Fellow Gambians:

  As we simultaneously bear witness to the greatest act of political folly in our nation's history, the urgent question on the collective consciousness of those yearning for a new direction under a transitional NADD government must be "what now"?

  Specifically, whither NADD, and whither Gambia 2006?

  The challenges now confronting NADD's realisation of the ultimate objective of its political project – the peaceable removal of Yahya Jammeh from the presidency - is clearly phenomenal, but no where near overwhelming. The arrest of Hamat Bah, Omar Jallow (OJ), and Honourable Halifa Sallah, all members of the entity's executive, offers a key strategic advantage to NADD. With Yahya Jammeh ostensibly oblivious of the gathering storm of political discontent in The Gambia, NADD must be proactive in seizing the momentum created by the arrests, and hold on to the attendant opportunity in framing the terms of the debate for the soul of a country adrift in the hazardous seas of uncharted waters.

  Having played his entire hand, Yahya's extraordinary lack of political judgment is quite sobering in the potential gravity of its consequences. With brute force as his sole remaining option, the end game has effectively commenced. NADD must pursue the parallel policies of election 2006, and still assert its natural right to self-defence by serving notice on Yahya that he misreads the national mood at his peril.

  As a people, are we then at a crossroads?

  Not in terms of party choice in respect of the 2006 presidential race for Gambia’s state house. On that score the direction is obvious. The future is NADD.

  Barring a postponement or cancellation of the presidential poll, NADD's window of opportunity in naming a flag bearer - and a compelling one - is narrowing by the day. Into any calculus of selection must be factored the non-negotiable constants of charisma, intellectual robustness, passion for the rule of law, and across the board marketability.

  Standing as we are at the edge of the precipice, it is imperative that the NADD flag bearer possesses the appealability to convince the Gambian people to abandon their flirtation with dangerous living. And what penchant we have for precarious existence in our refusal to engage reality and call time on the brutal tyranny of an untenable dictatorship. I contend for its untenability in the sense that it will not endure, but at what cost to human life and dignity before its inevitable collapse.

  There is no necessity to be a participant in Yahya's high councils to decipher the mentality driving the unworkable strategy against NADD. The overriding ambition is to postpone the naming of a flag bearer on the hope that the attendant acrimony will scupper any realistic prospect of a viable coalition to evict him from his presidential squat.

  In light of the arrests, there is no gainsaying the compelling logic of naming a flag bearer whose commitment to NADD is unassailable in its clarity and sincerity. The potential choice must be a selfless servant of the people with a deep appreciation of the fundamental tenets underlying the principle of the rule of law. He must be able to interact with the masses, be they the uneducated, the intellectuals at all levels, and the accredited diplomatic community to The Gambia. He must be a respectable and persuasive force at the international level, our pre-eminent face and ambassador to the world community, and one particularly able to grasp the esoteric nuances of global diplomacy. He must in no small measure demonstrate a personal integrity capable of weathering all reasonable scrutiny. The flag bearer must demonstrate a positive awareness and concern for his legacy.

  It is my contention that with stakes so high, NADD's most realistic option is to select a known quantity on the national stage. Where better to start than among the executive committee, all of whom are willing warriors in the struggle to safeguard the true national security of The Gambia. In light of the transitional nature of NADD, with a sunset provision for the arrangement to self-destruct after five years, the flag bearer must be a visionary with the capacity to coordinate institution building across the constitutional spectrum of our public life. The person must be capable of strict adherence to all facets of the transitional arrangement and must willingly relinquish office without precipitating a damaging and potentially destabilising power struggle.

  In the sense that he is not a traditional politician, and with no baggage from either the pre- or post-1994 governments, the NADD executive member clearly suitable for the mantle of 2006 presidential flag bearer is Honourable Halifa Sallah. With his impeccable and breathtaking credentials of political maturity and personal integrity, Halifa embodies the best hopes of a convincing NADD capture of the presidency in the watershed 2006 contest. His name-recognition makes him a suitable compromise candidate for the multifaceted variables that will come into play, and must therefore be factored, into the dynamics of selecting a flag bearer.

  Clearly irrelevant on strict equal opportunity principles, ethnic background will nevertheless inevitably exercise the minds of several reasonable people. Those fears - unreasonable in the main - must nevertheless be recognised, frontally addressed, and allayed. On this critical front, Halifa is the only national figure capable of commanding across-the-board electoral endorsement capable of sealing the fate of tyranny in the Gambia.

  Over the years, his tireless charting of a vision of political dispensation anchored in the mores of social justice and the rule of law endeared him to Gambians in all walks of life. He is the unquestionable doyen of the political opposition, an embodiment of the spirit and aspiration of the unstoppable forces coalescing for inevitable change in Gambia’s political direction. He will be a lethal choice!

  In opposition two decades ago, and still in opposition today, Halifa rejected salivating offers of positions in public life, on the admirable grounds that he could not partake in the illegitimate exercise of public power, especially when the full features of that power are on permanent brutal display for all to witness. Himself a visionary of the highest order, Halifa’s foresight, complemented and energised by the intellectual capital of our country, will enable the flowering of a political renaissance to dwarf the soaring heights of human possibilities as envisaged and articulated by the high priests of the humanistic tradition.

  By “intellectual” I refer to those men and women endowed with the common sense to call tyranny by its name, not the certificated buffoons choking the air out of our national life. And there are plenty of those charlatans assiduously competing to out-excel each other in researching and implementing the cutting edge trends in The Gambia’s dastard and booming sycophantic industry.

  Even as he languishes in unlawful custody, NADD must seize the strategic advantage and name Halifa its candidate for president. Any show of indecisiveness will play into the hands of the dictatorship. The calculated gamble of unlawful arrest and detention as a pre-emption strategy against naming a NADD flag bearer must explode on the face of tyranny. On even the most charitable interpretation, there is no question that this latest escapade represents the height of political desperation, not to mention absolute paucity in strategic judgment. Jammeh’s analysis and conclusions about the general corruption, and corruptibility, of the Gambia character must be comprehensively rejected as unfounded.

  As to the fabricated charges preferred against the arrested leaders, there should be no cause for alarm. I am convinced that events outside the control of the courts will render the judicial process moot. In any case, all charges with diplomatic dimensions will not proceed. It should be reassuring to concerned Gambians that our courts have no competence to request, much less to compel evidence from a sovereign country. On that scenario, even the most partisan jurist must succumb to reality and dismiss the fabricated charges. Although the entire case will collapse under its overwhelming dead weight, it is nevertheless a perversion of the rule of law, and the doctrinal independence of the Judiciary, to assign any of these cases to an ardent partisan such as Justice Paul.

  I now formally call on Ousainou Darboe, Lamin Waa Juwara, OJ, Hamat Bah, and Sidia Sanyang, to demonstrate the assumed courage of their democratic convictions, and entrust the mantle of flag bearer to Halifa. They should find assurance in the theory advanced by several commentators, and endorsed by those who cared to examine the broad vistas of history, that a nation’s gratitude is not necessarily the preserve of those exercising public power.  Most are mere footnotes, and the majority never even make it that far. If you are able to help liberate us from a tyranny that is threatening to rip the very fabric of our nation, your places in The Gambia’s annals of political liberation will be assured.

  I recommend Halifa for NADD flag bearer of Gambia 2006

  Let us embrace Halifa for the first President of the Third Republic. The opportunities will never be any brighter.



  LJDarbo




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