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Alagi Yorro Jallow.
Fatoumatta: Some of us are not on social media because we are on the payroll of a politician, foreign government, or international organization. We are here because we believe our voices must be heard. Because we think our contribution is equally important. That we also have a role to play in adding piquancy and enlightenment to our national discourse. Not because we have a monopoly on insights but because the stakes are too high to be left in the hands of financially compromised, ideologically unmoored “intellectuals.” That is the strength of our convictions.
Conversations around the tragedy in toxic politics are suffering from toxic political polarization that is arguably not healthy. The “Hasidiyaa” in this political season is breeding hate rhetoric that makes the Gambians fuels narcissists’ worst desires making seasoned political debates divisive. More dangerous bigots have already ruined many friendships. I hope those who denied the divisive politics and trivialized attempts to establish the facts of what transpired over the years in our politics get to look in the mirror to see the monsters they have become. Long time virtual friends and acquaintances have blocked me, and I too blocked and unfriended a few friends in the heart of this cycle of denials to preserve our relationship, and it made me rethink their humanity.
I also thank in equal measure recently one of Abubacarr Darboe’s political hack and surrogate blocking me. You have, by that act, admitted that you could not stand the heat. So it is wise to get out of the kitchen quickly. For those who might be wondering what this is all about, that political hack, a senior member of the UDP, and a big-time intellectual harlot and former Yahya Jammeh enabler posted an article practically forbidding anyone to pass unfavorable comments on his party leader. Fully convinced that this was a bit high-handed, I expressed my reservations. The guy responded by terming criticism of his leader “stupid” and “satanic.”
Undaunted, I noted that God is in favor of the truth. Nothing is more satanic than passing personal desires and deficiencies as the will or word of God.
The guy disagreed. To veto any further disagreeable comments, he moved swiftly to block me. However, by then, it was too late to ward off the killer blow. I had by then added a riposte drawing a direct relationship between the Gambia’s outward àffectation of holiness and the prevalence of corruption and Tribalism. The guy who should lead the charge against crime and tribal bigotry ìs itself up to its neck in corruption. The question is whether the flock can say something if Shepherd’s utterances and deeds do not match what is in the holy books. Over to you, fellow compatriots.
Fatoumatta: Before 2016, I had less than 2000 Gambian friends on Facebook. I had become a rabid anti-President Yahya Jammeh dictatorship and anybody but Yahya Jammeh enablers and campaigners now born again critics of Adama Barrow. I had embraced Senior Counsel Abubacarr Ousainou Darboe and the UDP long before the current mercantilist types did, and my name soared to give the depth of my constrictive criticism and analysis and the precision of my predictions. So naturally, I garnered new “friends” and followers. In good faith, I supported Abubacarr Ousainou Darboe since he joined politics in 1996 until 2019, with rational expectations. A lot transpired between us personally and professionally. I had no clue that I got into the same boat with the abjectly dishonest, the hunger-driven merchants, tribal bigots, the shameless and bare-faced idiots. I have always known everything cannot be correct, but I underrated the level of depravity in some people. The truth is, there was only one factor in the union, the love of Abubacarr Ousainou Darboe. That love blinded many of us from doing a deep search for the unscrupulous.
Fatoumatta: By the time Abubacarr Ousainou Darboe became a serial disappointment, I had become his supporter, admired him as I had promised to help in his political journey. At the same time, the opportunists and demagogues who had ingratiated themselves to the gravy train or through contracts and projects when he became too powerful and influential and has been de facto president bared their fangs. Their walls became the theater of abuse, insanity, conspiracy, division, and hero worship. Those who were hitherto my “friends” became smear merchants and political extremists.
Fatoumatta: The political fight between President Adama Barrow and his estranged Godfather Abubacarr Ousainou Darboe revealed a lot about political extremism, bad faith, deliberate ignorance, and male ethnic chauvinism. It showed that the political merchants are searching and destroying missions against anyone who is not a fanatical Abubacarr Ousainou Darboe supporter. Unfortunately for them, telling lies, writing false stories, creating false equivalence does not and cannot change facts. Facts are stubborn things. They can believe whatever they want to believe, but assuming a lie does not make it accurate. Hearing a lie tribal bigots and supporters and or any other agent of Abubacarr Ousainou Darboe does not change anything. Facts matter.
The truth about that tragic toxic politics and ethnic chauvinism politics is appalling, ruining our politics destructive to our democracy. It is disgusting that these despicable lots, these bags of rotten peaches, are making political points, from the brutal slaying of young people waving the Gambian flag, the loss and sadness of their families and friends. Their problem is not just about hunger alone. It is about character, and it is about the loss of dignity and shame. Something has gone off the rails with the purveyors of ‘Hasidiyaa.’ They have exchanged neurons for noodles. Unfortunately for them, facts remain facts, and the truth is still the truth. The path to the truth is narrow, while the path to falsehood is wide. I know they live in their echo chamber and are neck-deep in their cult. It is okay, their choice.
Fatoumatta: Lastly, I am profoundly happy to be liberated from their evil network. I don’ even sweat their Hasidiyaa, insults, subs, or shades. They intend to poison democracy. Their plan is for a fascist state, and their joy is levered on the hope of getting invited someday. We never have to yield the floor to the indecent and allow their idiocy to take root. Disrespect for the truth is not just vile; it is poisonous and an assault on dignity. We all know who these people are and what they stand for. We must resist their pull and call them out from time to time. I know that their lack of reverence for our sacred values is petulant, tedious, and stupid. We need to be awake to it because stupidity can be infectious if not tamed. We must never allow truth and lie to stand inequality.