The
message of peace and stability has been coming from every part of the country,
as individuals and institutions yearn to see a smooth transfer of power from
the sitting to the incoming president.
The
Christmas messages and the Word of God from the pulpit have also been calling
for peace, as pastors and other men and women of God continue to minister peace
messages to congregations of churches across the country. The same for the
Muslim community.
The
president-elect Adama Barrow has also emphasised the need for prayer and
peaceful resolution of the country’s political impasse, over the results of the
just-concluded presidential election in The Gambia.
“Let
us all pray and counsel the outgoing Government to give peace a chance so that
our peace-loving people will be protected from any harm, as we enter a New Year
of hope,” the President-elect has said in his New Year message to the nation.
“Let
us all make a pledge as a New Year resolution that we will ever be true to our
homeland, The Republic of The Gambia.”
Peace
is an endowment from God; hence it needs to be well guarded. We, therefore,
cannot afford to nurture a situation which calls for conflict and disorder. And
if such a situation is looming large over our heads, as the current political
impasse over election results keeps dragging, all must, therefore, pray and
find a solution to the problems.
We
should endeavour to do all we can to ensure that the dark cloud that hangs over
our heads is cleared through dialogue and understanding.
While
the political impasse has already caused worry and sparked fear in the hearts
and minds of the people, the economic impact of the situation is already being
felt by especially the layman.
“Since
December 9th, when President Jammeh announced his U-turn decision to reject the
polls of December 1st, business activities have stalled; a wave of uncertainty
and fear has traversed across the local and international business owners
within the country; daily business activities have stagnated, to name but a
few. All these unusual negative trends could lead to redundancy of staff and a
severe downfall to our economic activities at large,” a renowned businessman in
the country has voiced out.
It
is but essential that we avert more hardship and severe conflict in the
country.
We
are, therefore, calling on the outgoing President to demonstrate his love and
respect for the will of the people by accepting the result of the December 1
presidential election, and cooperate with the President-elect to hand over
power peacefully, come 18/19 January 2017.
“Peace
is a priceless commodity, let’s cherish and nurture it!”
The
Point