[b]Posted on Tuesday 30 March 2010 - 16:10
Dolphyne


Joseph Appiah-Dolphyne, AfricaNews editor in Accra, Ghana
The leader of the main opposition party in the Gambia, United Democratic Party's (UDP) Ousainou Darboe, has said he regrets the boycott of the 2002 National Assembly in that country. He said he takes full responsibility for that but explained that he was misled into taking the decision and with hindsight that should not have happened.

Below is the full text of an exclusive interview with the main opposition leader in the Gambia.[/b]



AfricaNews: What moved you to enter politics?

Ousainou Darboe: Well, I hadn’t planned to enter politics or planned to become a politician but when the then military regime lifted the ban on political activities in the Gambia where all the major political parties were banned and all the leaders were equally banned, some people founded the United Democratic Party and I was approved to lead it.

I accepted the indication, accepted the challenge that we should not allow the military to usurp what is going to become a constitutional power to itself by default. And that’s how I got into politics.

AfricaNews: You have been accused in the past of being too hungry for power such that you can do anything to attain political power. What is your responds to this?

Ousainou Darboe: I do not know why people are accusing me of that because I did not form the party, the party was formed and I was elected to lead the party. Those who are hungry for power are the ones who have formed party and have chosen themselves to lead those parties. If you say I can go to any extent to try to become president, what illegal thing have I done? What have I done that is unorthodox? What have I done that is condemnable to stay in power?

I have challenged anybody who wishes to take up the leadership of the United Democratic Party; they can very well do so. I’m not in any way expressing regret but obviously, I know that the leadership of the United Democratic Party has resulted in a lot negative things for me. I mean financially, otherwise, I know what my status was before 1992 and now I know what my status is, so anyone who wants to take over the mantle at the United Democratic Party he is welcomed to do so.

As I told you, I came into politics because we did not want the military to hijack the united government of the Gambia by default of the Gambians. That is all.

AfricaNews: Have you ever regretted your decision to enter politics in the Gambia?

Ousainou Darboe: I have never regretted it. After all, it is a call to service and I’m very fortunate to be called this period to lead them particularly during the period when there was absolute dictatorship in this country. When there was brutality at its highest and then for the Gambian people to have confidence in me and ask me to lead them, that for me is the greatest achievement in my life and I’ve not regretted at all. It is a call to service and I’m proud that I responded, and I’m keeping the torch alive.

AfricaNews: I’m sure there are times when you have regretted certain decisions that you or your party have made. Can you recollect these moments and what happened after that?

Ousainou Darboe: The boycott of the 2002 national assembly elections, it was a decision that was taking by my party and I accept full responsibilities and I regret having taken that decision. I was misled by some people I thought shared the same vision with me, people I thought that shared the same objectives with me. But then I was misled into taken that decision and I say that it is my full responsibility because the fault ends at me.

I accept the responsibility and it is to which that I regret. With hindsight it shouldn’t have been taken at all.

AfricaNews: Tell me about the current political situation in the Gambia

Ousinou Darboe: It is very volatile and there is great deal of uncertainty, of course the Jammeh regime is being run by sycophants who really do not genuinely support his party, those are the ones who are screaming all over and of course the opposition we’ve been gradually muscled.

You may be aware that our party campaign manager, Mr. Femi Paters is standing trial for organizing a meeting without police permit and he’s standing trial for holding a procession. These are guaranteed constitutional rights. Right to hold meetings and right to hold procession

These are guaranteed constitutional rights - the right to hold meeting and the right to hold procession but then they are being prosecuted for doing exactly that, and of course the whole objective of that is to muscle the opposition and to send the signal we should not participate in any public meetings and if we do this is what is going to befall us.

But we consider ourselves as being in imperialism and that these are some of the inconveniences, these are some of the problems that one can encounter. We are facing them very squarely and that would not make us retreat at all.

AfricaNews: So what would you say about the various arrest and detentions in the country?

Ousainou Darboe: Well, again it goes to show we’ve lost control, that there is no regard for the rule of law and dictatorship would now behave in anyway it likes. Arrest people; detain them without subjecting them to due process and this is what has been going on in this country for the past 10 to 15 years.

This is what we of the United Democratic Party and I believe other opposition parties are really putting up a fight against it. This is what we are fighting against and we want to make sure that Gambians would gain their lost freedom; we want to make sure that the Gambians are satisfied with their rights guaranteed under the constitution without hindrance from anybody.

AfricaNews: Can you tell me your relationship with the country’s president Yahya Jammeh?

Ousainou Darboe: Our relation is that of a president and opposition. We hardly meet and I think we last met just before the elections in Guinea Bissau. That is the last time we met and that is it.

AfricaNews: Do you believe in his claim of having the cure to HIV/AIDS?

Ousainou Darboe: I do not believe it, at the time that it was announce, I challenged them to tell us what chronic vaccines he was using in his so called cure. I do not believe it, I think it is one of those things he tries to create to mystify himself and nothing more, and unfortunately, he is being believed by people who call themselves professional doctors, which is very unfortunate.

AfricaNews: Are there people who have come out to say they’ve been hailed?

Ousainou Darboe: Yea, people have appeared on television to claim that they have been cured of AIDS; others say they have been cured asthma, hypertension, and diabetes. But what do you expect, when you have his propaganda machine come and manage these things to bring people to come and attest to the whole world that they have been cured.

I do not believe in it and those people who even say that they have been cured let them just know that they are making false claims to the world.

AfricaNews: The opposition National Alliance for Democracy and Development had a split in 2006, having gone through all the difficult times under Jammeh, are you considering another coalition for the 2011 presidential elections?

Ousainou Darboe: Even before the elections in 2006, in as far back as August 2002, I have been making calls for united front and I will continue to do so and I hope I succeed.