Despite falling short of naming names, the Gambian leader Adama Barrow has indicated that Talib Ahmed Bensouda and other disgruntled UDP members should respect the UDP leader and other elders of the party due to the sacrifices they’ve made for the party.
President Barrow advised the young people against always going for quick gains.
The Gambian leader highlighted that the United Democratic Party was once a bastion of respect and obedience, but he indicated that the recent happenings in the party have starkly contrasted those party values.
President Barrow recalled that all the time that he spent with Lawyer Ousainou Darboe and in the UDP, he never became recalcitrant.
“I never rebelled against Ousainou or the party. This is why when I observe the developments now with Ousainou and the young one’s squabbling, fighting him, I would say to myself, the UDP was never like this before. For us, we were only obedient to the elders,” the Gambian leader highlighted in an exclusive interview with GRTS guest anchor Seedy Ceesay, who is also the governing National People’s Party administrative secretary.
In the interview, which was first aired on the national broadcaster on Monday, the Gambian leader suggested that recognition and appreciation of the sacrifices of long-standing group members are imperatives.
“And anybody in any group, not only in the UDP, and you know that you’re young, respect the group and its leaders, especially those who came before you. What they came across were many and they’ve suffered a lot. Therefore, let us give them that consideration,” he stated.
The Gambian leader said exploration of short-cuts to success can in itself thwart success.
“And the desire for quick gains destroys a group. If you are in a haste for quick gains, you’ll steal and if you don’t mind, you won’t succeed. That’s what haste does. When I was there [in the UDP], I was never in a hurry and when I was there, I never sought a position. All the positions I manned were thrust on me by them. Our upbringing does not allow us to confront elders.”
When put to him by Ceesay that “the young people of today insist they are better-educated, that the elderly lack knowledge, are unskilled and therefore, they [young ones] must lead but that in the Mandinka community, it’s said that what an elderly person can see while sitting cannot be seen by a child while standing”, President Barrow lightheartedly replied: “And it’s the same Mandinkas who say that if you only knew your mother at her old age, you’ll say my father has squandered his money because she [Mama] has wrinkled, the jaws have dropped and she’s no longer beautiful. Do you know the time he [dad] was courting her? You do not know”.
