Mo, thanks for describing the chaos that is Gambia and I got to tell you,
you brought it very close to home, lest we forget.  Some say malaria is the
number one killer in Gambia, but a very close second is stress, especially
for those working for the Government and the higher in rank the worse.  Not
to talk of the farmers and the bulk in the urban areas, employed and
unemployed.

"Being Secretary of State has become a parody, choreographed by a caprious
muse that keeps everyone on edge - like sitting on fresh eggs! Some are
whisked away even before they finish formulating policy for their tenure of
office, leaving no footprints, and so nothing to advise the next in line;
and because it has become a game of musicla chairs, the rest of the
administration, the  civil service in particular, takes the cue, and behaves
accordingly."

" It is divide and rule at the very top. No independence, no room for
personal initiatives, no adminsitrative strategies, and indeed no
competition for power and wealth. What we have in Gambia is  chaos
management, butressed by accidental progress fuelled by the hard work of
ordinary people - including those of us overseas. To put it mildly!

The above sums up the misery that obtains in that country.  Folks, this is
the reality of our condition.  I know we like "Suturah" (secrecy), but we
have reached a stage where we need to acknowledge the stink that Yaya
brought to our people and get up and do something about it.  Join any
progressive group out there that is in the struggle.

Mo, that sacked Perm. Sec.  was exhibiting the classic Gambian response to
his firing.  Even though he knew he could be sent packing any minute and he
died within, several times from the stress of the inevitability of his
situation and dread of that day, he still was not prepared to deal with it.
Instead of embarking on self determination, the guy was consumed worrying
that his friends, relatives, and neighbors know that he was fired, and in
most cases, for no reason, but just because.  What has one got to be ashamed
of being fired, especially by an ignoramus and when you did nothing wrong?
You want to destroy a Gambian with a title, strip them of that title.  The
sad thing about this cycle is that Gambians are forming long lines for their
turn to be broken by Yaya.  This folks, cannot and should not continue and
the only people to put a stop to it is us, Gambians, you and I.  We have
been put through a lot and at this rate, this fool is going to continue to
push the envelop further.

Mo, please continue to give your eye witness account of your observations
for the benefit of many of us out here that sometimes perceive our lament as
imaginary.  The luxuries around us tend to sedate us from remembering that
there is a hell on earth in the making, in a place called The Gambia.  What
you just narrated is just a scratch on the surface.  You've not even begun
to tell us about the severe poverty, health crisis, and general despair of
the population.  And so, you need to continue to tell your story to our
people and the world.  I get depressed when ever I read about our plight,
but we cannot ignore or run away from it.  Like most peoples that were in
our shoes, we've got to keep fighting for our liberation.  Mandela and many
of his colleagues spent decades fighting for the freedom of South Africans,
what excuse do we have?

Chi Jaama

Joe


>From: Momodou S Sidibeh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Thou Shall not Eat a Bagel
>Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 23:56:40 +0200
>
>Joe and All,
>
>I do not think anyone of us wishing to see a better Gambia can take this
>issue about serving the Jammeh tyranny that lightly.
>
>Sure, even Adolf Hitler had his lieutenants and willing executioners, and
>as the President himself is fond of parrotting, he has a million and a half
>of us to choose from...(actually a terrible illusion). There always will be
>Gambians who would readily parade into the decrepit mist of what were in
>the past respectable ministries. But these days, except for a handful of
>offices, occupied by Jammeh's own Untouchables or Harijans perhaps,
>Departments of State have become politically banal, bereft of all official
>respectability. Being Secretary of State has become a parody, choreographed
>by a caprious muse that keeps everyone on edge - like sitting on fresh
>eggs! Some are whisked away even before they finish formulating policy for
>their tenure of office, leaving no footprints, and so nothing to advise the
>next in line; and because it has become a game of musicla chairs, the rest
>of the administration, the  civil service in particular, takes the cue, and
>behaves accordingly. Those dismissed or paraded into the Mile Two Hilton go
>quietly into the night, without as much as a squeak. It is divide and rule
>at the very top. No independence, no room for personal initiatives, no
>adminsitrative strategies, and indeed no competition for power and wealth.
>What we have in Gambia is  chaos management, butressed by accidental
>progress fuelled by the hard work of ordinary people - including those of
>us overseas. To put it mildly!
>
>Just imagine. The Secretary of State for information has his office atop
>the GRTS complex itself in Kanifing. Because he sits above everyone else
>(fourth or fifth floor) he symbolically sees and hears everything under
>him. In a little dictatorship that is the Gambia, is it difficult to
>imagine that press freedom is an illusion? Can the good doctor Janneh
>believe in his own intellectual freedom as long as he works for Jammeh?
>There is systemic control in every aspect of Gambian governmental life.
>Those in government have to do things the President's way or they hit the
>highway. So those Gambians who scurry to serve the APRC regime as ministers
>in the hope of wielding influence for the good of the nation are at best
>supremely naive. If these educated Gambians behave that way, what should we
>expect of ordinary coconut heads and prominent pip-squeaks?
>
>Cheers,
>Momodou S Sidibeh
>
>PS.
>While I was in Gambia a little over a month ago, I was supposed to visit a
>permanent secretary. A friend sent him something I undertook to take along.
>So visiting him was planned. But by the time I got around to paying him a
>courtesy call he was already sacked!.
>Incredibly as it sounds, unbeknown to me at the time, I made an unplanned
>call with my in-law to a well-to-do business man in Bakau. As we took our
>seats while exchanging courtesies, someone else was summoned in. He was
>radiating with joy, unable to suppress a furtive grin. He had just been
>appointed new Perm Sec and he personally called on the older landlord -
>whom we were visiting - to relay the great news. But I did not hear at what
>ministry and felt it was impolite to ask, as I had never before met the
>man. So we all got into a round of well wishing and prayer. Obvious
>celebration here!
>
>Two days later I travelled to the home of the former Perm Sec. Indeed I had
>visited his office in Banjul feeling innately important, as I confidently
>passed the offices of lesser officials. I was visiting a perm sec without
>an appointment, you see. But come see my countenance when a former
>assistant took me aside to break the severely bad news, that he was no
>longer there, that he is at home, that they do not know why he was given
>the sack. My enquiry embarassed them, eventhough they understood I was a
>Johnny-just-cam, belly-full with stale notices about governement
>reshuffles. I thanked the man for volunteering to spill the beans despite
>my embarassing ignorance.
>Well at his home, we were let in by the wife, as he he was away praying at
>the local mosque. But even after his return and the usual handshakes the
>conversation was more of a monolgue punctuated with seemingly endless
>minutes of awkward silence. Though we were kindly received and served
>refreshments, over here it was like a funeral. And then it occured to me
>that I had met his replacement a few days earlier.
>
>Hoping to be able to find time to share a little of my 璥pression on Gambia
>with you, sooner rather than later.
>Sidibeh
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
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