Unite or Perish! Unite or Diaspora
Boycott!
For those who still believe in elections as an option and a strategy (to remove Dictator Yaya Jammeh from power in the Gambia in 2016), cannot be happy with the recent public temper tantrum coming from the opposition side, in Banjul. If recent rumblings in the Gambia are anything to go by, the words Unity, or Coalition is not even part of the language, and that is very disturbing and disappointing, to say the least. All fair minded and suffering people are very conscious of the fact that elections only present a very slim chance to remove the Dictator from power. Dictators only accept elections after they have mastered the art of manipulating, controlling and cheating the system to win. Power is never surrendered without a demand, and a concerted and unified effort to remove an entrenched and cornered Dictator is a demand. So, with that in mind, no single opposition party in the Gambia today, has the resources, the people, the numbers & capability to win elections outright against Dictator Jammeh. Jammeh has the state resources, machinery, GRTS, armed forces and secret police at his disposal.
We don’t need no heroes, we need unity of purpose. We in the Diaspora are demanding a coalition of the well-meaning opposition parties, especially between the PPP and the UDP. No other two parties ( UDP and PPP ) are more ideologically aligned, so a coalition should be natural and less complicated, all things being equal. We can all agree that, the Jammeh economy will collapse on its own incompetence without the largesse and huge infusion of money from the Diaspora to support our families. We also pay huge fees to the Gambia government in terms of services, including travel, phone connection, and import fees. We also voluntarily sustain and support, financially and morally, the limited opposition on the ground, so, it’s about time our concerns become part of the discussion in Banjul. Dictator Jammeh will never admit that we even exist, much less contribute anything, however, we expect the opposition to know better. It’s about time we place some minimum conditions and expectation on the opposition on the ground in The Gambia. We have reached the proverbial fork in the road in 2016, after 20 years of misrule and buffoonery from Kanilai.
Unite or Boycott – no donations!
We have leverage in the Disspora, and I am encouraging all to make their voices heard, without ambiguity, for the opposition to work feverishly & and publicly towards creating a strong coalition. The recent public reaction of Lawyer Ousainou Dabo, to comments made by Honorable OJ Jallow are very disappointing & juvenile, in my view. OJ allegedly questioned and undermined Daboe’s leadership of the UDP. This whole issue sounded like a big misunderstanding and error in translation, – a human flaw. Whatever the case was, the question is, …what is wrong with a quiet phone call between two veterans and accomplished individuals? There should have been a ‘Hot Line’ between people like that,…people we see as crucial in our salvation. That reaction sent an alarming and chilling message to the Diaspora, that the opposition are still suspicions of each other, instead of turning that energy and vitriol against our common tormentor in Kanilai. The moral and financial support of the Diaspora, for the maintenance & continuance of the opposition parties, is indispensable. The opposition parties cannot survive without the generosity of the citizens in the Diaspora, ..I think we can all agree on that fact! The question is, why should we, us in the Diaspora, continue to throw good money and resources at a losing or failed strategy? We should be demanding for the opposition parties to listen to us too, and we want a winning formula, and that can only come through a coalition, period
Coalitions are temporary, but a vital arrangement to achieve a positive outcome.
Our goal is to get rid of Dictatorship in the Gambia. Our suffering is universal, it is common, and so we will need a common effort. We are tired of Rambo style individual efforts that only leads nowhere. In short, we don’t need no heroes, we simply need teamwork so we can be winners. Politics is the art of compromise, negotiation, give-and-take, for a win-win outcome, In our current predicament, politics cannot be a zero sum game, ..no one should expect to win at the expense of the greater good. Salvation is a group experience and effort, it cannot be achieved in isolation, or disjointly. Politics also involves individuals with oversized egos, ambitions, which can be a good asset, but sometimes, egos and ambition can get in the way, and hurt the public interest and cause. We in the Diaspora, also demand that opposition leaders in the Gambia, especially Dabo and OJ, actively seek out each other, and work together, to bring in the others to join a coalition. Their public utterances should not be about avoidance, or evasiveness, but instead, it should be about constructive engagement for the sake of country and future of our children. The public utterances of Dabo and OJ carry a lot of weight and we cling to every hopeful word, therefore, we expect your words to be measured, frugal and punctuated with humility, but firm against Jammeh’s policies. We would like to hear more on the specific bad policies of Jammeh, which is hurting our families. This asymmetrical relationship that we have with our families, where we are increasing our remittances just for them to meet the same basic needs is not sustainable. Our remittances have exponentially increased due to inflation and the prohibitive cost of living since 1994 under the junta. We absolutely believe and know this bad state of affairs is not sustainable, because our pay is not increasing at the same rate. We need a regime change to usher in policies that consider the human side of development. A new government that will create the conducive environment for business to thrive again, especially small cottage industry businesses which reduces poverty and creates jobs. The Gambian state economy cannot compete against Jammeh, because he does not pay taxes and enjoys limitless forced, coerced, and free slave labor from civil servants being paid by the state. So Dictator Jammeh keeps milking the Gambian state cow for his own selfish aggrandizement.
State your position…Take a position, vis-à-vis a Coalition – Publicly.
History will not be kind on anybody who actively tries to ignore the cries of Gambians for an opposition coalition. Any opposition leader who Does Not support a coalition, and still believes in elections as a viable option, should come out publicly and say so, unequivocally and unambiguously, and lay out their plans. We also expect those who Do support a coalition, to publicly say so, without grudge or hesitation. As potential donors in the Diaspora, we can read between the lines, and are only interested in actions and results, and some of us will not hesitate or mince words against anyone who tries to sabotage the common goal. If there is a better strategy short of a coalition, but will guarantee victory against Jammeh in 2016, we would like to hear it. A coalition does not mean that you have to like the people you work with, you just have to tolerate them through the process, through negotiation. Also, a coalition does not mean a merger, and should not lead to one, so at the end of the process, no harm is done. The best example is next door in Senegal, where President Macky Sall overwhelmed and defeated incumbent President Wade.
The Unity Rally at the Buffer Zone and Brikama, in December of 2013 ( partially supported by Diaspora funds) was very encouraging and Gambians responded positively. Since then we have not seen much in efforts to duplicate that success across the country. Great leaders are defined by how much they are willing to sacrifice for the greater good, and history will take care of the rest. It’s time to show some leadership across the political spectrum so the international community and donor organizations can take us seriously. Dictator Jammeh may ignore the Gambian citizens, but he cannot ignore international support, including food aid, technical support, and Balance of Payment Support (BOPS) coming from the Western countries and Japan. These elections will prove whether Gambians are made of jelly or steel. Some of us in the Diaspora will call on others to boycott financial support for any party avoiding or evading efforts to create a coalition. Why should we keep throwing good money at failure,.why should we keep doing the same thing for 20 years and expect a different result? I say it’s time for a Boycott to show our disapproval for the inaction and disunity of the opposition in Gambia!
By: Kaba Sallah