Where are the Members of our National Assembly??…
Dear Mr Editor,
Please allow me space in your newspaper once again to express my humble opinion and add my voice to the lots of voices of patriotic Gambians on issues surrounding Foni and its people, especially Kanilai.
Perhaps, it is worth reminding ourselves how we got the birth of New Gambia time and time again since it still did not capture some people’s imagination or maybe they need to be told the whole story as if they have never witnessed it in real life.
New Gambia came to be with a selfless struggle and sacrifice by patriotic Gambians both at home and in the diaspora to remove a heartless dictator in the name of Yaya Jammeh. It is a struggle of Gambians by the Gambians for the Gambian people. In a nutshell, it is a struggle to restore democracy and rule of law in to the social fabric of our political institutions and in our societies at large. So in that case, it is not for one individual party or particular areas or towns and villages. New Gambia is for all Gambians.
Mr Editor, should we allow ourselves to be dragged back into another brutal era of lawlessness and selfish rule? I think as a nation, we have far past that stage after what has been a painful and brutal struggle of Gambians to rescue the people of Gambia. By the standards of the 21st century, we must not allow selfish and ruthless idiots to turn our decent societies into an anarchy, so to speak. I have a feeling that the people who are doing this barbaric acts in our communities know what they are doing and why they are doing it. I am therefore calling on the government of the day to draw a line between what is acceptable and unacceptable and make themselves visible and heard in every conners of Gambia to protect the Gambian people and our sovereignty.
Mr Editor, what is happening in some parts of Foni and Kanilai, in particular, is appalling and tantamount to chaos and civil unrest. It is therefore not acceptable in a civilised society, and must be addressed by the Fonikas themselves if they are to put the interest of the Gambia first before any other thing. Having said that, I would urge the National Assembly members of Foni to take the lead role in tackling this appalling and barbaric acts that loom in our communities. I challenge them to get out of the comfort of their offices in the national assembly, go back to the people in Foni, engage them and explain to them the concept of Democracy and the rule of law and what it means to them as a people. Perhaps, most of these people did not understand what it means and may need help. I have no doubt that if these troublemakers are engaged and told with no uncertain terms what is acceptable and not acceptable under a rule of law in a civilised society, I believe they will think again and come on the right side of humanity. After all, it is the interest​ of those communities of Foni that they are represented in the national assembly.
Is it not apparent to every Gambian what we witnessed and went through during the 22 brutal years under Dictator Jammeh. I am pretty sure that had we not stood up to his barbaric acts on our own people we could have been in it still. I am convinced that it is not all the people of Foni behaving like this. It is just a pocket of mindless idiots trying to make every one out there look like a culprit. I am telling you the people of Foni, you are victims and you are being used as scapegoats by these unwanted selfish individuals. You have a choice to leave them to bring chaos to your communities or drive them out from your towns and villages by rejecting their ideas and making the authorities aware of their existence in your areas.
Mr Editor, let’s not allow democracy to be vilified or misrepresented in our communities. It looks like these selfish and unruly individuals are trying to hide behind the word “Democracy” to inflict pain and suffering on our people once again. As simple as it looks, “Democracy” came with a lot of futures that helped to shape people’s livelihoods. It helps counties to gain independence and set people free from mental and physical slavery. it gives our societies freedom of speech, expression and movement but it has its limitations or boundaries if I may say. However, it goes with responsibility and accountability. So if you live in a democratic society, you have to be aware that your actions are your responsibilities as you may be accountability for them otherwise. So let’s not allow ourselves to be frustrated by these selfish individuals and help our new Gambia to grow and be a success for all.
Furthermore Mr Editor, I would humbly challenge all patriotic citizen of the Gambia to be vigilant and endeavour to work very hard to spot out such unruly and cowardly acts in our communities. Let us do our very best to stamp out anything capable of soiling the Gambia. For the our homeland… for better or for worse..
A concerned citizen
Ends