News from the BBC that Jawara might go to Gambia in time for the October
Election, is a welcomed one. Here is a chance for the man to vindicate
himself. Power was unlawfully usurped from him by a bunch of bandits seven
years ago. These low-lives should NOT prevent him from going back to the
country he worked for for the better part of his productive life. There are
still many people in the country that love the ex-president. Those people
should come together with the current Opposition and give the elder
statesman a hero’s welcome.

These bandits currently running our country have nothing over Jawara.
According to the White Paper that was supposed to impose a ban on Jawara’s
political activities, the only corruption this government is accusing Jawara
of, is the transfer of Jawara’s life savings from the then Meridien Bank
after the president left the country. Nothing was said about crude oil or
other corrupt activities these bandits were talking about in order to
justify hijacking our country.

The Opposition on the ground should set up a tight security apparatus for
the former president. The international community should be lobbied to hold
Yaya responsible for the safety and welfare of Jawara if he decides to
return to the country. If anything happens to him, Yaya should pay with his
own life. I am confident that nothing will happen to Jawara, just like
nothing happened to other Decree 89 politicians. The cowards now know that
they will be held accountable for their actions. It has began to dawn on
them that this party is over. Pretty soon, they will be hoist in courts to
account for their crimes. They know that.

I respectfully counsel the current Opposition leaders to engage OJ and other
PPP members in the country and encourage them to convince Jawara to come
back home and return to political life. The Opposition can work with the PPP
militants and the diplomats in the country to ensure Jawara’s safety. Once
he is in the country, the Opposition should provide him with a stellar
security detail and encourage him to tour the country and campaign for the
presidential candidate the current Opposition is going to field in the
coming election. Who best to defend the PPP record and discredit these APRC
bandits than Jawara himself? Jawara owe it to the Gambian people to explain
how well his government was doing before these bandits stepped in to render
the country backward and end up making the Gambian people poorer than they
were seven years ago. Jawara should explain what he would have done if he
was the president the last seven years with millions of dollars of debt and
aid money coming into the country. In short, Jawara should tackle APRC if
they want to run on the PPP record, while the current Opposition focus on
their plan for the country and Yaya’s mishandling of the country the past
seven years.

History will treat Jawara kindly if he returns to the country and selflessly
helps to get rid of Yaya. But his return should be premised on an adequate
security apparatus to be put in place by an Opposition Alliance. The current
Opposition should field a presidential candidate as soon as possible and ask
for the support of the Decree 89 politicians. One of the promises the next
president might want to give the Decree 89 politicians is that the age limit
for presidential candidates will be eradicated. With the imposition of term
limits, we do NOT need this upper age limit. That is one concession that
might be attractive to the Decree 89 politicians that Yaya CANNOT give them.
There are many more which I trust our leaders on the ground will negotiate
on as soon as possible in their quest to form an Opposition Alliance between
Decree 89 politicians and the current Opposition.

Finally, I hope the current Opposition sees Jawara’s impending return as a
positive thing for the Opposition. Let the man come and defend his record
and vindicate himself. The current Opposition should give him all the
support he needs in order to help the next presidential candidate defeat
Yaya.
KB


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