REJOINDER TO MINISTER SHERIFF BOJANG

REJOINDER TO MINISTER SHERIFF BOJANG

Sir please allow a space in your paper to respond to Sheriff Bojang the so call  information ministers unethical respond to the UDP national president’s revelations at the UDP rally in Bakau. It is clear in the mind of all readers of minister Bojang’s article that the so call minister was defending himself to save his position for president Jammeh to believe him and spare him in that position as a minister. But I think president Jammeh should now graduate from the school of people telling him lies only for them to hold positions in his government when they are not genuinely supporting him.

The way minister Bojang responded  to Dembo By-Force is so unprofessional and and unethical that he is showing the level of home training he has. Firstly some one who hailed from a Mandinka community is expected to know how to talk to elders even if what they tell you has shocked you, but for minister Bojang to call Dembo By-Force names that are incompatible with our ethics is not only showing his lack of respect for elders but is unfortunate.

One thing I know is that there are a lot of people like of minister Bojang in Jammeh’s government that are only there for their pockets and they are not supportive to president Jammeh. This is how dictators fall from grace, those around them are normally for their pockets only knowing perfectly that their masters are never committed to them.

If minister Bojang want people to believe that he has never supported the UDP then how comes when the UDP boycotted the last parliamentary election he and other people sponsored the independent candidate that contested against the APRC candidate in Bakau. If minister Bojang is asking for proofs or evidence for Dembo to show he should first cast his mind back to his own journalistic ethics of protecting their source of information and that is exactly why Dembo will not disclose his dealings with him .

Although I don’t know of minister Bojang’s activities with the Bakau UDP committee but I know that all over the Africa people supporting opposition parties are always doing so under anonymity and Gambia is at the top list of countries whose governments are not tolerant to people supporting or financing the opposition parties. So if not for the Minister’s that narrow minded utterances at that APRC rally in Bakau where he was trying to impress on President Jammeh, Dembo would not border himself to talk about him.

Dembo By-force is a honorable man who has been contesting elections in Bakau for consecutive 26 years five times under the famous PPP regime and once under this infamous APRC regime without defeat, therefore he will not stand in a political platform to say anything he has no knowledge off. It is minister Bojang’s right to defend himself and protect his ministerial post under Jammeh, but I expect him to do that with maturity rather than uttering sulky words because that alone is a clear indication that he is guilty of Dembo’s revelations.

Furthermore if minister Bojang was that renowned APRC supporter as he want Jammeh to believe him, how comes his standard news paper because of his radical way of writing was unceremoniously closed. If Sheriff Bojang is not an opportunist who is not interested in nothing other than his pocket he would have put up a case for the daily newspaper which was unjustly closed alongside his standard newspaper after he became Minister responsible for media affairs but his silence and being indifference in that matter is clear manifestation of his self centeredness. The like of this self centered minister Bojang are the type of people who will stand against president Jammeh when we defeat his infamous regime come 2016 presidential election, which Gambians are ready to do because of the deteriorating economic conditions his regime brought for Gambians.

On the question of what Dembo Bojang did for Bakau during his tenure as a member of parliament, this so call minister Bojang should go back to the history of Bakau before going into empty criticism because in doing that he is forcing us to go back to history showing the undemocratic nature of the APRC regime. I want this so call minister Bojang to know that it was during Dembo’s tenure in office as MP of Bakau that the artisanal fisheries development project was brought in Bakau , the drainage system in streets of Bakau, the street lights, five major roads were built by kerr development project, the Bakau women garden was established, the independent stadium was also built in Bakau. Tourism was developed in Bakau during By-force’s time all this projects are debated in parliament where they are evenly distributed among members regardless of their political affiliation under the PPP regime, but today what can the so call minister Bojang showed us that the APRC parliamentarians did in any constituency in the Gambia. I want him to tell me which constituency is more developed than Bakau in this country, (even his home town of Brikama)

On Sheriff Bojang’s assertion that Dembo is suffering from intellectual rigor mortis is totally misplaced because that only happen in death and I don’t think this so call minister is dreaming of Dembo’s death, but I know for certain that the so call minister Bojang is suffering from intellectual ignorance for not knowing what Dembo By-force did for Bakau. Infact I don’t blame him because he is being pushed to a defensive corner by Dembo’s revelations exposing him to the latter. As we wish him well in his ill-fated ministerial position, i advice him to be careful and adhere to our Mandinka ethics of knowing how to talk to elders.

I will remind him of the poem he wrote in the daily observer on the 26th March 2005 an I quote;   “the poem; canny lie it was all peace in our little pride until the day that strange cub came where we were silver plain he was dotted and where our name flow, he was bald even when we gave him a tiara of dried leaves His strangeness shone with more egrigity But we accepted him for his verve Although we do  not know the strange cub He was a rococo vassal. When the king growls he tumbles He delights the in relishing the kings mane. If this means anything to him”    

Written by

Ebrima sandeng

Secretary general

Youth wing of the united democratic party   

Happy 51 Gambian Independent

Loving your country is part of solid faith!

But why are Gambians not passionately Gambian!

It is true our country is small

It is true we don’t have natural resources like other African countries to brag about.

But what we have is a fighting spirit and innermost humility in doing things without wanting to get much attention.

The Independence of Mother Gambia means different things to different people, depending on which part of our beautiful strip you come from.

What we all find unity and comfort in is the realisation that, we have men/women who look like us, who are our kith and kin running the affairs of our country.

So yes, be happy and proud of our Independence day.

Our challenge now is for every Gambian to inculcate the passion of self-reliance, getting involve in our national business, not being satisfied with the way things are, running to God without understanding our responsibilities to ourselves, and ignoring things that don’t directly affect us.

As a rural person, independence meant having the realisation that, our farm produce will have a ready market at prices which are best for us. It means that, having people who understood our hard work and need to live simple lives but satisfied with our earnings from simple farming methods.

Independence further connects us to genuine Gambians who will do all they can to improve our living standards. The creation of better farming techniques with expert assistance in making our labour pay, our produce even more plentiful, going beyond our wildest imaginations.

The rule of Law and equality in our public space, with our common humanity defining our inter-connectedness and common heritage made independence a sweet reality.

Today, there is independence and there is the struggle to bring back human dignity and freedom and liberty for all.

President Jammeh created a victim mentality and blamed some within our country for the ‘perceived’ victimisation. Hence, the equality in the public space is now well and truly ransacked and destroyed. Hence, the fight today is to bring the glimpses of that sweet taste of what it meant to be truly independent.

The suspicions in our society today are nothing but the failure of the state to independently arbitrate in our national affairs. The chronic hatred that has been sub-planted between us, created a wedge so ugly, people today speaks of oneness but sadly, it doesn’t mean much in their inner hearts of hearts.

Yahya Jammeh’s legacy is glaringly clear, he triumph on ugliness, barbarity, brutality, callousness and lack of emotional sensitivity.

Intellectual prostitution became the order of the day. Since intellectuals as well as the ordinary people compete for his heart- to be able to have basic access to employment and food.

Our society is turn upside down, and the common relationships and bond which hold the fabric together broken in order for Jammeh to take roots and destroy all our traditions and customs that could be a defence mechanisms against his brutal onslaught.

The legacy of our founding fathers for Independence is today soiled and contaminated beyond recognition. Opportunism and lack of empathy defines the goals of many. Deception and fabrications, with pump and arrogance dominating our national discourse.

A trend has been created where, nepotistic and xenophobes glamour to win the hearts of the tyrant. They mastered the arts of destroying and tarnishing the images of good men/women.

People have now championed the arts of ‘Switching the Labels’.

Tribalist will rush to tag others as tribalist, victimisers and those they assist in victimising will quickly blame others for victimising them. And the re-writing of our history becoming a common trend in our national newspapers. Being factual and obeying the simple rules of truth in telling a story an alien common currency.

Once upon a time celebrated writers unable to resist the lure of the ‘devil’s’ dining table. Recalling Nana Grey-Johnson, Sam Sarr and Sherrif Bojang. There are others too.

So independence need to be celebrated, but then our focus now is to re-establish the decency, toughness, and resilience that propelled our rural elders, our Towns and City elders to demand self-rule and national inter-dependence.

Hatred and the intellectual masking of it be dumped. The national space be a place of joy and comfort, The rule of law, order and equal opportunity be a staple diet for all hard working citizens to run for their desired objectives.

Let this be known, villagers or urban dwellers, no one is sleeping this days. Let us give each other respect and have emotional sensitivity.

Happy Independence…

Suntou Bolonba Touray

UDP U.K Member.