Gambia’s leading activist, Madi Jobarteh, has finally left the association of Gambian civil society organization, TANGO, for a new challenge at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
In an email sent to partners, Jobarteh who is now the country director of WFD, said he will continue to play his role as an activist in the country.
Below is his brief message to partners:
Every road has an end. Every journey comes to an end. My journey with TANGO has come to an end after 10 years of hard work with all of you.
I am now the Country Representative of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, a new British outfit seeking to support and strengthen democracy in the Gambia. My new office is located inside the National Assembly in Banjul.
As I leave TANGO with a heavy heart indeed, please join me to pay a special tribute to Mr. Ousman Yabo for the openness and friendship and encouragement he gave me as his deputy and program manager. During my entire time at TANGO he has only served to facilitate my work and care for my personal wellbeing at all times. I am eternally grateful to him for that.
I also obtained and enjoyed huge amount of love, respect and cooperation from the members of staff of TANGO. I wish to thank and appreciate them profusely.
The TANGO board has been supportive particularly the various chairpersons, ranging from Yankuba Dibba, Yahya Sanyang and now John Njie. I enjoyed their confidence and cooperation and I wish to profusely thank them for that.
To our esteemed TANGO members and regional and international partners, I have only gratitude and appreciation for all of you for your cooperation and confidence in me. The many personal endorsements I received from many of you and the active participation many of our organizations demonstrated indeed served to inspire and encourage me beyond measure.
Let me conclude by saying that I am still an integral part of the Gambian civil society and I shall continue to provide the necessary assistance to TANGO at all times. WFD is a civil society organization and will engage and play its rightful role within the Gambia civil society.
I strongly believe that the salvation of this country lies more with the Gambian civil society than with any other sector of our society. Hence the need for our civil society to raise the quality of its engagement and participation in the pertinent issues of today cannot be over emphasised. As WFD, I will continue to dedicate my energy even more to the realisation of this objective.
I wish to thank all of you and to seek your support, guidance and prayers as I begin another journey geared towards national development. In that same vein, I wish to also seek your forgiveness for all the harassment and provocations I have caused you.