Friends,
long time ago I posted my comment on the "political chess" in The Gambia
first ahead of the president- election and later the parliament-ditto.
I will not repeat my analyse, only say that I still find it fantastic that a
political party can decide NOT to run for election, to give up a political
platform and a possibility to get information within the next 5 years. I
also appealed for all parties in The Gambia to work between elections, and
to create a platform inside the parties for the next generation of leaders
so they are ready to take over, when the old elite say farewell.
But if the information given in The Independent is correct, I think that UDP
has a much bigger problem. IF the partyīs money was used to pay for Mr.
Darboes Tax, I do hope that it is a loan, and Mr. Darboe is able to pay the
money back. Without knowing exactly what he earns I am very surprised that
he can have a tax-bill of 543.000 Dalasis. First the authorities has a
problem ? How is it, that he can come so much behind in paying without the
authorities has done something about it ? Has the authorities just let it go
because he is a big fish ? Itīs tax money he has earned and should have paid
to the state/local community. So itīs the people of The Gambia, who suffers
from his non- paying.
And if the party has decided to use itīs money to help its candidate, I do
really hope that the decision to do so is taken according to the party-rules
and regulations. Can the party decide to give/lent a person 500.000 dalasis,
when the money is already reserved for the parliament-election ? Who made
the decision inside the party, who signed the papers ? Who has access to
accounts ? And has Darboe paid back or is there an agreement when and how he
will do so ?
And is it true that this is not first time. That the party gave him/lend him
400.000 for the same purpose - to pay a tax-bill 5 years earlier ?
What kind of a party-leader is he ? What an example ? A man who can not pay
his tax in time. If his bills are that high he earn a lots of money.
I think this is a scandal of dimension, and IF THE INFORMATION IS TRUE, I
can not understand that the information has not been out long time ago. The
people of the Gambia donīt deserve that kind of leaders. But maybe itīs a
political culture ?
And how much has Waa Juwara been engaged and involved in the decision-making
himself. Does he belong to "the small kitchen cabinet of associates", who
made the decision ? And what was the plan of "paying back" IF Darboe won the
lection ?
I think that such a dimension of scandal really needs to come out openly,
and has nothing to do with "washing the laundry inside". But I think that
all the leading members of the party must have something to tell the
party-members in a congress. Why is it that the partymembers has not called
for an extraordinary congress already to get the information, to evaluate
the two elections, to elect a totally new leadership ?
Just a comment from Asbjørn Nordam
> UDP Bankruptcy Responsible for Election Boycott Juwara Fires More 'Shots' At
> Darboe
>
> The Independent (Banjul)
> NEWS
> August 16, 2002
> Posted to the web August 16, 2002
>
> By Sheriff Bojang Jnr
> Banjul
>
> Suggestions that the United Democratic Party is inching closer towards a fully
> blown leadership crisis has been reinforced by startling revelations from
> Lamin
> Waa Juwara that self-inflicted bankruptcy was the main reason behind the UDP's
> boycott of the National Assembly and Local Government elections.
>
> Waa Juwara who was recently accused by Ousainou Darboe's supporters of
> attempting to oust their leader from the UDP's leadership, Wednesday revealed
> to The Independent that D500, 000 (five hundred thousand dalasi) that was
> earmarked as UDP deposits for constituencies in the National Assembly
> elections
> were diverted to paying Darboe's tax arrears to the state to qualify him as a
> presidential candidate in last October's elections, a deal which he said
> caused
> the UDP to be so bankrupt that it could not pay the mandatory deposits for
> constituencies in the National Assembly elections in January and the
> councilorship elections in April. Mr. Darboe was in tax arrears of up to D543,
> 000 with interest, a default, which could have disqualified him to bid for the
> presidency. He was sent a 'demand note' by the Commissioner of Income Tax to
> pay. The arrears were as of June 4, 2001. On September 3 Darboe paid D100, 000
> and was left to pay a balance of D443, 000, which was paid on October 17, a
> day
> before the nomination for the presidential election.
>
> 'c paid out of the party's
> funds Ousainou Darboe's personal income tax arrears in the sum of D500, 000
> accumulated over a period of five years. This rendered the UDP bankrupt and
> serves as the reason behind the party's boycott of the National Assembly and
> Councilor election' Juwara revealed.
>
> Juwara said that he got to know 'this corrupt practice' two days before the
> nominations for the National Assembly race, when the UDP had already deposited
> D75, 000 for some selected constituencies.
>
> 'I was shocked, dismayed and felt betrayed because this action later cost us
> dearly and almost brought the entire activities of the party grinding to a
> halt' he claimed.
>
> Juwara also recalled that in 1996 the UDP had paid over D400, 000 for Darboe's
> personal income tax arrears to facilitate his bid for the presidency in that
> year.
>
> 'It is conditional that before an aspirant can contest as a presidential
> candidate he should have an income tax clearance certificate, therefore it
> must
> have been deliberate that he defaulted twice on a personal basis to pay his
> tax
> liabilities and wrongfully drew funds from the party to satisfy this personal
> requirement. It wasn't surprising that the entire party was thrown into
> confusion when political opponents got wind of this situation and began
> asserting that Darboe had not qualified to contest as a presidential
> candidate'
> Juwara added.
>
> Asked what urged him to maintain support for the UDP despite Darboe's alleged
> under-hand dealings that saw party funds being released to him on a personal
> basis, Juwara said 'it could only have happened behind my back'.
>
> 'It is totally dishonest if we can cheat 48 National Assembly aspirants and
> hundreds of councillorship aspirants of the party for the simple reason that
> we
> have paid money to Darboe personally. How can we cheat our entire membership
> both at home and abroad who has contributed their hard earned cash to the
> party
> only to be spent on Darboe as an individual' he inquired.
>
> 'After this our National Assembly aspirants were put in some serious financial
> difficulties. We nominated them on borrowed money without their knowledge and
> some of them currently are indebted and the party is squarely to blame for all
> this' he charged.
>
> Mr. Juwara pointed out that in his capacity as the party's organising
> secretary
> and as a senior member of the executive, he wouldn't know the present state of
> the party's accounts, which according to him has never been submitted to a
> transparent operation.
>
> 'I know that funds were raised both in the United States and Europe by
> Gambians
> and well-wishers of the party. I also know that Gambians at home, both rich
> and
> poor who support the party, made financial contributions to the party. But
> that
> is all I know about the money' he said.
>
> Juwara who opined that a party wouldn't operate effectively without
> transparency or a committed leadership claimed that Ousainou Darboe and what
> he
> called his small clique of loyalists have succeeded in destroying the party,
> which was the only hope for those striving to dislodge the undesirable
> political dominance of the ruling APRC.
>
> Juwara who is still technically the organising secretary of the UDP, which is
> the most populous opposition organisation in The Gambia, renewed his demand
> for
> Darboe's resignation.
>
> He argued that if Darboe were allowed to continue to lead the party, the UDP
> would definitely be a dead political organisation. According to Juwara the
> party under Darboe's leadership is terminally ill and unless there is a quick
> change of the guards the party may not survive. Juwara said his last wish is
> for the UDP to be rendered defunct alongside its first leader as had happened
> to all political parties in the history of multi-party politics in The Gambia.
>
> 'UP died with its first leader, P.S. Njie, the Muslim Congress died with Garba
> Jahumpa, the NLP died with Pap Cheyassin Secka, the PPA died with Sheriff
> Ceesay, the PDP died with Dr. Lamin Bojang, the GPP died with Assan Musa
> Camara, both the PPP and NCP are struggling to survive and may die with their
> leaders' Juwara opined.
>
> 'For NRP and PDOIS, these are the only active opposition parties in the
> political scene. The APRC will die in the absence of Jammeh' he averred.
>
> Asked what he felt about comments made against him by former UDP Kombo Central
> chairman, Dembo Ara Sanneh's in Monday's edition of The Independent, Mr.
> Juwara
> said, 'ah! That's a minor issue. I don't want to speak on unimportant
> matters'.
>
>
> Asked whether his attack on Darboe does not send the signal that he was on the
> verge of launching his own party, Juwara said he would say nothing yet about
> the possibility. The Independent is privy to information that Mr. Juwara was
> about to form his own party, which would be launched in Jarra Soma although a
> date has not been set.
>
> Meanwhile Darboe told The Independent Wednesday that he was not ready to issue
> any statement on the apparent rift among the UDP ranks. 'I will make my
> response at the right time' he said.
>
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