Is President Barrow and Lawyer Darboe Heading to the Boxing Ring??

Is everything alright in the UDP fraternity? This is no hyperbole, something is brewing!

After the National Assembly elections, Papa Lawyer Darboe drop a new tune in the Mandingo language, it goes like this: “Yee-ye-ye-ye Lawyer Darboe ye banko tar,” translated “Yee-ye-ye-ye Lawyer Darboe has taken over the country.” Many people thought the song was inappropriate for various reason, one of which is instead of recognizing Barrow’s leadership in lifting the party at its lowest point and leading it to victory plus all the sacrifices made along the way. Lawyer Darboe chooses to personalize the victory and reserved all the credit for himself for a victory he probably had very little to do with. As you can imagine this didn’t help his image and selfish reputation but the Old-man couldn’t help himself.

There has been lot of talk recently whether Barrow should serve 3 years as agreed in the coalition-memorandum or should he ignore/betray the agreement and force the 5 years constitutional term? The question no one is asking; who benefits the least if Barrow forces a 5 years term or extend his stay?

Well, I can tell you right now, there is an Old-man shitting in a corner, scrunching his face and screaming “Not Fair.” Our favorite old-man Papa Lawyer Darboe is destine to be the next president, Gambia is a one-party state at this point, sadly UDP has position itself as the sole beneficiary of the post Jammeh era and I do not see any other party reclaiming the crown for the next 30 years. It’s the fact. Now here comes the trouble, is Barrow going to make Papa Lawyer Darboe wait longer than he has to and how do you think that idea is sitting with the old-man?

It looks like this is going to be war, my prediction unfortunately our favorite Old-man is going to lose. Here is the thing, while UDP is enjoying the expanding size of their party the new comers have less loyalty to the party and more to Barrow as an individual and the rest of the new-comers are just gold-diggers. The voters who help topple Jammeh’s government mostly in their teens and early twenties do not have any significant memories of Darboe and sadly his old age doesn’t help. Barrow is closer to their age, he is younger and cuter and most importantly they see Barrow as the guy who saved them not Darboe and that’s a powerful image in their head.

The UDP old-guards see Barrow differently, while they like him, they see him nothing but someone there only to warm the car for the ultimate driver. Their loyalty is to the Old-man and it’s unshakeable, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen when Barrow exceed his welcome and decides to stay for 5 years or more.

Going by his recent interviews, it looks like Barrow is going to stay longer than even 5 years. I can say for certain Barrow is going nowhere anytime soon, the presidency is getting into his head, and he is loving the attention and the power that comes with it. How long is Lawyer Darboe willing to tolerate him is anyone's guess. We shall see. My advice, brace yourself for the unthinkable. “3 years or 5 years, I’ll do whatever the Gambian people want me to do” is what Barrow said in a recent interview. Let me translate it to you; it means “I am not leaving, I’ll serve the whole 5 years.” This is Barrow’s civilize way of saying “go screw yourself.”

African presidents are cursed, they do not have it in themselves to share power. Democracy is just a convenience, they use the word whenever it suits their needs. It becomes worst when you give someone a role they do not deserve or qualify for, they would not want to give it back. We see the same thing happen when Jammeh found himself in a role he was neither qualify nor expected. Anyways, that’s not the end of this stories, think about it if Barrow can force his way into serving 5 years what will stops him from shaking another 5 years? All of this at the detriment of Papa Lawyer Darboe, I feel bad for the Old-man, I love him.

My fear is the fall-out between these two colleagues will be ugly. Power corrupts, Presidents are jealous, they do not want to share the crown and Darboe is circling that crown like an eagle. Once the Banjul Socialites start getting close to the president and constantly reminding him how Darboe is trying to take his Job that would be the end of Lawyer Darboe. I just hope he doesn’t sent him back to where he rescued him from.

Anyways, I have no bone to pick in this fight. My Fula friends say “Mburru fof ko faringe.” As a none-UDP, Independent observer I don’t care who wins, the petty-side of me is looking forward to the fight though and can't wait for the blows to start flying lol. You bet I would put flame to the fire while hypocritically chuckling on the side. Nothing beats a UDP fight, lol.