THE CULTURE OF SILENCE
This would be one of many provocative articles I would be writing to spur a debate if possible. I have been contemplating for a while about the dormant and indifference of Gambians especially our elites and intellectuals. There is this culture of silence in The Gambia, a situation that is difficult to figure whether it is good or bad. A situation one of my high school teachers used to call “silent agony”.
This culture of silence and indifference runs across all sectors of the society from the family setting to public live. It is one thing to respect one’s elders and not to talk back at them but it is something else to keep quite and accept the status quo in the midst of injustice whether within the family, classroom, and office or wherever it may be. One case in point is the current economic quagmire we are into. We have tons of economist and other professions but one do not hear any of them come out publicly with opinions but when one meets them in the bars, vous and other informal settings, they express all sort of solutions to our economic problems. Why this silence and indifference? The Gambia belongs to all of us and I believe we owe it to our kids to do whatever it takes to make live bearable for them. The Gambian intellects are failing us. It does not matter whether you are an APRC sympathiser or a member of the opposition, if we do not change our attitude and indifference to what is happening around us, the Vision 2020 would just be a dream that will never be realised.
I consider my self an AFPRC, one of the originals, we supported Chairman Jammeh and the Council from day one, even though at the time some of us were not in the country. I believe then and I still believe now that the coup of July 22nd 1994 was the only way change could have been brought in this country. Thank God Yahya Jammeh and members of the Council had the guts to overthrow Sir Dauda Kairaba Jawara. President Jammeh has been in power for ten years (1994 -2004) and it is time we take stock of this ten years. By “we” I mean all Gambians, be you an APRC supporter or an opposition sympathisers. There are a lot of success stories, but there are also some failures, which we should assess with a view of making
things better in the future. Actually there are more successes than failures, none the less, the failures are easily visible and usually blown out of proportion.
There have been recorded successes in the Education, Health, Agriculture, Information and Communication, Infrastructure etc. The University, high schools and the mushrooming of tertiary institutions all over are highly appreciated. However when there have been less than desirable progress in good governance, human rights and the energy sector, the black spots in the record. NAWEC has been a cancer in the development of this country for decades now, from the days of Jawara to Jammeh. Despite all the name changes, Gambia Utility Corporation (GUC), to NAWEC, the problem remains the same, constant darkness. VISION 2020 cannot be and will never be achieved if the problem of energy in this country is not solved once and for all.
There cannot be development without a reliable supply of energy. Now the problem is not only electricity but also water supply, which I believe is also related to the supply of electricity. It has been a challenge for the Jawara government and continues to be a challenge for President Jammeh and it is even a bigger challenge for him because is the energy portfolio is under him.
Recently we have witnessed a tumultuous economic and political turbulence characterised by Operation No Compromise. We have seen what happened to Honourable Baba Jobe, the former APRC Majority Leader in the National Assembly and Honourable Yankuba Touray, an original AFPRC. These two cases along with many others are not small and ordinary happenings. I am glad that now we have a university and I hope the political science and other social sciences students are discussing these issues, but we should discuss them in public as well. Discussing these matters just goes further to nurture our young democracy. I do personally believe that both men were more of assets than
liabilities to the APRC Government, but this is a matter for a future article.
I remember Neneh Macdoual hosting several discussions on the depreciation of the Dalasi on her television programme, IN-DEBT. The amazing thing about those series of discussions was that only few of the participants were courageous enough to take the bull by the horn and if my memories serves right, it was only Mr. Hatib Janneh who spoke his mind. Some intellectuals would not venture into speaking their mind even if given the chance. Operation No Compromise has resulted in the banning of the parallel market, arresting of moneychangers, raiding the businesses of some prominent Gambian and foreign businessmen and seizure of some foreign currencies. As much as these moves might have seemed to have some positive impact of
temporarily stabilising the Dalasi, these were not the solutions to the problem. The main reason why the Dalasi was depreciating were many, however two main reasons were the activities at the Central Bank (which has been checked since) and high Government expenditures. As soon as Operation No Compromise reached the Central Bank, the dalasi stabilised. Issues like this need to be debated loudly and clearly with view to rectify the situation and to avoid a recurrence. Escalating government expenditure and ever-rising national dept are other facts to be looked into.
There are instances when junior officials would carry orders or instructions knowing fully well that they are wrongs instructions. In private they would show beyond any reasonable doubt that what they have been asked to do is wrong, but for some reasons they would not tell their immediate bosses. For The Gambia to get where we want it, we have to change our attitude completely. The Gambia belongs to all of us and it does not matter which political party one belongs to.
Just recently, when three new Secretary of States, Honourable Bai Mass Taal, Honourable Sulayman Mboob and Honourable Fatou Faye were being sworn-in, we had the President said among other things that anyone who knows that he or she cannot deliver, should simple resign. This should not be limited to civil servants alone, even in the private sector, this adage stands. When one feels that he or she cannot work with President Jammeh, the person should resign but most would rather stay and not only give bad advises with grave consequences, but they would go further into being sycophancies to hide their incompetence. They would turn into liars and hypocrites making the lives of the productive few very miserable. Why?
It is completely unfair to the President for those who are close to him, to be silent and give bad advices or concur with him on matters they know beyond all reasonable doubt that are wrong and unjust.
The silence that followed the gruesome murder of Deyda Hydara is deafening and scary. The murder of Deyda Hydara is extremely wrong anyway one looks at it. The act is barbaric and “unGambian”. What are next, political assignations? I just hope this is not the beginning a culture of senseless killings and no Gambia should rest until his gruesome murder is solved. Such incidents could create vigilante groups and individual and would serve no good to this country.
If we really want to live the dreams of VISION 2020 and nurture our young democracy, we should kill this culture of silence and work together in the interest of The Gambia, FOR THE GAMBIA OUR HOME LAND.
Chair & CEO
amRa