-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [>-<] Talking Point: Mbarodi-The Party (Political) Leader That
Never Was And Will Never Be
From: "THE POINT NEWSPAPER" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Gambia | Post" <[log in to unmask]>
Talking Point
Mbarodi-The Party (Political) Leader That Never Was And Will Never Be
Please kindly allow me to react to certain statements made by Lamin Waa
Juwara (Mbarodi) against the UDP leader, Mr. Ousainou Darboe, in which he
called on the latter to resign as party leader. Having ignored the many
provocative statements made by Mbarodi as a party "loyalist", I can no
longer contain my concern and dismay at the low depth of ignominy that
this executive member of the party has fallen into. My reaction that
follows is designed to show not only the chameleon character of Mbarodi
but also the weakness of the allegation he made against the party
leader. The political hidden agenda of Mbarodi and the baseless nature
of Mbarodi's call for the party leader to resign. But who is Mbarodi?
Lamin Waa Juwara (Mbarodi) hails from Dankunku where after his primary
education, proceeded to Kaur and from there, he went to Armitage Boarding
School. Here, he worked his way up to became the school Seyfo. At
Armitage, the first signs of Mbarodi despicable character came to light
when he instigated students to go on a strike which failed because he
chicken out.
>From Artimage he went to the Yundum Teacher Training College and as a
student leader, he again organised an abortive demonstration which also
ended up in failure because he lacked the appropriate qualities of the
leader that can effectively organise a movement confrontationally, to
achieve its objective. After a brief spell in the teaching field, Mbarodi
made his way to Bulgaria through the assistance of the late Jay Saidy
who was the leader of African Students Organisation. At the University
of Sophia, in Bulgaria, Mbarodi settled down and the first thing he did
successfully was to undermine Jay Saidy's leadership which he achieved
without any moral guilt to his conscience. Are we therefore surprised
that Mbarodi is trying to do the same thing to Mr. Ousainou Darboe?
After his studies, Mbarodi came home and joined the civil service. He
served as a commissioner in almost all the divisions of the country. His
administration as commissioner was marked by confrontation with the
local leaders in almost all the divisions he served. In the North Bank
he had a confrontation with the late Chief Kebba Jammeh almost resulting
in the latter's dismissal. In the Upper River Division he picked up a
quarrel with the later Chief Muhammed Kurubally, trying to illegally
re-enter the latter's property but without success. In the Central River
Division, he manipulated the Chieftaincy election on behalf of the late
Momdou Tubb at the expense of the Ceesay Kunda Family, the traditional
cheiftancy household.
In the Lower River Division, he unsuccessfully tried to destroy the
ex-chief Buwa Kinteh. The point to note here is that 'Mbarodi is the
type of character who believes that nobody deserves to lead except him.
Wherever he goes, his first agenda is to belittle leaders who refuse to
dance to his tune. It is therefore not a surprise that he is trying now
to belittle the UDP leadership so that be can assume the position.
Mbarodi became a member of the PPP under the leadership of his so-called
uncle, Sir Dawda Kariaba Jawara. He was however later expelled from the
party for anti party activities. Mbarodi joined the NCP from which he
resigned after failing to dislodge the party leader, Sheriff Mustapha
Dibba. As he is doing now, Mbarodi embarked on a campaign of vilification
accusing Sheriff Dibba of running the NCP as a personal property, not
answerable to any one and using the party, for his personal needs. These
allegations were found to be untrue and the NCP decided to part company
with Mbarodi. The above is the character of the man called Mbarodi who
now shamefully embark on tarnishing the image of the UDP leader without
any justification, apart from satisfying his ego. Mbarodi has a hidden
political agenda. He wants to be a leader without possessing the
qualities of one.
He does not want to be led by anyone and yet to has no followers to lead.
Before analysing Mbarodi's allegations, I will be pleased if he could
give honest answers to the following questions:
a) As the propagandes secretary of the UDP, did he exhaust all the
appropriate avenues within the party structure to air out his grievances
or concerns before going public?
b) If Mbarodi has no hidden agenda, why should he be continuously
chastising the party leader which he claims to represent and support?
c) How effective or productive was Mbarodi as the propagandes secretary
of the UDP?
d) Can Mbarodi discredit the party and its leader for failing to adopt
his style of confrontatual politics?
e) What proof does Mbarodi has to justify the claim that the party leader
helped himself with party funds to pay for his income.
f) Are these baseless and rhetoric statements aimed at satisfying his own
ego at the expense of the UDP leader?
g) Does he Mbarodi believe that by trying to sow seeds of discord he
could provoke a chain of negative reactions that could distract the
party? The common denominator of all these allegations is that they are
false, inflammatory and irresponsible. On the first allegation, Mr.
Ousainou Darboe did consult before conceding defeat and congratulating
the president. It is on records that the party leader consulted the
president of the party, the late Sam Silla, the UDP Co-alition partners
through the Chairman Mr. Assan Musa Camara. Mbarodi was right that he
was not consulted but with reasons. As propaganda secretary, he has been
found to be unproductive and failed in his duties to co-ordinate the
activities of our field co-ordinators which partly cost us the election.
Instead of going into the field, Mbarodi chose to spend his time either
in his Brikama residence, surrounded by fanatics or at Brikamaba killing
away his time with a bottle of brandy. Such a party official does not
deserve to be consulted. Mbarodi was not only unproductive but was very
dishonest in helping himself with funds meant for the field
co-ordinators.
His third allegation that Mr. O.N Darboe used the party funds so settle
his income tax arrears is the most ridiculous of all. As far as the
settlement of the tax arrears is concerned, I wish to emphasise that not
a single butut of the party was used. Mr. Darboe himself raised the
funds through the sale of his landed properties and quite a number of
executive members are living witnesses to this except of course Mbarodi.
For obvious reason, accessing Juwara to certain confidential information
which are personal in nature can be detrimental. The present events have
proven the leadership to be right for taking such a posture. I want to
emphasise once more that Mr. O.N. Darboe settled his tax arrears through
his personal funds and not through the party.
On the fourth allegation, he quoted the action of Momodou Lamin Sedat
Jobe in resigning honourably and asked Mr. Darboe to do likewise. May I
remind Mbarodi that he is the very one who should take a leaf from Mr.
Sedat Jobe's action and not Mr. Darboe. Mr. Momodou Sedat Jobe resigned
on principle when he disagreed with certain measures. Mbarodi likewise
hqas disagreed with certain ways in which the party is being handled.
The honourable thing to do is for him to resign instead of raving and
ranting on issues arising from his figment of imagination.
As can be seen from the above, all the allegations made by Mbarodi are at
best, fallacious and indicative of a man wishing to be accepted as a
leader without the qualities and moral standing of a leader. He is
dishonest, disloyal and nakedly ambitious. I would like to reassure
Mbarodi that the leadership of Mr. Darboe he is now questioning is his
democratic right. Unlike him however, lawyer Darboe is not power hungry
nor a selfish person. Mr. Darboe sees his leadership as a great
responsibility entrusted upon him by the majority of Gambians While he
Mbarodi was languishing in jail in Janjanbureh, Mr. Darboe known for his
trustworthiness, did not impose himself on others. He harbors no
personal animosity towards anyone evev under severe provocation such as
the character assassination and mudslinging Mbarodi is now engaged in.
An evidence of this statement is Darboe's continued silence despite the
frequency of Mbarodis vindictive and baseless attack on him. Inspite of
the weakness and emptiness of Mbarodi's allegation, he shamelessly
proceeded to advocate for Mr. Ousainou Darboe's resignation. Regarding
the congress that he Mbarodi is advocating for, yes this will be
convened at the appropriate time because the democratic stance of the
party is unquestionable. The people will obviously be given the
opportunity to choose the leader in the most transparent manner. Surely
there will be aspirants but it will be to the party's delegates, not a
handful of Mbarodi's cohorts who congregate under his mango trees in
Brikama, to choose an alternative to Mr. Darboe.
Finally, I would like Mbarodi to bear in mind that when the UDP was
formed, he was not around. He found the party functioning and joined us.
If he is not satisfied with the way the party is handled, he has the
democratic right to resign instead of calling for the party leader to
resign. Mbarodi cannot usurp the leadership of an organisation when he
is not a founding member. He attempted it with the NCP and miserably
failed. His current attempt of doing the same thing with the UDP will
also fail. He cannot impose himself as a leader. Mbarodi, leave the
people to choose you. Your chameleon character, adept at undermining
leaders, will render you as a leader that never was and will never be.
Concerned Supporter UDP, URD
Kebba.K. Krubally
Alias K.K.Krubally
© 2002 The Point Newspaper, P.O Box 66 Banjul, The Gambia [August 19,
2002]
--
There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see,
yet small enough to solve (Mike Leavitt)
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