Where Was Pastor Forbes - Alagie Yero Jallow Asked

Where was Pastor Francis Forbes when Gambians were being massacred, treasury looted, media houses suffered nocturnal arson attacks, and journalists fleeing persecution and other religious leaders? Pastor Forbes turned against his perfidy, and there is no more incentive compatibility in him; he is now abusing the ministry. These catatonic guys think we are victims of amnesia. Pastor Forbes is not a perfect man, never claimed to be one. Like all of us, he has a past that may not reflect brightly on him today. He should not bow to threat from blackmailers. Pastor Forbes said to the Standard, “When you are engaged in things that are dishonorable to the detriment of your nation, you do not earn the term honorable. So you do not make noise about it. You represent your people like all of us do. It is not a badge of impunity. If this country sinks, the title ‘Honourable’ will not help us,” he stressed. The Pastor made these remarks at a multi-stakeholder dialogue on the 2020 draft constitution and the future of democracy in The Gambia. The Centre for Research Policy Development organized the forum held at the International Conference Centre. He added, “If we could remove our former president in 2016 … we can remove another, and another and another. The process we used is still available, and rather than waiting for the top-bottom approach, maybe we should start with galvanizing now, and when we vote, our votes will speak. There will be an answer, and we can move forward. If we did it in 2016, we could do it in 2021,” Pastor Forbes said. He said “the reminiscences of joy” after the 2016 presidential election still linger in his mind. What changed? Someone should tell Pastor Francis Forbes that not all Gambians are his congregants. Proclamations do not obtain political power. It is not given based on self-righteous postulations and circuitous kinetics of the pulpit. If he wants to win, he should get in the trenches. Those who must clothe others must have decent clothes on their back. Oratorical prowess is not politics and being religious. We know the man fancies himself as a motivational speaker, and he has already announced himself as the next Desmond Tutu. If he is serious about telling the truth to power, he should have done it when Gambians were looking for a Messiah. Pastor Francis Forbes needs strategic handlers to help him. I know he understands that some of his Christian and Muslim Clerics have damaged themselves, and they are positioning themselves to reinvent their image and guilt, but this is not how to do it. They have succeeded in damaging the man more in an attempt to decorate him. We do not want to dig deep into their relationship with the dictator. Today many religious leaders( saved these religious leaders like Imam Baba Leigh, Imam Karamo Touray, Imam Ismaila Manjang Reverend Hannah Faal, Father Edu Gomez Ba Kawsu Fofana are in the history books as those who sacrifice for the voiceless for speaking truth to power struggling to end despotism using their congregation and pulpits in restoring democracy Gambians are enjoying ), including Pastor Forbes of the Aiding Words Ministries, published sermons all over the place, and preaching hot and divisive messages enabling kleptocratic rule, were in bed with President Yahya Jammeh. They did not see anything wrong with his government. They had Yahya Jammeh’s ears and time. They could get anything done for the Gambia and Gambians with Yahya Jammeh, but what did they do? They just enjoyed the moment! They took Yahya to Israel to pray for the Gambia. Yahya cozied with their churches and Mosques with unlimited access to the national broadcaster, the Gambia Radio and Television Services ( GRTS). Other than Pastor Francis Forbes and other clerics were parsimonious to truth-telling that things were all well with the country. They all queued behind Yahya. They attended his events in large numbers, and he had their backs. Many of them openly canvassed for votes for him from their pulpits. They turned blind eyes to the shortcomings of the Yahya Jammeh government because he is one of their own! These men, who never saw anything wrong with Yahya Jammeh’s government, are now extremely vocal in their condemnation of the Adama Barrow government. They have statements trending online attacking the government, and wildly, Christians in the government. They are attacking the National Assembly members for rejecting the draft constitution. Pastor Forbes asks these questions: what is happening under Adama Barrow in the Gambia today that did not happen under the previous governments? Why was he quiet and somewhat ambivalent then but active and vocal now? Tell us. I make no excuse for this government, neither will I pretend that all things are well. The government has done well in some areas, and in some others, it has failed or failed poorly. The most outstanding failure of this government is in its inability to stop Corruption and institutional reforms. Corruption is despicable and unacceptable. Gambians, other than the victims of the previous regime are all agreed on this. What is even more despicable is the politicization of the governance structures by some. The previous government played the same card before the 2016 elections, and Pastor Forbes never condemned it. The Corruption and killings, and poor governance are beyond politics and religion. We concede that religious leaders’ responsibility is to tell the government to stop the perpetrators’ killings and justice. However, other religious clerics like Pastor Forbes or the so-called civil society activist never speak out from their positions against the government and not the finding solution to speak for despondency. We need to uphold those clerics and activists in prayers to be healthy and bold, imbued with wisdom and strength of character to do justice. Leaders pull together to seek solutions in crisis times, and they do not pour accelerant on already explosive situations! The Gambia survived a brutal dictatorship, but it did not survive a religious war. We are heading with the divisive rhetoric coming from religious leaders like Pastor Francis Forbes.