By Abdul Savage
FIRST AND FOREMOST, I want you to, when reading both parts of this thesis, keep this in mind: This PIECE is not about you, me, any other political party or entity, at home or overseas, nor is it about any other thing, object, entity or person. It is about THE GAMBIA. The Gambia was not given to us by our grandparents and ancestors. NO, it was not. It is borrowed to us by our children, grandchildren and future generation. SO, we are holding The Gambia as a safe-keeping for future generations. Always keep that in mind, and in all our thoughts, actions and prayers we must say and do what is best for The Gambia. With that in mind, now let’s proceed.
Let’s ask ourselves some serious questions: How many “black eyes” has Monster Jammeh given this “diaspora struggle”? How many “black eyes” have this “diaspora struggle” given Monster Jammeh and his regime? How many more “black eyes” going to be exchanged? How is that “fatal blow” going to be delivered? (I am not going to ask when is this “fatal blow” going to be delivered because if we do, we will be putting an arbitrary timeline, and we do not want to arbitrarily lock ourselves down to a timeline, despite 20 plus years already, even though we all know it is well past time, in fact, it is long overdue).
So, question of when, timing, aside for now, just how is that “fatal blow” going to be flexed? Or is it a gradual knock out of fatal blows over extended periods of time, before that regime finally succumbs to its knees?
Speaking of time frame, in couple months or so, it will be one year since a certain entity came out with so much fanfare that they were primed and ready to take over the government of The Gambia by “any and all means, including force”, rebellion or whatever, but short of coup, since one does not announce to the world that you are going to stage a coup. And it has been well over years since the creation of many of these varied diaspora entities. I submit it wouldn’t take them ten months or more to come together in UNITY if they truly subscribe to that, to defeat that Monster in any and every way possible.
Just what is the strategy here? Do we even have a strategy? Or do we just have a varied plethora of diverse strategies, with no coherent or consistent consensus of unity of action amid these varied and different players? Let’s pause here for a minute, and proceed from another angle.
Twenty plus years is not 20 minutes, 20 hours, 20 days, twenty months; it is 20 years. And that is a long, long time, and from all indications and estimates, we are looking at another 5 more plus years come 2016, after which time, we are looking at quarter of a century.
How many sporadic and infrequent phenomena have we tried? These recent protests are not the first, and they would probably not be the last. I don’t know, but some of us who remember we would recall that there is used to be a phenomenon such as NADD. Even ALD gatherings in Atlanta, among many other gatherings here in America, Europe and elsewhere, used to be geared towards chatter to regime change in The Gambia. How many petitions, appearances, delegations, documents and so on have been prepared, made, done or submitted over these past 20 plus years? Many years ago, there was even chatter of imposing travel bans on Monster Jammeh and his inner circle, but that chatter died out. And several months ago, the same chatter of travel bans resurfaced again, but faintly faded away.
Hence, after thorough calculations, we are probably left with FOUR options to regime change, and they are:
First, regime change through the same method he came in, and we all know what that method is. And that method is not something one announces to the world that one is going to do.
Second, is what some would call “uprising”, “rebellion”, “armed conflict”, or whatever else you might elect to call this feature, short of the first one, and the next two below.
Third, is through the legal process, or through the democratic processes. And that, my brothers and sisters, is a very dim prospect.
And lastly, the fourth route is for that Monster to make an “exit” himself. As for this, let’s keep our fingers crossed on this one.
The choice now is ours to make.
And Oh, let me make a disclaimer here that this piece is not about money, or raising funds. That is an entirely a different topic. And we all know it takes resources, financial resources that is, or money. It takes money, lots of it, to galvanize support to effect a change of government, through any method, democratic, or otherwise, short of outright coup.
NOW, relative to the plight and predicament of The Gambia, I wish some of us would choke on the TRUTH, instead of just swallowing it. Some, particularly many of us here in the Diaspora, are now seemingly immune to swallowing the truth, and their conscience exhibit no traces of guilt, remorse or even empathy. The “TRUTH”, they say, they can NOW swallow it, and live with it, but wish some could choke on it. Could they not take to guilt for their prior acts, and express remorse? Isn’t accepting guilt, and expressing remorse the first step to self-salvation, and a starting step to paying for the ‘crimes” committed against society?
How can you be proud or even be arrogant of prior allegiances and associations you now know was wrong, or even knew was wrong in the first place?
Can we love The Gambia more than we love our own individual or group interests? We all have good intents for The Gambia, don’t we? And I think you do, don’t you? Intent is one thing. Capability another thing. And Execution an entirely different thing. And results may vary. Most of us hate that barbaric regime/government, but love The Gambia. We must distinguish the people of The Gambia from Monster Jammeh and his barbaric regime.
Last time I checked with the legal experts, there is NOWHERE in the world where you have a statute of limitation on murder. In other words, if you had killed someone 50 years ago, you could still be tried and found guilty today, or tomorrow, or another 50 years from now. And if you are an “accomplice” to that murder, guess what? You should, must and will be held accountable. I could be wrong, since I am no expert in legal matters, but at least that’s what the legal minds I have talked with are saying.
Now, relative to The Gambia, do you want to tell me that that Monster should be given immunity to any and all charges of murder, and other crimes, not to mention the pain and suffering inflicted on the Gambian people? And if that is not enough, do you want to tell me his “accomplices” as well should be immune from accountability, all in the name of reconciliation and peace? This is a tough one.
Now, let’s fast forward and say for the sake of discussion, or entertaining my line of questioning here, that we do dialogue, or negotiate with Monster Jammeh, and grant him and his “accomplices”, current and former, safe haven, and this Chief Monster decides to retire in The Gambia, just how is that going to manifest itself on the psyche and history of our Nation? Just how? Imagine Monster Jammeh in retirement in Kanilai during the next successive governments, living the life. Imagine the new successive government providing protection and security for that Monster while he lives the rest of his remaining life in Kanilai, Morocco, Saudi or anywhere else?
There are lots of ramifications, consequences and implications at work here, in this quagmire we face, not only for now, our own generation, but for posterity as well. They will judge us, and write our history.
And from all indications, and estimates, Monster Jammeh would not voluntarily give himself up to the Gambian people to be tried and judged for the crimes he committed, and continues to commit, against the people and the Nation.
SO DO YOU THINK HE WOULD DIALOGUE OR NEGOTIATE HIMSELF INTO ANYTHING THAT WOULD BRING “INCONVENIENCE” TO HIS PERSON, INNER CIRLE, AND MAYBE TO HIS TIME IN POWER?
NOW, facing this dire predicament, where it seems to not be an easy or salvageable exit, we ask ourselves what then would be our ULTIMATE SOLUTION? That answer, I don’t have it, and you don’t have it. That answer is a collective responsibility, hence the need to start exhibiting traces of “genuine” UNITY, not façade or patches of trust, distrust and collaboration occasionally blended, only for us to revert right back to our own individual or group’s identity.
Instead of this Diaspora using this social media, which they now seem to have mastered, to bring Unity, they are using it instead to “divide, conquer and rule”, and for other ill-advised disunity manifestations, and then disguise such maneuvers as “fighting for democracy in the Gambia”, while they conveniently dismiss gestures of unity, and claim that we cannot achieve UNITY, but we can collaborate and work together sporadically and infrequently. Then you would ask but how can they come together in Unity. In a previous article, I outlined such methodology, but suffice it to say that if they cannot physically meet somewhere to hammer out the details, they can make use of technology to lay the necessary ground work or leg work, and would eventually meet, or do not even meet, but nonetheless have a Unity body. Such use of technology could include phone calls, emails, teleconferencing and or even skype, Viber, etc. INSTEAD of making excuses why they cannot, they should find reasons and ways and means to make it happen.
However, in this background, allow me to add that Monster Jammeh himself have calculated this, and I would submit that it is a matter of time, maybe no later than nine to fifteen months after winning the 2016 elections, for him to make what I will call a “Graceful Exit”. As much as we think Monster Jammeh is sick, retarded and twisted, this Monster nonetheless plans and executes, and he has been doing this for over two decades now.
Little NOTE of caution here: We shouldn’t be in a haste to embrace or readily accept, with open hands, the recent inflow of Jammeh’s “escapees” without further scrutiny, especially when they take to the airwaves trying to explain and or justify their recent complicity to, or part of a monstrous regime. Yes, true, at this stage in the game, we would even accept the Enemy’s parents in our midst, so that we can get intelligence, evidence and other information, but in our case, ours is UNIQUE and different, and as such we must be cautious, and examine further these recent “escapees”. Of course, we must welcome and help, but that’s just about where we must stop.
So, without a doubt, I submit that Monster Jammeh himself is feeling the heat, but his preoccupation now is how to “gracefully exit” this hell hole he has dug himself into and his close, current or former confidantes into. And many of his close confidantes, former and current, are aware of this, and are genuinely unsure of how the Gambian people and our Posterity will see, assess and judge them. We are dealing with and facing an unprecedented quagmire.
The predicament and plight we face in The Gambia is a SERIOUS MATTER, not something anybody with an online audience, albeit facebook, twitter, online radio, online papers and so on, can just write, analyze and or talk about until all the cows come home. Of course, we MUST continue to talk and write about it (I am doing that right now, and have been). However, we must not do so just so that we can see our names on print, or hear our own voices on radios. And in the process, we must speak and write the brutal truth, no matter how inconvenient that might be to us, our comrades, or even our loved ones and friends. We must exhibit and display honesty, truth and integrity, both in our private and public discourse. And in our public discourse, we must and will disagree, but we must respect each other, be civil, truthful and honest, and not engage in name-calling, hypocrisy, bickering or other disrespectful maneuvers or malaise manifestations.
The Gambian plight and predicament is a SERIOUS MATTER and unless and until we, particularly us in the diaspora, start exhibiting traces of UNITY, we face an even longer road ahead. I am not trying to appear as a pessimist here. On the contrary, I am being optimistic. Nonetheless, I will take some criticisms for putting forth these points, but I appeal to all of us to thoroughly, brutally, honestly and sincerely examine ourselves, and the plight of our people, and the predicament we face. And when we do, we will see an even more compelling reason to start working in UNISON, because only then we will begin to start to pave the way for the long road ahead of our Nation.
We have to start to begin to be brutally honest with ourselves, and stop disguising and camouflaging the realities of facts. And we must cease hoping “things will work out”, or stop “sweeping things under the rug”, or “hope and pray” to God. Of course, we are all believers, and indeed God has His own ways of dealing with us all, but my brothers and sisters, sometimes we have to help ourselves, and that we, as humans, are the only creatures on earth, throughout existence, to have what is known as “free will”. We can even choose to pray or not to pray; the choice is yours and mine, and as to who will or will not go to Heaven or Hell, no man knows. Only God knows that. So, sometimes, just sometimes, we need to stop “preaching the same sermon to the same congregation”, or “singing the same song to the same choir”. Eloquent, united action is sometimes needed to get ourselves out of any and all quagmire, and in our case, it is a Nation we are talking about here, not changing some management team of some Burger King or McDonald’s restaurant. This is The Gambia.
As much as we will learn from other African and non-African analogies, relative to coups and governance, I submit that we must see, take and confront our own predicament in our own unique way, away from other analogies, with the aim of learning and making ours better, and not sugar-coat the truth, or display hypocrisy or exhibit other manifestations of bickering and other vices.
God will judge us ALL someday, but in the meantime, we are the masters of our own fate and destiny; this does not mean that we are non-believers. Of course, we are all believers, well, most of us are, but we need to realize that some things we can do wrong, but other things we Must Not, repeat, MUST NOT do wrong, or afford to do wrong.
PART TWO
Of late, there seems to be calls for those surrounding that Monster, from his bodyguards, cooks, to his ministers, and so on, to “abandon ship”, or “abscond” and leave this Monster to “wallow”. Why these calls were not made 10, or 15 years ago? There are so many questions to that; suffice it to say that this piece is neither the forum nor the conduit to channel such provocative discussions. Those aside, now let’s proceed.
The choice is ours to make, and we must make it. If we truly believe in what we believe, then we must make a choice. SO, what is it going to be?
It might be a lengthy process, but a route that we must try (since we never tried it) and exhaust it, before we entertain any other option.
And this route is to FIRST try to dislodge him and his regime through Unity of Action of the democratic process, and once that is accomplished, then the new successive government will be in a UNIQUE position to chart and rebuild the tarnished image of The Gambia, and will hold this Monster and his regime accountable. And this route we never tried is the UNITY route, both at home, and in the diaspora.
IF the Unity of Action route through the democratic processes does not work, then we can explore other options, and at that time, ALL OPTIONS are on the table and May God Help Us All then. But first, we do not want war, rebellion, or any armed conflict in The Gambia. Ideally, we need to and must break the circle of violence in our country. If we used force, coup, rebellion, uprising or any other armed struggle to take over the current barbaric government, it is a matter of time, maybe, another fifteen or twenty more years for another group of men and women to think that it is okay and alright to take over the government by force, and we will have a perpetual cycle like that, with maybe 10, 15 or 20 years intervals. And our future generations will never see and live in peace and freedom. So, if we are going to use any “method of force”, we must have an “exit strategy” to ensure that such will never, ever happen again in our history.
Yes, true we must admire, support and encourage the opposition back home, and that they are operating under a very challenging and tremendous sets of circumstances and atmosphere. However, one thing we all know they have not tried through the democratic process is U NITY of action.
During elections in the Gambia, from Banjul to Basse, North Bank to the South Bank, in this limited space, we had, or would have, NRP. UDP, PDOIS, PPP, and of course, APRC, and maybe throw in couple or so “Independents”. And in this limited space of The Gambia, with these many political players, can you guess who controls the print, audio and visual means of communication to reach voters? Can you guess who controls the means of communication to reach voters? Your guess is right. BINGO. Now, let’s proceed.
The APRC party controls the means of mass communication to reach voters, and even outright, on occasions, will deny the gatherings or activities of opposition parties aimed at educating and galvanizing the people.
So, now, if these political players in the Gambia come together in Unity, and put up one Strong Candidate against that Monster, instead of few candidates with no ‘real successful chance”. If these political players on the ground in the Gambia come together in UNITY, put up a strong, single candidate, and with the backing, support, influence and resources of this “UNITED DIASPORA”, I strongly do believe the democratic system will effect a change of government in The Gambia, and from there we would chart our own destiny. This UNITY ROUTE has not and never been tried. Let’s try or exhaust it first. And we are running close on a schedule time frame, since now we are at the end of 2014, and these transitional elections will be taking place around the middle of 2016.
This means we have less than two years to start getting our acts together to come to UNITY at home and in the diaspora, in order to embark on this UNITY of ACTION campaign, to try first to reclaim our Nation through the democratic processes.
We need to break the cycle of violence in our Nation, and we cannot do that if we embark on yet another episode of violence, no matter the method employed, if we do not try first and exhaust UNITY of ACTION. We have tried fragmented and divisions efforts, at home and in the diaspora, and we failed miserably. But UNITY of Action we have not yet tried. It is going to be difficult and hard, but it is not impossible. It would require lots of sacrifices, and the setting aside of egos, pride and ambitions, but we can do it for and in the name of The Gambia we all love, but hate the government.
We must be concerned about the Legacy and Precedent we want to set out for our Posterity, and the kind of history we would want our Posterity to write about us.
Not to sullen the motivation and momentum of some in this diaspora, but sitting here, raising few dollars here and there, through challenges, or “Gofundme”, are methods that we all know will not even come close to affecting regime change in the Gambia. If I am going to use my time and resources, I would want to use it efficiently, wisely and as smoothly as possible to attain maximum return. Why can’t we have, and adopt the same approach with a UNITED Entity to deliver that “fatal blow” in any and every way possible?
NOW, let’s say we are UNITED in the diaspora and at HOME, and the UNITED PLAYERS back home put up a single, strong candidate, in 2016, and for some reasons we know or don’t know about, that Monster still wins the elections, and is going to rule for another five more years, in addition to the already 20 plus years. If this happens, then my brothers and sisters, all cards are on the table and May God Help Us All from that point forward. THIS IS BECA– USE: Many of us, myself included, do not believe in the barrel of the gun to take over a government, but that such can only, ONLY be tried and done after exhausting all available democratic means, and we have not yet tried and exhausted a United Front at home and overseas to dislodge that regime, but instead we are busy displaying fragmented and sporadic efforts we all know, well, many of us know, are inadequate and would most likely not dislodge that regime.
A UNITED FRONT at home and in the diaspora would mobilize the enormous and required logistics, manpower and resources needed to do the trick, and that we must try and exhaust that FIRST before we talk about “force”, “rebellion”, “dialogue” or whatever. And that we have not tried yet.
In the meantime, if a group of brave men (and or women) takes over the government through the same method that that Monster Jammeh came into power, then that is an entirely different topic. And that, my brothers and sisters, if any such group is going to embark on this venture; they would not come on the air and announce it, or issue fancy statements relative to such a task. So, short of this task, we must tread carefully with the current plight and predicament we face back home.
Like I have always maintained, and will continue to maintain, it is not only how we go in, but how we get out, that is, our “exit strategy” that would make all the difference. It is easy to perpetuate the wrong thing, and the use of force in our brief history is the wrong thing, and we must not perpetuate it. We must break this cycle, unless and until as a last resort, after exhausting all available democratic means. And right now, we do have a democratic means, though it is rigged and flawed, but we must try it first and exhaust Unity of Action, before we do anything else. Until we try first and use the ultimate weapon of sequence of unity of action, then we must not rule it out, just because of the expediency of change. If we do that, that could be a catastrophic and fatal attempt for our people.
Another interesting observation is how former enablers or “accomplices” of this Monster are now showing up in the diaspora with loud speakers all over the place professing to be speaking up against that barbaric regime they were once part of, some of them as late as few months or even less than couple years ago. We do not need them to tabulate to us the transgressions of that Monster, and we certainly do not need them to tabulate all kinds of reasons, explanations and or justifications of why they were part of the team of a man they knew was a Monster.
However, they must not expect us, or demand from us that we must readily and expeditiously avail ourselves to their explanations, justifications or reasons without further SCRUTINY. There is something called Accountability. Monster Jammeh, though a significant part, is nonetheless a very small part of a barbaric system he created and perpetuate, and therefore if we expect someday to hold him accountable, it is just fair, prudent and fitting that we likewise hold accountable his “accomplices” and “enablers”, former and current. If we do not, I am afraid this is an uncomfortable precedence we are setting for generations to come, and a footnote of our history that our posterity will judge us on. So, as much as this Monster is but a blimp in our brief history, his rule was a traumatic one, with far-reaching effects to the psyche of the majority of Gambians.
Hence a moment of such magnitude in our history must be held accountable and judged, without fair or favor. I am not saying or implying here that “enablers”, “accomplices” “recyclables” and so on, both in the diaspora and at home cannot work together with other interested, genuine players. Of course, we all can work together, but we ALL must realize we are doing so for the common good of our Nation, and so if some of them happen to bear the consequences of the results of the havoc wrecked on our Nation, so be it; they must live with the consequences of their actions. Already we have “genuine” people at home and in the diaspora to take the lead, instead of turning to people with shady and questionable integrity, and unwavering support and allegiance to the barbaric regime. And these people must not be used as mouth pieces or puppets either; they must exhibit and display independence and impartiality.
And we must not run behind or take cover behind that pretext that we must forgive and forget in order to move on, and move forward. That would be a fatal precedence and attempt, and we do not want to do that. Let’s think about 20 years from now, or 30, 40 or 50 years from now, and ask ourselves some solid questions. 23 years ago, there was nothing as what we now know to be Monster Jammeh and his regime. So, let’s tread carefully, lest we set a precedence for another 25 years, or more to come, and a precedence that will marginally determine the destiny of our Nation, and one by which our children and grandchildren will judge us by. We do not own The Gambia; we are holding The Gambia as a safe-keeping for future generations. Our children and grandchildren own The Gambia, and they give it to us for safe-keeping.
Do we not have honorable, dedicated and distinguished brothers and sisters, both in the diaspora and back home in The Gambia, who were not, and are not “enablers”, “accomplices”, “recyclables” and so on? Yes, we do. Can these strong men and women not be entrusted with the state of affairs of our government in the future? Yes, we can. So, why must we settle for prior recyclables, enablers, and accomplices and so on? NEVER put complete faith and confidence by those whom you have once being deceived. And why must we not hold them accountable? Could our Nation still have been built without their contributions, albeit a “shady one”? Yes, we would have; it might have taken us longer, but at least we would have done it with honesty, hard work and fair play, not through some unfair, crooked and self-centered machinations.
When we examine ourselves thoroughly we see that among us, particularly in this “diaspora” are “enablers”, “accomplices”, “recyclables” and so on, and that makes it extremely difficult to not work together to bring UNITY, and we just cannot easily and quickly say we will forgive and forget and move on. Yes, true, we, in the diaspora can say that, and do that, but we only occupy a small part of the Gambian people, in fact, a very small part.
So, do we, in the diaspora, “enablers”, “accomplices” and all, want to use our resources, influence and might to effect regime change, so that our Posterity would look favorably on some of us for the crimes we committed against our Nation? Is this the kind of mentality planted in our psyche? Is that a fair, prudent, factual and honest yardstick to measure ourselves by? Is that the barometer by which we want our future generations to assess us, and write about us? If we don’t start calling ourselves out now, and fix our problems, Posterity will call us out, even though they will not have the opportunity to “fix” us, because we would not be there in their time, and era, but indeed they will assess us, write about us, and judge us.
On a FINAL NOTE, let me put this across: The PREDICAMENT we face in The Gambia is Unique, and as much as it is fragile, crucial and delicate, we must handle and deal with it with Honesty, Truth and Integrity, and in the process, we must face the consequences, no matter how inconvenient the truth may be to ourselves and loved ones, lest our Posterity will not look favorably on us. And here is what I finally want to put across:
All throughout existence and human history, there is something called “accomplice”, and this is recognized and accepted by all societal norms and faith, including Islam, Christianity, Hindu, Buddhism or even paganism. And that is if you are an “accomplice”, especially to a crime like murder, you must be held accountable.
Monster Jammeh knows this, and so are his “accomplices” and “enablers”, both prior and current, at home and abroad, and so, today, tomorrow, or another 50 years, our Posterity will write about that, and judge us all.
This Monster has dug himself a hole and his accomplices and enablers, prior and current, know this, and that is why they are trying now to seek redemption from the Gambian people, both at home and abroad. How successful or not that would be, that is an entirely different topic, but they, like the Monster himself, must be held accountable, if not by us, but by our Posterity, even though we would not be there for them to punish us, but they will write about us, and judge us.
Yes, true, we must forgive and forget in order to reconcile and move forward, but even in this reconciliation process, there is something called “accountability”. And so we must hold ourselves accountable in order to proceed forward and rewrite our history..
Whether we ended up having dialogue with Monster Jammeh, and he exits, or he is taken out by the ballot or gun, by God or any other method, he (and his “enablers” and “accomplices”) must be judged, by us or by our Posterity. WHY PUT for future date for our Posterity what we can do now? We must tread carefully with the Predicament we face in The Gambia, lest our Posterity judges us
And I MUST add here that there are honest, hardworking Gambians, at home and abroad, in this “diaspora” or outside, who were not and are never part and parcel of that Monster and his regime. So, why not entrust these honest, hard-working Gambians to steer the affairs of state of our Nation, than these prior “enablers”, “accomplices, and “recyclables”?
God’s speed to this Cause and May God Help Us All.
By
Abdul Savage Retired, US Army
Member, Military Order of The Purple Heart
Member, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Editor’s Note: The Author of the article Abdul Savage is scheduled to appear on Gainako Radio on Sunday October 5th at 3:00pm Pacific, 6:00pm Eastern. Call to ask questions and or join the conversation on this challenge 0n the Diapora Struggle.