Why is Jammeh cozying up to Mama Kandeh: Jammeh dispatches delegation to Kandeh

Mama Kandeh, Leader GDC

Yaya Jammeh is facing the toughest re-election campaign of his 22-year dictatorship. The threat to his regime's continued control over the levers of power is posed by the seven opposition parties and a non-party Independent affiliate coalescing around a single flag bearer under a unified Coalition.  The only hold out is the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) led by Mama Kandeh who has been concocting spurious reasons for not joining the coalition of all active opposition parties in the Gambia.

Several attempts have been made to get him on board without success. The most recent meeting between the officially designated members of GOFER and Mama Kandeh took place today (Sunday).  According to a source close to GDC, the party leader decline the invitation to join the Coalition led by Adama Barrow, leader of United Democratic Party (UDP).

He accused some members of GOFER of betraying the trust of the Independent candidate Dr. Isatou Touray which, by his own logic, is reason enough not to be a member of the coalition.  It is, therefore, reasonable to deduct that he judges the Coalition to lack trust, if not the credibility, to be associated with.  Warped logic of this kind is classic Yaya and thus not surprising form someone who had been under the tutelage of Yaya Jammeh for over 10 years as a member of the National Assembly.

Mama Kandeh introduced himself and his GDC party to the Gambian people as the only party that can defeat Jammeh's APRC at the polls in December because, according to him, "over half of the supporters of Jammeh are with him." He and his supporters are quick to point at the large crowds that attend his political rallies the moment doubt is raised about such claims that have no scientific basis. And it would seem that as long as it serves as a tool to recruit new members, Kandeh and his surrogates are comfortable with the claim.

It is without doubt that the GDC has attracted disgruntle members of the ruling party and "some renegade Green Boys and rejects" of the APRC, as a prominent businessman described some of the supporters of GDC to me.  Fairly or unfairly, the membership of the DGC is increasingly being seen as being composed of a break-away group of fifth columnists from the APRC who felt betrayed by the 22nd July Revolution for not delivering.  They also see Jammeh being increasingly self-centered and that all that matters in the world are him, his wife and two kids.  Every one else is expendable. Since they lack the power and influence to sway the military their way to remove Jammeh, they see GDC as the next best thing with a more youthful leader who is a member of the APRC family.

Jammeh is obviously worried that Mama Kandeh was able to tap into the frustrations of a significant segment of the ruling party which can only spell more trouble for him now that the opposition parties have formed a formidable alliance to contest the December elections.  According to sources, Jammeh sent a delegation comprising of Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy, Director General of the notorious NIA, Yankuba Badjie, Mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council, Yankuba Colley and the Education Minister, Fatou Lamin Faye in reaction to cultivate a partnership that Jammeh promises to be mutually beneficial to the both of them.  Of course, only those unaware of the fact that Jammeh is reliably deceitful.    

Mama Kandeh is scheduled to submit his nomination papers tomorrow, Monday at 10:00 a.m.  His Brikama speech which sounded like something Jammeh could have been delivered venomous;filled attacks on diaspora Gambians including Imam Baba Leigh.  If Jammeh planned on disqualifying Mama Kandeh tomorrow his Brikama rally speech has assured him a problem-free nomination process tomorrow.