By: Momodou Justice Darboe
The campaign manager of the ruling NPP Mr. Lamin Cham has felt that Lawyer Ousainou Darboe has been ungrateful and unfair to him and he challenged the veteran politician to answer pertinent questions about his [Cham] role in the UDP following Darboe’s description of him and other NPP officials as worthless.
It would be recalled that the UDP leader Lawyer OusainouDarboe earlier this month addressed a political gathering in Brikama, where he described some NPP officials as meritless.
“There was a day here in Brikama when our elder, the father of the President, and my uncle because he said I’m his nephew, said something at the Yellow Day meeting, that I was never prepared for,” said Mr. Cham at the inauguration of the NPP regional bureau in Brikama on Saturday.
“I have the firm conviction that politics is not about mudslinging or politics of unguided utterances. Politics should be about coaxing people but our father stood on a platform [at the Yellow Day meeting] and I would not touch on what he said about the President but he said worthless people like Henry Gomez, Lamin Cham, and Dou Sano. This was uttered by our father,” stated Cham.
“But I would pose a few questions to him and I want him to provide answers to them. I want to ask you who exactly revived the UDP in The Gambia when it was close to death in 2015. Ousainou, I remind you that in 2015 when UDP was so dormant, I established the UDP KM regional youth wing. For two months, we were seized with the groundwork in Unda Nyang’scompound. After I established the structure, I prepared an itinerary and we started organizing meetings in the KanifingMunicipality and West Coast every Saturday,” he recalled.
According to the NPP’s mobiliser-in-chief, these weekly meetings had revived the UDP which, he said, was moribund at the time.
“Ousainou, I want to ask you whether a worthless person can do that. Following the success of our work, there was an outburst of support. UDP members proposed that I assume the role of the party’s youth president and when we organized a meeting at Basse, I was selected as youth president. Ousainou, I want to ask you whether a useless person can achieve this,” stated Cham.
The NPP chief strategist recollected that 10 days after the UDP congress in Basse in 2016, party members were invited to the late Solo Sandeng’s home, where they decided to take to the street. He continued: “We went out onto the streets with the late Solo Sandeng but by Allah’s decree, he was arrested alongside others. On 16th April, you [Darboe] descended the street and by the decree of Allah again, you were arrested alongside others. But when you were arrested, I was the one responsible for the mobilization of the UDP sympathizers, who came to attend the proceedings of your trial. After the proceedings, Karafa Sonkoand Mansa Sumareh would go to the garage to rent vehicles. H. E, the current President, bankrolled our transportation. Each day of your trial, we lingered in Banjul until everyone was transported home. Ousainou, can a valueless person do that? Ousainou, when you were in detention, I never had time with my family, except at nighttime. We would stay at your compound till night just to keep your family company. Can an unproductive person do that?”
Cham said he could recall distributing petition letters to all the diplomatic compounds in The Gambia when Darboe was undergoing trial.
“We sent petitions to all diplomatic missions and it was me who distributed all the letters. Can a meritless person do that? Ousainou, I was the liaison officer between the paramilitaries and UDP supporters who attended your trial. When the officers received instructions from their superiors, I was the bridge between them and the officers. Can a low-grade person accomplish this?” he fumed.
Cham said when Darboe was imprisoned and following the party’s realization that only politics could salvage him from jail, that was the time President Barrow was selected as UDP flagbearer.
“We did the groundwork to ensure President Barrow became the coalition flagbearer. I want to ask you Ousainou whether a trashy person can attain this. And when we achieved our objective, we crisscrossed the country and President Barrow emerged victorious, and within a week, you were freed. Can a third-rate person achieve this?” stated Cham.
Earlier in his speech, Mr. Cham told the people of Brikama and the West Coast Region that they are the kingmakers.
“If you lose ground in Brikama and West Coast Region in an election, your defeat would be inevitable. Brikama and West Coast Region are the kingmakers. Therefore, the current President is your president. You are all witnesses to the road and drainage project that he implemented in Banjul. He intends that after the completion of the Banjul project, a similar one will be replicated in the Kanifing Municipality,” said Cham.
“From KM, the next port of call will be Brikama. The people of Brikama should, therefore, turn to the President and also make him aware of their problems so that he can solve them,” he added.
