NDAM leader
accuses Darboe for ‘opposition failure’
…argues
Gambia’s
human rights record has improved
Lamin Waa Juwara, NDAM leader |
Mr. Lamin Waa Juwara, the leader of the
National Democratic Action Movement (NDAM) has pointed accusing fingers to his
contemporary Ousainou Darboe, leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP) for the
“failure of Gambian opposition parties to unseat President Yahya Jammeh”.
“Because lawyer Darboe is born to lead, he should automatically be
the leader, even though he has failed three times, he still want to lead and he
is not disposed for any person to lead his party or the alliance founded by all
parties”, claims Mr Juwara, who is now working with the Jammeh administration
as Governor of Lower River Region.
The one-time fierce critic of the Jammeh-led
military junta of the Armed Forces of the Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC)
and the civilian ruling Alliance
for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), who
has been arrested, detained, “tortured” and convicted, was speaking to The Voice newspaper in a recent
interview. The Gambia
is gearing up for presidential elections on November 24, 2011.
He said Darboe’s refusal to stand aside suggests that he is
holding Gambians at contempt.
“Lawyer Darboe held the people at contempt because they told him
to go for a primary and he refused. The reason for the primary is for Gambians
to make their choice, but he is refusing that, and the votes come from the
peoples,” said Juwara, who is a pioneer the country’s first opposition alliance
under the second republic in 2006, the National Alliance for Democracy and
Development (NADD).
He left the opposition to work with President Jammeh’s regime in
2009, three years after the NADD alliance failed to agree on leadership grounds
and in its bid to unseat the Yahya Jammeh. He was first appointed councilor of
the Brikama Area Council, and later Governor of Lower River Region.
He blames opposition leaders for lack of consultation with their
people, saying elections are national issues and party leaders should consult
with their people whether to hold on to the leadership or give chance to others
after failing in presidential contests.
Expelled from the UDP prior to his founding of NDAM, Juwara
explains that when he challenged Mr Darboe for some of the things he was not
doing, he (Darboe) got his “kitchen cabinet” to throw him out of the party. “I
was expelled form the UDP.”
Human Rights
The Gambia’s
human rights record has been dragged into the mud internationally and locally
by independent media reports, however, Governor Juwara, who called the infamous
government policy of “hunting witches and wizards” a fairy tale in 2009, says
“over the past years there have been improvements in Gambia human rights records under the
government of President Jammeh.”
“You would not have been here asking me questions on Gambia’s human
rights record if it has not improved. All the people who were abusing human
rights in this country have come to blows with President Yahya Jammeh,” he
said. “I was part of it, I know those
who arrested, detained and tortured me, but today they are all behind bars.”
He added: “Gambians should support President Jammeh in promoting
and protecting human rights. He (Jammeh) has taken steps to promote and protect
human rights.”
“Nobody will tell you that Gambia’s human rights record is still
as bad as it was in the past. Those who are behind bars are there for their own
wrongdoing because they were tarnishing the country’s image,” he argued.
- Source: The Voice
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