Team Isatou - A Squandered Opportunity

A lesson not learned in the past, will surely be repeated in the future. Gambians hardly indulge in case studies to assess and diagnose the what and why of many things that plague us be it business, politics or otherwise.

Dr Touray's emergence in the political fray has been met with enthusiasm and exuberance and rightly so as Gambians of diverse origins and social standing were looking for that messiah to usher in a dawn of a new day in our political dispensation. Timing and strategy often meet at the confluence of opportunity to usher in success. The stars were aligned in favor of the good old Dr as the oracles of Katchikally, Sani Mentering and Alay Henni Bolong had all given the go ahead for her bid to make history not only as the first woman candidate but the leader of the third Republic. This golden opportunity handed to Dr. Touray is not only a missed opportunity for her but a squandered opportunity. Yes I said squandered because her bid was neither strategic nor tactical from the onset as it relates to the courtship of the political operatives and parties who are essentially the king makers in her bid to become the heir apparent.

Dr. Touray must have recognized from the onset that she lacked a political base/home to use as a launch pad for her campaign. Therefore she had to leverage her goodwill to the existing parties to show her support and for all intent and purpose, she meant well but team composition is key to a successful bid. Once again, my utterances are devoid of prejudice and ill will towards the good old Dr but I was not comfortable with the team that was visible to the general public. She might have had a behind the scene dream team but the public team did not tactically and strategically win the hearts and minds of the political operatives who should have accorded her a platform to operate on. The reason for this in my humble opinion was the gender bias that was evident in her team and the political orientation of her primary surrogates. Dr Touray wore different hats within the community (Professional, Activist and Political) and she should have adopted a team headed by a political prodigy not a novice in the business of politics and negotiations. No party has a monopoly on voters but voters generally have an affinity with political parties and her going directly on the trail to court voters put her on a collision course with the existing parties as they viewed her as a potential competitor. This made it virtually impossible for the parties to surrender their political bases to her gratis.

Listening to Dr. Touray's press conference yesterday was disturbing to say the least as it was evident that she lacked good counsel as they would have advised her to stay clear of such unwarranted controversies that will not only erode brand Isatou but put her at logger heads with Gambians yearning for change. My expectations were not met as I expected her to take the high road in the interest of the Gambia by being a bridge builder inspite of her alleged experiences with the political parties. Being an interested candidate who signed off on the convention process, she was duty bound to get adequate information about the process in terms of cost and procedure. Therefore she has no excuse to blame the organizers as she was fully vested in the process. Secondly, if her team was attending the deliberations that led to the convention the so called breakdown in communication she experienced would not have occurred. With all due respect, I CANNOT subscribe to that premise as her reason for not participating. Great leadership calls for taking responsibility and this process is not owned by GOFER but the aspirants and their political base.

The good old Dr. has a vital role to play in the new Gambia but her botched campaign is self inflicted as team composition was not diligently pursued. We need her to be part of a new dispensation but not finger pointing. Political jockeying and maneuvering can be sleazy but her entry strategy needed a further rethink and I hope she has learned a thing or two about participatory politics. We at #TEAMGAMBIA want a unified front. Great leaders unite people and solidify a common purpose when the going gets tough not apportion blame to others. Gambians are looking for problem solvers not problem identifiers.