IS THE STRUGGLE REALLY READY TO DISLODGE PRESIDENT JAMMEH?
One of psychology lecturers addressing a colleague accentuated “people with long names are most often than not very troublesome” and at the time, my classmates and I found it amusing. Testing his deduction on a randomly selected people with long names I was numbed by his startling precision. Yes President Jammeh is troublesome…Yes President Jammeh has a vindictive chip on his shoulder…Yes President Jammeh is not an academic…Yes President Jammeh epitomises evil but despite all his odds, he is wittingly intelligent and has excellently mastered his games to an extend he is currently our pacesetter love it or hate it.
My intuition has been validated by Momodou Njie when he charged “call him crazy all you want, but it is the same crazy person who took over a democratic government under our very own noses. Not only was he methodical in planning but he survived 20 years of uncertainty. He is still hiring our so called intellects and tossing them in and out. As time prevailed, he is the only one still running the show and his comrades or brains are exiled, dead or missing in action. He does not listen they say, but we listen very well to every word he utters. Including the threats he unleashes on the very same who set up their citizens, and are either killed or locked up for conniving actions. He sets the agenda for us to talk about every day. We talk about his titles, firing, hiring, moving, swearing but yet he is still the crazy one! For 20 years, you would think we learned something, but oh no, tomorrow he will set the agenda again. How is a crazy person leading the nation and recognized by the International Community as leader of your beloved country with all our intellects?” Momodou Njie has not only held up a mirror for us to do a holistic reality check and carve out a realistic way forward for the struggle but equally appreciate we are not dealing with an oaf. Ironically, our efforts to dislodge President Jammeh illustrate the proverbial jester who continues determinedly to fetch water with a wooden basket from a river.
How is President Jammeh, a spurious posing as progressive, able to successfully wade off 20 years of uncertainty, amass enviable loyalty and a huge support base among Gambians despite all his recklessness, poignant arrogance, repulsive human rights violation and gruesome atrocities? Any honest Gambian who neither tiptoes around nor massages the truth knows the answer to this question is thus:
President Jammeh is READY to remain a leader at all cost. In order for him to remain in power unabated, Jammeh had to design tangible alternative with visible results for Gambians to take him seriously. For instance, his call for “Back to the Land” has enumerable loopholes yet many Gambians deem it as the only route to food self-sufficiency and eradication of hunger. Furthermore, he uses the legislative assembly to enact laws that will entrench him more as a leader. Jammeh also claims single ownership of all the roads, hospitals and schools built by his government and made many Gambians believe without him such developments would not see the light of day. Contritely, is the STRUGGLE READY TO DISLODGE president Jammeh? Can anyone honestly tell Gambians that the Activists in the diaspora have a single realistic programme that they can present to both Gambians at home and the International Community which will earn their moral, political and financial Support? Each believes his is the only way.
President Jammeh has FUNDS to sponsor all his activities.
Whether his riches are legal, clean or not he has money and he is very generous with it. He is sponsoring students, paying for medical cost of others, giving out loads of bundles to many couple with bags of rice, sugar and drums of oil to both the security services and civilians. Honestly tell me why will those people not listen to him. The struggle, on the other hand, does not have a penny in its name. Is there an account that is said to be the name of the struggles? Has the struggle sponsored any student? Has is send medication to any hospital in the Gambia? What are we doing to help that poor family who will go without breakfast, lunch or dinner today? For example, when Demba Njie was assaulted by Jammeh’s thugs in Paris if the struggle had funds, won’t it have hired a solicitor for him to prosecute Jammeh? Moreover, it can sponsor many activities but activists have to dig into their own pockets to attend any programme in the struggle. Why is it hard for the struggle to have an account in which anyone can pay at least a pound a month?
Everyone knows President Jammeh is the FACE of the Gambia and APRC.
He represents the Gambia at any National and International forum, sign agreements and treaties in the name of the Gambia. He negotiates loans, grants and arms in the name of the Gambia. Do we have a SINGLE FACE for the struggle that will negotiate and enter into agreements in the name of the struggle for us? All we are good at is sitting in corners and say what can he tell us? He was a Jammeh enabler, he is a former corrupt cop, he is an opportunist and a cyber-pygmy revolutionary. The fact is some of us are more connected than others are and will be listened to than some of us. Consequently, choosing such person will only take the struggle forward instead. People like Dr. Amadou S Janneh for example. He was a minister in Jammeh’s government, has crossed paths with many other government envoys, made contacts, and has recognition with many other governments around the world. Obviously, he will be easily recognised by such governments than Sulayman Jeng, an ex-police officer. Choosing him as representative of the struggle is not a ticket for him to take over from Jammeh but give the struggle the credibility it now lacks in the face of many Gambians and the International Community.
Jammeh organises REGULAR ACTIVITIES each weekend in Kanilai.
You can dish his Kanilai programmes as exploitative and irrelevant to national development but you cannot deny they are regular. Even though most of our sisters are raped and molested there, many Gambians look forward to the Kanilai weekends. Can anyone name me one activity that the struggle regularly carries out? You see, it is high time we stop chasing shadows and become organized if we are serious about change in the Gambia. We only demonstrate when he does something or comes to America then sit and wait for him to do something else. Moreover, while we are waiting, he is having a respite and strengthening himself more.
President Jammeh instilled FEAR in Gambians to maintain his grip on power.
Yes, we do not have an army, a police force or Intelligence Agency to instil fear in Jammeh or his supporters but we can step up the pressure on him. He is human and has dreams, fears and love. When Sedia Bayo came out with an ultimatum for him, it gave him sleepless night. He heightened security. That depicts he fears too. What are we doing to constantly keep him sleepless and on the alert? Keeping the security on constant alert will exhaust them thus forcing them to either react or lapse.
Well, the truth hurts. Hate me or love me I am just saying things how I exactly see them. May be all I am good at is talking but what are you good at?
Sulayman Jeng, Birmingham, UK