By A Gambian Patriot
Burama, you may be entitled to your opinion but you are not entitled to the facts. Facts speak for themselves and they are very stubborn. The evidence you showed here are nothing but lies and they seem to mirror Yahya Jammeh’s behavior. Calling Jawara a dictator is no more than insulting all of the Gambia. Because you are not only insulting the man who fought and sacrificed everything for our country’s independence, but also insulting our intelligence. If it were not for Jawara and the PPP, you would have been a citizen of Senegal, Ivory Coast or Nigeria.
Just look at the sub-region during Jawara-s reign and place all the indices or factors into context. No other country comes close tom guarateering both the human and economic liberties of its citizens. No wonder Gambians traders, for example, over achieved. The Gambian farmers were guaranteed payments after they sell their products. How would you compare the quality of education before 1994 to what has befallen us today? Gambians excelled at the university anywhere in the world! Today, it is not uncommon for an entire high school to fail every student in their exit exams. Jawara’s administration respected merit in civil service employment, based on equal opportunity, for all tribes and regions of the country. Today, last time I checked, every department head, director, army commander ( bar 1 or 2), or the foreign service, is dominated by Jolas – the Jolas and Sarahule constitute about the same percentage, less than 10%! If this is not alarming enough, how about the national land acreage, the real Dictator ( Jammeh) is confiscating on an on-going basis! It is no secret that Jammeh is quietly stashing weapons in these well
You are either talking above your level, or trying too hard to impress the readers and audience, and in any case it is hard not to smell arrogance emanating from your bombastic statements. By now, I mean 20 years later, Jawara’s legacy of securing and maintaining the sovereignty of a micro-state, with a vibrant free market economy that was the envy of the world, speaks for itself and for his impeccable integrity and honesty. Twenty years later, we can all look back and appreciate why people from the sub-region flocked to this micro-state, that was never supposed to be, and made something of themselves. Freedom, peace and stability can be boring and taken for granted over time, but it is exactly what industrious and hardworking people need to succeed, Jawara administration provided and jealously guarded these intangible qualities. You ma
Your write-up indicates how ignorant you are of the past and the present. Let me delineate:
No Separation of Powers/Concentration Of Power At The Executive:
Read Journey for Freedom by Hassan Jallow
No Separation of PPP and The Government Of The Gambia:
This is the biggest lie because under Jawara, one has to have an optimum reason to fire anyone
Personalization/Politicization Of The Electoral Process:
You must have got this from Yahya’s playbook. Read Journey for Freedom by Hassan Jallow
Heavy-Handed Exploitation of The State of Emergency laws in The Aftermath of the Failed 1981 Attempted Coup:
Independent commission was hired to handle all the cases of the accused. In the end almost all of them were released. Only Danso was executed. By 1994, not a single prisoner from the 1981 coup was in jail. All released by Jaawara.
Read Journey for Freedom by Hassan Jallow
Selective Application of Laws (No Impartiality)/No Due Processes:
You must have got this from Yahya’s playbook. Stop confusing Jammeh with Jawara.
Illegal Acquisitions/Transfers OF National Assets Into Personal Property:
How come Yahya Jammeh’s corruption commission did not find these properties you are lying able. I think you are confusing Jammeh with Jawara.
Inadequate Constitutionality:
I remember when price control was band and replaced with competitive market price system. Again, you are confusing Jammeh with Jawara.
Failure To Develop Civic Capacities Of Citizens:
All I can say to this is WOW! You are ignorant. In Jawara’s era, people do not go to the hospitals to die.
You know what, I am done with this. I think you are just a proxy of Yaya Jammeh’s government trying to derail our struggle.
Burama, get yourself educated about your country and stop being so naive.
By A Gambian patriot.