The Casamance warlord Salif Sadio should not threaten The Gambia because we are a peaceful, stable and democratic country where the rule of law exists. We have never known war, and we will never know it because this is a country whose Founding Fathers were imbued with the tact and sense of purpose needed to put a state on sound footing.
The recent clashes at our border with Senegal are very much regrettable, and must never be repeated. Bloodshed cannot solve the Casamance issue; brinkmanship cannot solve it and verbiage cannot solve it. What can solve it is sincerity and good neighbourliness.
The Gambia has always been a good neighbour with Senegal. Our two peoples co-exist and intermingle and intermarry. We share the cultures, languages and even the lumos and trade spheres. This is why nothing but peace should be prioritized between our two countries.
The Gambia is sovereign and independent and has been so since 1965. In the past six decades we have weathered numerous political storms and economic cataclysms ranging from the monoculture economy to the 1981 bloody coup attempt to the 22 years tyranny under Yahya Jammeh. What has led us out of all these threats to our nationhood has been a careful and steady people imbued with the sense of purpose and peace.
Another reason why we have come out unscathed from these tremors is good neighbourliness. When things were hard in 1981, for example, when senseless rebels led by Kukoi Samba Sanyang wanted to destroy our cherished values of freedom and democracy, Senegal came to our support and chased away the assassins across the Alahein bolong into ignoble exile. When Jammeh wanted to defy the wishes of The Gambia as expressed in free and fair elections in 2016, Senegal led the international and regional riposte which sent the tyrant packing into lonely exile. Senegal is a good neighbour and The Gambia should always reciprocate.
Together The Gambia and Senegal can evade the multiplicity of threat that are destroying the very fabric of West Africa as we speak: warlords, coups and economic stagnation.
It is the duty of all patriotic Gambian to condemn threats to our peace and stability and democratic traditions. We must remain focused on building the country to where we want it to be and eschew the verbiage that will render us weak and unstable. We condemn all threat, real or stated, against our beautiful Republic of The Gambia.
