EDITORIAL

Call him a  roaming Minister,  you make no mistake. Call him a temporal
Minister, you make no mistake. Call him a disgraced Minister, you make no
mistake. Musa Balla Gaye, is still   insisting to serve President Jammeh's
government, even though the President had demonstrated his determination
to discard him.

The frequent re-deployments should serve as an eye opener for Gaye. It
appears  that the roaming minister is not reading the writings on the
wall. What is more honourable than to resign? Or is Gaye waiting for
Jammeh to red card him? Mr.Minister, you had received series of yellow
cards and it is time to call it a day, before receiving the inevitable
sack. We are pretty sure that Jammeh is not satisfied with your services.
As we told you the other day, you should not allow Yahya to subject you
to such humiliation and degrading treatment. You deserve better. All is
yours Balla.  It appears that, you are putting position ahead of your
integrity.

 A man who served the African Development Bank  should not allow his well
hard earned credibility to be shattered by a  maroon President.  Jammeh
will end up destroying all of you one by one, before  hanging  himself.
He knew that the ship of state is drowning and he wanted to drown with
anybody who comes by his way.

Balla,  is far  better of than Yahya, who was born poverty stricken.  Here
is a man who was well established prior to joining these useless boys.
Balla,  is today caught at the middle of the sea. He thought that by
gracefully resigning, he might anger Jammeh-not knowing that,  that is the
only way forward to preserve his battered integrity.  It is never too late
to say good by to Jammeh, who is running out of friends. Balla, in as much
as,  you want to serve The Gambia and her people, you should be weary of
Jammeh.  His is not to be trusted.  He is a betrayer of the highest order.

We can vividly remember, when he invited you to steer the affairs of the
battered Finance Ministry some few years ago.  This was the time, when our
economy was in a fragile stage. Despite your appointment, prices for basic
commodities continued to go higher. Butchers, importers, foreign exchange
dealers, Central Bank officials and foreign nationals were arrested in the
name of so "Operation No Compromise.".  Today the said "Operation NO
Compromise" had been compromised by the pioneer Yahya Jammeh.  He is
legalising corruption in his government. The people he accused of
corruption are today running The Gambia. Jali Yankuba Touray, Sheik Tijan
Hydara and others are rehired despite their indictment for massive
corruption.

Balla what is the point of serving a regime, which will turn round, accuse
you and jail you? Does it worth it?  What happened to your brother and
friend Samba Bah? Do you want to suffer just like Bah?  Jammeh had last
carded you. What is left is "lestect"  Don't allow to receive "lestect" or
"Deesartu" from Jammeh.   You are more smarter than Jammeh.  You ought to
know better Balla....

This is a failed government. Jammeh is finding it difficult these days to
get a Minister. Gambians usually turn down his Ministerial offers. This is
a healthy development in our body politics. This goes to show that our so
called intellectuals are now putting national interest ahead of personal
interest. That they are not tempted by position or money to mortgage their
integrity. Could you imagine Jammeh appointing himself as Works and Energy
Minister? Is this democratic? He behaves  as if he owns The Gambia and her
people.

With such a  trend, dictator Jammeh will continue "to import Ministers
from abroad." It is unlike the early days of the coup, when he can fire
and name a  new Minister the same day. Now,  it takes months to secure a
replacement.  Without Lamin Kaba Bajo, he wouldn't  have succeeded in
getting a replacement for Dr.Scattered Janneh. Most of the people he
approached turned down his offer.  Gambians said they are  pissed  off
with Yahya and his government. That they are tired with the hiring and
firing without justification. That they want to see a new Gambia, free of
corruption and abuse of office. That they want Yahya and his accomplices
to be brought to book at the earliest possible time.

We do know that this government had contacted some Gambians  abroad to
return home to be offered positions. Most of those contacted declined
Jammeh's invitation,  in view of what they called Yahya's lack of
consistency and predictability.  They said they don't want to suffer like
Maffi Jarju and Dr.Janneh,  who were used and abused by  Jammeh.  The few
ones returning home are paying for the price.  Jammeh's mission is to
destroy sons and daughters of  The Gambia. Public officials who served
Jammeh today and in the past have their own stories to tell. The new
Gambia,  will be shocked if these officials happened  to spill the beans.
We are waiting for that day, which is soon coming.

Jammeh should do justice to himself and step down. If  I were to evaluate
Jammeh's performance, I will rate him as a failed President.  He is below
expectation.  Here is a President, who shattered the hopes and aspirations
of Gambians.  His past promises not to over stay in power had been buried
in Kanilai. Jammeh is power drunken  and there is no indication that he
will step down from office in the short term. He had set up so called
vision 20-20, developmental program,  which he vowed to accomplish-not
knowing that God had prescribed a  term limit for his Presidency.

This is a President who is hell bent on black mailing  his opponents.
Imagine Jammeh lying that the opposition wanted to jeopardise Gambia's
relationship with Senegal. He claimed that  the opposition met with Wade
and had indicated that he Jammeh cannot be removed through democratic
means.  What a lie Jammeh.  In the first place, let me ask you,  what gave
to  the birth of NADD?  Was it not the opposition's determination to send
you packing from the state house through democratic means?  This is not
the time to lie Jammeh.  We expect you to address the issues and stop
black mailing Gambians.  You are not fair to the opposition at all. You
created your own mess and we expect you to correct the said mess.  The
     Gambia/Senegal border crisis was your own blunder and not the
opposition.

As stated by Halifa Sallah, you need to apologise to NADD and its
leadership for making such bogus charges. The opposition reserves  the
right to seek redress in the courts  in the event you  fail to apologise
to them. You are not immune from being dragged  to court. We do know that
you are in control of  the judiciary, but there are other international
remedies the opposition can  exhaust to seek justice. To avoid
embarrassment, you should retract your statement.

On a final note,  we are asking Musa Balla Gaye to resign in the interest
of his integrity and credibility.  Don't allow Yahya to remote control you
like a toy.  It is time to bid farewell to Yahya.  The least you want to
receive is "deesartu."  The world is watching you Balla.  We think you are
a man of conscience, unlike Yahya who is without principles.  Good day.

The author is the former Secretary General of The Gambia press Union and
also a former Voice of America radio Banjul Correspondent. Mr. M'Bai who
now resides in the US State of North Carolina Raleigh was a leading
political and crime reporter with the Point and Daily Observer newspapers
respectively. He can be reached by email at the following addresses:
[log in to unmask], [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]

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