The Campaign Manager of the governing National People’s Party (NPP), Lamin Cham, has stressed that tribes in The Gambia cannot be divided, highlighting that President Adama Barrow has Foni at heart.
Addressing a political meeting at Foni Somita a fortnight ago, Mr. Cham asserted that the tribes in The Gambia have become so intertwined through inter-marriage and harmonious co-existence that they have now become inseperable.
The NPP top strategist also told the Somita rally that President Adama Barrow has the West Coast Region’s sub-region of Foni at heart because it’s an integral part of The Gambia.
Cham, however, urged the people of Foni to embrace change and come to the realisation that no ruler can rule infinitely.
“The people of Foni, I want us to have a bit of a conversation,” stated Cham. He added: “If you could recall, when self-rule was attained, the Gambia’s leadership first began in CRR in the First Republic. And when Jawara was ruling in this country, Foni rallied behind Jawara and it endorsed him, Niani accepted Jawara. When Jawara left the stage, President Yahya Jammeh came. Foni endorsed Yaya Jammeh, Niani rallied behind Yahya Jammeh and The Gambia approved of Yaya Jammeh. When Yahya Jammeh left, President Barrow became the one ordained by Allah to occupy the seat.
“Therefore, what I would tell the people of Foni is that there’s an end to every ruler’s rule and when your time elapses, it’s another ruler that comes in. Adama Barrow is today the President of The Gambia. My wish is for you to rally behind President Barrow because he’s the one who can shoulder all your [developmental] needs. He is the one who provides schools, hospitals, builds roads, delivers electricity and since that is the case, the people of Foni, let’s throw our weight behind President Barrow.”
The NPP’s chief propagandist told the people of Foni that tribes in Gambia cannot be detached from one another.
“Gambians are people of the same father and mother. All of us present here today are of mixed tribe because my interpreter today was my neighbour in Bundung, our families were intertwined and they were there for each other. What this indicates is that we are all of the same family,” emphasised Cham, adding: “Some of my brothers, whose mother shared the same father with my mother, hailed from Foni Bondali, and they are Fulas. There also comes a mixture. In The Gambia, no tribe can be separated from another. All tribes have inter-married.”
He pointed out that politics is not about a tribe or religion.
“Politics is only here to promote social cohesion, you go after your interest, rally behind the incumbent president so that he/she can look after our needs,” he opined.
Cham assured the people of Foni that President Barrow “loves Foni and he also needs Foni because Foni is an integral part of The Gambia and must, therefore, be under the president’s rule”.
“And it’s the government that can take care of their development needs,” he added.
He re-emphasised that rulers are not here to rule for ever.
“Every ruler rules for a period of time because even when the PPP government’s rule ended here, some UDP members said Yaya Jammeh’s rule was not to last long and that Jawara was to return. They held on to that thought for a long period of time before they could finally accept that Jawara was to never come back to rule again,” Cham explained.
He continued: “When Yahya also left here, many of Yahya’s loyal supporters believed that Yaya would come back. This is why they formed an independent group but let no one deceive oneself, every leader’s rule is time-bound.”
