Witness the Jammeh Circus if you will!
Signs Of Desperation In The Jammeh Camp
By Mbaye B. Sarr & Mohammed L. Sillah
Sep 13, 2006, 16:21
About ten days to the presidential election, there appear to be a strange
sort of desperation hovering over the Jammeh campaign. Wherever he goes now
Jammeh has been swearing by the Holy Koran, which he holds like a magic charm,
to impress upon voters that he can be unseated neither by the ballot or the
bullet. “Bilahi Wallahi Taalahi, “ he screams, “I will not be removed from
the position as President of this country, that I have toiled for so much,
neither by votes or by coups.” He has also warned listeners in campaign rallies
in many places that “ IN 1996 some of you did not vote for me, but that did not
stop me from bringing development to your area. I did this because I thought
I should give you the benefit of the doubt since you had just known me for
two years. In 2001 too many of you did not vote for me, but that did not keep
me from bringing development to your doorsteps.
This I did because of my Muslim heart of forgiveness. But this election will
be after my twelve years in power. If you do not know me enough now, you
will never know me better. If you do not vote for me this time, I will know you
do not want development and I will treat you accordingly. If you do not vote
for me, do not expect any development from my government. Yes, it is tit for
tat now.” The 2006 presidential elections, Jammeh has said repeatedly, is
between those who want “progress” and the others who are for “retrogression.”
Yesterday, Monday September 11th, addressing crowds at the Foni district
town of Sintet, where many of his close associates, including Army boss Lang
Tombong Tamba, hail from, Jammeh shocked his listeners by saying that though he
is aware that people there were witches who wanted to feed on his body, they
will find it impossible if and when they try it on him. The signs of
desperations are not just to be found in Jammeh’s queer rhetoric, but also in his
comportment and in the make up of his massive entourage.
To embark upon his campaign trail, which is being masqueraded as a
non-partisan Meet-the-People-Tour, President Jammeh and his men have commandeered the
whole civil service and their flashy vehicles, half of the army, many police
men, divisional Governors, almost all the militants of his APRC party to take
along in a countrywide show of numbers and support. On his way around the
country, President Jammeh has been throwing out close to a million T-shirts,
base-ball caps and the APRC party’s green flags to crowds running after his
long entourage of hundreds vehicles, according some estimates. Meanwhile all
office and public buildings, police stations, schools, hospitals, military camps
and premises of public enterprises have been draped in the ruling APRC party’
s green color. It reminds many of the days of one-party era of the 1960s in
Guinea Conakry or Mobutu’s Zaire.
It looks as if there is no Independent Electoral Commission that is
independent and non-partisan enough to put a stop to these anomalies and clear
violation of all the laws, regulation and spirit of fair play and leveled playing
field. It also looks as if there is no Memorandum of Understanding signed
between the country’s political parties, initiated by a special envoy of the
Commonwealth Secretariat and sponsored by Nigerian President Obasanjo earlier in
February this year. What it looks like, or what Jammeh and his henchmen are
trying hard to make things look is that a Jammeh victory is inevitable. The
irony is that President Jammeh, while painting this picture of inevitability
seems to be confronted with more and more doubt that has been steadily leading
to what looks like desperation. Perhaps the cause of the desperation is
explained by what Secretary of State Edward Singhateh told the people of Basse a
couple of days ago. He told them “While we in the APRC appreciate the warmth
of massive welcome you have just shown us, records show that you are not as
enthusiastic when it comes to actually voting for us.” But Jammeh and his men
are also not civil to communities that do not welcome them jubilantly
enough.
Those communities are branded as “tribalist” and at times even get insulted
at APRC rallies. This has been the electoral tactic of the Jammeh regime
since 1996. By presenting a picture of inevitability to a largely fatalistic
population Jammeh hopes to win the elections without default. But he also wants
to avoid depriving the electoral process of acceptable legitimacy and
international endorsement. The later being an important ingredient or the
requirements for access to badly needed IMF, HIPC, Millennium Challenge Corporation
and other international facilities. Therefore, though international opinion
have a responsibility in ensuring free and fair election in The Gambia,
opposition parties, civil society organizations and right groups should expose and
condemn these flagrant violations of the country’s constitution, The Gambia’s
laws and the IEC’s regulations. Thanks God Jammeh’s sojourn of two weeks has
been cut short and ended without any loss of life. He must however hold back
his bands of thugs who have been constantly source of traffic hazard,
nuisance to calm and order and even perpetrators of harassment against innocent
onlookers and passersby.
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