Ladies and Gentlemen,

The only thing that I will change on the following article is the title. All it takes is for the Alternatives to form the coalition and Jammeh is history come 2006. The author must be well informed because the opposition coalition will be well organized and the APRC will not come anywhere close in terms of
organization. Ladies and gentlemen this sums it up: "In the 2001 general
elections, a very organised APRC including Baba Jobe, Yankuba Touray, Abdoulie
Kujabi among others was only able to score a percentage of 52.3 against a less
organised opposition. If the APRC can secure a minimal percentage at that time, will it be able to survive the test in 2006 when the opposition is seemingly uniting and more focus". chie!! I smell vectory already!!!

Kebba Foon

Jammeh’s litmus test
By PM Faye
May 24, 2004, 10:05

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President Jammeh is on May 27 expected to embark on his annual nationwide tour
referred to as “meet the peoples tour”. The trip which takes the president to
many towns and villages, enables him to get first hand information of
developments going on in the country-side. It also avails him the opportunity
to meet and discuss with farmers, political and religious leaders.

According to reports, this year’s trip has been given a different name, “
Dialogue with the people tour”. Whatever the name is, this tour will indeed be
a litmus test for President Jammeh and his entourage due to reports of
dwindling support for him and his government especially in the countryside due
to political and economic factors. Some opposition elements even suggested that
the president will postpone this year’s tour as desperate Gambians in the
provinces anxiously awaits him to hear what the president will say.

With the date now set, all, especially members of the opposition will on daily
basis be monitoring the President’s address to the rural Gambians in order to
draw up their political strategy in their desire to flush him out of power come
2006.

The tour will take most of GRTS air time and will undoubtedly be given a very
good coverage, as Bora and his boys do not handle Jammeh’s programmes lightly.
In as much as they want to please Jammeh, GRTS should install their
transmitters in the provinces to enable our rural folks who have not being
receiving television signals over the past couple of months to monitor the
President’s tour.

As all Gambians anxiously wait to hear the president talk on the economic
situation of the country which is epitomised by sky rocketing prices of basic
commodities especially rice, sugar, floor, oil among others, we hope there will
be limited on and off our ailing Nawec will this time round do us a great
service by giving us 24-hours uninterrupted power supply.

Since the launching of Operation no Compromise by President Jammeh which is
geared towards stamping out corruption and nepotism in the country, three of
his top henchman have already fallen victims, and have seemingly part away with
him. This, many observer believe, has really put the party in topsy-turvy as
each of the three namely; Abdoulie Kujabi, Baba Jobe and Yankuba Touray were
very influential and commanded enormous political clout.

Their absence in the APRC, will indeed be felt. Though some APRC militants have
vehemently denied this assertions, I am of the firm believe that the vacuum
created by their absence will be greatly felt, as they have over the past years
played very vital and significant roles in the party’s body politics. Only
political novices will tend to disagree.

Until recently, President Jammeh have relied heavily on them for his political
survival. They have indeed in one way or the other contributed immensely in one
way or the other by consolidating his support in the opposition strongholds.
They were adopted fathers, brothers, uncles, grandfathers by very influential
societies which switched their allegiance to the APRC. This societies are
reported to be very upset and have already began to loss faith on the party
which their adopted fathers brothers or whatsoever who they said have been
humiliated within the ‘wink of an eye’ have contributed immensely in its
building.

Some staunch supporters and key figures have now resorted to keep a very low
profile and stay out of politics unless the president restructure the party
which is glaringly falling apart.

“We are not saying that the President should encourage corruption or nepotism,
but one thing he must bear in mind is that, this is politics and any decision
he takes should be carefully considered in the interest of the party. If indeed
these people have done anything wrong, it should have been resolve internally
without letting out of the corridors of power. If their is any group
institution that has suffered from Operation no Compromise, it must be top
brass of the APRC, but it is not still late, there is a room for
reconciliation......” a lady president of one of the societies said.

Meanwhile, there are wild rumours that a certain ‘interest group’ is intriguing
to get rid of all those they see as a threat to their survival within the inner
circle of the President and his government. While there are also speculations
that the President is contemplating no to contest the next election, I am of
the firm believe that, this is far from being true. President Jammeh is not in
anyway planning to step down at the moment now, as it is not even part of his
agenda. He will only step out of the corridors of power if he loses an
election. Looking at the way things are, he is likely to be in the presidency
for the next 15 year or so as he will love to see dollars follow into
government coffers from the oil revenue and to transform The Gambia from a
donor recipient to a donor pledging nation.

In the 2001 general elections, a very organised APRC including Baba Jobe,
Yankuba Touray, Abdoulie Kujabi among others was only able to score a
percentage of 52.3 against a less organised opposition. If the APRC can secure
a minimal percentage at that time, will it be able to survive the test in 2006
when the opposition is seemingly uniting and more focus. An example of
desolation in the APRC could be attributed to recent happenings in the Upper
River Division where it is reported that only four out of 46 Alkalolus attended
meetings held by the commissioner during his tour of the division. If media
reports are indeed true, the end results of these rebelling village heads may
be sacking as they are allegedly threatened by the commissioner. Sacking them,
is likely to lead aggravated hatred and political crisis within the poor
villagers if the choice of leadership is not maintained.


This latest developments should be food for taught for President Jammeh as some
of his party stalwarts are said to be in a state of desolation and despair, and
are afraid to voice it out openly out of fears of reprisal.

The economic factor is that, the average Gambian is today finding it tough to
survive because of the rising cost of leaving. The continuous sky rocketing of
basic commodities and depreciation of the Dalasi against foreign currencies has
over the past two years transformed the country which was once referred to as “
Gambia no problem” to “Gambia full of problems”. A bag of rice today is D550 in
the Kombos while it is rumoured to cost D700 in Upper River Division. With this
continuous increment, the whole blame is shouldered on the government. Many are
pointing fingers at the government of doing little to alleviate the suffering
of the people most of whom earned less than one US dollar a day.

The Jammeh regime cannot escape the blame and must do all it can to address the
situation. It must also endeavour to invest in the productive base of the
country in order to boost the economy. With the income of the average Gambian
remaining stagnant, women who form a greater majority of President jammeh's
supporters, are finding it extremely difficult on daily basis at the market.
Take for instance, how do we expect a civil servant with a large family to
survive in this times on a salary of D1,500? Today, even the price of locally
produce vegetables such as okra, pepper, garden egg to name a few, have
unprecedentedly soured thus forcing women to demand extra fish money from their
poorly paid husbands. Some people are blaming stall owners for the increment,
which is wrong because vendors are buying this commodities at expensive prices
from the producers.

I must assert that, I’m not attributing this problems entirely on President
Jammeh alone as some cynics will say, but as head of state, he takes the blame
when anything goes wrong in the country. The Jammeh regime must fasten its belt
in its desire to create a Gambia which will be the paradise of Africa. In so
doing, it must be willing to swallow pride and work hand in glove with
stakeholders, opposition leaders among others who have the interest of the
country at heart. Irrespective of our political differences, the bottom line is
that, we are all Gambians.

As he prepares to embark on “Dialogue with the people tour”, President Jammeh
should take any of his cronies to the cleaners who tell him that everything is
alright in his district or division in a bid to curry his blessings for the
person will be doing a great disservice to hin and his government. But with the
May 27 at the corner, it will be premature now for one to draw a conclusion on
Jammeh’s popularity.

© Copyright 2003 by Observer Company


I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for,
he isn't fit to live.
Martin Luther King Jr.,

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