The Amadou Samba Sidia Bayo incident in Dakar over the weekend is still playing out in the media. The latest update from Senegal is that the Senegalese authorities have taken the matter into their hands and are investigating the incident. Whatever may have happened on that day that led to the altercation and possible physical assault on Mr. Samba cannot and must not be treated as an isolated incident. It is a mirror of a long standing tension that has been brewing between the authorities in Banjul and Gambian citizens fighting for basic Human Rights, freedom and survival.
While this might be the first time Mr. Samba was tangled up in such an unfortunate situation either by design or simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time, Gambian citizens have endured these kinds of assaults for 20 years. Mr. Amadou Samba is a trained lawyer, a smart and successful entrepreneur who allegedly may have been a subject of discrimination during the first republic. However, despite those alleged discriminations in denying him license to import and process cement products in the Gambia, Mr. Samba was never subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or torture. He has never been attacked before inside or outside the shores of the Gambia. He became a successful lawyer and business entrepreneur who employs thousands of Gambians and at the same time made a name for himself and his family. So in essence Mr. Samba did not necessarily need President Jammeh and his satanic rogue regime to be successful. Though nothing justifies attacks on innocent citizens samba or otherwise, but by associating with President Jammeh’s regime, Mr. Samba is on the wrong side of history .
What many citizens especially Gambian activists actively fighting to end the Jammeh clan in Banjul cannot understand is why the likes of Amadou Samba continue to associate with a regime that seeks to destroy the basic fabric of Gambian society for the interest of one man or a few people. It is an open secret that Amadou Samba is one of the closest business tycoons close to Jammeh and his regime. He is alleged to be the biggest business confidant of Yahya Jammeh who has completely hijacked the Gambian economy and diverted public resources to build his own wealth. It is clear to every sane Gambian that Yahya Jammeh’s businesses are acquired through corruption and misused of public resources. Of course, dictators across the world need to surround themselves with successful people in other for them to successfully carry out their dirty schemes. Because of their insecurity and brutal actions dictators unleash on citizens they lean on others to partner with who will conceal their illegal deals away from public scrutiny and records.
It is also an indisputable fact that one of the institutions Jammeh effectively use to strengthen his grip on power and victimize his opponents is the Gambian justice system. He hires people from judges to magistrates who are willing to dance to his tunes to convict citizens under the disguise of putting them through the courts. For several years Amadou Samba has been the Chairman of the Judiciary commission in Gambia. This is a body that oversees the strategic operations of the Judiciary system in the Gambia. In essence, the one most important institution that should ensure that the constitutional rights of citizens are protected is headed by Mr. Samba. How then can Mr. Samba disassociate himself from the Jammeh regime? Can anybody reasonably argue that Mr. Samba is not aware of all the behind the scenes executive interventions in court cases that have sent hundreds of innocent citizens to jail? Oh is this another case of citizens aiding the system and claiming that they are powerless in doing anything to stop Jammeh’s brutal actions against Gambians just like we heard from other Jammeh aids?
We have maintained time and again that the buck stops with the leader and with every citizen to stand up for what is morally right. While Mr. Samba and others continue to be more successful under Jammeh’s fragile system, they continue to trade on a dangerous zone that could spell disaster for them and their businesses. Yes, success is sweet and very difficult to walk away from, but the risk that these people are taking with Jammeh far outweighs the security of wealth they are enjoying at this time.
It is inevitable that Jammeh is going to fall fast and his fall will not happen in a vacuum. Smart citizens who understand the history of dictators must distance themselves from the fire ball before it is too late. Many citizens would wish that people like Amadou Samba could find it in their hearts to run away as far as they can from Jammeh. Failure to ignore the inevitable down fall of a brutal dictator who only cares about himself is to be in denial and trading on dangerous waters. So the lesson that Amadou Samba and Gambian dissidents should learn from this incident is that, it is the same scheme of pushing citizens against each other to safe the soul of one underserving man. As much as Dr. Samba deserves protection of his rights, so are thousands of Gambians who have been assaulted and some disappeared without trace. As Dr. King said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and the case of Amadou Samba while we await concluding evidence and results it is a case that manifest an ugly face that Gambians have been subjected to for a very long time.