To uphold the notion that because Mama Kandeh made
allegations that he failed to substantiate is deserving of an explanation from
the President is ignorant.
The Gambia; and indeed any other state for that
matter should not mimic frat house filled with she said he said allegations and
counter allegations. In a serious institution, evidence and facts are what
matter, not innuendos and fanciful rhetoric.
If Mama Kandeh in fact has evidence of graft of such
magnitude why not present it to the public and let the talk start from there? Mere
conjecture deserves no response from serious minded people. What is his goal;
try to catch those in the administration in a lie?
GDC has members in the National Assembly, what is to
stop Mama Kandeh from giving his evidence to those members to present on the House
floor and demand the House oversight committee for government finances look
into it? Why not call a press conference and declare his prove? So many avenues
are open to him but he chose to sit at a political function and make conjecture
with full knowledge that it is not true and for some to come out and demand an
explanation from the President is preposterous. Why not demand that Mama Kandeh
give his proof first and then we can go after the President for an explanation?
Give explanation against what, Mama Kandeh’s words? Then it becomes a case of
his words against the President’s words and the nation divided into camps of
believers for either narrative so that the spin masters can get to work and
blow the whole thing out of proportions?
The logical and right thing to do is to present the
facts and then the President can come refute his allegations based on those
facts or explain the credibility of the evidence, not to engage in word play
with someone so low on morals as to lie to a vulnerable base for his political
gain.
Secondly, ever since their ascension to power, every
single loan/aid agreement has been signed in full glare of the media with the
donor stated, and present; the amount stated for the record; what the money has
been earmarked for and when that project is due to kick off. What more evidence
is needed than to look and see if in fact the said projects have been sponsored
in full or not? The pathetic thing is when some advocates of that notion come
out to say; “we need to hold our leaders accountable.” So Mama Kandeh as an
aspiring candidate is not one of those leaders to be held to account? He made a
claim, clearly it has to be based off of some facts he gathered, why not demand
he present those facts as a means to holding him accountable for his
utterances?
When government officials engage in corruption in
the manner alleged by Mama Kandeh, the public pays the price dearly. The fiduciary
relationship that exists between the public and elected officials if breached
by any official is a prosecutable offence. Accusing public officials of theft
at such a magnitude is not a political statement, it is irresponsible and a
trigger for public outrage, rightly so if true. So to establish the truth or
otherwise of the allegations, Mama has to give answers, and who better to give
answers to than those charged with upholding the law.
The police did their job and with it prove to us
that our democracy is burgeoning for two reasons.
Firstly, after questioning him and finding out that
he lied, Mama Kandeh was let go and no charges of “lying to the public” were
filed against him; or for merely lying. That would be a problem if he were to
be prosecuted on those grounds. Because then it will amount to persecution of a
political opponent.
Secondly, we can safely assume that if in fact Mama
Kandeh presented evidence of misappropriation to the police, the culprits would
have been called in to answer for their crimes. The culprits in this case being
state officials; which tells us that the police are willing to turn things
around and hold all citizens subject to the law.
But instead of lauding the efforts of the police in their
attempts at upholding the law; or holding Mama Kandeh to the high standards of
political decency, some want to cuddle him and his misleading ways as mere
politics. If that is the case then let us wait for the President to respond to
his allegations at a political function of his choosing as well. As a citizen,
I also demand that the President not use public time to give credence to Mama
Kandeh’s insinuations as they stand.
The onus here lies squarely and entirely on Mama Kandeh
to prove to the public that in fact his claims were true by producing evidence
to that effect. Then, and only then should we ask for the President to come and
clarify based on the evidence presented.
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