Lamin Manneh- We Promote And Defend A Gambian Nation In Which We All See Ourselves As Gambians Irrespective Of Our Ethnic

By Lamin Manneh

An uncharacteristic but nonetheless unacceptable post by Mr. Sambujang Jawneh was shared with me this morning. In the post, he attacked the ethnic origins of Mr. Talib Ahmed Bensouda.

I called Mr. Jawneh to condemn his post because it runs totally contrary to what we in the UDP believe in. We promote and defend a Gambian nation in which we all see ourselves as Gambians, irrespective of our ethnic, religious, regional or any other affiliation and/or origin. We recognise our diversity and we see it as a factor of enrichment, not division.

Mr. Jawneh was very remorseful and regrets having taken the bait of someone who was trolling him about H.E. Ousainu Darboe. I told him in no uncertain terms that I would publicly condemn his statement after doing so privately with him. He welcomed that stance and told me that he has in fact taken down the post and apologised. He promised me that no amount of provocation would make him say again something he doesn’t believe in but which he said just to get back to the person who baited him.

We, in the UDP, believe that political differences and sound debate thereof, are healthy. However, name-calling, insults, invectives and disrespect have no place in our political discourse.

We urge all our supporters and all Gambians to refrain from using abusive and other unacceptable language in our relations with each other. Our debates should be fact and issues based and, above all, they should civil and courteous.

In conclusion, we condemn Mr. Jawneh’s post, even though he has personally apologised for it already, and we regret any and all inconveniences and offenses it has caused to the Gambians and our foreign host living amongst us.

To The Gambia, ever true.

Lamin Manneh