Mr. Amadou Sanneh, said to be the Treasurer of UDP was convicted by a Court in The Gambia and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Mr. Sanneh and associates were known and active members of Gambian opposition political parties. Are these men truly guilty of crime(s) against our nation? Were they persecuted/prosecuted for their politics? I don’t know! However many before them suffered similar fate not for committing crime(s) but simply Yahya did not like their politics. Very sad state of affairs after almost 50 years of self rule! In one of my writings I stated Yahya is Jawara on STEROID - remember charging Gambians with alleged seditious crimes was also Jawara administrations weapon against political opponents

Is the conclusion of Amadou’s case at court coincidental with the recent so-called Unity Rallies of members some opposition parties? Is it a deliberate calculated move by Yahya’s administration to show that they’re in charge and ready to crush any dissent? The later is a strategy used several times and has worked against an unorganized, unmobilized and uninformed struggle. Yahya has once again stab a sword in the stomach of a struggle that some commentators and activists suggests the recent activities are signs of rebirth. 

After almost 20 years Yahya continued unabated to act as the ‘Creator’ of the people of Gambia - decides who walks freely or shackled in jail, live, work and/or die. Equally national resources became his personal property. Even the seat of government is shared between Banjul and Kanilai without appropriate legal sanctions by the legislature. Sadly we have no solution - not because we can’t do anything about it but because we lack the wisdom and foresight to organize ourselves. Several factors are responsible of our inability to organize but none of such factors are insurmountable. 

The plight these men is not seen by all as an affirmation of a national problem. Some see it as Amadou’s & co’s problem and called it SAD. Others sees it as Ousainou Darbo’s/UDP’s problem and asked what is he/UDP going to do now. Some others said the opposition in the general should show muscle. The above positions neither acknowledge the lack of democracy as the underlying problem nor do they realize how they are in person affected but more importantly they recognizes no role for themselves in the solution(s). 

The legal respond to these unwelcome verdicts could be appeal for retrial. A very good legal instrument but only in a legitimate legal environment. Sadly no readily available political solution. It’s reasonable to think that Yahya has pushed the nation to the limit until you begin to listen/see how we distance ourselves from the issues (both the problem and possible solution). But even if the nation agreed these are unbearable we lack the organization to mobilize citizens for civil political actions. On the other hand unorganized political actions are always a possibility from a spontaneous actions but they hardly produced the desired results and the likelihood of costly chaotic civil unrest should be concerning. 

Gambians are not new to politics but in it’s very narrow sense - that’s voting in an election. Sadly the purpose and ‘who’s-the-voter’ in this important democratic process was never clarify to enable such a voter to freely assume his/her fundamental role. In essence we never had democracy but in name. 

Fixing these problems can neither be haphazard nor can we conveniently start anywhere on the vicious cycle. We can do everything imaginable everywhere on the face of the earth but we’ve to get to Banjul and take the problems head-on. We’ve to decide what vehicle will get us to Banjul and what tools will be used to take on the problems but we can’t do this in cities in Europe and America.  Almost all our earlier efforts have been to remove/replace Jawara/Yahya; there is nothing wrong with this goal up until you begin to realize that’s not half way to the ultimate mission objective. Unfortunately there is good chance without a democratic program removing Yahya may take us a step or two back. Since democracy and removal of Yahya are not necessarily mutually inclusive we could probably run both but with emphasis on democracy since its the ultimate destination. We should be very suspicious of anyone who ask us to entrust him/her with the nation for him/her to institute democracy than one entrusted with an institutionalized democratic nation. Certainly in both cases someone (or group) will lead but the later is/will be grounded on a vision articulated before the identification of the leader.

Compatriots this is not an Amadou Sanneh problem. Sadly he and colleagues are the current victims who are going through an underserved suffering. That said this is a national problem and a testament of our failures as a struggle.  Any citizen at anytime can be a victim of tyranny. The passing of time should not erode our memory of earlier victims such as Sadibou Hydara, Koro Ceesay, Foday Makalo, Kanyiba Kanyi, Ebrima Manneh, Ebrima Barry, Lamin Waa Juwara, Deyda Hydara, mass killing of demonstrating students, etc.  

Its ok for political parties either individually and/or collectively to organize for election. However it is very important for we the citizens (and that includes parties and members) to see the problem for what it is - No Democracy. The scope of our problems are deeper and larger than the ordinary role of a political party. That said its a national problem that will require a national solution. A political party or parties can’t and will not solve this problem even if they accidental win in an election. The premise of political parties is the assumption they are operating within a democracy and they hardly change the anomalies when they assume office - simply it works to their favor.

How do we build ‘A National Problem and National Solution? As a nation we have to have: 

1. Develop ’A National Democracy Vision’ (in writing) based on our founding - ‘A Democratic Republic of The Gambia'
2. Organize National Face for the ‘National Democracy Vision’ - any group (or combination) that can do the required work
3. Build Political Leverage - raise funds to independently operate/run programs, sell the vision to Gambians, sell the vision to the international community
4. Politically engage the Government of The Gambia on the Vision - the only demand is to reform to democracy
5. Educate, Organize and Mobilize citizens for political demands
6. Establish and fund a well develop Legal Structure that will drag every bridge of rights, laws and democracy to any court with jurisdiction including subregional, regional and international courts
7. The outputs of 1-6 are material/evidences to support further advocacy, education, organization, mobilization and fund raising  

Noticed that these efforts did not require abandonment on any ongoing efforts. This is and A-Z plan - that’s from where we are to where we want to go. That will include all efforts currently out there at some stage or another. The difference is that these actions are coordinated, each action has deliberate purpose(s) and attainment of such purpose(s) move us step closer towards the ultimate  goal of ‘A Functioning Democratic Republic of The Gambia’.

As these processes begins to gel, Yahya and/or any government of that time will realize the existence of an informed, engaged and mobilized citizens supported not only by an effective/efficient National Structure for Democracy but also backed by the outside world.

The risks for any government born out of such struggle for failing to adhere to democracy would be to face-off with proactive citizens who are both internally and externally engaged. In such a vibrant political environment the likes of Amadou Sanneh, Ebrima Manneh, Kanyiba Kanyi and many others would have been more protected. No Gambian living within that nation is relatively safe all of the last 19 years and this is after untold amounts are spent on the so-called security and defense.  And anyone of us could suffer similar fate at anytime. The recent court verdict is no boiling point, we had several boiling points that never boil.

The broader implication of these events shows Yahya’s grip on power is stronger. On the other hand we’re weak or even non-existence. This is not a good place for our struggle. There’s neither comfort saying this nor am I minimizing the efforts many have invested over the years. However, humans we are build/made with capabilities to see things, understand them  and solve them. Our inability to see that whatever we are doing is not working and will probably never work is just beyond me. Or we do not share similar goal (democracy) hence no the same solutions? What else could be the reason(s) for this inability - keep the status quo for few to make an enterprising living off of it?

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Note: Just received a text that Pa Harry Jammeh is sentenced to 2 years in prison with hard labor. Also Babadinding Jobarteh has 2 years according to the text

Burama FL Jammeh

Founder/General Secretary 
The People's Movement for Democratic Gambia
facebook.com/burama.jammeh
Twitter.com/@bfljammeh
Skype.com/bfljammeh
810 844 6040

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