Like many in the opposition camp I have been pondering the last couple of
days about the outcome of the recent presidential elections and what it
means for the Gambia. Over the years most members of this list have fought
vehemently against the misrule of Yaya and the APRC. Most of the
allegations we leveled against Yahya are factual and the record is there for
anyone to see. Where there extra judiciary and summary assassinations and
arrests during his seven year tenure? Yes indeed! Did he order the mowing
down of the students and Mr. Barrow? In broad daylight! Is he looting our
treasury (what's left of it)? You do not have to go far, just back track to
a day before the 1994 Coup and take a snap shot of his finances and see the
kleptocrat he has metamorphosed into. Has he threatened his fellow citizens
with death? The tapes are available for those interested in verifying (on
radio, television, and live and direct). Have our poor farmers got cash for
their crops for three years and running? The papers reported extensively on
this slow strangulation of the hardest working of our lot. Has poverty
increased among our lot and is unemployment of our people increasing at a
rocket pace? Just stroll about the streets in the urban centers. Is
inflation suffocating our hue? Just look at our Dalasi, as I write, its
hovering around D17 to $1 and climbing. How is our health? His family does
not even trust "his medical system" to cure their headache. How are we
doing with Tourism? Well just ask those that rely on tourism the last time
they were in business. Is there freedom of the press? Well, ask the
independent press about the harassment, arson, and thugry that they
underwent with this regime. This list can stretch the entire length of our
river and then some.
In sum, was Yaya’s seven year terror a raw deal for Gambians? Absolutely!
How come then, some may ask, did the majority of the very people who
suffered under his wrath vote him in for another five-year term? That is a
question that can only be answered by the 52% of the voters that voted for
him. As a citizen who did not cast my vote and a believer of an
individual's unconditional right to suffrage, I would not attempt to
question the sanity of the majority who voted for him, even with their
acknowledgement of the above listed catalogue of criminal activity. Doing
so, means going against the very principles that we on the L upheld and
fought for so long. We cannot on the one hand request for the Gambian
people to be given the right to be heard and when we did not like what we
heard, we turn around to question the sanity of their decision. I doubt if
any of us in the opposition would have questioned the voters if victory were
on our side. As much as I disagree with the majority decision, I will also
not venture to wish them bad luck and lay in wait for that day to tell them
“I told you so”. Doing so would mean that my ego got the best of me and the
welfare of the nation is secondary to mine. For now, I'll just nurse my
bruises with the hope that "those whose flesh meet the sward know firsthand
how sharp and painful the entry – better than the observers, you and me".
I hope the majority is right and that this is what they want and is best
for the country.
This victory for Yahya did not change the facts mentioned above and as long
as those wrongs are not corrected my resolve to follow his every move like a
Bloodhound stays the same. We are in this fight for the long haul. Let us
not let our emotions get the best of us. This criminal enterprise can only
be brought down by persistence and more persistence. We should use all
options available to us. I know there are those among us that, based on our
past experience with Jammeh, want to reject outright, any “peace offerings”
from his end. Our struggle does not require that we either fight or
negotiate at the table, but not both. On the contrary, We can both fight
and negotiate at the same time. The South Africans, the Senegalese, and
countless other countries did it and others still do. In the case of the
South Africans, they would retaliate for Afrikaner murders of their
colleagues and sit at the table with DeKlerk, the same evening. If we
believe that our struggle is for Gambians, then we should do everything that
would enhance their lives, even negotiating with Jammeh. Just as we fight
with him daily, even when we loose, we should also be ready to negotiate
when there is a need/chance for it, even if we failed in the last ten tries.
Fighting is an extension of diplomacy and diplomacy is in turn an
extension of fighting. If we are just in this struggle for individual
pursuits, then we can afford to be one-dimensional. However, if our
struggle is in the name of the Gambian people, then we cannot afford to be
one-dimensional. For, to do so, means that we are shortchanging the very
people whose welfare we sought to enhance.
We in the opposition should revisit “honestly” where we went wrong in this
last election and work on rectifying our mistakes and translate it into
victory in the parliamentary elections in February 2002. The parties that
have a working agenda should review their strategy for positive results in
February. We on the outside should engage the opposition parties and the
parties cannot ignore or avoid our probing. We also cannot just theorize
and theorize again. The opposition needs our financial support and I do not
mean in the last minute, but NOW, if we want to increase our numbers in
parliament. February is not far, so please let’s make hay while the sun
shines. Folks, our situation requires maturity. We may have a lot of
choices, but we better choose wisely.
Chi Jaama
Joe Sambou
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