The recent embarrassing situation in which the President of Malawi, Bingu Wa Mutharika found himself in after the election of Michael Sata as president of neighbouring Zambia was no doubt a good lesson to everyone, both in Africa and the rest of the world.
 We can recall how in 2007, President Mutharika ordered the deportation of Sata, then an opposition leader, from Malawi, when he was thrown aboard a truck and driven to the Zambian border where he was unceremoniously dumped.
By a twist of fate, Sata has now been elected president of Zambia, and Mutharika, being haunted by such arrogance, has not only been overcome with embarrassment, but he was also left with little choice but to apologize for what had happened and even had to rescind the deportation order, even though the damage had already been done.
This is indeed a good lesson to the other African leaders that they should show respect to their opponents rather than treat them like irresponsible scum who should be harassed, beaten up and even locked up at the instigation of the head of state or his cohorts. We have seen quite disgraceful images of the sort of treatment usually meted out to opposition leaders in many African countries.
We have for instance recently seen the disgraceful manhandling of the Ugandan opposition leader, Dr Kizza Besigye in the full view of television cameras, when he was being beaten to the pulp with a broken hand, and he still continues to be harassed and intimidated.
Here in The Gambia, we have also constantly witnessed the bad treatment meted out to opposition leaders. A good case in point was the arrest and detention of Ousainou Darboe and the entire leadership of the UDP in horrible conditions for several days at the Basse police station in 2002 after they were accused of the killing of an APPRC supporter in the Upper River Region, only for them to be later acquitted and discharged by the courts.
We have also witnessed many other examples of   harassment of several other opposition leaders, including the detention of Halifa Sallah for several days for merely speaking against the subjecting of several Gambians to humiliating treatment as witches and forcing them to drink filthy concoctions which led to the deaths and maiming of some of them.
There was also the frequent detention and violent treatment of Lamin Waa Juwara, the leader of the defunct NDAM, before he eventually threw in the towel and joined the ruling party.
There has also been frequent harassment and intimidation of the opposition, particularly during election campaigns, including denying them permits to hold rallies, access to the GRTS and other public facilities as well as subjecting their militants and supporters to various forms of intimidation and harassment.
We witnessed, for instance, the ridiculous trial and eventual one year imprisonment of Femi Peters for merely ‘organizing’ a UDP rally without a permit, and yet, it is a well known fact that the ruling APRC holds rallies and other functions whenever and wherever they choose without any policeman ever daring to ask them to produce a permit.
Recently also, we have been hearing reports that the head chief of Kombo Central District,  Dembo Keleng Bojang has issued an order to the Brikama Community Radio not to carry announcements from the opposition, and threatening the staff with immediate sacking if they flout his orders.
In a similar vein, we have also heard that the Governor of the West Coast Region, Lamin Sanneh has urged the people of Foni not to allow the opposition to hold meetings in their areas. This is in addition to other forms of harassment and intimidation being meted out to the opposition by local leaders and other APRC thugs in various parts of the country.
Certainly, such irresponsible remarks and actions from such so-called local leaders does not auger well for the prospects of free and fair elections anywhere. We can therefore only hope that those who are supposed to monitor and validate the elections are watching and recording these violations of the election code and that such action would be reflected in their reports after the elections.
It is quite a well-known fact that elections are most of the time rigged not on polling day, but usually during the process that leads to polling day. If that process is flawed, as it appears to be the case in The Gambia, then the prospects of having free and fair elections are quite slim.
Recently, we have heard the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, Mustapha Carayol issuing a warning to local government authorities and other local leaders against any attempts to disrupt opposition meetings in their areas.
However, in view of the fact that the entire local government machinery, from the governor, right down to the village alkalo’s have been transformed into puppets of the ruling APRC and therefore see themselves more as party agents in their areas than public servants, it would be interesting to see whether any of them would heed the warning, knowing fully well that President Jammeh does not object to their actions and as such, the police and other security agencies are not likely to ever muster the courage to give protection to the opposition against any harassment.
In fact, during the last ‘Dialogue with the People’ tour, we all heard President Jammeh himself castigating the people of the Lower River Region for allowing the UDP to hold their last congress in Soma, bragging that the people of Foni would never allow such an event to be held there.
That is an apparent endorsement of the positions adopted by some of these local leaders to use all possible means to prevent the opposition holding meetings in their areas.
We have for instance seen how no opposition party would dare campaign in Foni, as if it is not a part of The Gambia, which is definitely one clear indictment of the electoral process when certain areas are out of bounds for certain people.
Therefore, the embarrassment that has happened to President Mutharika could very easily happen to anyone else, even here in The Gambia. If for instance, Ousainou Darboe or Halifa sallah or Hamat Bah, or any other opposition leader, were to win the elections and become president of this country, which is not impossible like has happened in Zambia, those who have been subjecting them to such harassment and intimidation will no doubt feel quite embarrassed.
It is therefore extremely important that no matter how much power and influence we may wield, we should always treat others with respect and dignity as we can never predict what would become of us or them tomorrow.

ENDS