By: Momodou Justice Darboe
The Campaign Manager of the NPP, Mr. Lamin Cham, has maintained that President Adama Barrow’s vision for the durability and political longevity of the NPP necessitates the construction of NPP political bureaus across the country.
Speaking at the inauguration of an NPP Bureau in Jarra Soma earlier this week, Cham said: “This is a historic development in The Gambia as it’s unprecedented. Since the birth of The Gambia, we‘ve never seen a party that has bureaus across the country. It started with President Barrow and his party and the rationale behind the construction of bureaus across the country is that he(Barrow)has a vision for the party because, according to him, his predecessors Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara’s PPP ruled for 30 years but they never had regional bureaus. They used to rent bureaus. Afterward, President Jammeh was here for 22 years but could not do what is happening now. This is all because President Barrow is preparing for the party’s future. ”
According to the NPP campaign manager, President Barrow is paving the way for his party to be durable and strong even after his presidency. He continued:“Allah has given President Barrow the wisdom. Looking at the past leaders, their leadership ended and their parties died when they left the stage. The view of President Barrow is that in every compound, when the compound owner dies, the child should be able to fill his shoes. This is why we are building bureaus all over the country to safeguard our family compound(NPP). Our bureaus are our compound. All NPP supporters can be proud of this. And, it’s evident that whenever the time comes for him(Barrow) to leave the stage, one of his subordinates will succeed him afterward, another person from the party could come and take over. This is the vision that the President has for the party and this is the vision every good elder has for his family. Any elder, who earned himself a good reputation but died and is unfortunate to point at a successor, if you’re not mindful, the home will be broken. President Barrow is paving the way to ensure the NPP is durable in this country and to ensure that NPP is sustainable till judgment day. I, Lamin Cham, have a firm belief and confidence that he will rule for a long time. We will only change leaders. This world is a school compound. The world is about analyzing things and this is why when you take a look at things, many have aspired to lead the country. However, leadership does not come because of knowledge, knowledge about global issues, wealth, or family ties, except the one chosen by Allah.”
Mr. Cham stressed that President Adama Barrow was chosen by Allah to lead. He explained: “Since the birth of The Gambia, how many people vied for President since some of us were not born? We only heard about their names. They tried but could not succeed. In this world, you needn’t be told about certain things. You need to learn from things. And, you should be able to know whether it is possible or not. You needn’t go to a soothsayer because when you look at His Excellency, myself, Dou Sano, and others, we were all in UDP fighting for one individual, who is Lawyer Ousainou Drboe. Our belief at the time was that whenever Jammeh left the stage, Ousainou would lead. But through destiny when He(Allah) wanted to effect a change, he put everything on the plate. That was our hope but Ousainou protested with his executive and they were all arrested and imprisoned. His Excellency Adama Barrow’s position in the party was low… just a deputy treasurer and he never fought for any position. However, when Allah’s time came, he was chosen. I and Adama used to be in the office, contemplating who would lead the country. We were going up and down and we suspected nothing. On the whole, Allah has already prepared Adama. A cock that must crow does not wait for tomorrow. When all were in a quandary, Allah brought Adama. Gambians and UDP should know that whatever happens is decreed by Allah and nothing else. ”
Cham pointed out that it was about time President Barrow changed tact. He stated: “Lot of talks and petty talks. Whichever leader in this country when coming to lead, we pray they are peaceful and lenient but the followers can fleece him, fleece him until they make him evil. We all gave our power to President Barrow. If you gave him a knife, gun, and tanker… if you insult him today and he keeps quiet, insult tomorrow and he keeps quiet, if you don’t mind if you insult him again, he may bring onto you things that you didn’t expect. Therefore Gambians, Allah has blessed us with a peace-loving leader, and let us, therefore, maintain the peace. Foul words and evils against our leaders, if they are bad, they recline to us and torment us. People will say dictatorship has crept in when it was us, who courted dictatorship. A lot has been said about President Barrow and he was patient and is still patient. But Your Excellency, I humbly beg that we change tact. Muchness of peace can sometimes cause havoc. Even Allah, who created us, when you read parts of the Quran, you believe that you will go to heaven but when you read other parts, you are despondent about the world. So Your Excellency, even the God, who gave you the mantle, can cool things down or turn the heat up. But all cannot be cool. When you show someone the right path and the individual refuses to go, tap him on the back to show him the way. Gambians, Gambians, Gambians, lets embrace peace because that is what is to our advantage. We all knew where we came from. When you were working, you looked behind your shoulders. You cannot have the courage to do Facebook live in this country. How many people were brave enough to release audio? Some, even at night, ran to hide behind you but today we have lions and lionesses. But this is due to the peace that President Barrow gave everyone. So Gambians, let us embrace peace. President Barrow gave us peace and he is delivering our needs; constructing schools, roads, health facilities, and the electricity supply is stable. If I don’t forget, I can say it never happened in our history. So Gambians, NPP is the peace. ”
The NPP campaign manager said Gambians should take a critical look at the UDP. He explained: “When these people(Darboe and executive) were arrested, it was me, H.E and Dou Sano, who mobilized people to go the court. Wherever, we took car from the court sittings, President Barrow was the one who paid the fares for all. We(Barrow, Sano and Cham) were the soldiers then. Everyone was despondent. Some were threatening us that we would be arrested at night. I have a witness for that and that‘s Modou Mbowe. When Solo Sandeng was arrested, he(Mbowe) said every night Tamba Masireh(a member of Jammeh’s killer squad) used to tell him that Lamin Cham would be killed when arrested but Allah does kill who He didn‘t want. But all the suffering we took for the UDP…it is the same UDP that took Dembo By Force, Dou Sano and Lamin Cham to court so they will not hold their positions. Gambians, look at UDP’s attribute. Mandinkas say the reward for a good thing is appreciation. If we, Barrow and Dembo By Force… we will not be talking about what we are talking about today. I want to tell the UDP that NPP is here for posterity. NPP will be enduring in leadership and all those who expressed interest in leading will never succeed Adama Barrow. He will be the one to relinquish power but power will not desert him. ”
