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EFCC: $43m and the continuous tomfoolery

By Joseph Edgar… It was a very friendly conversation with a tinge of humor, serious banter and a lot of prayers wishing his successor well. This was one moment that really made those of us who have seen this clip very proud to belong to this generation of Africans.

After over 22 years in power, the president against all odds lost the elections and accepted defeat. Prior to this we had all expected the elections to be another comedy of errors. What with the previous five elections which saw the President win with landslides and the weak opponent this time. They say he was a security guard in Britain at some point. And, with no experience in public office one would have been forgiven if you looked at this election as a sham. Internet was switched off and all sort of restrictions was placed immediately before the election.

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So you can imagine everybody’s surprise when the results came in and the President was defeated . I am sure nobody expected this clip to even surface . We all expected a cancellation of the results talk less of an acceptance and that phone call. Is this another wind of freedom blowing across the continent? Will it get to Zimbabwe? I think so, already the sounds have started being heard there.

My only fear is for the new President not to go the usual way of hunting and hounding his pedecessor. This would bing about a huge regret and an attempt to claim power which inadvertently would lead to instability and civil strife. But much more seriously, it will send a warning signal to other still seating despots never to allow for democracy.

I think he should immediately cancel his so-call truth commission. The Gambia, I want to believe, does not have the political maturity to attempt an excocism on the evil carried out by this government so they should just let all this pass.

It’s a new dawn in The Gambia even as we pray that this would signpost the very beginning of the enshrinement of a true people s mandate as against the forceful subjugation through the whims of sycophants.

 

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