Gambia: Face to Face With Mr. Hamat M.k. Bah At the Gambian Society Hall Meeting in New York City

As a continuation on the outcome of the July 17, 2006 meeting in New York City, we reproduce the various questions asked of Mr. Bah and the answers given by him.

Hello ladies and gentlemen. I would like people to ask as many questions as they can in order to clear your doubts because this is the opportunity to answer to your call.

Don't you think that the opposition parties in The Gambia would be squarely blamed if APRC (the ruling party) is to win the September 2006 presidential election? This is because Gambian electorate are ready for a positive change through a unified opposition party. In short, this is to say that you the opposition leaders failed Gambians for coming together because of leadership crisis, forgetting the interest of the country. As a leader you should be a "garbage container" ready to accommodate all the nonsense, filter it, and get the good ones for the Gambian people.

That is your opinion and you are entitled to it because people differ in terms of the way they think and the way they see things. Thank you.

Mr. Bah, in 1996 during an explosive interview on GRTS (the government-controlled TV station) when asked why NRP (Mr. Bah's party) was not part of the UDP/PPP coalition, this was what you had to say, "Let people be careful with "AIE SHYE SHYE", though there are good ones. That is to say specifically UDP is an amalgamation of thieves from the former regime (PPP) who are facing the Commission of Enquiry. What NRP stands for is transparency and accountability. As a result, we cannot go with those people (UDP)." If I may ask, what has changed since then that today you feel that you can work comfortably with the UDP to unseat president Jammeh without the assistance of NADD?

The bad ones are gone. It remains with only the good ones. You the journalists make sure you quote me right because somebody misquoted me in Tennessee that I said that the people in the Diaspora are liars.

Your calling on other opposition members to form a single party against Jammeh in the September 2006 presidential election, under which political platform will you present your presidential candidate?

Under UDP/NRP platform absolutely.

Elections are won in The Gambia between 8 am and 10 pm. What can the UDP/NRP coalition do to avoid election fraud, citing a typical example from the Ivory Coast?

The UDP/NRP coalition is a party that respects the rule of law. If such a situation arises, the courts will decide.

Mr. Bah you said that you have made a fundamental mistake in the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with NADD. What are you telling us? Is it that during the signing of the MoU you could not figure that out until late, when every Gambian is elated with high hope that NADD will be the redeemer. Suddenly you backed out? The problem with the MoU is that you signed it without good fate.

(Mr. Bah interrupts at this moment and then he continued with his response.)

No, no. We signed with conditions that were accepted.

OK now, you decided to join Lawyer Ousainou Darboe?

(Hamat intervened again.)

Let me tell you that I did not join Darboe. I joined UDP from the call made by Gambians because we believe that national interest supercedes every thing. Secondly, I Hamat Bah did not hesitate to oppose president Jammeh since at the very beginning for good reason. I will tell you that I would not hesitate again to oppose UDP if it is not serving the interest of Gambians. We have made a fundamental mistake. That is, we have agreed to be equal when we are not equal and gave veto power to other smaller parties at the level of the Secretariat.

You are talking about the power sharing agreement which has been a problem. How would you solve that problem?

As long as people have confidence in their selected candidate, he/she will decide on how that power will be shared.

Is it not possible for the opposition parties to ask for on-the-spot counting of ballots in the forth-coming presidential election?

The on-the-spot counting of ballots has been very successful particularly during the by-election in Central Baddibu and Kiang East Constituencies. This was then abolished for reasons known to themselves. In fact, that shows that I have no confidence in the IEC, more so under the chairmanship of Mr. Ndondi Njie. What I want to tell you is that this time Yaya Jammeh will meet with people of a difference.

Do you really engage yourself in educating the electorate about the impending dangers of selling their votes?

Let me answer your question. That is why I said that we know what is on the ground. Every family in The Gambia is aware of the economic problem of the country. This is why many people are migrating to other countries. The bigger problem we have in The Gambia today is the so-called educated persons. They are more of "political prostitutes" than intellectuals that president Jammeh is using to satisfy his whims and caprices. Look, you can take a horse to the river but you can't force it to drink. These pseudo intellectuals are aware of all the problems but they tend to serve their individual interests.