Dodou Jah, Member of APRC
By Buba Gagigo
Dodou Jah, former Deputy Spokesperson of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), has called on the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and Deputy Spokesperson of the National People’s Party (NPP), Seedy Njie, to apologize to the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) over controversial remarks deemed to have tribal undertones.
Speaking to Eye Africa TV, Jah stressed that political leaders should avoid comments that risk inflaming ethnic sensitivities.
“Not only Seedy but all our leaders, I want to advise everyone to desist from belittling tribes,” Jah said. “If you say a particular party is doing such, it makes people believe that’s how the party behaves. And that’s why UDP responded and cleared the air that that is not their behavior, thus threatening legal action. If I were Seedy holding that position, he should apologize for making that statement and maybe explain that was not what he meant to say. But also to come out and explain what exactly you wanted to convey,” Jah told Eye Africa TV.
Jah also criticized those defending Njie on social media, saying such behavior undermines national unity. “That doesn’t build a nation, and that’s not politics.”
He noted that while similar comments have been made in the past without major backlash, Njie’s dual roles in government and the NPP make his words particularly weighty.
“This is because of the positions he holds in both the NPP and the government. With his position, if he speaks, it has a lot of impact,” Jah explained. “People can follow what you say or may even do it. I believe this is the reason UDP didn’t take it lightly. People should be very mindful of the media; it may make you or break you. You make a statement that you think has no impact, but you may not know it can set the country on fire. Let’s take the example of Rwanda; these kinds of statements can bring chaos, which can result in conflict.”
Jah concluded by urging political actors to embrace responsible communication: “Let’s eradicate the belief that if you are in politics, we can say anything. I don’t believe in that, and that is not politics. We should define politics and stop fooling people and tell them the meaning of politics. Whatever you are saying in politics should be based on knowledge, and it should be true because of the people listening to you, especially when you hold a high position. If every one of us says we are going to say whatever we want in the name of politics, then our laws will be useless because people will start breaking laws and base it on political statements.”