We are now in the phase of the After Party of the lavish 20th Celebration of the illegal takeover of the July 22nd one man revolution. It was duped as the biggest achievement by loyalists of the Jammeh regime marred by endless drumming, dancing, praise singing and religious celebrations which under a conventional religious society does not mix. Millions of tax payers’ money was wasted; government offices and business doors closed for almost two weeks all at the detriment of the economy. Everything about that celebration was about one man who has emerged to be a demigod where no one dare pronounce his name without adding the numerous made up accolades designed to please the ‘Almighty Doctor’. You can sense the pause and hesitation from speaker after speaker terrified of missing one of the titles added just to satisfy one man’s ego. False loyalists purely motivated by expectations of a piece of the national pie stormed social media continuing the praise singing and hiding behind a religious zealot turned hustler who was allegedly paid over a million dollars to promote the ‘Mansa’ syndrome.
Amid all these parties the reality of the Gambian national economy and life of the average Gambian remains dismally unsatisfying. Many innocent citizens continued to linger behind bars with false charges of economic crime and abuse of office. Others complained of lack of electricity or intermittent supply and sky rocking prices of goods and services. Half of the nation turns to their sons and daughters and relatives living abroad to sustain their daily living. Poor farmers across the country sitting on the edge waiting for the inevitable crop failures that has already been signaled by the World Food Program due to inadequate rain fall this year.
The tourist industry silently warned of the possibility of massive drop of up to 60% in tourists visiting the smiling coast this year leaving thousands of youths unemployed. Salaries of civil servants; teachers, nurses, Police and other government workers remained stagnant for the last decade. Inflation and cost of basic commodities remain unaffordable. As a result, majority citizens have turned to corruption, backroom deals, police accepting bribery in the streets, revenue collectors put their lives on the line to divert as much funds as possible. Unemployed youths and young ladies storm the beaches, hotels and massive parties in Kanilai increasing prostitution of our young girls and drug trafficking at all-time high. Who would blame them, people have to make a living and when legitimate doors of opportunities are shut down people will do anything to survive.
The most affected by all these failures and looming disasters are the youths who have lost hope for their future and sees only two alternatives; turn to the regime to feed them through parties or risk their precious lives and travel to unknown land through the ‘back way’. Hope is a generational aspiration and once lost it is hard to regain. Gambian youths have lost not only their hope for a better future but their pride in becoming productive men and women in their own country. Scores of youths are dying trying to reach Europe through the most dangerous and unstable region in Africa. Worst many citizens who have traveled to the West, got educated and now want to return but are afraid of the insecurity. A large sector of Gambian young and older are trapped in the West without education or good jobs. They clinch on to life support while families are disintegrating; children caught in between without identity or proper upbringing.
Despite all these gloomy realities for the Gambian nation and people, their leader, the people trusted to oversee the affairs of a nation are busy celebrating the personal achievement of one man. All July 22nd take over was able to achievement is changing one poor disadvantaged boy’s life from rags to riches. Even the people forced to praise sing Jammeh on Camera were looking over their shoulders and wiping sweat in disbelieve once they leave the spot light.
How a nation and people with so much potentials and pride got to this lowest level of national disgrace is beyond comprehension. One thing is absolutely obvious; despite the ‘grand Imam of Mufti’, the so called Supreme Islamic scholar gracing the occasion, Gambia remains a hopeless nation ruled by one man who will not stop at anything to amass as much wealth as possible. President Jammeh is so intoxicated with power and wealth, so obsessed with names, titles, greed and aspiration for royalty he never inherited that he is willing to ignore his basic role as President to portray a false image of prophet hood that he will never be. Sometimes during normal celebrations of human success, conventional wisdom dictates that one show, humility, empathy and reflects on one’s history, where they came from and how they got to where they are. It is a basic human tenet to simply be grateful for what God has given you and not see everything in your world as your own making.
One would have thought 20 years of being in power with a cross section of the nation still showing up to support you, he will turn back and be thankful for what he is able to accomplish even for himself. This should have been an occasion to call for tolerance, reconciliation, an opportunity to turn things around, institute political reform, forgive prisoners who may or may have not committed crimes, reach out to silence majority of citizens and ask for their prayers for a better nation. It was a missed opportunity to call for constitutional reform, electoral reform and announce a term limit to the Presidency; recognize the turmoil some families have gone through and pave a new way forward. But no; his ego was off the roof amid so many uncertainties for this small West African Nation. As the after party dust settles, the crumbs disappear, many citizens remain illegally detained, others imprisoned for political reasons. The hiring; firing, unlawful detentions, false accusations and witch hunts of his closest aides will continue unabated all in the name of saving one man’s personal success story… Some things will never change.
By Demba Baldeh Commentary