From the outset, when the tyranny of Jammeh manifested itself again through
ther murder of our school children, mainly three schools of thought on how
to deal with Jammeh came to the fore. There was the 'extreme' view which
advocated for a total annihilation of the forces of Jammeh; an outhright war
. Then there the 'idealist' or 'pacifist' who advocated for mainly Ghandian
tactics of tolerance and reason to handle Jammeh. Then there is the
'realist' camp which isisted on a carrot and stick approach to agaitate for
change. Since those bleak moments of April to this day, a lot water has
passed under the bridge and the situation is in need of an appraisal.The
debate about how we proceed from here in the battle to defeat Jammeh's
retrogade Fascist political and social order has now taken new tactical
emphasis since Jammeh belligerantly told July 22nd. Mov't youth campaigners
that he will not hesitate to send enemies 'six feet deep' should they
disobey him. Clearly, we have a case here where the application of only
reason to fight Jammeh is foolhardy and gross mis-apprehension of reality.
The fact of the matter is Jammeh doesn't understand the language of reason.
The guy is a bully and loves to see his victims cower before him begging for
his supreme mercy. Even those in the 'pacifist' camp who pleaded with us to
reason and tolerate with Jammeh's Fascism, have acknowledged or are
beginning to see that reason like all human endeavours has its limits and
are beginning to see the beauty and raison d'etre behind what us in the
'realist' camp call a "tit for tat principle". Well, i say to them: Welcome
to the world of reality. Frankly, as it is becoming lucid to all truth
loving Gambians, appeasing Jammeh with posh letters/missives and imploring
on him to exercise restraint, reason and or mercy is proving to be an
exercise in futility.
Many of these people in the 'pacifist' or 'idealist' camp seemed to me to
make analogies with and indeed draw moral capital from the what i will call
the Mandela [or a procrustrean application of Ghandian tactics] principles
or experience in the battle against Apartheid. Their reasoning goes that
with magnanimity and a peculiar sense of fairness and justice embroidered in
reason and tolerance, the forces against Apartheid became victorious. But
the story is not as they suggest. A hard-nosed chafing of this glossy
outlook will infact reveal a very 'realist' approach of carrot and stick
tactics which made emphasis on reason whilst embracing the principle of not
taking the whip of Apartheid whilst lying down. In short whilst concerned
with civil strife and the conflation of violent activities which do not
augur well for a racially riven society like South Africa, the ANC
leadership did not tie it's hands behind its back by sitting in party HQs
and sendind posh letters to Botha, De Klerk and the rest of the Apartheid
leadership pleading for reason and magnanimity to prevail. Rather when it
became clear to the ANC and the rest of the progressive forces battling
Apartheid that what they faced was beyond pleas and bereft of reason, they
began to call demos, sit-ins and civil disobediences that literally
paralysed the S/African economy and in extension the State. Also it brought
a new a facet to the grand narrative of the S/African plight under
Apartheid: It brought more focus on what Apartheid has wrought on Black and
others of different race by a minority White elites. This made Apartheid to
be at the centre of world attention and made it increasingly difficult for
it to be ignored. Like it's fore-runner, the civil rights mov't in 60s
America, the application of this 'realist' tactic of carrot and stick proved
crucial as it laid bare the oppressors in both cases to moral and physical
vulnerabilities that hitherto they haveen't imagined of. This as the
Nigerian writer, Ben Okri, argued poignantly in a different but relevant and
applicable context, is a classic case of victims no longer seeing themselves
as victims. Indeed, as he put it, "when victims stop seeing themselves as
victims and discover the powers of transformations, forces are born on this
planet. The possibilities of new a history depends on it."
How is this equation relevant to us in our struggle? The relevance and
application herein lies with our emphatically espoused narrative that we are
victims of Jammeh's retrogade Fascist order. We must as Okri suggests, do as
other victims had done earlier in history and stop seeing ourselves as
victims of Jammeh and realise that we as a collectivity have in us a
Leviathan muscle the flexing of which will cripple our oppressor. And with
this as Okri opined, the possiblities of a fresh start as a people which
will usher in a genuine pluralistic social and political order which will
make emphasis above all on tolerance, liberty, social justice and equality
of opportunity for all regardless of class, ethnicity, religion or any other
social and political inclination.
Together as a people, we are strong and more lethal than all of Jammeh's
thugs and weaponry of oppression combined. This principle is what we need to
translate into a politics of action and agitation. Without the fruitlful
leadership of opposition and civil group leaders, this will be mere arm
chair rattling and musing. Our leaders who genuinely believe that Jammeh is
evil must stop the politics of posh talk and start the politics of action
and agitation for change. Employing the sterilities of endless, fruitless
and meningless dialogues with a dunderhead like Jammeh is an exercise in
futility. It has brought us nothing from the dictator save scorn and more
threats of 'six feet deep'.
The increasingly forlorn masses of the Gambia are agitating for change and
clamouring for bold pragmatic leadership that will not dither when it comes
to sticking it's head out to battle the dictator, to lead them. Sadly the
mainstream leaders are either too spineless or just naive to believe the
futility of whispering in Jammeh's deaf ears for tolerance and reason to
prevail. I repeat again: If the mainstream political parties are loath to
challenge the brutal dictatoship, it will leave a vacuum open to armed
reactionary groups who will have other agendas other than giving power back
to the people. Everyday practical politicking is about being in sync with
your constituents fears, expectations and dreams. Anything short of that is
living in ivory towers and arrogant to real lives that real people live. The
way i see it, the mainstream political parties and their leaderships, have
yet to speak the fears, expectations and dreams of the people. If they fail
to articulate these, then others will in a different fashion. That again
shall be the ultimate crime and indeed, the betrayal of the people. It is
time the drooling in ideals end and the politics of action and agitation
starts.
First port of call? The demand for the "Commissioners" and "Coroner's"
reports into the murder of school children of April 10 and 11. If we get
more procrastination and or arrogance from the State authorities, then
political leaders must call for nation-wide demos and sit-ins until Jammeh
is ready to speak to us as owners of the country. That is what bold
pragmatic leadership is all about in harrowing moments like we are living in
the Gambia today. Not labouring in sterile endeavours like pen-pushing and
playing Mr Nice Guy to Mr Ugly Guy.
Hamjatta Kanteh
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