By Pata PJ

I know it is very easy to be worn out on a long walk where the finish-line is not at sight. And I am talking about the psychological more than the physical wearing down. In that case, you could only be driven by DETERMINATION, FAITH, CONVICTION and LOVE.

Nineteen Years of prolonged but persistent combat against Tyranny and Anarchy in Banjul, more than half of my human life. Yet, there are people who from day one, stood up against Jammeh and his armed bandits (even before the selfish, vicious civilian cronies jumped to hug him) who hijacked our society and nation, and the same people stayed staunched and determined today than ever in their pursuit of restoring democracy, justice and decency in our homeland. They forfeited a lot they could have enjoyed as Gambians. They have invested human and material resources in this fight but never looked back a day, to quantify what they had given up. They assumed them to be sunk costs. To them, I say THANK YOU! You all spur us on.

May 17-19, 2013, is, and should be significant. The Raleigh Summit is very timely – not overdue. I am aware that there had been meetings, marches and demonstrations by Gambians all over the world to condemn and denounce Jammeh and his brutal regime in the past, and I am not going to even attempt taking away anything from them. Those gatherings gave birth to the waves of resistance we are seeing in the social media and the sporadic individual resistances and disobedience to Jammeh and his system, under his nose. What makes the North Carolina event different is the PROACTIVE dimension and intent, for most of OUR moves in the past were mostly REACTIONARY. Not to say that is any bad, for they have been effective especially lately. But I am excited by the thoughtfulness of a very active people in the struggle who birthed a very promising belief that we cannot be waiting for Jammeh to always act in a daring fashion for us to sprint. That means he is dictating the show. That means he has absolute advantage over us and his irrational (mis)behavior becomes stimulants for our hidden capabilities.

So irrespective of the number of attendees (and I hope we have our highest record turnout), this would be a representation of ‘willing Gambians’ who want to see meaningful political change in Banjul. And personally, I throw my weight of support and trust behind them to discuss and do what they deem to be in best interest our Country. In gatherings of this nature, there are always going to disagreements; both in principle and in action. That is very normal. That is the beauty of what we are trying to bring to the Gambia – Democracy. Variances in opinion are healthy, as long as they are genuine and could necessitate copious and profitable discourses. Things become awry when people build resistance to inviting foreign perspectives that would give an alternative to the beliefs and positions they hold.

Talking to a friend of mine last night who asked if I would be going to the Summit, I was left disappointed and hurt when I answered him and posed the same question to him. He said “Heck No. Bro I have to be able to go back to the Gambia. Having your face out there is a huge risk that one takes, knowing we still have no idea when Jammeh is leaving. Besides, you guys keep fighting within yourselves. Sort that one out first”. As angry and disappointed as I was, I was able to bridle them for I had some choice words that I almost sent his way but I exercised restraint. I know he is not alone. We have scores of Gambians feeling the same way. That is why we have a silent majority in Country where the blatant disregard for rule of law and human life is accelerating. But whether that is a weak excused-reasoning or not, is up to opinions. I am not the one to dismiss them, for some of their fears are genuine. But it takes selflessness and patriotism (a world I don’t love to use because of what it means in Banjul) to fight for country.

Speaking/standing up against injustice and repression in any way possible is a constitutional and human responsibility we have as a people. Hon. B.B Dabo said it better. If our wants to be able safely go in and out of the Gambia is what we see today, at the pace that things are going in our country, if we do not do anything to immediately reprove it, there may come a time that we wouldn’t even be able head home. So think about that.

On the ‘perceived’ infighting, we have to understand that it is natural. We have to understand that some of what we thought to be divisions are in fact the boiling passion that we all have to attain the same outcome. Our MODs to get to the ‘promise land’ are what’s different thus illuminating and magnifying our ‘differences’. To take consolation from successful fights in the history of struggles against injustice, The Civil Rights Movements in the United States had to go through their bumpy roads. So did the South African Freedom Fighters against Apartheid. Brother Malcolm X and Rev Martin Luther had their clear differences and both camps on many occasions, took jabs at each other. They had differences in ideology and tactics – Necessitated Self-Defense or Non-Violence. And in South African, African National Congress (ANC) had internal fall-outs that led to the formation of Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), a group that would later lead one of the most violent demonstrations that had 69 people killed in Sharpeville. But what was undeniable in these situations was their common desire to effect changes by defeating oppression, repression, segregation and Injustice. So we are not any different.

I am hopeful, that the London Conference on May 11 and the Raleigh Summit, would lead to a more viable, pragmatic and functional boulevard to coordinating our efforts that would earn us a neat and cohesively married household. A household of less disintegrated voices that would be effective and results-oriented. I pray that sanity and understanding prevail in your honest discourses and/or deliberations to ensure conclusiveness in tangible outlines to end two decades of a doddering, impotent and autocratic regime in the Land of Our Fathers – The Gambia.

Below is a comparative analysis of why President Jammeh can be considered as the best and worst Head of State for the Gambia.

10 reasons why President Yahya Jammeh is the Best President for the Gambia

1. Jammeh removed a government that had stayed in power for over 30 years and perceived by many at the time to be inept and corrupt and consequently deprived the Gambia of much needed development. Jawara was regarded by some during his last years in power as a weak President who had no effective control over some of his ministers and certain public servants were perceived as corrupt.

2. In his first 10 years in power, Jammeh carried out major infrastructure developments i.e.  he created a University, built a TV station, built schools, hospitals, roads and bridges etc.

3. Jammeh gave job opportunities to many from all walks of life regardless of their social status, education and or experience and as a result many held ministerial and high positions in government.

4. Jammeh gave out huge sums of money to musicians, youth groups, footballers, associations and many others in appreciation of their work and to help them develop.

5. Jammeh provided tractors and farming implements to farming communities, gave many vehicles to institutions and provided food items (sugar, rice, oil, biscuits etc) to many.

6. Jammeh provided “free” tickets to Muslim pilgrims going to the Hajj in Mecca and Christian pilgrims going to Rome and Jerusalem.

7.  Jammeh organized a successful AU Head of State Summit in June 2006 which placed The Gambia on the world map. The Gambia is also home to the African Commission on Human on & Peoples’ Right.

8. As a peace maker and a Pan-Africanist, Jammeh made great strides in an attempt to broker peace deals between warring factions in Guinea Bissau, MFDC rebels and the Senegalese Government and between Liberian war lords.

9. Jammeh gave amnesty to the first President of the Republic of The Gambia Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara and allowed him to return home with monthly benefits paid to him including a handful of staff to look after him.

10. Jammeh has been holding regular elections every five years thereby allowing Gambians to elect their leaders.

10 Reasons WHY Yahya Jammeh is the Worst President of Gambia

1. Jammeh unlawfully removed a government that was democratically elected, peaceful, held regular free and fair elections, a government that respected human rights especially freedom of expression and generally adhered to the principles of rule of law and good governance.

2. Many of the infrastructural edifices constructed by Jammeh over the last 15 years have fallen into disrepair because of either shoddy workmanship and or lack of maintenance. Moreover, the newly built schools lacks enough qualify teachers and books and the hospitals do not have adequate equipment, enough qualify medical staff and medicines. Meanwhile Jammeh has embarked on controversial and unverified alternative treatments of ailments such as HIV & AIDS, Asthma, Diabetic, Infertility, hypertension etc. 

3. Although Jammeh gave job opportunities to many, there are countless among them who are grossly incompetent and lack the requisite educational requirements with little or no experience and their tenure of office depends on their total loyalty to Jammeh alone and not to the job.

4. Yahya exhibits complete disregard for accountability of tax payer’s money and public funds. He does whatever he likes with public funds with impunity and regards the Central Bank and funds of public institutions and para-statals as his own money. He claims to get his money from Allah’s World Bank and he regards and deals with donor aid and funding as his own personal funds. Jammeh engages in all manner of businesses in the country and it is alleged that his businesses do not pay the required taxes. He coerces people to provide free labour on his farms.

5. Jammeh has no regard and respect for institutions and many heads of institutions have been sacked, detained and basically terrorized by Jammeh. They are requested to obey any and all directives given by Jammeh whether it is in accordance with given policies and or laid down by procedure. Religious leaders have been compromised into agreeing with everything he does and says and the few that express contrary views are either incarcerated or forced into exile.

6. Under Jammeh’s rule, there have been documented cases of disappearances, kidnappings, torture, attempted murders, extra judicial executions and poisoning of perceive enemies and opponents. Many revelations have been brought to light either by those who have been victims and or those who used to work for Jammeh but have now jumped ship and fled the country. Despite the Gambia being the home of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Right a credit to the then Jawara regime, Jammeh has publicly stated that he has no regard for the principles of human rights and good governance which he considers as western concepts.

7. Jammeh has over the years usurped the independence of the judiciary. Mercenary Judges mainly from Nigeria and with the support and connivance of unscrupulous Gambian lawyers and Judges have over the years turn the Judiciary into a lame duck institution where judgments are dictated by the whims and caprices of  Jammeh. Judges and magistrates take instructions from Jammeh and they are also removed as and when he wishes. People have lost faith in a Judiciary which is today regarded as partial, inept and corrupt.

8. Jammeh’s attempt to broker peace deals between warring factions in Guinea Bissau, MFDC rebels and the Senegalese Government and between Liberian war lords have been considered a total sham. In fact he is considered in many quarters as a supporter and sponsor of the MFDC rebels.  Jammeh cannot show any success in his quest as a peace maker and a Pan Africanist. In fact he is not regarded as a serious President by his fellow African Presidents and no one regards him as a serious Pan Africanist. His is only a delusion. Have you ever wondered why Jammeh never mentions names like Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Festus Mogae of Botswana as his mentor or as a Pan Africanist? It is alleged that Nelson Mandela especially had in the past shunned him for his usual nonsense and immature talk on governance and world politics.

9. After digging for many years into the affairs of the former Head of State (Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara) and being unable to link him directly to corruption and ill-gotten wealth, Jammeh had to retract from labeling President Jawara as “Alibaba” the thief to an “honest elderly statesman”. Meanwhile Jammeh carries on plundering the Gambian economy for his own personal gains and acquiring hundreds of properties unlawfully and he is allegedly said to be involved in drug trafficking and money laundering.

10. The political climate of fear, thuggery and intimidation before, during and after elections, and the fact that the ruling party has all the state machinery at its disposal and a politicized civil service and security forces means that there can be no free and fair election in the Gambia. 

Now over to you the Gambian Jury out there, the vote is yours. Is Jammeh the best President or the Worst President to have ruled Gambia? Or are you still undecided?

 From Papa Kumba Loum

LOOKING FORWARD TO HAMAT BAH AND HALIFA SALLAH “THE WAY FORWARD” DEBATE: WILL THIS BE THE QUINTESSENTIAL POLITICAL DEBATE OF THE CENTENARY PORTRAYING THE CLASH OF TWO POLITICAL HEAVYWEIGHTS?

Lamin Sabally, Minneapolis, MN

The highly-publicized proposed debate between Gambia’s renowned US-educated sociologist, politician and social commentator, Halifa Sallah of the PDOIS, and Hamat Bah, leader of NRP and an incontestable Gambia political celebrity for now has all the hallmarks of a mere political muscle flexing and a pompous display of intellectual and political heroism and supremacy confined just to pages of a local newspaper.  What is now left to be seen is the formal acceptance by Mr. Sallah to attend the debate with some conditions laid out by Hamat Bah, as reported by Foroyaa with the planned venue to be the Independent stadium for the nation to witness, to which invitation is being extended to the entire nation media fraternity including the state broadcaster GRTS for an elaborate coverage. In addition, similar invitation is being extended to professional organizations including the nation’s academic and professional incubator, the University of the Gambia- UTG, and Mr. Bah has singularly identified former GPU president Demba Jawo to be the moderator.  Hopefully when Mr. Sallah formally accepts the invitation, the debate arrangements will thus instantly swing into full gear with a date and time to be announced later.

However, Hamat must not be unbending on these conditions for him to give a probable excuse for its cancellation in case if these are not fully met. For instance, the Independent stadium may not be an ideal venue. Alternative venues can include the University of the Gambia, The Gambia College or any High School in Banjul or Kanifing Municipality or even the famous Father Farrell Hall in Kanifing

Clearly, if this debate is allowed to go on, it will have a great positive significance to the Gambia’s democratic dispensation. Evidently, open national Political debates are rare occurrence in the Gambia, and the possible Sallah & Bah encounter may probably lay a strong foundation to encourage a debate culture in the Gambia, thus adding a new significant dimension to our democratic culture. It was unfortunate that the much-anticipated TANGO organized debate between the contenders of the Banjul City Council Mayoral election in recent Local Government elections was abruptly cancelled to the chagrin of many Gambians, especially Banjulians.  This would have been pleasantly recorded as the first of its kind in our political history.

As rightly stated by Mr. Bah, Mr. Sallah  has an astute proclivity for professionally challenging politicians with opposing views with him dating back to former President Sir Dawda  Jawara to a national debate , and so far, none of these people  with dissent views with him on important  national issues has ever  knowingly accepted his barrages of invitation. Candidly, I have immeasurable respect for honorable Sallah for his vast intellectual superiority often profusely evidenced in his writings and many mesmerizing speeches I listened to since during my school days. I remembered attending a symposium he attended with Lamin Waa Juwara (M’barodi) at the Father Farrell Hall in Kanifing and the captivating presentation he delivered with vociferous ferocity spontaneously generated sustained round of applause from the cheering audience at the crowded famous hall throughout his entire electrifying deliberation.

Equally, I  attended many proceedings of the National Assembly from 1998 to 2001 when I was a designated reporter for both Citizen FM and Gambia Daily Newspaper, and during much of these long hours of deliberations, I have seen Hamat Bah at his best while actively participating in numerous debates when he was a member  for Upper Saloum constituency.  Truth be told, Hamat was a star debater, and he dominated most local news headlines then for his eloquence and consistent demonstrated ability of nailing hard questions on Secretaries of State now Ministers.

Those memorable days of executing my journalistic assignments were full of excellent recollections. The National Assembly at the time had some excellent exchanges from both sides of the aisle on government policies and programs that would  later filled the air waves of Citizen FM radio for rebroadcast to a wider listenership. Among some prominent fierce contributors were Honorable Members, Kemeseng Jammeh, Tamsir Jallow and Churchill  Baldeh  ( Both former Majority Leaders), Nenet Baldeh, Fa Bakary Tombong Jatta, Seedia Jatta, Edrissa Samba Sallah, Omar K. Mass, Karafa Badjie, Abdou K. Jawla and Arabu Ansu Kanyi.

Any time I watched the broadcast of debates on GRTS by the University of the Gambia students or High School students some of which are reportedly sponsored by the US Banjul Embassy, immediately brings back some very refreshing memories of the National Assembly proceedings then and also my enjoyable formative academic days as a student at both at Nusrat and St. Augustine’s High School, where I was a member of both schools’ debate teams. The UTG is really appropriately grooming some excellent student debaters, and hopefully when some of these eloquent speakers later take up leadership positions at any level either in government or non-government organizations, they will continue to foster such positive debates with the primary aim of generating some great ideas that are germane to addressing various national policy and program issues for the development of the country.  I have frequently watched the rebroadcast of the UTG debates on GRTS, and the manifest ferocity of these intellectual encounters are profusely intellectually nourishing. The spirited nature of these healthy competitions for intellectual supremacy on very pertinent topics were usually noticeably immaculately observed by a very attentive audience  and by all indications,  this is a veritable confirmation that  the Gambia has great and creative minds, which is indicative of a promisingly scintillating consolidated pool of our national human resource base.

I hope the pending Hamat and Halifa pitch to an intellectual bout will not just be confined to the pages of newspaper heroism. As we await this much-anticipated healthy clash, let us hope the outcome, if it should go ahead, will produce some excellent ideas that could be profoundly exploited for the benefit of the Gambia as a whole. Clearly, the most important immediate benefits will be to encourage a culture of open debates among politicians of different ideological stripes and agenda inclinations. This culture will be an added impetus to the country’s democratic dispensation and national discourse.

By Sidi Sanneh

Sidi Sanneh telling the Kukoi Story

Imam Baba Leigh’s involuntary imprisonment served as a rallying cry for dissidents and political opponents of Yahya Jammeh, inside and outside the Gambia. The glue that held together the coalition of diaspora and the family and friends of the Imam, I am afraid to say, is threatening to become unstuck. Thanks to Yahya Jammeh and his band of Banjul Mullahs who morph into the Islamic Council and/or Banjul Muslim Elders when circumstances warrant it and mothballed when they are not needed. 

Before I address the threat posed by the GRTS performance of the Mullahs and their newly-minted nayib, I’d like to comment on Jammeh’s evolving strategy of defining the issue purely as a Banjul affair, or more precisely a Wollof matter that must be addressed through that prism.

The injection of a quintessential Banjulian who epitomizes everything wrong with Gambia, then and now, into the scene with his choreographed public intervention will be forever remembered for his public reference to Imam Baba Leigh as his “Ndo” or “Ndoke” ( I think he used the words “suma raka“) is to deprecate, to belittle the venerable Imam are designed by Jammeh to isolate the Imam from the national discuss. These public taunts will continue and so will veil threats.

The political utility and expediency in transforming the affair into a Banjul/Wollof affair was evident from the start by Jammeh, and so he is using the Islamic Council and Banjul Muslim Elders as a propaganda tool to drive a wedge between the Banjul and Muslim communities. It is the same strategy Jammeh had employed when the APRC was comprehensively trounced during the Banjul mayoral elections by Lie Bah, and when Jammeh tried to reduce it to a big APRC family misunderstanding. However belatedly, Gambians have finally come to realize that the APRC is not a family, but a cartel formed to serve the business interests of the majority shareholder – Yaya Jamus Junkung Jammeh.

Referring to the Imam as his ‘NdoKe’, it is a deliberate attempt by the former Managing Directors of NTC during the government of Sir Dawda Jawara, to trivialize false imprisonment and torture that the Imam endured during 5 months at Mile 2. He tried very hard to reduce the Imam to the level of a ‘small boy’. Imams Kah and Fatty are also twenty years younger than the former NTC MD but he dares not refer to them as his ‘small boys’. This public display of scorn and disrespect towards the Imam, in full view of the television audience, is the first step in a process that he is expected to go through, as long as he decides to remain in Banjul. This process main objectives are to demean, degrade and discard. The Imam is now in Phase I with Phases II and III yet to come should he elect to stay in Banjul and not take cue from Ba Kawsu.

Imam Baba Leigh has entered an extremely difficult period of his life. His faith will be tested to the limit. The security forces will be monitoring his movements. His family and friends will be intimidated. His relatives will be thrown out of work, if they are the lucky few who are gainfully employed in a badly-managed and contracting economy. In other countries, dissidents can and do survive organized State repression because there is a support system in place to help dissidents; be they church sanctuaries that provide protective cover or international or local human rights organizations that provide both protective and legal cover, or even individuals who provide home sanctuaries ( a la underground railroad system).

Unfortunately, none of these circumstances apply in The Gambia where the Mosque is one of the repressive support arms of the regime while the Church remain silent on the sidelines in a near-appeasement mode. It is, therefore, unimaginable, in the absence of a national support system, that anyone can withstand such brutal pressures and intimidation tactics employed by Jammeh’s State security apparatus, and still stay true to one’s political and theological leanings without compromise. Ask [Lamin] Waa.

However unpleasant, it must be said that Imam Baba Leigh will have to fight this fight alone in Banjul with a fragmented support group aboard. As we speak, cracks have already started to surface with the Imam’s immediate family’s public declaration of unconditional public support of Jammeh’s move while ‘the purists’ want none of it. In fact, there’s a ‘Taliban (some pun intended here) faction within the purists who will take no prisoners. They want nothing to do with Jammeh even if he ‘sets free’ Imam Baba Leigh. [see my earlier post on this and related matters]. Family members, on the other hand, are more pragmatic and accommodating; and understandably so. If a family member was freed from certain death, I’d be pragmatic and accommodating too. Welcome Home Imam.

A “PARDON” FOR IMAM BABA LEIGH

IS PREPOSTEROUS NONSENSE!

Lamin J Darbo

Lamin J. Darbo: A pardon generally comes after a conviction!

When news of Imam Baba Leigh’s (Imam Leigh) release exploded in Gambian communities at home and abroad, it was greeted with unanimous and justified relief. For watchers of Gambian public space, curiosity nevertheless centred on how the Imam Leigh imbroglio would be explained by his abductor, i.e. the state of The Gambia. The wait wasn’t long, and true to form, the state handling of the affair was astounding in its capriciousness. Or maybe not so astounding as ours is now a country where the absolutely ridiculous is the new normal!

As if nothing was ever amiss, Imam Leigh was paraded before the nation in a manner that exposed his handlers in extraordinary fashion, and our public space as sorry through and through. A citizen was abducted from the sanctuary of his home, and the state made no effort whatsoever to regularise that public criminality by either informing him of his offences, or charging him with a crime against a law, or laws, of The Gambia. After more than five months, he was released from unlawful state detention and told on national television that he was a loudmouth and must apologise to our benevolent father of the Republic, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Doctor Yahya A J J Jammeh (the Professor). And this by custodians of the Gambian moral conscience! By any yardstick, the Imam Leigh saga goes to the very heart of our ability to meaningfully survive as a polity.

In trademark fashion, we awoke to the Daily Observer’s publication of a press release purporting to grant Imam Leigh a presidential pardon. “The Imam of Kanifing Estate Baba Leigh has been released, after a pardon by President Jammeh. The Imam was accompanied to State House by the Imam Ratib of Banjul, Alhaji Cherno Alieu Mass Kah and members of the Supreme Islamic Council. He was received there by the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service, Dr. Njogu Bah”.

To understand what must occur before a pardon could be legitimately granted, we must examine the fundamental and dispositive law as enunciated at section 82 of The 1997 Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia:

(1) The President may, after consulting the Committee established by subsection (2) -

—(a)  grant to any person convicted of any offence a pardon either free or subject to lawful conditions;

—(b)  grant to any person a respite, either indefinite or for a specified period, of the execution of any punishment imposed on that person for any offence;

—(c)  substitute a less severe form of punishment for any punishment imposed on any person for any offence;

—(d)  remit the whole or any part of any punishment imposed on any person for such an offence or any penalty otherwise due to the State on account of any offence

(2)  There shall be a Committee on the exercise of the prerogative of mercy consisting of the Attorney General and three other persons appointed by the President subject to confirmation by the National Assembly.

Clearly, the legal framework of a pardon was not triggered in the case of Imam Leigh. He was abducted, not arrested. In addition, he was neither informed of, nor charged with any offence against any law of The Gambia. Needless to say, and more crucially, Imam Leigh was never convicted and sentenced for a criminal offence by a competently constituted Court. What he encountered was state criminality of the highest order!

As far as the supreme law of the Gambia is concerned, a pardon generally comes after a conviction. On the evidence, Imam Leigh was abducted and disappeared for over five months. He was never charged with any offence, and no prosecutions were commenced against him, and there was no concluded judicial proceeding resulting in a conviction. In the circumstances, there could not be a presidential pardon.

I should also point out that serious criminal offences were committed by the State against the person of Imam Leigh.  As such, anyone who propounds the nonsense that we should be grateful to the Professor for releasing Imam Leigh betrays cluelessness of the highest order. Merely thinking such nonsense is offensive to legality and common sense! There was no reason for the man to be subjected to treatment so completely outside the permission of our laws, the very fact of his abduction and incarceration entitles him to millions in compensation from The Gambia Government and its agents.

In life, for any meaningful and progressive change dressed in success to be achieved, one must be piloted by honesty, fairness, objectivity and sincere appreciation of one’s own shortfalls and the willingness to harness those inadequacies into potentials to cement the successes. In a nutshell, Fair and Balance should be the pillars on which any struggle for positive change must be erected on. To elasticate it further, the enemy must be deemed in an entirety and not on a one sided wave length. The positive contributions of the enemy, however insignificant, must be noted with honesty and objectivity while his or her failures and atrocities are vehemently condemned. To perceive the enemy in one’s own tailor-made spectacles leads to one’s failure in ousting him or her out of power. Needless to say Allah is with the righteous.

The reason why Jammeh is unlawfully incarcerating, killing and maiming Gambians is due to his intolerance to divergent opinions from his own. For him anyone who disagrees with his point of view is not only unpatriotic but an enemy to the state. Consequently, such a person undermines his seat of power. Since some of us are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that such an attitude of intolerance propels to infringing the rights of others and peddling fiction for facts we must endeavour not to be found wanton in what we accuse Jammeh of. Do we stop at any point to make a quick reality check on our attitude to others who express a different view? A closer look at some of us will reveal shocking similarities with Jammeh if not worse than him. Some of us think that they are anointed as pace setters who have to coin the rule for all to follow dogmatically. As a resulted they have the audacity to condemn others just for expressing their views. What sort of freedom fighter or liberator are you when you are more intolerant and subjective than the enemy? We do not want to replace Jammeh with another Jammeh incarnate. A genuine liberator is not one who is more akin to the charge than the accuse. In other words, he or she must excel beyond jumping the gun and drawing inconclusive conclusions about others. He or she must stride with an open mind taking every view on board and only discard those which after thorough examination find no use for them. Additionally, such a liberator does not expect his or her compatriots to be in tune with all his or her opinions. Suffice it to say such a liberator avails him or herself to be critiqued by his compatriots and also take into account how he or she is portrayed by the enemy. It is such a liberator who is genuine and on the route to success in his or her struggle for positive change.

To defeat an enemy, one does not necessarily have to equate his military might but understand his psyche. To those who truly know Jammeh understand that to fight him one does not need arms. Jammeh uses and enjoys a mind game. Therefore, to usher him to his doom, one has to employ the same mind game. Those of you who are still groping in the dark need to understand the capability of the mind especially in warfare and political struggle for change. That is precisely why Steve Biko understood at an early stage in his struggle to liberate his people that “the most sophisticated weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” I could not agree more with Mr Biko.

In conclusion, I am not afraid to stand alone in the struggle to defend every view I express and will continue to express. I have never at any time claim perfection in my life but I am also very mindful of passing judgement on others. Most often than not I share a different view here and there but I look at the subject matter and not the person. That is me and I do not intend to change that for anyone in the struggle: love me or hate me; my life is not in your hands.

President Jammeh: A patriot is not a person who says he loves his country!

The coming into power of President Yahya Jammeh in 1994 has not only attempt to rewrite our country’s history but also altered the definition of a patriot.

President Jammeh is fond of creating confusion and endless debates. For Jammeh, a patriot is any Gambian who believes in the ideals of the ruling APRC or is 100 percent loyal to President Jammeh, even at the expense of the national interest. Even those clean and self-educated Gambians who return home to serve the country with clean heart can only become Jammeh’s patriot if they bow down to him. In fact, Jammeh sees himself as the number one patriot in the country and even keeps bragging about it.

But an extract from the celebrated Nigerian author’s 1983 booklet titled “The Trouble with Nigeria” will undoubtedly help Gambians arrive at the truth. In the end it will be clear who is actually a true patriot.

Chinua Achebe said “a patriot is a person who loves his country. He is not a person who says he loves his country. He is not even a person who shouts or swears or recites or sings his love of his country. He is one who cares deeply about the happiness and well-being of his country and all its people.”

Mr. Achebe described patriotism as “an emotion of love directed by a critical intelligence. A true patriot will always demand the highest standards of his country and accept nothing but the best for and from his people. He will be outspoken in condemnation of their short-comings without giving way to superiority, despair or cynicism. That is my idea of a patriot.”

The late author was convinced that patriotism is not going to be easy or comfortable in a badly run country where there “will always be some people whose personal, selfish interests, are in the short term at least, well served by the mismanagement and the social inequities.” Mr. Achebe also observed that these people will naturally be extremely loud in their “adulation of the country and its system, and will be anxious to pass themselves off as patriots and to vilify those who disagree with them as trouble-makers or even traitors.”

He warned that a nation which permits such people to define patriotism is doomed. Such people’s definition would be about as objective as a Rent Act devised by a committee of avaricious landlords, or the encomiums of a colony of blood-sucking ticks might be expected to shower upon the bull on whose back they batten.

He took a swipe at Nigeria’s privileged classes whose generally unearned positions of sudden power and wealth seemed unreal even to themselves and ended up laying the ghost of their insecurity by talking patriotically, although it neither exist in their heads, nor in their hearts and certainly not in the work of their hands.

He said national pledges and pious admonitions administered by the ruling classes or their paid agents are entirely useless in fostering true patriotism, which is “possible only when the people who rule and those under their power have a common and genuine goal of maintaining the dispensation under which the nation lives. This will, in turn, only happen if the nation is ruled justly, if the welfare of all the people rather than the advantage of a few become the corner-stone of public policy.”

Chinua Achebe said “in spite of the tendency of people in power to speak about this great nation of ours, there is no doubt that Nigerians are among the world’s most unpatriotic people. But this is not because Nigerians are particularly evil or wicked; in fact they are not. It is rather because patriotism, being part of an unwritten social contract between a citizen and the state, cannot exist where the state reneges on the agreement. The state undertakes to organize society in such a way that the citizen can enjoy peace and justice, and the citizen in return agrees to perform his patriotic duties.”

He however identified what he called “one shining act of bold, selfless leadership at the top” as evidenced by “unambiguous refusal to be corrupt or tolerate corruption at the fountain of authority.” Such a scenario will radiate powerful sensations of well-being and pride through every nerve and artery of national life.

“I saw such a phenomenon on two occasions in Tanzania in the 1960s. The first was when news got around (not from the Ministry of Information but on street corners) that President Nyerere after paying his children’s school fees had begged his bank to give him a few months’ grace on the repayment of the mortgage on his personal house.”

In one occasion, President Nyerere insisted that anyone in his cabinet or party hierarchy who had any kind of business interests must either relinquish them or leave his official or party position. This was no mere technicality of putting the business interest in escrow but giving it up entirely. As a result, many powerful ministers including the formidable leader of TANU women were forced to leave the cabinet. On these occasions, ordinary Tanzanians seemed to walk around, six feet tall. They did not need sermons on patriotism; nor a committee of bishops and emirs to inaugurate a season of ethical revolution for them.

Ends

Lamin Sabally- Minneapolis, Minnesota

Information & Communication Minister Nana Grey Johnson

Leaning heavily on recent local newspaper reports on the Gambia’s celebrations of the international media or press freedom day, hopes appear to be increasingly illuminating with the expressed initiation of a concrete dialogue process between the Gambia government and its strange bedfellow, the independent media practitioners in the Gambia. Among indicators illuminating that hope, was the presence, at the Tango venue of the Minister of Information, Communication and Infrastructure, who is also one of Gambia’s finest writers and distinguished associates of the Gambia Press Union, Nana Grey Johnson. His presence among diplomats, Media chiefs, leadership of the Gambia Press Union and Tango ( an umbrella organization of all NGOs), will probably go down in the country’s history as the first ever minister to attend and address the annual media day anniversary celebrations as succinctly reported by the Foroyaa Newspaper. This unprecedented  initiative must be praised and embraced by the GPU as a welcome development by the Gambia government and by all indications, the physical presence and the conciliatory presentations by the honorable minister must be positively inferred to mean an opening of a new chapter in the difficulty relationship between the government and the independent media and this new positive approach must be nurtured  and strengthened through  the continuation of sustained rounds of positive dialogue between the two, whose relationship as encapsulated by the minister was construed to be a mixture  of “  suspicion, paranoid and agenda”. This change of direction must be seen to mean the chronic bad blood between the government and the watchdog or the fourth estate will now change to begin to usher in the much-desired mutual trust, respect and constructive bond between the two.

At this stage, the GPU must passionately trust one of their astute partners and capitalized on all the unprecedented package of offer extended by Minister Nana Grey Johnson and push for more dialogue to bring about the desired changes the GPU had consistently advocated in promoting the ironclad constitutionally mandated  press freedom in the Gambia. As a student of leadership during my graduate program, I have been constantly reminded that in dealing with conflict, one of the most dependable and sophisticated tools to be deployed with precision is the weapon of dialogue.  This postulation has been unshakably supported by   increasingly accumulated conclusive research findings. In pursuing continuing dialogue with the government, I am sure the GPU top echelons can always command the prevalence of decorum under the friendliest atmosphere. To that end, I would like to humbly  implore them to stick to some important principles of dialogue generously enumerated by Kegan and Lahey which include the  use of less inflammatory language with  its substitution with the use of appropriate language in case if the discussions start to elicit the tendency to be tense; use of language of personal responsibility by deploying palatable and convincing negotiations, by which way, all unnecessary ranting and possible aggression on both sides can be completely surmounted. At this stage, I will deliberately eschew the pleasure of wallowing in the precise academics of conflict management and resolution specificities to prevent bogging down the readers with its complexities since this is not an academic paper.

Already, some common grounds have been concretely rejuvenated at the Tango press freedom day convergence during which the press has been sturdily recognized as not an enemy, but partner of government in nation building and development., that information for which the media is the specialized purveyor and transmitter is very important for human existence to spur a flourishing democracy and that free speech and expression is GOD –given right of any human being.  Both the government and the GPU are obviously cognizant of these rights and what now needs to be trashed out include the mountain of hindrances to what the GPU considers to be lack of press freedom in the Gambia. The common ground amplifies that both need each other for the development of the Gambia and with mutual trust, these impediments can be overcame with rapidity if both sides uphold their trusted side of the bargain, including the provision of the right atmosphere by the government for the operation and functioning of a vibrant press and the resolute commitment to the ethics and ethos of professional journalism by the media members through appropriate training of its members to ensure  unqualified professionalism.

Training is a never-overemphasized necessary requirement for the enhancement of the professional efficiency of personnel in any area of their specialization. However, when it comes to media practitioners, there seems to be an avalanche of misunderstanding of these professional pen pushers. Most people have the unalloyed belief that a journalist is someone who needs to be trained in the specialized field of the profession. This is a highly misplaced understanding of who really a journalist is. If one takes just a perfunctory look at news anchors, readers and reporters of major international media houses including the BBC, CNN, FOX for example, you will come to the rude and surprised realization that some of the big and idiolized names are groomed academically as international law experts, economists, political scientists and linguists because they acquired their degrees in these specialized areas.

With that observation, the Gambia can be reasonably proud to be on record for having some of the finest journalists both in the print and electronic media in terms of their quality of writings and broadcasting or reporting skills. With just minimal exposure to basic and rudimentary writing and broadcasting trainings, the country had progressively produced unquestionable prolific writers in the likes of Sheriff Bojang Sr, Cherno Baba Jallow, Musa Saidy Khan, Ebrima Sillah, Alie Badara Sowe, Pa Nderry M’bai, Yankuba Jabang, Fatou Jaw Manneh and many others. And in the area of broadcasting, you have the likes of Haddy Badjie, Fatou Camara, Haruna Drammeh, Lamin Ceesay, Malick Jones, and lots more. I sincerely apologize if I am being seen to be biased for not been able to list all the other finest writers and broadcasters for obvious lack of space and these few names given are just infinitesimal samples of the swamped list.  I must personally recognize that some of these people have now either earned or in active pursuit of university degrees in various fields. But admittedly, at the time they freshly joined the media community, they have been sufficiently renowned at the national level to be excellent writers, editors, broadcasters and reporters. This is because the media houses that employed them routinely organized profoundly rewarding in-house training courses for them often under the professional tutelage of notable doyens and icons like Babucarr Gaye, Deyda Hydara, Pa Dixon Colley and AA Barry (all of blessed memory) Sam Sarr, Dr. Baba Galleh Jallow, Bora Mboge, Aunty Jainaba Nyang, Peter Gomez, Ebrima Sanyang, Alieu Sanyang, Suwaibou Conateh, Pap Saine, Abdou Gassama, Aunty Sabel Badjan, Sereign Faye, Kenneth Y Best, Demba Jawo and may others. I have been always proud of most of  these former colleagues in one of the noblest professions I was very much part of from 1998 until 2001 before I joined the IEC having worked at Citizen FM Radio and the government owned Gambia daily both as correspondent for State House and the National Assembly.  The passion and dedication I have consistently observed of these colleagues have always been both phenomenally and monumentally impressive.

In my judgment, as a matter of urgency, the dialogue must kick-start right now and the first important issue that needs to be dealt with is the minister’s characterization of the relationship between the media and government as defied by “agenda, suspicion and paranoid” which must be brought to the discussion table for all misconceptions to be permanently erased. Equally, the disturbing perception of Mr. Gray Jonson that the independent media deliberately shuns “news of development” but is intentionally “concern with news that undermines the country’s international image and standing” must be exhaustively discussed for lucid clarity to prevail. The media, it must be emphasized, has crucial responsibility that it must laboriously shoulder including making government accountable by constructively criticizing its program and policy shortcomings and deficiencies. During this process, use of certain non-calibrated descriptions may elicit some harsh reactions from the government which has the propensity of heightening the level of apprehension a government may have for the independent press. In as much as the media productively criticizes the government, it must equally give undiluted recognitions and commendations devoid of truncation to the government by reporting on news of development as alluded to Minister Grey Johnson. By towing these fine and absolutely delicate thins lines, the private press will be seen to be very impartial and becomes more receptive to the government.

The recent upgrade of the GPU as training center for journalists who will be awarding Diplomas is a welcome development. This is an instance of fruitful collaboration between the University of the Gambia and the GPU and the elaborate publication it attracted on the media was highly impressive.

So please let the promising dialogue continue with the active involvement of unexhausted list of stakeholders in every process like Tango and Action Aid executives, GPU officials, Media Chiefs, Ministers of Communication, Justice and Interior and Council of elders and let the media adequately reports all recent updates on the progress of these repeated dialogues for the information of the citizenry both aboard and home.

The private media and government each other. By all strength of imagination, the kind of connection they have is symbiosis in nature requiring each of the two to be absolutely needing the other for their very survival and relevance.

IS YOUR CONSCIENCE STILL ALIVE?

Your Excellency,

Sitting in the park teeming with people enjoying a sunny day of the volatile British weather, I gazed afar curbing in nature’s beauty punctuated by oases of people doing one thing or another whilst my mind wandered nomadically. As my train of thoughts gathered momentum, I could not help but flirt with the feeling that you will soon emerge from your compartment of self-denial and gather that you have already inflicted enough havoc on Gambians and the Gambia. Equipped with a sense of guilt and remorse, you will trek the path of national reconciliation by taking full responsibility of all the crimes committed under your administration. Despite this gesture is not good enough to heal the wounds made by you and your accomplices; it will go a long way in soothing them. Suddenly, I was catapulted to reality as a part of me scolded me like a pupil not concentrating on his maths lesson to be attentive. It went further to remind me with flashcards of your repugnant arrogance, unwitting stubbornness and chilling disregard for good advice. Gruesome images of those you dragged to their untimely dead were conjured in my mind’s eye like a high definition horror movie. Unconsciously, I caressed the green grass with my hands as rivers of tears gush down my burning cheeks. The graphic thought of those whose hopes and dreams you mutilated in the blink of an eye thrust a cold shiver through my bristle like a raging volcano. It then dawned on me that something is definitely not right with you Mr President. Where is the human being in you your conscience still alive Your Excellency?

I felt sick to my stomach with fury but I was consoled with the irrefutable fact that the Gambia will soon be free. One thing which is pretty certain Your Excellency is your fall from grace to amazing disgrace is very eminent and near. While you still have the opportunity to make your exit honourable, please utilise it because you will not have a second chance. As usual if you opt to ignore it, when the moment of reckoning strike just remember you were forewarned enough. The marabous that are fornication with your sense of reasoning are only helping you to caress your bloated self-ego. Less you don’t know Mr President no one can halt the course of nature. In sum, they cannot add neither subtract a second in your life nor reign despite all the human and animal rituals you conscientiously execute. Consequently, it is about time that you stop fooling yourself with the notion that Gambians love you. The writings are all over the wall for you to see. Please, Your Excellency open your eyes and look around you. If those you perceive through rose-tinted glasses are truly your die-hard supporters and loyalists why are they passing your most classified information to the Gambian diaspora media houses? At a glance, one would easily label them particularly your ministers and security chiefs as not been security conscious. However, a closer look will unveil that there is more to it than meet the eye Mr President. Have you ever paused and wondered are they doing this as an open manifestation of their dissatisfaction with you and your system of governance or a moronic coincidental mistake? Whatever you decide to believe and not to believe Your Excellency the fact remains their act is very revealing about the susceptibility of your regime. Even a layman in governance and security knows that the windows to infiltrate and capture you are as wide opened as your alligator mouth. The lapses by your ministers from Isatou Njie-Siady to Moses Jallow authenticate what is in all Gambians’ minds: your reprehensible fall.

I must admit that sometimes you surprise me by gaffing on some truths but what I cannot grasp is your failure to take ownership of your shortcomings. One such which quickly springs to mind is when you recently told your cabinet ministers the economic plight of the Gambia is a “manmade self-inflicted poverty”. No Gambian will disagree with you on that because you have never been more spot-on Mr President. However, you failed short to tell them who is the architect of the “manmade self-inflicted poverty” on the Gambian economy. Mr President since you are shying away from the truth, I will tell you and all Gambians that the one who selfishly inflicted poverty on Gambians is no other person than Yahya AJJ Jammeh the Kanilai monster. One more thing Mr President, do you observe your ministers whenever you are delivering them your incoherent lectures? I am certain you don’t because you are nothing but a lousy oaf. Next time they come for lessons just open your eyes and watch them; they will all be blankly looking down at the table. A few of them will look up now and again jolted by your moronic utterances. True, I am no expert on body language but my novice experience teaches me that what your ministers are telling you in a deafening silence are you are boring, full of empty verbose rhetoric, incoherent and gullible.

Your Excellency do you have any hunch why Gambians particularly the youths snubbed your back to the land call? Perhaps the most palpable is, Your Excellency, Gambians have now come to terms with the fact that you are nothing but what Cherno Baba has coined: you echo “the whimsicality of a forlorn, distant dreamer” whose tenure in office oozes a “detestable life of a wastrel.” Look at the writings on the walls Mr President. Can’t you see the obvious? Take a closer look at your farms and honestly tell me is there any Gambian who can be a full time farmer to compete you? The issue is Your Excellency; Gambians are not refusing to go back to the land. Their huddles are lack of good and enough seeds/seedlings; capital, labour, machinery, equal opportunity in a free and competitive market, storage facilities, good road networks, uninterrupted  electric and water supply, fertilizer, viable insurance policies, security and freedom. Similar handicaps could also be found haunting the fishing industry as well as other artisan trades in the Gambia. So you see Mr President it is not just easy to be a full time farmer, fisherman, carpenter, mechanic or a vendor in the Gambia. Until you begin to address these problems faced by ordinary Gambians head on, you will only be asking to be led by a blind man in the amazon forest. It goes without saying if the afore cited problems are resolved by your government, Mr President, Gambians will willingly venture into all self-employment venues such as fishing, carpentry and farming. In your case, you grabbed all the fertile lands in the country and turn them into personal farmlands, you coerce the populace to labour, till and harvest your farms; you saturated the Gambian market with your produce and products. Any business you perceive as viable; you hijack and any competition; you strangle.

Mr President, your obnoxious hibernation in self-denial, nonchalant attitude to the socio-economic and political realities in the Gambia and persistent lying to the populace are only brewing a catastrophic uprising against your regime. You will do yourself a regrettable disservice if your whiffing arrogance and gullibility stop you halting this ticking time bomb.

While keeping my fingers crossed that you will heed to the voice of reason, please accept my unflinching commitment to the restoration of democracy and rule of law in the Gambia.

Yours in the service of the Gambia,

Sulayman Jeng, UK

President Jammeh: How long will you rule Gambians with iron fist?

Much has been said about the anticipated demise and removal of President Sheik Professor Yahya Jammeh from power.

There is a great deal of speculation about the manner in which he will be removed from power and at what time this fateful day will eventually happen. Some believe that it will come about by some form of a palace coup d’état, others wishfully hope that the Senegalese government of President Macky Sal will intervene and end the agony of Gambians and yet others hope and pray fervently that through divine intervention, he will suffer from some massive cardiac arrest and or similar ailment and never recover from it. The consensus however is that given the political climate of fear, intimidation and harassment, this man will not be defeated in a general election and moreover, the current political parties do not simply have what it takes to remove Jammeh from power in a general election.

What is obvious however is that given the laws of nature, Jammeh cannot and will not rule forever and despite the fact that Njogu Bah has recently publicly prayed for him to rule for 949 years, we all know that this is not humanely possible.  Anyway for the sake of argument, wishful thinking and or hope, let us say that Jammeh is removed or leaves power sooner than we expect- what then is the likely scenario of what is to happen in the country? Obviously what will happen will depend on the manner in which Jammeh leaves power.

No doubt there will be celebrations and euphoria from many quarters the days following his removal but we should be very mindful of harbouring utopian dreams that Jammeh’s demise will automatically usher in a land of milk and honey.

Removal of Jammeh by a military junta will itself carry its own predictable tribulations and many  problems  will inevitably  follow  such a move – for example, will the junta hand over power to a civilian body and if so how soon? Is the junta (like in most cases) going to provide Gambians with the usual timetable of  holding elections  within the usual 2-4 year time frame only to end up either extending the time period and or removing their uniforms to take part in the political process as Jammeh and many other Coup leaders have done???

What is clear is that those who execute successful military takeovers will likely want to stay around to enjoy the fruits of their success. Consequently a word of caution to civilians out there and especially diasporians – do not expect a new government to be handed over to you on a platter despite your grand efforts over the years to effect change. I am sure however that some of you will be invited and encouraged to come back home to assist in “national development” and to rectify the wrongs that the Kanilai monster had inflicted on Gambians.

Any government that takes over from Jammeh would inherit enormous economic and governance problems.

Fixing the economy will be a mammoth’s task as Jammeh had over the years plundered the economy and ran the country as a family estate. Most investors have already left the Gambia and it will take a new government a lot of enticing to bring back serious investors who will understandably adopt a wait and see approach in order to decipher whether there will be stability before moving in.

The judiciary and the legal profession as we all know have over the years been compromised and the civil service politicized.  Accountability and loyalty to the state has long been eroded and replaced with sycophancy, fear and adulation to one man. Gambians will therefore need to transform their way of thinking and engagement after almost 20 years of being remote controlled.

Worst still, the new government will have to deal with the same dishonorable and ignoble Gambian elites and technocrats who have so ably and willingly implemented the policies, directives and orders of Jammeh thereby perpetuating him in power. Watch how they will shamefully turn around to support the new regime and pretend that all our woes were caused by Jammeh alone. You will be surprised by their lame duck excuses. Watch out for the likes of Dr Tamsir Mbow, Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay, Ngoju Bah, AG Lamin Jobarteh and co some members of the judiciary, army, police force & security forces etc- the list is endless.

The religious leaders (except for a handful) who have hitherto lost their credibility over the years as men and women of God will need to be reminded of their true role of preaching God’s word without fear or favour, ill will or affection and most importantly, they must preach religious tolerance and acceptance of others and not incite or instigate hatred and division among different religions and religious views. This world does not only comprise of Muslim but also Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhist  etc and we can find both good and evil in men and women of different religious persuasions. God is not a monopoly of any one religion plain and simple.

Gambians will not be able to forge ahead if they do not invest in an independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). A lot of water would have passed under the bridge by the time Jammeh is gone. There has been many reported and documented incidents of disappearances, mysterious deaths, unsolved murders, extrajudicial killings, attempted assassinations, alleged torture and inhumane treatment of detainees, unfair dismissals and gross abuse of power. These alleged crimes and atrocities must be investigated and brought to light. Gambians must know how it all happened. The Who, Why, When, Where and How must be revealed. We cannot talk about forgiving and forgetting if we do not investigate the past and know who were the people responsible and the victims and their families compensated and offered apologies. This is the only way we will be able to heal.

Those who have participated, aided, abetted and counsel the commission of these hideous and gruesome crimes must be exposed and they must own up to their crimes. It is only by so doing that we can discover ourselves and know who we truly are. We cannot just say that because Jammeh is gone we should therefore forgive and forget. That will only tantamount to sweeping the problems under the carpet which will do no one any good. There should be no impunity. Justice must not only be done but it must be seen to be do

In order to move forward, Gambians will need a good dose of civic education and the mass media should spearhead civic education. The radio especially, TV, and schools should be used as a medium to enlighten the masses on communal, societal and public issues that affects their daily life. Under Jammeh, expressions of political ideas and opinions have been stifled to the extent that Gambians cannot talk freely about matters affecting their daily lives openly.  Topics involving bad governance are a taboo. In fact most people have been conditioned not to ask any questions regarding the way they are being governed for fear of being arrested and or victimized by the dreaded NIA. Genuine democracy requires that people are aware of their rights and responsibilities and also have the capacity to engage and make demands of their governments. The people are the tax payers and they should be able to ask questions about the way their taxes are being spent by the executive among many other things.

One cannot overemphasize the need for an Independent and impartial Judiciary in a serious country. The current judiciary is considered to be a bunch of mercenaries who are mostly inept, corrupt and take orders from Jammeh and are appointed and removed at his whims and caprices. A new government will have to overhaul the judiciary and justice system in order to bring back confidence that the people have lost in our judiciary that is to say impartiality and independence.

To sustain and nurture good governance, the new government must set up independent, autonomous and strong oversight institutions such as a functioning office of the Ombudsman, Human Rights Commission, Anti corruption etc. These institutions should be manned by competent, independent and people with proven integrity. Their tenure of office should be secured and they should not be easily removed without due process.

In conclusion, Gambians should try and take lessons on democracy (especially civic engagement) from their neighbours such as Senegal and Ghana. Gambians should never allow themselves to be emasculated by any despot. The era of “maslaha” should be done away with. Let us engage each other, let us engage our politicians, religious leaders, professional associations, public officials etc, etc regardless of our affiliation, connection or bond with them. We all have a stake in the nation and we cannot allow a bunch of misfits supported by our  selfish and dishonest brothers, sisters, uncles and relatives to hijack our country otherwise we will replace  Yahya Jammeh with another one except in name only.

From Papa Kumba Loum

By Mathew Jallow

To digress from the nastiness of politics for a moment, this focus, instead, on human nature in Gambia, is a fundamental component of the changes in our cultural landscape. This plunge into the complexity of human nature attempts to contextualize the enormous lapses in judgment to which many Gambians have become willing victims. And, this is not in reference to theoretical psychology, but on the facts of our lives that respond to our moral groundings. It is our lived experience, groomed by society’s norms, and distinguish our capacity to rationalize from the other forces in nature; animals. At one critical level, our countrymen and women’s fickle minds lend themselves to fall into the dreadful entrapment of the promises of power and prestige, but perhaps the most significant motivating factor is the power of economics; the bottom-line.

In short, it is purely an issue of self-preservation dictated by a need for political power and economic self-protection, and over the past eighteen years, it has devalued our concepts of society, but even more importantly, our perception of our fellow countrymen and women is hopelessly entangled between the clearly opposing contradictions of moral obligation and our Darwinian primordial instincts for survival. The most recent intense public castigation campaign and moral marginalization of Nana Grey-Johnson, typify the stark division among Gambians; a division explainable primarily by simple environmental factors. I was tongue-tied, of course, during Nana’s ordeal, not because of an innate desire to protect a friend, but rather because of the awareness of how economic conditions at home provide a powerful force for malleability and utter indifference to moral rationality.

Clearly, Nana Grey-Johnson deserved the loud criticisms too, for failing the moral test, but, with that story now behind us, Nana Grey is not unmindful that he is wedged between the dangerous company of Imperial King, Yahya Jammeh and the unforgiving indignation of the vocal Gambian minority. Today, Gambia is in the grip of an intellectual degradation unlike anything Africa has experienced since the seventies, and the customariness with which many Gambians have fallen victims to Imperial King, Yahya Jammeh’s power and the lure of political status is an object of ongoing debate among Gambians.

The long list of Gambians deserving case studies to provide empirical evidence in understanding the cruelty of Gambian  politics under Imperial King, Yahya Jammeh, include, but is not limited only to; Sarjo Jallow, Nene Macdolle, Fatoumata Tambajang, Nana Grey-Johnson, Bala Garba-Jahumpa and Mbemba Tambedou, all relatives and close friends, among the other eighty cabinet appointments under Yahya Jammeh. But, this failure of moral obligation to Gambians has a religious dimension, further complicating the enormous challenges of moral uprightness.

The fact that so many Gambians choose to disregard the failure of leadership under Imperial King, Yahya Jammeh, is itself stunning, but that so many of them can endure the indignities of arrests, tortures and recycleing back into the system, is mind-blowing and absurd. But, what obsesses the Gambian mind most is the calculations of accepting temporary appointment in any position under Yahya Jammeh even while Gambians continue to be murdered, to disappear and to be reduced in their aspirations and limited in their freedoms.

Intellectual uprightness dictates the assumption of moral superiority in our patriotic obligations to our fellow citizens, but the utter failure to live up to that ideal, will compel my friend Nana Grey-Johnson and all the others to endure the cloud of bitterness and indignant distaste likely to hang over their heads in the coming years. That said, the complete collapse of the moral moorings of fellow citizens back home; from the senior cabinet positions, to civil servants and to other levels of society, more than being tantalizing, is slowly reconfiguring the psyche of our people and changing the values inherited for our noble past. And for now, Gambians still disappear; the murders still escalate; prison once an anathema, is now almost a rite of passage; executions still concealed by the darkness of night, and the terror of a people speaks loudly in its silent eloquence. Still, Gambians, from cabinet appointees to senior civil servants and political activists, remain unbothered by the tremendous criminality of the regime, but most specifically, of Imperial King, Yahya Jammeh.

The unflattering nature of the regime typify a loss of credibility that borders on illegitimacy and the reduction of an entire society into a permanent underclass signals the saturation our endurance and the inevitable need for political change. But, whether Imperial King, Yahya Jammeh will move out by his own freewill or by the devastating force of cold lead through his brain, is another matter altogether. The suffering people of the Gambia have time on their side. For, even the longest nightmare has its day of freedom, and the Gambia is no different. As it is, the new Gambian mindset lacks the basic tenets of morality, and Nana Grey-Johnson, like other who serve Yahya Jammeh, speaks to that moral deficit and that color of betrayal.