(JollofNews) – Gambian lawmakers Tuesday unanimously voted to reverse the election law which increased the cost to register for a political party by 100 times.
The law. which was introduced by the previous regime of Yahya Jammeh in 2015, increased a non-refundable registration fee for presidential candidates from D10,000 to D1 million and parliamentary candidates from D5,000 to D100,000.
It also raised the registration fee for mayoral candidates from D2, 500 to D50, 000 and local councillors from D1, 250 to D10, 000.
Despite the increment which was seen as an attempt to price opposition candidates out of power, Mr Jammeh was defeated in the December 2016 election.
Making a case for the law to be amended, Mai Ahmad Fatty, minister of the Interior, said the new government of Adama Barrow is determined to encourage the widespread participation of the ordinary citizenry in the new democratic dispensation.
He said taking the salaries and financial position of Gambians, the government wants to encourage people to seek political office by reducing the registration fees.
He added that under the new amendment, presidential candidates will pay D10,000 deposit while parliamentary candidates will pay a deposit of D5, 000. People contesting for mayor and councillors will pay a D2, 500 and D1,250 deposit respectively.
Ironically, the very lawmakers who commended Mr Jammeh when the 2015 amendment bill was being debated, took turns to commend the new regime for having the courage to reverse the very laws they had voted in favour.
DESPOTIC, UNILATERAL, AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL ETHNIC GROUPS POLITICS THREATENS TO TEAR GAMBIA APART:
In a country which is estimated right or wrong to be about 40% a certain Ethnic Group, and the same Ethnic Group had representation at all levels of the country’s government during the Second Republic and former President Yaya Jammeh, any human sacrifice would have to be Serviced in part by members of the Ethnic Group. The alleged “human sacrifice” and torture would not be possible without the full blessings and participation of the estimated 40% Ethnic Group having their Hands, Feet, and Clothes Bloodied by the Victims. Those who Shout the loudest and with Vitriolic favour, are in fact Complicit in the allegations they Peddle with Malice. Having not been in the Country, for a First hand witness, but having Second hand information through “Radio Kankan”, One can logically and reasonably deduce and conclude that even the Current UDP Leadership were Directly and Indirectly Complicit and Involved in any and all alleged human sacrifice and torture in the Gambia during the First and Second Republics. It is rather telling that some of the Opposition Party Members who reportedly have or are in possession of information that can Implicate and Sink not only the Political Careers of UDP Leadership, are being bought off and Offered Positions in the Ousainou Darbo , Mai Fatty and Adama Barrow Regime. This is an Unconstitutional Regime, unless it is Dissolved and Elections held within the Required Provision (s) Mandated by the 1997 Constitution under which Adama Barrow, Mai Fatty and Ousainou Darbo were Duely Sworn in as Cabinet ministers of a Coalition Government. Caveat, the Constraints of Constitutional Democracy and Law, is still waiting its Proper Implementation and or Execution in the Matters of: Madame Fatouma Jallow Tambanjang’s Unconventional appointment as Vice President, the One Man Party of Mai Fatty being Counted as a legitimate Candidate and as a result being rewarded his Coveted Political position as Interior Minister, so that his Extremist Hathred, Hardline and Despotic behavior Against Members of former President Yaya Jammeh’s Jola Tribe he blamed for his lack of Success as a legal practitioner, and everything under the Sun and Moon, and the termination of the Constitutional age limit Should and Ought to Worry and give Most Decent, Constitutionalist and Peace Loving Gambians Sleepless Nights! This is just the beginning of a Despotic Cabal of Napoleonic Insecure and Self-Serving individuals who have been brought together by Greed, Lust for Power and hunger for bloody hell revenge they convinced themselves of owning to themselves and an Ethnic Extremists Group. My Advise to their Uncle, Macky Sall of Senegal, put a Lease on your Canines least they Bite you too. These are people who have no ethics, honor, and respect for anyone but those in their Narrowly Defined Cult Members of the “NTeri Kaffo” past and present. The PPP and PDOIS have just been kicked in the Face by your Canines who they trusted and worked to end former President Yaya Jammeh’s regime, an act that most Opposition Parties and Supporters can agree on. Mr. Ahmat Bah would soon find out how much of a mistake he has just made, when he Sided with the “Hounds” of the Gambia. UDP as Co-founded by a Jola but Narrow Minded Ethnocentric Politics Purged all Non Mandika from it. Yet, the Narrative that is insidiously Peddled by these gang and their Extremists Militants wants everyone to believe that tribalism and ethnic marginalization began with former President Yaya Jammed. Please get a grip on reality. Acceptance of Reality is No Vise. Burial of ones head in ones armpit to smell of ones self, is not a sign of Sanity. Mr. Bah will be kicked off and abandoned at the Curb, to be picked up like Trash on the road. David/Dauda Jawara’s PPP Regime was an Expert in betrayals. Ask United Party Members, if there are some still alive and willing to talk about their experience. Ask NCP Party Members, who were PPP but were Marginalized and therefore, left PPP. This is a Recurrent happening with these folks. Hope Gambia will Survive it this Time. It would be a Pity to Superimpose another form or worst Tyranny and Despots on the Gambian people. They can’t bear it. Gambia is more than the Sum total of One Individual, One Ethnic Group or Region. One Gambia, One People, One Destiny.
What a load of drivel Mr Bojang. Give the coalition a chance for god sake. They have only been there for less than 3 months, now you are here accusing them of all sorts but mention very little about the crook who killed, tortured and stole all he can from the state. Gambians have suffered enough under a brutal dictatorship who has no respect for the rule of law. You are pointing fingers and making wild baseless accusations. What’s the difference between you and the people you are accusing of tribalism, it seems to me that you are worse than them. I will not be surprised if you a sympathizer of the tyrant.
Janjan1
Sidi Bojang is a village idiot full of hate and that hatred is what will eventually destroy him. We Mandinkas don’t give a hoot of what Sidi Bojang do or say. He is a damn little petty old man who wasted his life away and can’t see any other individual prosper. You should be grateful to President Barrow,Mai Fatty and Ousainou Darboe for allowing an atmosphere where even bigots like you can have a platform to express their opinions. Your boss Yahya Jammeh would have killed you and all your family for saying less.Enjoy your new freedom then responsibly,freedom made possible by the sacrifice of these noble men you purported to castigate,insult and levied on all kinds of lies and falsehood.
What did you represent Sidi Bojang? You represent nothing but hate and division. If we Mandinkas are not kind hearted,we would have been setting fire to villages in the Fonis and clean out all those trouble makers including your ignorant self. If you or any of your tribesmen are not happy with what President Barrow’s government is doing,then leave. Go into exile for fuck sake and let the rest of the tribes join hand in hand to create a better Gambia for all.
Natty Dread, if you ever wash your hands after using the bathroom, please use the soap on your mouth too. It needs it.
Well Jammeh was not a better example. He also started out with mandinka’s but end up purging or lastly killing ’em all. He even threatened to wipe out 40% of the population. Above all he failed to accommodate the fula, wollof, Aku to build a bulwark against the mandinka domination. If he were successful and selfless, we would have already got at least 3 presidents from other ethnic groups.
I think let’s hope the new Fula president (Barrow)will set a better example.
Natty Dread, janjan1 and Andrew Pjalo, guys it’s not easy to deal with an ignoramus. Our level of thinking and analytical skills is way beyond this rambling buffoon’s understanding. So lets not allow him to distract us from making positive contributions towards strengthening our democracy. Guys I commend you all for not debasing yourselves to engage him in his tribal rubbish. Lets continue to shred his convoluted ramblings with our usual concise response. Thanks guys.
Yet, I am not the one who is insecure and filled with anger and desperation. Have an advanced degree from One of the best College and University in the World. Hope you have gotten over the taunting and being laughed at in London by other Gambians who find you odd and strange in Mannerism.
Pettiness! You are just a petty little old man Sidi Bojang. Keep barking like a mad stray dog,we have loads of them around our urban centers. For your information Sidi Bojang,President Barrow’s government have made contingency plans with their European counterparts to supply drugs for the mercy injection of death for our mad stray dogs. Be rest assured now Sidi, for your sad feeble stray dog existence is coming to an end. Merciful injection to alleviate your pain will soon be in hand.
I never meet Buba Sanyang, but i know for a fact that he is a better man than you by a country mile.Buba’s heart is clean and full of love unlike you,infested with the bug of tribal hatred.
The only person odd in this discourse is the pompous village idiot Sidi Bojang, who rant,bark and ramble and now boasting about his advance degree. You are still a nincompoop,a village idiot and a clown and no education of yours will ever change that.
Fellow smart Gambians, lets laugh at this clown.
THE WRITING WAS ON THE APPOINTMENTS OF THE CABINET MEMBERS. UDP LEADERSHIP AND MILITANTS WERE NEVER TRUELY COMMITTED TO A COALITION GOVERNMENT:
It’s the Past and Present Skeletons in the Cupboard! Why is Mai Fatty and Ousainou Darbo Silent and Ousainou Darbo allegedly refused to meet an emissary Imam Baba Lee/Leigh, just like they did with former President Yaya Jammeh following the Election; who is said to have been urged by the PPP to talk to Ousainou Darbo about Not Opting out or Backing out of the Memorandum Of Understanding that was and still the Political Link pin that brought about the defeat of APRC which fought Against Seven or Eight Parties during the December 1, 2016 Presidential Elections. I am sorry for sounding the Alarm in Several of my articles that the “Coalition Party” and the “Coalition Government”, was in Reality a Marriage of Convenience Orchestrated by UDP for the expressed purpose of getting rid of the former President Yaya Jammeh, which is a desired goal by all Opposition Parties. In UDP’s inheritance of government by Narrow Ethnic Subterfuge that they have been Schooled in, there is little or no ethical or moral commitment to a Shared and Democratic Dispensation post former President Yaya Jammeh. What other Parties Need and Should embark on is a Coalition Building Work between them and APRC, PDOIS, and Mama Kandeh’s Party as One and United Party to take on UDP and Ahmat Bah and may be NCP, if NCP is short minded to forget the Treatment they received under both PPP and UDP Party Leadership and Militants. The OPPOSITION to UDP should be aware that UDP was Co-founded by a Jola who was later Pushed Aside or some might say, Dumped out of the his own Party due to ETHNIC GROUP POLITICS and Marginalization built-in to the Leadership’s and Party Militants’ Ethnocentric Believes. Not all UDP members are of the same cloth of ethnic marginalization and intolerance. But the Core and Consistent Leadership’s Views and Actions have been for the most part, one of Intolerance, Sectionalist in Action, Behavior and in the end Marginalization of Others within the UDP Party. It is a Narrow and Dogmatically Led and Operated Party. Thus, its Mouthpiece Militants and Party Hacks, are Socialized to Treat any Opposition with Utter Contempt, Rabid and Ethnic Stereotypical and Prejudicial Insidious Treatment. Socialization of the UDP Party Members is not unlike the former PPP’s Ways and Means of Maintaining it’s Hegemony in the Gambian Political Scene from 1965 to 1970-1994. Under Yaya Jammeh who was inadvertently Schooled and Tutored by former President David/Dauda Jawara’s PPP government under which he was a State House Guard, he implemented, some would say, a similar form of government mimicking the Only Form of government Yaya Jammeh Witnessed Close up, minus the alleged Victimization of the Gambian Opposition. Now, the Gambia and Gambians are being Led once again toward the Abyss by Narrow Ethnic Minded Scoundrels only interested in their own Greed and Lust for Power that they Hid in their Closets waiting for the time of their Decision to Reveal. Opposition Parties should realize that UDP does Not Represent all Mandinka any more than PPP under O.J., or PDOIS under H. Sallah does Not Represent the Fula or Wollof in their entirety, respectively. I Pray that the future of the Gambian Political Scene would be based on the Contents and Character of the Candidates and their Political and Economic Policy and Development Agenda. That said, all Gambians must endeavor to fight Ethnic and Ethnocentric Believes and Political Agenda in all its Forms and from all Ethnic backgrounds. Gambia is more than the Sum Total of One individual, One Ethnic Group, One Region. One Gambia, One People, and One Destiny.
What was Jammeh and the Jola informed mind’s contribution to ending ethnocentric disposition in the gambia? Were they unable to forge national belonging because UDP derailed that mission? O. J was equally maltreated by Jammeh. Jammeh never worked with Halifa. So I am wondering what is achievement of Jammeh and Jola elites within a span of 22 years towards the creation of sense of national belonging?
Please be constructive and do not swerve wildly around the bush.
Kinteh(Kemo)
The only contribution made by the Jola elites since our independence is wanton destruction, death and betrayal, from Kukoi Sanyang in 1981 to Yahya Jammeh in 1994 to 2016. Their savagery of power grab and staying in power at all cost is what put us in the predicament we are today.A broken nation with weak institutions, ignorant work force and divided loyalties. I think we Gambians should learn now something or two about the Jolas, a backward minority tribe who are the source of all the wars and the near wars in both Gambia and Senegal.
Idiots like Sidi Bojang who even educated still followed the same idiocy of Jola supremacy in our sub region. Savagery and betrayal etched in your folklore as a norm will not be tolerated in this new Gambia of ours. Jolas will have to learn to live in peace with all other tribes in Gambia as well as in Senegal or leave. Go! please follow Yahya into exile. We want peace in our two countries.
Ladies and gents rambling Sidi is back ha!ha! ha!. He has forgotten to take his psychiatric medications.
Natty, don’t waste your energy on Sidi. He is just jealous of me because I can write and speak better English than him ha!ha!ha!. I don’t know which College and university he studied at but he should sue them for return of his fees because for a university graduate his English and grammar is atrocious. Either they didn’t teach him anything or he was a very poor student and the institution had pity on him and gave him a certificate in the end. I have seen grade 9 students making better comprehensible arguments. If my grammar was even a tenth as terrible as his, I would never let people know that I went to University. Any University graduate who lacks basic analytical skills like Sidi should be ashamed to say they are a graduate. Natty it wont surprise me if all what he’s been doing at University was “chew pour pass” memorise everything for an exam, regurgitate it and pass the exam without gaining sufficient understanding of the subject. We should feel sorry for him though because he is an old man and we all know how cruel Europe can be to old bitter people. Perhaps he was expecting a cushy job back in the Gambia if Jammeh had won the elections but instead Barrow won. Barrow’s victory has scuppered the dreams of many unpatriotic Gambians so they will never forgive Barrow for it.