Hi!
The issue of underlining the tribalist undertones of Ebou Colley's
posting has nothing to do with the "keep it safe business". It is neither a
run for cover nor an attempt to use "code words" to run away from tribalist
realities back home. The issues raised by Ebou if true, given that his
information sounds real "insider", are issues that should concern us all.
My beef with the posting is that it sounds like an incitement with the
intention of rallying tribalist sentiment against the Jola people most of
whom have nothing to show for Yaya Jammeh being in power. This is wrong and
very dangerous for our country. What does Ebou want? Does he want Wollofs,
Mandinkas, Fulas etc. to kill enough Jolas to even the numbers? Would this
solve the problem? No, it would rather plunge The Gambia into a deeper
abyss of endless violence and retribution. Is that what we want? I, for one,
don't want that.
We have to be analytical and not sentimental when issues such as
tribalism are mentioned. Nobody is denying the fact that tribalism exists in
The Gambia. Gambians wouldn't be normal human beings if no trace of
tribalism is found in The Gambia. There is tribalism all over the world. It
is therefore not unique to The Gambia and Africa. All over Asia, Europe,
America, Australia etc. some tribes (though they are tagged otherwise) are
marginalised because of their ethnicity. This is wrong and has to be tackled
and remedied, but not through incitement.
We have to avoid being sentimental when dealing with tribalism to avoid
being victims of those with divisive and destructive ulterior motives. Isn´t
it quite interesting that Ebou "Colley" would incite people to react against
the Jolas, knowing fully well that his kith and kin back home would be at
the recieving end of the stick?
It is very easy to be armchair revolutionaries, keyboard Rambos and the
like living in some far away land knowing fully well that we are far removed
from the repercussions of what we preach. What we however have to remember
is that we have parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties etc. back home
who may not be spared the turmoil if there is violence back home. We
therefore have to be sober and realistic in our prescriptions. If there is a
tribal problem back home, we should try to find ways and means of dealing
with it without jeopardising the stability of the country and turning tribe
against tribe.
I came across a publication in England around 1994/1995 that was being
distributed by a group calling itself the Movement for the Restoration of
Democracy in The Gambia (can´t remember the exact name but it runs along
those lines). The publication, like Ebou Colley's, highlights tribal and
religious differences. It supplied the names of members of the armed forces
with Jola surnames and talked about how Christians were being promoted to
this and that position because Yaya Jammeh was one of Bishop Cleary's
"boys". I was as wary of that publication then as I am of Ebou Colley's now.
Why? Because the same tactics are reminiscent of those employed in the
PALIPEHUTU communiqué of May 1988 in Burundi in which an incitement to deal
with the ethnic issue in violent terms was propagated. They are the same as
those employed by Interahamwe and other groups in Rwanda. Maybe the Gambian
publications have fallen short of directly telling people to take arms and
attack the Jolas but who knows what will happen if such views are not
challenged. I would challenge the democratic intentions of anyone or any
group that tries to highlight and play the various tribes against each
other.
To cut the story short, The Gambia is a very tiny country where I am yet
to find anyone who can tell me that he/she doesn't have a relative who is
from another tribe. We therefore have to be careful with what we propagate.
If Yaya Jammeh is using tribe as a basis for employment and promotion, then
he is violating the very spirit of the Constitution for chapter IV, section
33, subsection 3 states: "... no person shall be treated in a discriminatory
manner by any person acting by virtue of any law or in the performance of
the functions of any public office or any public authority". Subsection 4
states: "In this section, the expression "discrimination" means affording
different treatment to different persons attributable wholly or mainly to
their respective descriptions by ...colour, ...language, religion, ...social
origin ... whereby persons of one such description are subjected to
disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another such description
are not made subject, or are accorded privileges or advantages which are not
accorded to persons of another such description". If Yaya Jammeh is
violating this part of our Constitution with a few of his tribesmen
benefitting, why should the Jola tribe pay for it? Yaya and those who are
benefitting are the ones who should be brought to book for that and not the
average Jola whose living condition hasn't improved an iota since Yaya took
power.
I therefore strongly stand by my conviction that tribalism has no place
in The Gambia. We should all be fighting very hard to discourage it. We
should also take a stance against all forms of incitement or the playing of
one tribe against the other because if we don't, the ultimate losers will be
Gambia and Gambians. Thanks.
Buharry.
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From: Ousman Bojang <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2000 1:00 AM
Subject: Re: Another Dubious Coup Plot in The Gambia
> Ebou,
> This is such a powerful piece. Just as Buharry said a lot of it might be a
> revelation to some and to some it might be like an initiation of a tribal
> differential. However, you seem to got the facts and said it as it is and
> naturally Gambians like the "Keep it safe" business. In fact that is one
> reason why it is going to take some a lot of bite to swallow and why
Jammeh
> continuos to act like this.
> And to some you might just tell them it is not for them to agree, but
there
> is a lot of sense in what you said. Jammeh has succeeded in eliminating
his
> loyalties very well. And to confirm to you and everyone that it is among
> tribal lines, wait to see the 33 people they accused as the coup plotters.
So
> far 30 of them are behind the bar as we talk and some will be stunt to
hear
> the list.
> And as I always say, sooner or later the final day and the revelations
shall
> come and Jammeh will be the victim. Gambians have been the victims of
these
> brutal killings and harassment and I am sure God is not sleeping. God
Bless
> the Gambia.
>
> Ousman J. Bojang.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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