The Inability to Govern (part One ) 

The Independent (Banjul) 
ANALYSIS
August 29, 2003 
Posted to the web August 29, 2003 
Banjul 

The prevailing situation in the country is dismal. It seems that The Gambia is heading, for the first time in its young existence, into an era of much uncertainty coupled with the presidential inertia that seems terminal. 

On the economic front we are dying daily, as the Dalasi loses its value against the basket of other international currencies, and yet, we are told by the SOS for Finance, the warden of this sector, "that there is nothing anyone can do about it" Fortunately for the regime, most Gambians, as usual, missed the admission of incompetence, including President Jammeh. In fact not only has the president refused to tackle the hyper inflation, coupled with the mass stagnation in production and economic activity, he has actually shown that he has not an iota of political will to put in place measures guarding against the calamity we all face today. As prices of basic commodities rise (bread, rice, sugar, soft drinks, transportation etc ) the president remains largely unfazed by the major hardship that Gambians face daily, and instead proceeds to chastise, criticise and threaten the populace who will determine whether he will be employable in 2006. 

Jammeh is therefore, clearly suffering from self denial, and is undoubtedly disillusioned as to how to govern, and on the important issues that affect the average Gambian. For instance, there is the veil issue. A minor mishap, which should have been nipped in the bud as soon as it reared its ugly head (no pun intended) within our peaceful and tolerable society, one which knows no religious divide, or tension. But the president, through is own admission, stated that "I decreed on it, to know who those behind it were." If this is how national policies are run, then the office of the presidency is a cause for great concern. 

How can the leader of a whole nation practice decision making under the auspices of fickle findings, as if running a nursery school - just like saying, "Oh I knew that what I said was wrong, but I only did (as a trick) it to find out who the naughty ones were !" This is grave, unfathomable, and irresponsible, and no person bestowed with authority should function this way, much less the president of a whole Republic! Although Jammeh may think that he now has "one up" on all and sundry, this decision to firstly toy with people's emotions, then turn around and add slur to the irreparable hurt he has caused to both communities, will not serve him well. The Christian and Muslim communities have now been immunized against the unpredictability of a president who deems it fun to issue policies as a tactic bent on humiliating one community at the expense of another, and this will not do. So on that front he has lost credibility with ones that represent the moral section of our communities. 

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