By Madi Jorbarteh
As we draw closer to the end of term of the tenure of the outgoing president, yet he remains recalcitrant in accepting the verdict of the people, it is now time for the National Assembly to assume its constitutional responsibilities. All categories of the Gambian society have spoken in no uncertain terms and various groups have shown their open and unfettered support for Adama Barrow as the elected president of the republic. The entire Gambian population is now determined and prepared to defend our vote. The international community has similarly shown that they are fully behind the people of the Gambia by calling on outgoing president to step down. Yet the outgoing president continues to make ridiculous statements about the elections while filing an ill-informed petition to a non-existing yet illegally constituted Supreme Court, which intends to start sitting on January 10. Meantime ECOWAS, backed by the African Union and the United Nations and governments of the world, has indicated that come January 19 if Jammeh refuses to step down they will resort to the use of military force to end his misrule. Since December 9 they have been frantically engaged in diplomacy to avert conflict.
Now I ask, does the National Assembly wish to tell us that they are not aware of these developments in our country to the point that they have remained mute like a silencer? Given the fast approaching fateful January 19 day, and the continued refusal of Jammeh to see reason and abide by our constitution, the onus is now on the National Assembly as the only constitutional authority in our republican system with the capacity to bring sanity to the outgoing Pres. Jammeh and save the Gambia. I wish to put it to the members of the National Assembly that they have a duty to prevent a military conflict in our small but beautiful land by prevailing on the outgoing president to humble down with faith and respect the verdict of the people.
Advice The Outgoing President
Section 102 spells out the functions of the National Assembly and in that regard Subsection (a) empowers the National Assembly to ‘advise the President on any matter which lies within his or her responsibility’. The first responsibility of the president is to respect and defend the constitution. But on December 9, it is clear that Yaya Jammeh has reneged on his oath of office by flouting Section 6 of the constitution and intends to further violate Section 63(2). By these actions he has already violated his responsibilities under Section 17, which puts an obligation on the president to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens.
Hence the National Assembly must now rise up to its obligation to advise the president as per Section 102(a) to withdraw his December 9 infamous statement because it was unconstitutional, politically motivated with bad faith and endangers national security.
Vote of No Confidence
Failure of the president to heed to the advice of the National Assembly, the parliamentarians yet still have other powers given to them by the constitution to pass a vote of no confidence in the president under Section 63 Subsection 3. Hence the National Assembly still holds the key to our salvation and the prevention of armed conflict in our dear country. They must be seen to fulfil these solemn national duties.
Impeachment of the Outgoing President
Apart from a vote of no confidence and failure of the president to heed parliamentary advice, yet the constitution still gave powers to the National Assembly to impeach the president for misconduct. Section 67 Subsection 2 empowers the National Assembly to undertake impeachment proceedings of the president for misconduct, which are spelt out in Section 67 Subsection 1. The grounds for removal of the president under the first paragraph of this section are where he or she is found to cause ‘abuse of office, wilful violation of the oath of allegiance or the President’s oath of office, or wilful violation of any provision of this Consultation’ or if he or she misconducted himself ‘in a manner which brings or is likely to bring the office of President into contempt or disrepute’. Furthermore the second paragraph of Section 67 Subsection 1 also states that a president can be impeached for having ‘dishonestly done any act which is prejudicial or inimical to the economy of The Gambia or dishonestly omitted to act with similar consequences.’
Here again we can see that outgoing Pres. Yaya Jammeh has abused his powers, wilfully violated the oath of office of the president and flouted many other provisions of this constitution based on his utterances and actions since December 9. The deployment of soldiers into the offices of the IEC and the continued denial of media coverage to Adama Barrow by GRTS are additional actions that severely violate the constitution. Furthermore, by making GAMTEL to close down Internet and telephony services on December 1 coupled with the deployment of soldiers in combat readiness around the country without a state emergency or declaration of war, all constitute actions that damage the economy of the Gambia. These actions and utterances including his statements with the African Bar Association as well as statements by his associates, notably National Assembly Member Seedy Njie are major factors causing anxiety in the Gambia and slowing down the economy. Their statements by Yaya Jammeh and Seedy Njie constitute threats to the peace and security of the country as they peddled tribalism, threatened constitutionality and incitements to violence against certain individuals and communities. These are clear and justifiable grounds for impeachment.
Meet with the Outgoing President
In light of the foregoing, it is therefore utterly urgent and necessary that the Speaker of the National Assembly Abdoulie Bojang together with the Majority Leader Fabakary Tombong Jatta and the Minority Leader Samba Jallow and all the members demand an urgent meeting with the outgoing Pres. Yaya Jammeh to advise him to withdraw his December 9 illegal utterance. They should advise him to go back to his December 2 concession of defeat and promise to support the transition process. They should advise him to therefore reactivate the transition process and abide by the terms of the constitution for the inauguration of Adama Barrow on 19 January 2016.
Failure to heed to the advise of the National Assembly, I would call on the Speaker, the Majority and Minority leaders and all members to therefore invoke Section 63(3) to pass a motion of no confidence in him. They should follow this with invoking as well Section 67(2) to impeach him for gross misconduct.
Abandon Yaya Jammeh and Embrace the Gambia
In addition to the constitutional responsibilities placed on them, members of the National Assembly also owe it to their country as the representatives of their people to abandon Yaya Jammeh in order to prevent a violent conflict from erupting in the Gambia. I therefore call on all National Assembly Members to publicly isolate and disassociate themselves, individually and collectively from the outgoing president in the supreme interest of the Gambia, their motherland. All sectors of Gambian society have spoken, yet the National Assembly as an institution and as individual members have remained mute. Bear in mind that failure to play your part as effectively as you should but letting the country to plunge into conflict, then you should consider yourselves as accomplices in the crime against the Gambia. History will judge you as those sons and daughters who abandoned their motherland at her most painful moment in favour of a dishonest, unpatriotic, greedy and murderous tyrant.
Let us engage our National Assembly Members
I wish to call on all Gambians to impress on their National Assembly Members to realise that they are the direct representatives of the people hence they must be seen to uphold and defend the will of the people. Our will was expressed on December 1, and the National Assembly must realise that it is the most important national institution in the Gambia that cannot be seen to be a bystander in the affairs of the people. They must not aid and abet any attempt, project or individual who wishes to dilute and abrogate the will of the people. This is a solemn responsibility placed on the National Assembly by the constitution under Section 112 paragraph (a),
‘All members shall regard themselves as servants of the people of The Gambia desist from any conduct by which they seek improperly to enrich themselves or alienate themselves from the people, and shall discharge their duties and functions in the interest of the nation as a whole and in doing so, shall be influenced by the dictates of conscience and the national interest.
On the basis of this provision, and in the face of a looming national tragedy and in fulfilment of my constitutional responsibility and because of my love for country, I hereby call on the National Assembly to assume their national and constitutional responsibilities without delay. Failure to fulfil their historic and patriotic duty, they risk plunging the country into a conflict of far reaching consequences for which the people of the Gambia will neither forget nor forgive them forever and ever.
For the Gambia, Our Homeland. #GambiaHasDecided
3 Comments
Extra, Extra, Extra!!! Thirty-two years and then 22 years of Misrule and Opportunistic collaborators of the First Republic and then by the Second Republic that were and are characterized by several variables in common. These are, “Government by “Musical chair”, who you know, which tribe and region you are from, and who is related to whom, by blood or marriage. These are the true Characteristics of the First Republic and the Second Republic. It was an open Secret to all Gambians, especially those in the Rural Areas and those who are considered a minority by all Statistics and variables. Students in the Rural communities were marginalized and tracked into Technical Secondary Schools, though they have clearly passed the Common Entrance Examination by a wider margin than an “Urban” or “Majority group” affiliated Students. The author has been a victim of such Insidious and Prejudicial behavior during the First Republic. Yes, the Second Republic has its sins and deeds that individuals and groups who are found involved in crimes against the Gambian people should be charged and tried, or brought before a Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Eminent Leaders both from Within and Outside. Any suggestions or attempt to single out one Ethnic group for punishment would be met with an equal and opposite respond that would only increase and advance the interest of those who subscribe to the “Inbox” of Tribal and Sectoinalist hate mongering. Time and time again, The Gambia has been send barrelling toward the Abyss, only to be stopped from self annihilation by both it’s People’s practical, rational and peace loving nature, choosing to act and think and act as a United people, instead of as a Balkanized people along the blurred tribal lines. Gambians need to be accountable for their personal choices and decisions that they make on a daily basis. Conversely, they cannot put on blinders to the prevailing insidious Economic, Political and Social Marginalization of any Ethnic group and expect that Status to Endure. Gambians have to be honest in their respective inner demons and accept that the nature of our tendency to disregard the previous Economic, Political and Social Marginalization had to be addressed and resolved. If we, all Gambians fail to have a Moment of “the looking glass self”, and Endeavour to come together and closer as one, we would live to repeat the sins of the First Republic and maybe those of the Second Republic. Treating the symptoms and not the disease, would have the wrong outcome and not the desired impact or outcome. The Gambia is more than the sum total of one Ethnic group. It is also not a Monarchy of any kind. Thus, it would be advisable for those who subscribe to the “Inbox” of Divisive, Tribalist and Sectoinalist ideology and believe, to be given no Public Space to peddle their noxious and dangerous cocktail of hatred and violence laced speech. At this Crossroad Gambia finds itself, it is not those who shout the loudest and most angry, who Gambians should be turning to for leadership or advise. Cooler heads and Moderates in different Camps should be given Public Space and Authority to Mediate and Mitigate the potentially Explosive situation in our beloved The Gambia. Everyday that passes and the Extremist in both Camps dominate the discussion, the beloved country, the Gambia slowly moved toward a catalismic and point of no return. External intervention of any kind, devoid of Dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations, is not an acceptable choice and should be rejected by all Gambians and the Political Parties and leadership in the Gambia and ECOWAS. Intervention, especially Military intervention has not been a beneficial and moral solution to any kind of dispute both in the past and present Character of Results or Outcome. Examples are well known, Iraq, Libya and Yemen are the most or recent Clamities and Destructive results and outcomes of such Reactionary interventions. Senegal is not an extension of the Gambia. As such, it should and is bound by all Treaty Obligations to come to defend the Gambia and to invade it as a matter of Settling a Score with President Jammeh. The Gambians cannot afford to “Contract out” their Democracy to Senegal and hope that they will regain it back in whole and without a steep National Sovereinty and a costly Treasury Price, not mention the cost in both Gambian and Senegalese lives. Mutual understanding, cooperation and respect need to be in “inbox” of advancing a Peaceful and Civil Transition from the Second Republic to the Third Republic. The Coalition Alliance and Supporters and President Yaya Jammeh and others need to put the interest of the Gambian people first and Politics and Position last. The dead will not be identified as Coalition Alliance or The Second Republic Supporters.
We, all Gambians have one choice, live as free Borns and a united front of Gambians, or see a dinosaur in the making. What is your choice. Tic, TOC, Tic, TOC !!! Time is running out for you, me, we and us.
Under The Acacia Tree And
Other Thorny Gambian Issues”:
Let Peace and Tranquility Ring From Kartong To Koina in The Gambia. Thirty-two (32) years and then twenty-two (22) years of Misrule and Opportunistic collaborators of the First Republic and then by the Second Republic that were and are characterized by several variables in common. These are, “Government by “Musical chair”, who you know, which tribe and region you are from, and who is related to whom, by blood or marriage. These are the true Characteristics of the First Republic and the Second Republic. It was an open Secret to all Gambians, especially those in the Rural Areas and those who are considered a minority by all Statistics and variables. Students in the Rural communities were marginalized and tracked into Technical Secondary Schools, though they have clearly passed the Common Entrance Examination by a wider margin than an “Urban” or “Majority group” affiliated Students. The author has been a victim of such Insidious and Prejudicial behavior during the First Republic. Yes, the Second Republic has its sins and deeds that individuals and groups who are found involved in crimes against the Gambian people should be charged and tried, or brought before a Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Eminent Leaders both from Within and Outside. Like the First Republic, the Second Republic is not all good or all bad. There are in both Camps, the good, the bad and the ugly. Not in artificial looks, but in behavior and actions or inaction. Any suggestions or attempt to single out one Ethnic group for punishment would be met with an equal and opposite respond that would only increase and advance the interest of those who subscribe to the “Inbox” of Tribal and Sectoinalist hate mongering. Time and time again, The Gambia has been send barrelling toward the Abyss, only to be stopped from self annihilation by both it’s People’s practical, rational and peace loving nature, choosing to act and think and act as a United people, instead of as a Balkanized people along the blurred tribal lines. Gambians need to be accountable for their personal choices and decisions that they make on a daily basis. Conversely, they cannot put on blinders to the prevailing insidious Economic, Political and Social Marginalization of any Ethnic group and expect that Status to Endure. Gambians have to be honest in their respective inner demons and accept that the nature of our tendency to disregard the previous Economic, Political and Social Marginalization had to be addressed and resolved. If we, all Gambians fail to have a Moment of “the looking glass self”, and Endeavour to come together and closer as one, we would live to repeat the sins of the First Republic and maybe those of the Second Republic. Treating the symptoms and not the disease, would have the wrong outcome and not the desired impact or outcome. The Gambia is more than the sum total of one Ethnic group. It is also not a Monarchy of any kind. No one Ethnic group or region is responsible for the status quo both in the First Republic and the Second Republic. It has been our propensity toward Carrying our dirty laundry around, while pretentiously convincing ourselves otherwise. It is time, we open our eyes, to put it coloqually that is, and put down our National Dirty Laundry of Ethnic Minority and the Rural versus Urban Marginalization, as well as the insidious and malicious false Representations and Claims of an Ethnic group Owning the Gambia at any given time in history. It is some of these uninformed and underrated wordsmiths, but Dangerous nevertheless, if they are not Checked, who prowle within the Dark Corridors of the INTERNET as well as at the Bantabas and Attaya Brewing gatherings, and among some Preachers and Traditional musicians, who need to be educated in Civics, Geography, History And the Reality of the Nation State.Thus, it would be advisable for those who subscribe to the “Inbox” of Divisive, Tribalist and Sectoinalist ideology and believe, to be given no Public Space to peddle their noxious and dangerous cocktail of hatred and violence laced speech against those who they have a different perspective or opinion on matters of Concern to the Gambia and Gambians. At this Crossroad Gambia finds itself, it is not those who shout the loudest and most angry, who Gambians should be turning to for leadership or advise. Cooler heads and Moderates in different Camps should be given Public Space and Authority to Mediate and Mitigate the potentially Explosive situation in our beloved The Gambia. Everyday that passes and the Extremist in both Camps dominate the discussion, the beloved country, the Gambia slowly moves toward a catalismic and point of no return. External intervention of any kind, devoid of Dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations, is not an acceptable choice and should be totally rejected by all Gambians and the Political Parties and leadership in the Gambia and ECOWAS. Intervention, especially Military intervention has not been a beneficial and moral solution to any kind of dispute both in the past and present. Examples are well known, Iraq, Libya and Yemen are the most or recent Clamities and Destructive results and outcomes of such Reactionary interventions. The Gambia is not an extension or appendage of Senegal. As such, Senegal is bound by all Treaty Obligations to come to the defend of the Gambia, but not to invade it as a matter of Settling a Score with President Jammeh. If such a development should take place, it would not be the first time it has been implemented and visited upon on the Gambia. It happened in 1981 and as a consequence, we have the 1994 Coupe and the Second Republic. The Gambia and The Gambians cannot afford to “Contract out” their Democracy to Senegal and hope that they will regain it back in whole and without a steep payment in National Sovereinty as well as a costly Treasury Price, not to mention the cost in both Gambian and Senegalese lives. Mutual understanding, cooperation and respect need to be in the “inbox” of advancing a Peaceful and Civil Transition from the Second Republic to the Third Republic. The Coalition Alliance and Supporters and President Yaya Jammeh and other Stakeholders need to put the interest of the Gambian people first and Politics and Political Position last. The dead will not be identified as Coalition Alliance or The Second Republic Supporters, but as Dead Gambians.
We, all Gambians have one choice, live as Free Borns and a united front of Gambians, or witness a dinosaur in the making in the Gambia. What is your choice. Tic, TOC, Tic, TOC !!! Time is running out for you, me, we and us.
Sidi N. Bojang, A Gambian.
Under The Acacia Tree And
Other Thorny Gambian Issues”:
By Sidi N. Bojang
Let Peace and Tranquility Ring From Kartong To Koina in The Gambia. Thirty-two (32) years and then twenty-two (22) years of Misrule and Opportunistic collaborators of the First Republic and then by the Second Republic that were and are characterized by several variables in common. These are, “Government by “Musical Chair”, who you know, which tribe and region you are from, and who is related to whom, by blood or marriage. These are the true Characteristics of the First Republic and the Second Republic. It was an open Secret to all Gambians, especially those in the Rural Areas and those who are considered a minority by all Statistics and variables. Students in the Rural communities were marginalized and tracked into Technical Secondary Schools, though they have clearly passed the Common Entrance Examination by a wider margin than an “Urban” or “Majority group” affiliated Students. The author and several other friends if his has been victims of such Insidious and Prejudicial behavior during the First Republic.
Sugar coating the First Republic’s lack luster economic development and several other failures, for example, in the area of Infrastructure development and Socio-economic development by justifying the failures with an excuse of how “Peaceful The Gambia was under the First Republic” is to ” walk naked and attempt to convince yourself and others around you otherwise”. It amounts to trying to turn a Vulture into an Eagle. It doesn’t work. Peace is a dividend that was for the most part not Utilized or Squandered by certain greedy Cabinet members who saw the National Treasury as an extension of their Pockets and Foreign Bank Accounts.
Under the 32 years of the First Republic, a few Elementary schools were opened in the Rural areas, but what was and still not outlined or discussed, is the fact that, only those Communities that can build the Mud blocks and roof the Schools were supported under the First Republic’s “Tesito” or Belt Tightening” Program. A well meaning and well intended National Community Development Program that was Corrupted and Looted into Bankruptcy by the few against the interest of the many, The Gambian citizens. Those Rural communities who could not do so we’re left out in the “Cold” to fend for themselves. When communities who could benefit from the program appear to be an Opposition strong hold, Nine times out of ten, the community is Bypassed. Politically, the First Republic was no more Diverse, Tolerant or inclusive as far as attempting to include Ethnic Minorities in the Cabinet.
Even more astounding, was the insidious manner in which the First Republic went about Selecting their Candidates in the Rural areas where the Ruling Parties’ Base was, given the Popularity of The United Party (UP) in the Banjul and the Kombo St. Mary environ especially, in Serekunda.
The First Republic choose Party Candidates in the Rural areas not by a Plurality of the Party members in the jurisdiction, but by Party leadership picking who they found more likely to “do their bidding” and based on Ethnic affiliation and not on Merit of “academic, technical or policy skills of any kind. There were Rural Members of Parliament who could barely read or write in English. An example, is the late long term Member of Parliament from Gunjur under the then PPP. There are several others like this. Chiefs and “Alkalos”/Alkalis were in most cases made a Hereditary positions. This ineffective, rendered other ethnic groups and communities disenfranchised from these positions. This was the inherited way of British “Indirect Rule” Political System. It was intended to be Divisive and Convenient for the Colonial Administration.
Must we keep it after “Independence”? I for one think not. Yes, the Second Republic has its sins and deeds that the individuals and groups who are found involved in crimes against the Gambian people should be charged and tried, or brought before a Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Eminent Leaders both from Within and Outside. In Psychology there is a divergent opinion on whether an individual is shaped or influenced more by the Nature or Nuture. That is, by the environment or inherited. As a Sociologist and Social Welfare Professional, I am of the opinion that both impact the individual, but the Nature part can be mitigated given the right Nuturing and Psycho-Social Positive Coaching and Mentoring, especially, Positive Family and community relationships and guidance.
Given that the Second Republic leaders are the sons, brothers and uncles of the First Republic’s leaders, one can logically and reasonably summarize that they naturally aspired to be like their elder First Republic leaders they “Moved Aside”, only to maintain with very little modification to some of the the same Political System of Governance. That is what they saw and what they know (the political and social environment). Being much younger and not yet experienced in the “ways of the world” or being knowledgeable in political theory and practice, they naturally were for the most part rather “self-centered and inpacient on many occasions. They over reached and on many occasions, get in over their heads.
The guilty, must accept and acknowledge their part and deeds. They need to seek and ask or better yet, request for Forgiveness from all Families and Individuals they harmed or offended. They need to repent and atone their “sins” they are alleged to have committed, be it directly or indirectly. The killings and repression that have been alleged need to be atoned, the victims families and individuals compensated in a manner befitting our Culture and Society’s Norms. An Honorable, Impartial and Diligent Truth and Reconciliation Commission, should be Panelled to handle such a Process in the Gambia. It is urgent that the Gambian Interlocutors and the African Union and ECOWAS
Leaders need to forthwith embark on this task, while negotiating a Non-military Resolution or Solution to the current Political impasse in the Gambia.
Like the First Republic, the Second Republic is not all good or all bad. There are in both Camps, the good, the bad and the ugly. Not in artificial looks, but in behavior and actions or inaction. Any suggestions or attempt to single out one Ethnic group for punishment would be met with an equal and opposite respond that would only increase and advance the interest of those who subscribe to the “Inbox” of Tribal and Sectoinalist hate mongering.
Time and time again, The Gambia has been sent barrelling toward the Abyss, only to be stopped from self annihilation by both it’s People’s practical, rational and peace loving nature, choosing to act and think and act as a United people, instead of as a Balkanized people along the blurred tribal lines. Gambians need to be accountable for their personal choices and decisions that they make on a daily basis. Conversely, they cannot put on blinders to the prevailing insidious Economic, Political and Social Marginalization of any Ethnic group and expect that Status quo to Endure.
Gambians have to be honest in their respective inner goodwill and demons, and accept that the nature of our tendency to disregard the previous Economic, Political and Social Marginalization had to be addressed and resolved. If we, all Gambians fail to have a Moment of “the looking glass self”, and Endeavour to come together and closer as one, we would live to repeat the sins of the First Republic and maybe those of the Second Republic. Treating the symptoms and not the disease, would have the wrong outcome and not the desired impact or outcome. The Gambia is more than the sum total of one Ethnic group. It is also not a Monarchy of any kind. No one Ethnic group or region is responsible for the status quo both in the First Republic and the Second Republic.
It has been our propensity toward Carrying our dirty laundry around, while pretentiously convincing ourselves otherwise. It is time, we open our eyes, to put it coloqually that is, and put down our National Dirty Laundry of Ethnic Minority marginization on the one hand and the Rural versus Urban Marginalization on the other. Furthermore, the insidious and malicious false Representations and Claims of an Ethnic group Owning the Gambia at any given time in history need to be Condemned by all Gambians irrespective of the Speaker. It is some of these uninformed and underrated wordsmiths, but Dangerous nevertheless, if they are not Checked, who prowle within the Dark Corridors of the INTERNET as well as at the Bantabas and Attaya Brewing gatherings, and among some Preachers and Traditional musicians, who need to be educated in Civics, Geography, History And the Reality of the Modern Nation State.Thus, it would be advisable for those who subscribe to the “Inbox” of Divisive, Tribalist and Sectoinalist ideology and believe, to be given no Public Space to peddle their noxious and dangerous cocktail of hatred and violence laced speech against those who they have a different perspective or opinion on matters of Concern to the Gambia and Gambians.
At this Crossroad Gambia finds itself, it is not those who shout the loudest and most angry, who Gambians should be turning to for leadership or advise. Cooler heads and Moderates in different Camps should be given Public Space and Authority to Mediate and Mitigate the potentially Explosive situation in our beloved, The Gambia. Everyday that passes and the Extremist in both Camps dominate the discussion, the beloved country, the Gambia, slowly moves toward a catalismic point of no return. External intervention of any kind, devoid of Dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations, is not an acceptable choice and should be totally rejected by all Gambians and the Political Parties and leadership in the Gambia and ECOWAS.
Intervention, especially Military intervention has not been a beneficial and moral solution to any kind of dispute both in the past and present.
Examples are well known, Iraq, Libya and Yemen are the most or recent Clamities and Destructive results and outcomes of such Reactionary interventions. The Gambia is not an extension or appendage of Senegal. As such, Senegal is bound by all Treaty Obligations to come to the Defense of the Gambia, but not to invade it as a matter of Settling a Score with President Yaya Jammeh. If such a development should take place, it would not be the first time it has been implemented and visited upon on the Gambia. It happened in 1981 when in the name of “Democracy”, Senegal intervened in a The Gambian “Family dispute” only to push for and some would say, “Impose the failed Senegambia Confederation”, and as a consequence, we have the 1994 Coupe and the Second Republic. The Gambia and The Gambians cannot afford to “Contract out” their Democracy to Senegal and hope that they will regain it back in whole and without a steep payment in National Sovereinty as well as a costly Treasury Price, not to mention the cost in both Gambian and Senegalese lives. Mutual understanding, cooperation and respect need to be in the “inbox” of advancing a Peaceful and Civil Transition from the Second Republic to the Third Republic. The Coalition Alliance and Supporters and President Yaya Jammeh and other Stakeholders need to put the interest of the Gambian people first and Politics and Political Position last. The dead will not be identified as Coalition Alliance or The Second Republic Supporters, but as Dead Gambians.
We, all Gambians have one choice, live as Free Borns and a united front of Gambians, or witness a dinosaur in the making in the Gambia. What is your choice. Tic, TOC, Tic, TOC !!! Time is running out for you, me, we and us.