The July 22 Movement's failed ambush against DARBOE and his UDP supporters
is a vivid illustration of Moron Jammeh's desperation to hang onto his
failed presidency. He has miserably failed in all his efforts to wipe out
his opponents completely. The time has now ripe to consider very seriously
the tangible ways and means of restoring back peace and tranquility into our
beautiful country, and more fundamentally, in recouping the human decency
and geniune love the country have lost. A country which had been firm
friends with the International Community is now isolated and no longer a
member of the International Community Family of Nations. It was in the early
part of the 1990s that because of The Gambia's peacefulness and decent
international image that the United Nations had selected her as a venue for
the Human Right Center. A country which used to be called by Western
journalists as a "Test Tube" became the tongue of the sub-region in both
diplomatic and economic fields. Then the economic strategy was to make The
Gambia the Singapore of the sub-region. A gateway for re-exportation of
capital and consumer goods and services to her neighbors in the sub-region.
Countries in the sub-region that used to benefit from the re-exportation of
goods and services are Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakary, Sierra
Leone, Mali, Mauritania, and many other distant countries. There was
economic interdependence amongst these sub-regional countries which further
strengthened the solid bonds between them.
It was the principle of "Virtues Circle" that used to tremendously determine
Gambia's Regional and International Relations. By allowing the
re-exportation of goods and services across her borders to needy countries
in the sub-region, The Gambia then had a powerful diplomatic strategy:
Virtues Circle. Trading with your neighbors or even your foes is a powerful
tool in creating a solid and fruitful relationship. This is a similar
strategy President Bill Clinton and his Administration have been advancing
on China since the beginning of his Presidency:MFN TREATY; and of course, it
has been immensely working. With Yaya Jammeh in control for this period, the
Virtues Circle diplomatic School of Thought has been eroded, and being
replaced by "Vicious Circle": The process of predicament that arises when
the solution of a problem creates a new problem and each successive solution
adds another problem. This is what the Jammeh Administration is good at,
creating problems and predicaments for his neighbors, particularly Senegal.
His involvement in the Cassamance affair by developing very close ties with
MFDC and harboring in the country is a clear manifestation of his Vicious
Circle diplomatic School of Thought. Consequently, Jammeh's Vicious Circle
diplomatic relations has adversely hindered economic growth and development
in the country. Foreign Exchange has virtually disappeared; the French CFA
which used to flow steadily in the country is more than just a name; and a
result, business is completely dried.
This is the kind of debate writers and columnists in the country should
focus on writing, rather that a sheer "Dry Intellectualism". We need
contributors to not only report what is happening, but also pin-point the
effects of what is happening, and more importantly, draw a comparison and
conclusion of events in the past and present, and if possible, even table
solutions to those events. This is what "Seasoned Intellectualism
represents. Now that the Jammeh "Dictatorship" has anchored at the harbor,
and nothing left but to vacate the ship, our focused discussion should be:
First, How to undo what he did in destroying the very fibre of our beautiful
country. Second, What is strategy to go forward, and also how to re-build
old bridges and new bridges which would take us across the Atlantic Ocean to
the 21St Century. This is the job of a well-seasoned intellectual, and not a
sheer reporter of facts.
In conclusion, I must commend Ebou colly, KB, and all those excellent
contributors and well-seasoned writers who love their country dearly. I am
urging all of you to persist on what you believe. Keep Hope Alive!
Ansumana Kujabi
Concerned Citizen
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