It's a Shame, Mr. President
http://allafrica.com/stories/200308080597.html

The Independent (Banjul)
OPINION
August 8, 2003
Posted to the web August 8, 2003

By Lamin Jatta Abdou Kadir Jatta Babucarr Kannuteh and Babucarr Manneh
Banjul

Ola Rotima was right in his book, "The Gods are Not to Blame," when he
wrote, "Is it not ignorance that makes the rat attack the cat."

We are deeply shocked, disappointed and disturbed that the President of
this great country of ours has chosen to reduce himself so low to the
extent of assassinating the untainted, charismatic, exemplary and upright
character of a person in the high calibre of Honourable Halifa Sallah who
is widely known for his modesty, high education and sincere commitment to
nation building.

It now appears crystal clear that the President has lost all his direction
to his Vision 2020 dream that he used to be too much obsessed with. Now he
is resorting to the habit of character assassination. It is a very bad
habit that should not have to do with the presidency. In the eve of the
last parliamentary election the president did the same thing.

He woefully failed to achieve his misguided objective. The fruitlessness it
yielded him in the parliamentary election should have thought him that
character assassination has no place in the decent Gambian culture
especially in politics, which he (the president) purportedly despises.

Today, he is part of the colony of political animals in this country
although he is not doing very well. He failed to learn his lessons from the
parliamentary election. We are assuring him that the event of the
parliamentary elections in Serrekunda Central would be replicated in the
next presidential elections across the country which would ultimately
unseat his backward looking aristocratic regime. You and your sycophants
are aware of this, you perceived to be an eminent danger and thus your
actions.

Mr. President by launching a direct personal attack on the leadership of
the Peoples' Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism, PDOIS,
you are in essence, directly attacking the Gambian youth who once held you
in high esteem. PDOIS is the only icon of hope and knowledge for us the
Gambian youths. Mr. President you appeared to be ungrateful but you did
actually benefited from the magnanimity of these great individuals in your
school days. PDOIS is the party that enlightened the Gambian youth and
accounted for why we do not have a monarchy in the Gambia. It is PDOIS who
have the courage to remind Gambians what you really are; that you are not a
king but a mere public servant who is answerable to all Gambians. The
conflict between you on the one hand, and PDOIS and the Gambian youths on
the other hand is a source of considerable stress for you thus making you
to vent out your anger on the leadership of PDOIS. Whatever your
frustration leads you to do Mr.

President, come rain or shine you should begin to reckon with the fact that
your days are numbered; because we the Gambian youth would see you out of
office in the 2006 presidential election and put in place a system that is
composed of highly educated people. The job of running a country is not for
every "Tom Dick and Harry."

Mr. President, the unprecedented, unbearable and worsening suffering of
innocent Gambians thanks to your bad management of the economy is a clear
indication that your regime is bankrupt of ideas, which is a strong
indication that Vision 2020 is already a fiasco. This unfortunate situation
has virtually left you with no agenda but to soil the righteous image of
Honourable Halifa Sallah. You told Gambians untruths and fabricated an
incredible story that Sallah did not bag any degree in his field as if you
have acquired one yourself. Your intention is actually to shift the
attention of Gambians from their terrible suffering due to your disastrous
economic performance.

You promised that you were going to be soldiers with a different but the
sad situation in the Gambia today speaks for itself on how you measure to
some of your colleagues in other parts of the world.

You and your cohorts drive in the most expensive and luxurious cars and
even change them frequently like you change shirts and forget that nine
years ago you severely criticised the regime you overthrew over its use of
pajeros and Mercedes Benzes.

You send your wife to deliver in the United States and forget that nine
years ago you claimed that the Jawara regime you had overthrew had done so
because Jawara and his regime used state funds to send their relatives for
treatment abroad. This happened against the backdrop of acute and worsening
poverty for Gambians who grapple with the burden of accounting for the fuel
to run ambulances at public health centres to ferry the sick to major
hospitals. If you think you have really improved the health facilities in
Gambia, why didn't you risk it yourself?

You grilled Jawara's PPP regime for killing and torturing the 1981 coup
plotters while forgetting that you as Commander in Chief of the security
forces in the country presided over two consecutive days of brutality
unleashed on Gambian school children. What was more, you indemnified the
actual killers with your sycophants at the National Assembly who dance to
your tune at every hour. They glorified the murder of Gambian kids and you
assented to it falsely thinking that you would evade justice.

Having soiled your hands, Mr. President, you do not stand in any moral high
ground to criticise an honest politician as Honourable Sallah.

You criticised the PPP regime for its alleged lack of transparency,
accountability and its encouragement of endemic corruption. Today, the
abuse of these terms are more synonymous with your government than the
Jawara government. Don't forget that your government was engaged in two oil
sagas that have been shady.

Finally paying you by you own coin, we declare and believe that the APRC
initials actually stand for Assassins of People's Reputable Characters.




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