You know, I could care less *why* Halifa did what he did! If others want to question his motives than go right ahead... However, the fact of the matter remains that he went on a fact-finding mission regarding the "witch-hunts", was arrested for it, and had charges brought against him! Where were the other politicians while all of this was going on? He was the most outspoken out of all of the opposition politicians.
Having said that, though, just like the Republicans and
Democrats in this country can't do anything right in the other's eyes, so goes with the various opposition parties (and their supporters) in The Gambia. If it had been Ousainou Darbo or someone else, then someone would probably be coming along and questioning Ousainou's motives too.
I don't think that anyone in PDOIS is any more or less prone to hero worship than a supporter from any other party, but I've always detected a hint of, I can't find the right word for it, but a hint of defensiveness and and a sorta cult-like hero-worship where Halifa is concerned, though this definitely doesn't hold true for every PDOIS supporter. And Halifa is human, prone to error, just like anyone else, though if you listen to some people talk, he's the best thing since sliced bread, and if you don't support him, then there's something wrong with you, you're stupid, uneducated, or any number of invectives.
Notwithstanding all of this, at least in the most recent case of witch-hunting, no matter why Halifa did what he did, he did it! And if anyone wants to question Halifa's motives for doing so, I'd like a little more than speculation, i.e., direct quotes, hard evidence, etc., for example, to sit there and say "if Halifa knew he'd be arrested, he'd not have done what he did". Which doesn't make sense to me because if memory
serves me, Halifa has been detained before, so surely he knew that his actions could well land him in detention of some sort.
Anyway, I've only read through some of the posts as the back-and-forth was giving me a headache. And it's just the same old "Halifa is selfish/thinks we're stupid/whatever" meme against Halifa, and the "Halifa is great and wonderful and how dare you question him/we all know what you're trying to do/you're trying to tarnish the image of the most courageous Gambian to ever walk the face of the earth/what you're saying about Halifa is patently untrue", on the other side.
And from my vantage point, the true is probably somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. Halifa hs done much to educate Gambians, has done much to empower them electorally, and he has put his life on the line to stand up for Gambians. But last I checked, he was human just like the rest of us, he's not perfect, and just like the other opposition leaders (who by being opposition leaders and human rights lawyers, etc., have also put their lives on the line for The Gambia), have also made mistakes.
Ginny
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