Today, I join some Gambians and non-Gambians alike to voice our strong opposition to the nomination and candidature of Mamadou Tangara, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the position of the Commonwealth Secretary General. Find attached our press release and the petition statement which has been submitted to the Commonwealth Chair-in-Office Pres. Paul Kagame of Rwanda and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

As expressed in the petition statement, Tangara is not fit and proper to be the Commonwealth Secretary General in the name of the Gambia as he does not possess Commonwealth values. At a time when the Gambia was undergoing a brutal dictatorship, Tangara served as its voice and image to the rest of world defending the dictatorship at international forums.

The Gambian State is not only for the benefit of the officials who work in it. Rather our State derives its legitimacy and authority from the people and performs its functions on behalf of and for the welfare of the people. Public officials who turn the State into a weapon of violence and corruption against the people and those who aid and abet them must face consequences for their decisions, positions and actions. Today or tomorrow. Public office has benefits for those who work in it, but it also bears costs for those who flout and abuse public office.

This is what Tangara did and for that reason we condemn and reject in the strongest terms the Gambia Government’s endorsement of the candidature of Tangara.

I wish all Gambians will stand with us to ensure that there is accountability and an end to impunity in our lifetime.

Those who belief in the Gambia and accountability and wish to sign can submit their names.

Madi Jobarteh
Spokesperson of No To Tangara!