovers of The Gambia and truth, HOW CAN WE EXCUSE
HALIFA AND HOLD YAYA JAMMEH RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MESS
IN THE GAMBIA?
Halifa is equally responsible for the predicament we
find ourselves in today.  Halifa's response to NRP/UDP
proposal was embarrassing and futher exposed his total
insensitivity about the common saying that "what goes
around comes around".  When Halifa was campaigning for
AFPRC, Ousainou Darboe and UDP were not dreamed of. 
PPP was the enemy then.  Halifa and PDOIS thought that
the coup de tat was a blessing for a PDOIS rule in The
Gambia.  You must remember that by that time PDOIS was
already fifteen years old, repeating the same
unconnected ideology which as Waa Juwara put it " they
don't understand themselves".  I can only conclude
that Halifa is an arrogant, selfish and slow to read
the lips of The Gambian people.  Imagine, it took
Halifa ten years to confess that any draft
constitution should be debated on by the constituents
first before they adopts it in a referendum.  Now,
will any honest NAAD supporter kindly urge Halifa "
the greatest mind in The Gambia" to issue an apology
statement to the people of The Gambia for the mess he
put us in. If the electorates could successfully force
Yaya Jammeh to cut the military transition period from
four years to two, which sane mind on earth would not
belief that we could have had a debate on this present
tailor-made constitution that was clearly intended to
suit Jammeh alone.  If the electorates had the chance
to debate the Constitution, you would not have been
pointing your wrong fingers at Ousainou Darboe in your
desperate bid to make him a scape goat for Halifa and
Yaya Jammeh's mess.  It is absolute nonsense for
Halifa to suggest now, ten years after his current
constitution served its purpose that any draft
constitution should be brought before The Gambian
people for ratification.  Halifa is the last person to
understand that, and I we could understand why.  

I read many irrational comments on this and other
forums about Ousainou Darboe and Hamat Bah as though
they are the only obstacle to Halifa presidency.  Some
of you labelled Ousainou and Hamat as two power hungry
politicians who would do every thing to rule The
Gambia.  I hope you will not argue that Halifa was
preparing for a PDOIS rule immediately after the AFPRC
two year transition.  It was only when that failed, he
eyed for majority leader position in the National
Assembly which he eventually snatched from Sedia who
was already serving a second term, now in his third
term in the House.  We asked Halifa to coordinate the
opposition alliance, but to most people's surprise, he
ended up being the flag bearer.  By all accounts
Halifa and Yaya Jammeh are the same.  Yaya also
succeeded himself from military transition to a so
called democractic rule.  

The executive members of NAAd have found themselves
held hostage by Halifa's arrogance and selfishness,
with only him serving as the Spokesman, Party Leader,
Secretary, you name it.  None of the other so called
Executive members have any initiative to redirect NAAd
to answer to the call of  TRUTH and TIME.  I feel
embarrassed when Halifa says " he answered to the call
of duty".  I wonder whose duty has he answered to? 
Certainly Yaya Jammeh again.

I strongly disagree with with my brother Phoday
Samateh's views on Darboe and Hamat.  Phoday, like
Halifa and his blind supporters, clearly never
understood the political climate in The Gambia.  He
charged that Ousainou and Hamat joined NAAD to use its
ladder to achieve  their presidential ambitions.  Mr.
Samateh simply cannot join the dots.  Even one of my
close friends who is a life time PDOIS supporter was
the first to disagree with phoday's views, arguing
that "even though I will never vote for Darboe, but
under the present circumstances he is the ONLY way
forward".  Phoday, If there are any politicians who
joined NAAD purposely to sell their unsellable
programs, they are certainly Halifa, Waa Juwara, and
OJ.  Unfortunately, as in many of his stories, even
though he refered to them as "facts" Phoday failed to
read the writings on the walls that politics is all
about popularity, numbers, and programs, but most
importantly, numbers.  We all know that one has to
climb the steps of any ladder to reach the top, and in
this process you are talking exactly about numbers
here.  Ousainou Darboe and Hamat are the only
opposition politicians with the numbers.  Therefore,
only Ousainou Darboe and Hamat Bah are capable of
climbing that ladder which Halifa cunningly put aside
for himself.  Even the MOU that Halifa and Phoday
cited as the tool for choosing the NAAD flag bearer,
suits Ousainou and Hamat better than Halifa, Waa
Juwara, and OJ, if the selection process were to be
exhausted.  I do respect Phoday's opinion and right to
criticise Ousainou and Hamat objectively, and
subjectively.  However, Phoday claimed that his
article was based on facts, but it is apparent that
all the so called facts he presented in this very
first of the ten articles that he claimed to be coming
are clearly shrouded in hypocrisy, pettiness,hatrate,
and jealousy.  Phoday further alleged that Ousainou
conceded to Yaya's victory in the 2001 presidential
elections "barely just before the winner was
announced".  However, Mr. Samateh deliberately failed
to give us the final tally of the results, and who his
winner would have been had Ousainou Darboe not
conceded.  As far as UDP/PPP coalition was concerned,
there were no evidence at the end of polls to suggest
that after the final tally of the votes, Osainou
Darboe would have had more votes than Yaya Jammeh to
win that election.  Even those party leaders who
conceded days later did not raise any objection to the
out come of the results at that time. I will be very
glad if Mr. Samateh provides those numbers to the
whole world to see.  May be he knows something about
the results that Ousainou or Halifa did not know then.
 Besides, Halifa's PDOIS also conceded to Yaya
Jammeh's defeat, and I wonder if Phoday had ever asked
Halifa why they conceded?  Hamat Bah's NRP also
conceded to Yaya Jammeh, and I wonder if he has raised
a finger at that neither.  Even in the United States
which Phoday and I perhaps consider as the greatest
democracy on the face of the earth, has that culture
of concession when all the facts are presented.  Al
Gore conceded to Bush in 2000,even though he later
withdrew his concession due to some allegations that
surfaced in the voting process in Florida. 
Notwithstanding, when the investigations and recounts
were over, Bush was still declared the winner.  In
2004, John Kerry conceded to Bush several hours before
the final tally was made.  Phoday, this is common
sense and simple mathematics.  I have noticed that Mr.
Samateh always expose his political immaturity each
time he wrote about any subject on this network. 
Ousainou Darboe has repeatedly reminded Gambians about
the Jawara days and what to expect in the future as
long as Yaya Jammeh remains the caretaker of our
country.  Ousainou doesn't have to fetch that slogan
from America's late Ronald Reagan.  Most Gambians view
Ousainou as an honest and patriotic politician who
stood for the country at a time when your present so
called flag bearer was in tne AFPRC circles working to
his death for them.  PPP was the enemy as I said
earlier.  Ousainou has a long record of sacrificing
for the his life, time and resources in defense of
human rights, rule of law and and complete freedom for
all Gambians.  In that process, he has never left any
stone stone unturned.  Ousainou Darboe is not and can
never be your problem your problem.  Halifa Sallah is
your problem and all those patriotic Gambians who want
to see a Gambia free of Jammeh grip come November, 06,
but here comes your Halifa  aggressively working again
for Jammeh , just exactly as he always did.  Halifa
cannot share his treacherous deeds with Ousainou in
any way, not even if the opposition looses to Yaya
Jammeh.  NAAD is in the minority.  All what Halifa,
Waa and OJ can do is to bark at nothing but to their
own disgrace when the dust settles down. 
  
Yes, Hamat Bah was absolutely right that his
party(NRP) and Ousainou's UDP made a great mistake by
agreeing to share power equally amongst the parties
even though they are far from being equal.  I
personally have always maintained that the coalition
should have taken care of the leadership issue first
before anything else, PERIOD.  NAAD leadership simply
lacks the trust of The Gambian people otherwise PDOIS
would have been the majority party in the Gambia.  It
is the only party that has been in existence for
twenty five years without any interruption.  Halifa
and NAAD fans better be advised that no amount of
smear campaign against Ousainou and Hamat can turn the
electorates against them.  Ousainou was the one who
stood his ground to take Yaya Jammeh head on in 1996
when Halifa Sallah was still defending Jammeh.  The
new conspirators Halifa rallied behind him now are all
enemies of freedom and they will undoubtedly go down
in history for being traitors who are all out to serve
the interest of Yaya Jammeh this time in the name of
NAAD under Halifa Sallah's leadership.  Halifa better
know that he cannot equate himself to Ousainou 
Darboe.  By all standards, Ousainou is not Halifa's
match, and is about time he prepare himself for the 
consequences of his treacherous deeds.   The results
will tell the strenght of NAAD once again come
September.  If any body thinks that NAAD can distract
NRP/UDP votes on a national scale, that person is just
hallucinating.

I have long decided that I will never trust doing
business with these NAAD traitors.  It is clear now
that in the open they criticize Yaya Jammeh, but
behind the curtain, thay go to work for him. Here
comes Halifa again determined to go to work for Yaya
Jammeh, after twelve unfortunate years of his 
treacherous, arrogant acts that put us in this
predicament.  How soon he forgot.  The Gambians today
and generations to come will never forgive him for his
ugly deeds twelve years ago to this present day.  We
cannot excuse Halifa and hold Yaya Jammah responsible
for anything.  We will continue to hold his feet to
the fire that he set.  A Halifa Sallah five days in
the State House will be worst than a Yaya Jammeh five
more years.

To be continued. 













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