With only a few weeks of campaign to go before the crucial polls, I'd like to
appeal to all Gambians and friends of Gambia to contribute financially to the
opposition. As a supporter of the coalition of the UDP/PPP/GPP, I would
specifically lobby you to direct your contributions to that alliance. I ask
that you invest your hard earned money on the coalition because your help is
very much needed and you will get a government that is worthy of our people
and would measure up to your very ardent desires for a democratic society
that works. Ousainou Darboe is a good man with a matching temperament of
judiciousness to lead. He is an educated man with a decades old track record
of success in his personal endeavors. I have met and spoken to him dozens of
times and I know he is driven primarily by the need to entirely reform our
system of government so that our institutions would be able to safeguard our
democracy in perpetuity. He very strongly believes that our strength and
future as a nation is predicated on harnessing the collective abilities of
all our citizens. To achieve that he believes we must first of all lay a
genuinely transparent foundation that is conducive to the robust flow of
ideas that would gradually educate the people and finally enable them to make
informed choices. For example he believes consultations across party lines
are an important prerequisite to formulating public policy or foreign policy.
To that end he would very much want a diverse parliament that is active and
functioning effectively as a strong balance to the executive. He also
understands that moving our country to a direction we all aspire is a
monumental task that would require the abilities and dedication of the most
talented Gambia has to offer. That is why he will give responsibility to
people he is convinced have the requisite talents to accomplish defined goals
within a set period.  In short our country would be safely steered by a man
with a steady hand who would dedicate his every waking moment to making our
country better. He will manage our very scarce resources well and would have
the ability to get our friends in the international community to restore aid
that would compliment our national effort of lifting our people.
      To those of you who have never met Mr Darboe and are suspicious of him
either as a person or as a leader, I ask that you take a moment from your
busy schedule and raise your issues with him. He will talk to anyone wanting
to discuss these very important issues especially if you are beset with
nagging questions or find yourself unclear about a specific issue. If
engaging him on your concerns is a little too involved for you, then I ask
you to give him a chance with a conditional support that you can withdraw if
and when he fails to live up to your standards. To those of you who consider
the PPP as being politically radioactive and thus must be vanquished, please
remember unrestricted participation is the very essence of a democracy.
Everyone should be able to take part. You can call the PPP obdurate,
ineffective or whatever, but accord them the courtesy of a democrat and
respect their right to resurrect. If the people of Serrekunda East want O.J,
they are entitled to elect him regardless of what you may think of the guy as
an individual. A lot of the ad hominem towards the PPP overlooks the crucial
tenet of a party or people to reform and change direction. This is not to say
people should not complain as loudly as they can about their opposition to
even a semblance of a return to the old ways. What is preposterous however is
for one to take a pragmatic alliance and from it make a fallacious
extrapolation that everyone involved is somehow tainted and unworthy of
support? There is a world of a difference between an honest objection to the
constitution of an alliance and a never-ending effort at conjuring up
grievances. Let's all rise above our personal inhibitions and support change.
Our efforts are not supposed to be personal commentaries on people. If
injustice is the scrooge that has festered for far too long in our country,
in Ousainou Darboe we will all get a man with impeccable credentials who has
the rule law of at the heart of his reform efforts. Let's stop the quarreling
and support him. There is no conspiracy to exclude anyone. There is no
attempt to go back to the old ways. Let's move forward.
     Please dig into your pockets and send generous contribution to the
collection effort undertaken by Joe Sambou. The opposition needs every dime
as soon as possible and we all know they have no capacity to raise it from
their supporters because Yahya has by design impoverish them to the extent
that three square meals are a thing of the past.It is very important that we
help pay for the cost of regaining our country. Talk to your friends in your
cities or campuses and get what you can together and send it to Joe. Don't
choose the easy way out by deciding that you can't support a less than total
coalition. Take the one party you support and give them your money.
Karamba

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