Open Letter to Gambians
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Is Yaya Jammeh sound in mind? With all due respect to his position as president of The Gambia such a question may come as a surprise to many. But it is important that an attempt to answer it open our minds to the fact that something, which I don’t know what, could be bothering the chief of state. I’m not exactly sure of the reaction to my question but it is exactly the difficulty in answering it that I am asking Gambians to make sense out of it. And here we come to the main thrust of my letter.
In a recent speech, delivered by Mr. Jammeh that was reproduced verbatim and transcribed by THE INDEPENDENT’s Sana Camara, one would think that if anything wrong with Gambia after all it is Yaya Jammeh himself. The Gambian leader rambled on self-glorification on his successes in the years that he had remained as president ruining it.  
It is apparent to me that Mr. Jammeh does not believe that speeches are written to suit occasions and that they are delivered timely to improve the image of nations and organizations. I think someone should take the difficult task to inform him that he needs a speechwriter and that he cannot go about making speeches that are disjointed and incoherent. He must also be told that so long he remains the leader of The Gambia, he is accountable to the people and he has the responsibility to speak for Gambians and Africans where it is necessary and extremely important. And in fact it is extremely important that he matures enough to understand Gambian, African and international issues before shooting his mouth about them.
It is very shameful that the Gambian leader does not know that he is an embarrassment to the people and to Africans when he makes comments that lack common sense. Consider this comment made at the 8th anniversary of his regime in 2002 on Independence and Freedom: “…Gambia is still dependent. We cannot beat our chest with pride today and say we are independent. We are not, let no one fool you. Now if you are not independent how can we talk about freedom? If you are not independent how can you talk about your basic rights? If I feed you and own your kitchen I will tell you what to eat and decide what you should not eat. So how free are you and how can there be democracy? Let us refer as from today to say everyday I will do something that will give me my freedom. If you live in your uncle’s house you are not free. If you live in your father’s house you’re not free because tomorrow somebody will call you father and do you expect your son or daughter to live in his or her father’s house?”
Yes, this is Yaya Jammeh’s idea of freedom and independence. Hence my question: Is he sound in mind? In his 9th speech to commemorate the power he feels so good enjoying, he repeatedly cried against his critics and has been unhappy that other Gambians don’t agree with him on his style of leadership. But the situation becomes clearer when his idea of freedom and independence is considered. (So how free are you and how can there be democracy?  quoted above.)
That not only Gambia but also Africa is in trouble is all too clear when individuals like Yaya is counted, sadly, among leaders of people. Hence I request any reader to help me with information about Yaya’s educational background.
My only appeal is that he must be told that he is not an orator and his efforts to become one is discouraging and hurting The Gambia and Africa and exposing to the world the kind and quality of leaders presently ruining the lives of their people on the continent.
He also needs someone to help him write what he wants to say. As long as he is the president of The Gambia he must keep his mouth shut and let those who are qualified by education and experience handle what he has shown himself incapable of doing.
Omari Jackson
[log in to unmask]









Momodou Camara <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Muslims Offended By Jammeh Hamat Bah Claims, Demands President's Apology
>
>http://allafrica.com/stories/200308010469.html
>
>The Independent (Banjul)
>NEWS
>August 1, 2003
>Posted to the web August 1, 2003
>
>By Sana B. Camara
>Banjul
>
>Honourable Hamat Bah has sent a stark message to President Jammeh, warning
>him to revisit his policy over religion, which has been overshadowed by the
>veil palaver.
>
>Honourable Bah who could not hide his displeasure over what he called
>Jammeh's disastrous handling of the veil debate, warned that Muslims and
>Christians have been exasperated following his controversial speech.
>
>Over Jammeh's castigation of his party Honourable Bah told The Independent
>that he would not be drawn to the politics of character-assassination
>since "I am a president in waiting who have to comport himself. My
>behaviour matters a lot to many Gambians and I am not going to debase
>myself by responding to Jammeh in the same breath".
>
>Bah believes that Jammeh has more pressing problems to address than
>describing the opposition in "idle gimmicks" that do more to expose his
>vain pride and his amateurish disposition as a politician. He said the
>thorny debate about the veil is a sensitive issue that should preoccupy the
>president instead of making infantile remarks about parties and
>personalities that have done much to give a democratic semblance to his
>regime. He advised President Jammeh to apologise over his comments and re-
>visit his policy on the veil, warning that any mistake in its handling "can
>destroy the unity of this country and undo many years of achievement for
>religious tolerance".
>
>"Standing on political platforms ridiculing and castigating religious
>leaders including Imams and school children who were wearing the veil while
>they were marching before him under the sun and rain was undone".
>
>He accused Jammeh of trying to please the United States by castigating
>Muslims and banning the veil in schools.
>
>On US-Gambia relations, Honourable Bah said it was unfortunate that Jammeh
>cannot understand the politics of America, as he commits his worst mistake
>by accepting "the fallacy that the US considers The Gambia as an important
>ally. 'For Jammeh to believe that he is appeasing the US by abandoning his
>best friends when the US has no permanent interests here is suicidal.
>Jammeh is saying everything and doing everything just to attract some
>recognition and support from the US. But he is making a big mistake" he
>retorted.
>
>On the country's democratic situation, Honourable Bah noted that the three
>arms of government as provided for by the constitution were in shambles,
>pointing out Jammeh's alleged interference in the Judiciary that has
>rendered the Supreme Court dysfunctional. He said the government is on a
>campaign to kill the opposition and the state media, the latter of which is
>operating under extreme pressure from the government to practise self-
>censorship. He said the APRC also uses its robust majority in the National
>Assembly to pass bogus legislations that are of little benefit to our
>democratic tradition.
>
>"But we can't have a vibrant democracy without a vibrant press. The media
>commission act is a clear manifestation of Jammeh's inability to appreciate
>true democracy in this country," he critically observed.
>
>The Saloum MP called on the Gambian leader "to do his homework and assure
>Gambians of a brighter future instead of castigating them and blaming
>everybody for the country's economic woes which is making people desperate
>by the day".
>
>"Jammeh had promised Gambians sufficient electricity but never delivered
>it. He promised to improve their standards of living, which is still an
>elusive dream. He promised the fruits of development projects every six
>months that never came. The dalasi has experienced the worst depreciation,
>over 200 percent in the sub-region. Our debt was at D3 billion in 1994,
>today, it is at D80 billion, and where has its benefit appeared on the
>lives of Gambians. Where is the benefit from the $35 Million loan from
>Taiwan that poor Gambians are today paying for" he inquired.
>
>
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Copyright © 2003 The Independent. All rights reserved. Distributed by
>AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
>To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
>[log in to unmask]
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
>at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>