Dead Idea Laid to Rest 1994-2014
By Sarjo Bayang*
Those who keep on doubting the failure of Gambia fantasised Vision 2020 development promise can now wake up from the spell of deception that Yaya Jammeh cast over them so long. It is already 20 years since Jammeh and his military gang members took up guns to dislodge a democratically elected PPP government on 22 July 1994. Jammeh promised transforming Gambia, a peanut backed economy into world class superpower nation in 20 years. By grand scheme of time buying and deceiving majority Gambians, many were made to believe every word Jammeh uttered when he forcefully seized power only to entrench himself. His ambition has always been to get rich by use of public office at the high position of presidency especially. If that is the true meaning of Vision 2020 then Jammeh is on course but at very high cost to people and whole nation of Gambia. It is 20 years and Gambia is not producing even razor blade or aluminium cooking pots. Jammeh on his part has grown so rich nobody can be sure how much he owns in material and money count. Apart from stealing from public coffers to get rich and richer, Jammeh has instilled fear by rampantly killing, jailing, and exiling political rivals, real or perceived. He does not observe domestic protocol and has no respect for international laws. One man holds entire nation hostage for 20 years and the clock still ticks.
No feasibility studies or guided documentation on Vision 2020
All the talk about Vision 2020 is verbal pronouncements during stage-managed retreats and workshops.
Undocumented Blind Vision
With so much talk about Vision 2020 in all the years since Jammeh forcefully invaded peaceful Gambia with guns, there is no document showing roadmap to realising the utopic development wild dream. Much of it is mere talks. At intervals, the military regime organises gatherings to generate media news about faked achievements. They talk about retreats yet there is no documentation showing beginning and end of mission from a vision spreading 20 years.
Prior to the military coup that catapulted low paid junior army ranker Yaya Jammeh from rags to riches government of deposed People’s Progressive Party PPP embarked on development plans in 5 year term slots. There were periodic reviews, project evaluation and regular monitoring with realistic output indicators. There was no such thing like a 20 year development plan. Errors tracked through evaluation largely served as learning curve for succeeding years. That was then. Now planning does not matter. Yaya Jammeh has to say let it be and everyone falls behind him large.
As with everything else, Jammeh does not consider consultations important. In that scheme of things Vision 2020 is planted only in the void skull of a leader to whom everything belongs. There are no challenges and nobody dares scrutinise Jammeh’s haphazard ways of handling public official matters as though an extension of his private property.
How it all began
In the course of 20 years Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh can proudly beat his chest with responsibility for causing severe damage to the nation’s financial and human capital. It started with the ways that the army lieutenant ventured into tearing apart Gambian public service structure and systems. Jammeh refused to take warning from deposed president Jawara who at the time of his departure from power clearly told the coup makers “not to tamper with the structures.”
That was interpreted by the army invaders to mean solid structures like buildings.
Soon after seizing power, the Armed Forces Ruling Council as they called themselves began demolition and restructuring in a bid to demonstrate how to rebuild a nation they put in ruins. By that scheme, Jammeh decided to construct a new airport terminal many saw as a move towards modernisation of Gambia.
Destruction of systems and structures
Before the airport building was completed, junta leader Jammeh made strong promises that he was ready to start or complete a new project in every six months. He built new schools and health posts at diverse rural locations without equipment and capacity. Visitors and Gambians away from the country for long time thought the new buildings paved development for the country. Whether true or false, Jammeh earned good political capital from his grand scheme of development politics.
Focusing his interest on making political gains Jammeh continued to embark on other building schemes.
Bid for publicity and image building
There was no television station at the time. In a makeshift style of operation, the junta regime bought studio equipment and transformed the Gambia Telecommunication Company GAMTEL premises into a television relay station. Before the next presidential election Jammeh began appearing on public TV to sell his grand scheme of national development politics.
Soon it became clear that he held higher ambitions than leaving politics after a promised return to barracks following two year transition to civilian rule. Now 20 years, Jammeh is ready to use every force to stay in power as life president or advancing the idea of becoming king.
Out of his own mouth, Jammeh who keeps more confidence in gun power than the ballot insists that anyone who wants to rule Gambia has to fight him or keep patient for 40 years like a vulture. In Gambian context, vultures are not hunting birds but patiently wait till animals die for them to feast on. With that in mind Jammeh will only have to die in power before anyone is able to succeed his lifelong presidency.
For supporters of president Jammeh, he brought so much development that every Gambian owes him obligation to praise and to support his ambition of making Gambia a superpower. The plan of transforming Gambia into a superpower is called Vision 2020. Time line for this fantasised Vision 2020 is now at vanishing point with all indications that the mighty plan is less than 1% fulfilment and 100% time and resources consumed.
Loss of vital finance and human capital
What happened to Gambia’s financial and human capital is one story never fully told without causing offence. We begin the enumeration with the highest seat of public service, the position of Gambian presidency. By staging a coup, junta leader Jammeh and his cohorts broke down order to instil fear and disorder. In the process the whole form and essence of Gambian presidency is lost for good. What remains is hero worshipping of a brutal dictator who vows to ensure every Gambian regrets being born on this planet.
How Gambia lost role of president
Deposed Gambian president Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara left his post vacant as he decided to board an American navy ship bound for Dakar on 22 July 1994, first day of the coup that unseated him. Coup leader Jammeh renamed the seat of power Chairman and Head of Government, Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council AFPRC not even having the courtesy of calling it government of Gambia.
The fact that Yahya Jammeh at the time was not mandated to rule Gambia due to lack of legitimacy means transition to civilian rule was marked by arbitrary scheme of things. Gambia as a nation lost the post of president and not ever ready for military rule.
It was rough times for Gambia as the new Chairman and Head of Government for the junta regime paraded the country in army uniform, flanked by fellow coup makers and other ranks in military outfit. The first casualty in Gambia’s loss of human capital began with post of president. Though Jammeh carved his way in undressing the army uniform, his character and conduct remains largely militaristic. Being called president does not restore civilian rule in the ways of political dispensation for Gambia, 20 years since the big bang on 22 July 1994 with the coup that brought Jammeh on the weak shoulders of oppressed Gambians.
Hiring and firing in the public sector
After dismantling the seat of president, next in the line of destruction was the entire civil service structure and system. Jammeh’s test of power began with appointment of Gambia’s head of civil service, the Secretary General. Less than two weeks, he fired the Secretary General. Until this day, only keen mathematicians are able to tell the number of Secretary Generals hired and fired within shorter and medium intervals of time.
The slippery oil spill continued with position of Justice Minister. Again, the number count is lost. Not many in Gambia can tell by head how many Justice Ministers have been hired and fired since this junta regime came to power.
Some of the fired ministers used the profile to earn positions in the international job arena.
Before we continue, it is worth noting that the whole destructive scheme began with renaming the position of ministers to Secretaries of State. In that way, all state ministers lost their rightful public titles not just their functional roles.
Gambia lost the post and responsibilities of a president as Jammeh transformed himself into supreme employer of the public service, whose job has been hiring and firing all the 20 years since staging that July 22 coup of 1994. All public positions including those of ministers and top civil servants have experienced the sky jumping effects of twist and turn in a musical chair motion.
What this produced for Gambia is a massive scale of discontinuity.There are many competent civil servants who prefer to play low key in order to avoid attention suggesting they are in control. Jammeh turned to interfering with everyone’s role in public service. Gambia lost the important duties of a president and all the public servants lack the opportunity to deliver their rightful duties in full exercise of knowledge and competence.
That is how far the entire public service of Gambia fails to deliver. Bad enough, Jammeh will still insist he is doing the right thing. All we know is that his actions scared every public servant to icy cold timidity and fear of job loss, including state ministers.
Public service in Gambia is reduced to the lowest level of productivity and high level voluntary unemployment. What we have in Gambian public sector employment is a case of keeping to the payroll and no commitment to serious work. In fact, try to work outside the dictates of Jammeh and expect to be sacked next day.
Tearing society apart
Fear of the sweeping powers is not restricted to public servants. The scheme of divide and rule continues to plague entire Gambian society. That is seen in the way a member of one family is sacked from public position, next day another member is hired on the same position. One household sobs in pain as next door rejoices in silence. Over a period suspicion has grown between close neighbours and members of the same family. Those who rejoice over temporal favour only did so as the musical chair of job- gain-job-lost set for their turn. Society is largely divided not just into job seekers and job losers. There exists a spy group of secret agents who report anything ranging from simple gossip to whatever they consider threat to national security. In public places and commercial transport, everyone keeps tight lips even about things directly affecting their lives for fear that the person next to you is part of the national spy network. Matters have gone so serious that cordial relations are lost to back stabbing and social mistrust. Rather than working to improve personal skills, many have settled for the cheap job of spying on friends and neighbours. The entire fabric of Gambian society is now reduced to chronic suspicion and mistrust.
Muslim religious leaders selling the soul
The most serious disappointment comes from Muslim religious leaders of Gambia. Many people trusted the nation’s Imams and Quranic scholars who are now transformed into a fully operating political wing of the regime and its top officials count in the patron club of social opinion holders. In that regard, Gambia continues to suffer loss of sacred human capital. Confidence in the fairness and trust for Muslim religious leaders has declined sharply in recent years. The young generation of Gambia will need to restart life on a clean platform altogether. Society has failed in serious ways and people seem not knowing how to go about it or simply afraid to mention it.
Disoriented and radicalised youth force
Young people of Gambia are the most fatal victims of the junta regime. At time of the coup, it was part of the propaganda that the regime came to salvage the nation and youth in particular. The coup leaders paraded themselves as promoters of youth aspirations and values. Soon to come up was the July 22 Movement. The movement was an initiative by some experienced persons who wanted to secure positions from the junta.
Of course they ended up getting their desired positions even for short while. Some of them have gained higher positions and managed to stick on before being finally discarded.
Metamorphosis of the July 22 Movement from a docile youth club into an aggressive gang is something even the initiators would not wish for peace loving Gambians. Rather than encourage the youth towards educational advancement, they reportedly harass and terrorise the population.
Many young people joined the ranks of July 22 Movement misguided in the belief that the 22 July coup was indeed a revolution for youth emancipation. Before some of them could realise it, the damage is already done. Some of these young people now sit without required skill and no form of training to make them useful and dependable citizens. They turned into a group in defence of the junta regime.
Backed by the president, they are bitterly hostile to any genuine critic to the systemic flaws of the regime.
It got to a level where Gambia almost turned into anarchy with the movement reportedly causing so much harassment and intimidation. They are worse off during election times. Government later declared a ban on the movement. The next thing that emerged from that ban is the Green Boys.
These are members of the 22 July Movement injected with high doses of hate against real and perceived enemies of junta leader Yahya Jammeh. They are everywhere.
Going by the level of anger and misguided reaction from supporters of the junta leader, it is easy to measure how much damage has been done to the nation’s human capital in that particular count.
Financial institutions vandalised, poignant visible systemic failure
Between state resources and personal possessions of junta leader Jammeh there is no demarcation. The Ministry of Finance is only carrying a name. Jammeh government seems to have no respect for Gambia’s General Orders (GO) and Financial Instructions (FI).
These were the systems put in place for movement of cash in and out of government coffers. Now, it seems that there are no rules to follow. No wonder, reports from international development partners relying on government statistics portray a state of improved economic performance that does not translate into real life experience for Gambians.
President in private business
Prior to taking control of government, even if Jammeh had been in business since before joining the army, the position of president is full time employment and he should have considered leaving business for genuine entrepreneurs. Today, Jammeh’s business ventures appear having no boundary.
Conclusion
Going by the extent that Gambia lost so much finance and human capital through mismanagement and corruption so high it is clear that Vision 2020 is truly failed. It was a nonstarter and even the man Jammeh who made so much noise about it does not believe a word of his own loud pronouncements. There is nobody in the entire government who can produce a sheet of properly documented plan about Vision 2020.
It is ghost development idea sitting only in the twisted mind of a leader who knows nothing but grand scale deception. Now that 20 years is gone, can anyone tell if Vision 2020 is proven woefully misleading and total failure?
To prove that it has been one big joke from start, Jammeh and his gang will continue to keep quiet about anything to do with this unfounded wild dream. This is a moment for Gambians to mourn and very serious insult for Jammeh and his gang calling celebrations.
With 100% of time and resources consumed and less than 1% achieved that is ample evidence of total failure by all project and programme evaluation standard of measurement. This author has taken keen interest monitoring Vision 2020 since Day 1.
If anyone has evidence to suggest that Vision 2020 is successful, cards on the table for you.
Consequences
Jammeh seizing power is the most damaging political accident that happened to Gambians and the nation. For him to deceive the nation this long with an unfounded wild dream of Vision 2020 is such a blind risk venture with devastating consequences that will cost generations unborn.
By now the whole matter regarding Vision 2020 must be laid to rest for good.
Remedies
What we have seen is only a pinhole view of the bigger picture. Gambia continues to experience irrecoverable loss of vital finance and human capital through carelessness and mismanagement.
When change comes to Gambia, no one person or group of persons must be allowed to mismanage public resources and institutions. For now, so much damage is already done with nothing to indicate that the president is ready to admit his faults for better. Succeeding regimes have so much to rectify from personal to national level. The good news is that Gambia has what it takes to restore good governance, proper structures and systems to replace the lost finance and human capital in 20 years of Jammeh maladministration amidst gross mismanagement. There is enough light at end of the tunnel.
*Author:Political commentatorSarjo Bayangis development consultant in project management and enterprise who for many years raised awareness about failure of Vision 2020with series of articles.