Bismillah Rahman Raheem. Blessed Eid greetings to all. As we celebrate this great and joyous day in theMuslim calendar marking the end of a month long period of fasting and devotion, I pray for Allah’s Infinite Mercy and blessings be bestowed on all of us. This year’s Ramadan coincided with the advent of Lent which is a holy period for our Christian brethren and to them I send greetings and salutations and wish them all the best. For both faiths, the Holy Months we just exited offer an opportunity for prayer, reflection and striving for the blessings of God. May all our prayers be answered so that our diverse people continue to live in peace and harmony and our shared goal of a Gambia that is free, democratic and forward looking is realised.
I humbly ask Gambians of all faith to remember, in their prayers, our brothers and sisters in Sudan, in other conflict ridden areas of the world and in Palestine against whom a brutal and relentless war of aggression is being waged for the last six months. We grieve for the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians and the vicious destruction of hospitals, mosques and civilian homes. We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine in their justified claims to their ancestral lands and their rights as a people to live in peace and dignity in their own homeland.
My compatriots, this is a time for all of us to take stock of where things stand with us as individuals and collectively as a nation. Where are we as a country and more importantly, where are we heading to in a fast changing world? The answers to these two basic questions are that as a country we are failing and heading in the wrong direction.
Our current predicament didn’t happen in a vacuum. It is the predictable outcome of a failure of leadership and all the attendant consequences. We are all witnesses to the acute and high cost of living in the country and this is getting worst every day. Many are finding it hard to provide basic meals for their families. This has been made more glaring in the just ended month of Ramadan with our friends, neighbours and families scrambling to prepare decent Iftar.
Another example, is that in the not too distant past, the President proposed and convened what was billed as a “National Dialogue to discuss “our collective responsibility in preserving the nation, safe guarding the state and securing our resources”.
That the President, who has been in charge of the country for seven years, is calling for dialogue on what are essentially core functions of the very government he leads, is illustrative of the magnitude of the failure he is presiding over. To invite his political competitors to give condensed few minute speeches in the said event cannot be termed as a serious national dialogue. It is closer to a televised gimmickry disguised as a serious and sincere conversation about a nation facing serious challenges.
I call on the President to wake up to the deep and serious problems our country faces. Foremost is the need for him to dial down and abandon the deep, bitter and dangerous polarisation he and his allies have injected into the politics of this nation. A call for national unity from a government that has fractured and deeply divided communities and even families in the pursuit of political power will ring hollow unless Gambians see and verify a clear change of direction starting with the president himself down to the last person in his Government.
I also call on the president to wake up to the existential threat drugs pose to our country. Drugs and its use are taking root in our society, destroying our youths and corrupting our governance infrastructure. Drugs and drug use directly cause crime rates to go up in any society they are prevalent. Nothing comes closer to a national emergency than this menace. It is urgent the President convenes an inter -agency task force comprising of DELAG, the Police, the military, SIS, other law enforcement agencies, local councils, religious leaders and ward level volunteers taskedexclusively to tackling drugs and its effects .
In a similar vein I urge the President to recognise the existence of a cancer that is consuming his administration. That is CORRUPTION. Institutional thieves are on the rampage across all sectors of government and a pernicious sense of impunity is also setting in because people believe stealing public funds is normal and culprits can expect no adverse consequences. Audit reports being relegated to mere opinions and so ignored, outright cases of theft,corruption, contract fraud have all become the norm. All these contribute to economic stagnation and governance failure and they imposes the kind terrible difficulties our citizens face in their daily lives.
Fellow Gambians, the fate of our farmers should trouble everyone with a conscience. Farmers have been left high and dry, with little or no support in inputs.Even when they strive against tremendous odds to cultivate their groundnuts, this uncaring government just ignores them and fails to pay on time for their produce as promise by government.
Up to this moment some farmers are waiting to be paid for groundnuts the government promised to buy from them months after taking them to buying points across the country. They ordered farmers not to sell their produce to private buyers only to issue them with IOUs. This is totally unacceptable. Farmers have a single income in the entire year and not being paid for their labour is devastating to them and strips them of the pride and dignity that comes with hard work. Our farmers deserve what they are entitled to as citizens of this country. How do we expect to keep our youths who are the majority of this country in the vital agriculture sector when they see no value in working the land? How can we ever hope to be food secure when our farmers are treated in such a terrible manner?
Let me take a moment to address members and supporters of the UDP both at home and abroad. From 1996 to date and from all backgrounds spanning good times and very challenging times, we have together built a strong, committed and resilient political party. We are present in every corner of The Gambia and we have by far the largest support base among politically active Gambians in the Diaspora. That is testament to our collective commitment to see a better Gambia and our founding creed of sacrifice for the greater good. That is why we continue to attract new supporters all the time.
As we grow, we must all strive to become dedicated team players with each person playing his or her role in a manner that is accommodating and deferential to the other and the collective. That is the way we can harness our diversity as a party that encompasses the entire spectrum of the Gambian people. A growing party will by definition have old and new members and supporters. It will have different ideas and approaches at any given time regarding different things within the operations and strategies of the party. These are normal aspects of any large and diverse grouping of people. It is healthy to robustly engage as members and supporters of UDP in the pursuit of shared goals for the good of the party.
In my capacity as leader and in our collective responsibility as an executive chosen by the general membership of the party, dialogue and exchange of ideas is something we have always welcomed. This is a people’s party. I do not know how many times I have lost an argument within the executive and once the matter is put to a vote and decided by the majority, I fall in line and faithfully execute as directed by the vote. This is the tradition of the United Democratic Party.
What we must all guard against is unhealthy factionalism within the party. Factional approaches undermine unity cohesion and that is something all of us must avoid at all cost. Our political opponents areaware of our pool of very capable people in both elective and appointed positions within our party. Theyknow the record of our principals who served or are serving in public office. They understand the tremendous brain power and deep bench of experienceUDP is blessed with. They understand how hard we work to earn the trust of the voters. They cannot contest the efficacy of our agenda for the Gambian people.
Our opponents don’t want any UDP candidate running for or running any office to succeed. They know a strong, united and focused UDP is the option most Gambians are looking for. They exploit every opportunity to sow rancor and discord among our ranks and they also know that is going to be a tall order for them. Please believe me when I tell you they will try their utmost in both subtle and overt ways to pit us against each other. Don’t let anyone make you believe there is this “UDP” or that “UDP”. THERE IS ONLY ONE UDP and that is the UDP they will try to fracture with lies and misinformation so that they can weaken us. I am confident that anyone who may wish to see the party of martyrs disintegrate will have to wait for a long time. Stay united, stay focused and embrace the entirety of the ideals of the party at all times.
To conclude, I want to once again urge each and every member of our party beginning with myself to be guarded in our public and private comments at all times.
Our primary role and responsibility is to persuade our fellow citizens to give us the mandate to serve them to the best of our abilities. That requires us to be respectful, cordial and accommodating. Angering people is not a persuasion strategy. Attempting to impose your views on people who disagree with you with harsh and disrespectful rhetoric won’t win you supporters. Certainly insulting people even if it is retaliatory insult is not a persuasive strategy. Proper decorum in public communication is the only way to persuade people. We must all prioritise getting along both among our ranks and more importantly those we seek to persuade. If we do that we consolidate our base,expand the pool of persuadable Gambians. We can and must win over the support of others on the strength and validity of our ideas as well defeats all attempts by our opponents to drag us through the mud. I once again wish you all a blessed Eid and may Allah bless our country and its people.
ASALAMU ALAIKUM WARAHMATULAI WABARAKATUHOU