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Gambia News : Ex-Gambian leader answers questions on a national television broadcast

Since then Jammeh has legitimised his leadership of the country and is now in his third term after being elected as president.

Jawara, after an initial period of exile in the United Kingdom, has also subsequently been able to return home and actually enjoys a modest pension as former head of state and elder statesman.

Friday night’s broadcast in a regular programme of the station, Jawara responded to questions in the relaxed setting of his private residence on Atlantic Road at Fajara (some 12 kilometres from Banjul).

At 84, he still proved himself witty and alert in answering all questions put to him. They covered his entry into politics in 1959 by invitation to lead the newly formed Protectorate Peoples Party (later called the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) from a top civil service job as head of the veterinary department (he is a qualified veterinary surgeon from Glasgow University in Scotland); the struggle for independence, the advent of internal self-government with him at the head as premier in 1963 and as Prime Minister in 1965.

Jawara also responded to questions about the change to a republic in 1970, the 1981 abortive coup led by Kukoi Samba Sanyang and the now defunct Senegambia Confederation.

Talking about the anti-colonial struggle, he said this was not violent in The Gambia but was tough. He spoke of options considered for the Gambia including the possibility of having sitting members in the British parliament (the Malta solution).

This was because of doubt about the country’s viability for independence. He said all along he and the PPP never had any doubts since for him ’this was our right’.

"We are entitled to it. Self-determination is the right of all people to have.’ Jawara also reffirmed his strong belief in democracy saying it was the same with the party he led as expressed in the |ndependence manifesto (1960), the party constitution and the constitution of the country.

He termed the Senegambia confederation as a jointly entered agreement by two states each of them sovereign and independent, a situation many countries find difficult to contain. That was why he said it collapsed on the issue of rotation of the presidency which the Gambia called for to safeguard its sovereinty.

The interview, conducted by Kebba Dibba, a senior production staff at the GRTS however failed to raise any questions on developments since the 1994 coup overthrew the Jawara regime or on contemporary issues.