Note: I am again asking Gambians in the Gambia with access to the Internet
to make copies of this message and make them available to those without
access. By the grace of God, as we head towards the forthcoming elections,
I'll be sending regular messages relating to the Gambian situation, through
the medium of Gambia-L. I would even suggest that this series of messages
could be saved for future reference in the run up to the 2001 elections.
*********************************************************************
My fellow Gambians:
Tomorrow, Saturday will see the anniversary of six years of disastrous
mis-governance of our nation by Yahya Jammeh and his band of wrongdoers. But
sincerely speaking, who on earth is going to be celebrating this terrible
day of remembrance? For sure, not the Gambian people who have only known
tyranny, repression, poverty, misery and hardship during these six sorry
years of Jammeh's misrule.
Not even Yahya Jammeh himself: his state of mind can only be guessed at, but
it must be one of confusion, terrible pressure, stress, dejection, anxiety,
ineffectivity and (one would hope so anyway) GUILT. Locked away in Kanilai
because of his fear of his own people, Jammeh is unlikely to be personally
involved in any public assembly to mark the event.
No doubt he will be sending one of his tail-waggers to do the honours on his
behalf: who will be the lucky one to salute the march-past of the dwindling
band of APRC supporters (are there any left at all?), one wonders. Mrs
Isatou Njie-Saidy, Mrs Susan Waffa Ogoo or Therese Ndong-Jatta will receive
their boss's orders, and in true colours, they will bend to his will and do
his bidding without question.
What about his Ministers and MPs? Are they going to be waving the APRC flag
at the weekend parties?? Unlikely, since most of them are busy, busy, busy
trying to organise jobs in the international arena for themselves: they are
too pre-occupied looking for safe passage out of our sad country before the
day of reckoning arrives (and arrive soon it surely will).
What about the ordinary Gambian citizenship ? How many of them will be out
on the street waving green flags ?
Indeed, for most Gambians, this is going to be a time for sober reflection.
There will be on-the-street analysis of what Jammeh has failed to accomplish
over these last years. People will be reflecting on Yahya Jammeh's
ineptitude, his corruption, his bullying tactics, his militarism, his
nepotism, his mismanagement of every facet of Gambian life.
There will be talk of the deaths of innocent people, which have taken place
with monotonous regularity over the years; there will be speculation about
the fate of all the missing and imprisoned. Above all, there will be a fear
of the future: of what could happen next if Jammeh is not unseated from the
Presidency come the next elections.
Jammeh should know that his people have had enough of him: that the time for
change is HERE AND NOW.
Gambians are deeply suspicious of Jammeh and his party: they are reluctant
to associate themselves in any way with his cohorts of thugs. Today, the
Gambian people mistrust what they read in the Government press or hear and
see on GRTS. They are angry because of the state to which they and the
nation have been reduced since 1994; they are also fearful of reprisals and
intimidation. No longer protected by the law, the Gambian people and their
families are in danger of being the next victims of repression by the
government. The NIA has become the Nazi Gestapo of this current regime. God
help us all.
So, the fundamental question now arises: what can we do to try to put
matters in our beloved nation to rights? My view is that it is time for the
people to realise that real POWER belongs to them: not to any individual or
political party: not to Jammeh, but to them. We have to do our utmost to
encourage people to get organised in order to boot Jammeh and his despotic
regime out of power at the next elections.
The people themselves should be the ones who are going to be calling the
shots in the future: and the ballot box is going to be their tool for
change. People power at the elections is not going to be achieved however,
unless and until we organise ourselves for it. We need to have the mindset
that we can each of us make a difference to the results of the presidential
ballot. The vote of one person is going to be immensely important.
My call to Gambians is to get involved NOW. Attend political rallies; listen
to what opposition leaders are saying and reflect on it; seek out knowledge
in the form of published programmes, manifestos, articles; search out and
attend those who will meet the aspirations and needs of ordinary people.
The people should realise that Jammeh is going to be a non-starter in the
next elections: we have had enough of him and his brand of dirty politics.
We want change, and we want hope for a better future for us all. We have to
be discriminating in our choices for the future good of our country; we have
to have some sense of what we want and who we want to lead us on in this new
century. We have to relearn our skills of judgement in political choice.
I urge my fellow Gambians to go to the various political bureaux in the
country for information and clarification of pertinent issues; to become
politically sensitised and educated; and to give moral and practical support
to organisations like the Independent Electoral Commission.
I ask them to talk to each other about political issues: to get acquainted
with what The Gambia needs at this point in time in order to change for the
better: to engage in enlightened dialogue and discussion. I ask them to talk
to the young people of our nation, to whom the future belongs: listen to the
dreams and aspirations of our idealistic Gambian youth: involve them in the
political struggle for freedom from tyranny. Political education for our
youngsters is of paramount importance.
I ask my fellow Gambians to act now to become the police force for the
forthcoming elections. History has taught us so many times that incumbent
leaders control their country's political mechanisms to ensure that they
operate in their favour: we have to be mindful of this and to do all we can
to ensure, as much as possible, free and fair pre-election political
process.
Recent history also teaches us that when people are vigilant and constantly
scrutinising in political matters, then real change can follow on. Look to
the examples of Niger, Zambia or Senegal where ordinary people worked
together to change their country's destiny.
We have, as a nation of concerned citizens, to become more active in the
political process. Our impact on the election results starts NOW. We need
to be scrutinising the process of registration of voters, ensuring that all
eligible Gambians hold voter's cards. In the same way that we have learned
to be vigilant on Election Day itself, we need to be checking that the
pre-election process is fair, impartial and correctly organised.
"People Power" is an irresistible force: our people need to have a thorough
understanding of this, and of each individual's role in it. Each of us
plays a vital key role.
I also urge the Opposition Parties in The Gambia to play a coordinating,
informative, persuasive and enlightening part in the national sensitisation
process. Let them be taking these messages into each village and district
throughout our land. Their campaigns will need to be based on issues and
policies which truly serve our country's best interests.
They will need to be giving honest and good advice to the electorate about
what constitutes the best qualities to look for in a prospective candidate:
vision, sincerity, the will to serve the people, the mindset to protect the
interests of all Gambians regardless of tribe or faith. If we want to have
good governance in our land, then we have to be working towards that aim
now.
What remains the crucial matter for us all is the urgent need for Jammeh to
GO as a result of the will of the people. The Gambia's future has to be
Jammeh and APRC-free. At least then our country will stand a chance of
prosperity and hope. With Jammeh still at the helm in the next few years,
then we are indeed a lost nation. Make no mistake, power does ultimately lie
with the people and not with Jammeh and his Libyan armoury or Moroccan
bodyguards.
In my recent postings to Gambia-L, I have been reminding people of the
catalogue of horrors of the last six years: of the degrading and negative
impact of Jammeh and his minions on every sector of Gambian life. The man is
costing our country dear, and we can no longer tolerate his harmful impact.
Consider the price we are all having to pay because of Jammeh's ridiculous
policies: five (5) BILLION Dalasis' worth of debt, as well as extortionately
expensive loans.
Ours is a government of debts; our poor country - one of the poorest of the
entire African continent if not of the world - is committed to debts that
generations of Gambians not yet born will still be paying. No one in fact
knows the full extent of Gambian debt and loans, but this year's figure of
332 million Dalasis to service the debts contracted by this government makes
the blood run cold in our veins.
Gambians must always remember that none of the supposedly "fine AFPRC
projects" which Jammeh has overseen since his military coup is free. They
have all been underwritten with loans accompanied by huge annual interest
rates. Even his "triumphal Arch" is still being paid for by every single
Gambian, and we shall be digging deeper into our pockets soon enough to pay
for its crumbling exterior to be repaired.
I am also told that our "wonderful new airport" - less than two years
operational - is already starting to show worrying signs of disintegration.
Next time you are passing through, look at the corners of the building:
examine the cracks in the plasterwork: check out the dire state of the
public toilets; talk to the workers there about the inadequacies of the
building and the airport infrastructure.
Then wonder to yourself at how this showpiece of West Africa is being paid
for: at how much it is costing YOU personally, right now... and of how much
money found its way into Jammeh's own pocket because of the wheeler dealing
that accompanied the project. Jammeh gets daily richer on our backs, while
for the ordinary Gambians, the massive poverty knows no boundaries and thus
continues to bite them.
I have written recently about the deplorable state of our Health Sector. Now
I am getting reports that even the Royal Victoria Hospital is struggling to
give the most basic of treatments. A simple endoscopy investigation is
beyond its resources. No wonder Zeinab Jammeh was shipped off to the United
States of America!
Our Health Service personnel are trying their hardest to underpin an edifice
which is doomed to certain collapse in the very near future: we give them
our heartfelt praise, as well as our sympathetic understanding of the
difficulties they face each day in keeping even this rudimentary service
going. Without their dedication, the system would have failed two or three
years ago.
What about the much-vaunted University of The Gambia ? From all over the
world we are getting reports of the inadequacies of this particular
institution. The government saw it fit to declare Mr Burris Devaney,
champion of the University Extension Programme, persona non grata in the
country, because it suited their purposes to get him out of the way, prior
to upgrading The Gambia College.
Now the students are struggling to get even the most rudimentary education
because of a lack of facilities, proper equipment, totally inadequate
computer hardware and poorly qualified teaching staff. How sad for our young
people that the government is failing them. What chance does our country
stand in the future without adequate tertiary education facilities?
As for Sports development in The Gambia, it is almost at a complete
standstill because of the ineptitude of SoS Yankuba Touray. What agenda,
what policy, what programme has he set up to ensure that our young people
are given the best we can offer to take their place on the African or world
arena of sport. We have become used to tolerating poor quality in every
sphere of government influence, and it is now time for us to challenge this:
to stake a claim for better in the future.
Even the Tourism sector, under the mismanagement of Mrs Susan Wagga Ogoo, is
in terminal decline: there is no discernible programme for sustained
development, and scandal follows scandal (the sale of the Atlantic Hotel,
the FTI saga). Valuable tourist development area land is being handed over
to Jammeh's cronies or in-laws. It is enough to make anyone cry.
The whole of our economy is in disarray, while Yahya Jammeh swindles us of
millions to feather his own nest; the coffers to pay even the civil servants
are meanwhile emptying rapidly. How soon will it be before they dry up
completely? Business people and entrepreneurs are holding fire, not wishing
to make losses on imports. Soon, I hear from reliable sources, there will be
serious shortages of rice, sugar, and oil in The Gambia. God help us when
that day comes.
However, despite all my despondency over the dire state of our nation, I
remain optimistic at heart, because I know my fellow Gambians. I know that
they will take up the challenge to get Jammeh out at the next elections:
that they will do their utmost to rid us of this evil criminal. He may have
seized power with a gun in his hands: the people will have no need of guns
however: with the right political education, the ballot box will suffice
them.
I am proud to be a Gambian: as a people, we are endlessly resourceful,
determined and spirited. We will not allow ourselves to be ruled by a man of
Jammeh's pathetic stature for one second longer than we have to. I trust in
our ability as a nation, working together, to see the back of this villain
and to put our country back on the right track.
Gambians cannot afford to play with their future; they must now be more than
prepared to put in place a government that can truly serve their interests
and the interests of the country as a whole. We have a golden opportunity to
get rid of Jammeh at the 2001 elections, and have to take up the challenge
of making it happen. The government, which takes over from these bandits,
will have a hard task on its hands: to put the country to rights will take
a huge amount of work as well as time.
However, the good thing is that the restoration of good governance and the
democracy will provide the spur for progress. There is already a rich
Gambian human resource pool - at home and abroad - that can be tapped to
provide the next government with a skilled, knowledgeable and competent team
of experts in all areas.
Ebrima Ceesay,
Birmingham, UK.
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