It is a common strategy dictators have used to prolong their stay in power. But it is divisive. And it has a corrosive effect on the fabric of any society where it is practiced. Sectarian politics which in The Gambia is exemplified by the tribal politics introduced by Yahya Jammeh, is based, not on any ideological beliefs, which transcend culture and other narrowly defined social boundaries, but on the exploitation of the worst human instincts. Liberia’s Samuel Doe practiced it for years before his gruesome slaughter. Iraq’s Saddam Hussein used it to bring about the gory bloodbaths on innocent Kurds and the Shi’a Muslim populations, before his public execution. Libya’s Moumar Khadafy swore by it, and used it effectively to suppress dissent, only later to be dragged out of a rat-infested sewerage hole and shot in the head. And Adolf Hitler practiced it with senseless brutality to devastating effect, before the advance of the allied forces forced his suicide. Artificial divisions based on religion, tribe, race or other bigoted differentiations, apart from eventually developing into power struggles, tend to always mature into political conflicts, which bring out the worst reptilian nature of the human character.
Today, it is with considerable alarm that we witness how The Gambia is spiraling out of control into shocking tribal bigotry. Tribal preference is now entrenched into the Gambia’s body politics as an overarching policy objective of the Yahya Jammeh regime. As sensitive and as exceedingly difficult as it is to talk about tribe, and even harder yet to accept tribal bigotry, Yahya Jammeh has elevated tribal preference to a whole new level. Granted most Gambians choose to ignore its existence, precisely because it deals with human emotions that have the potential of flaring up into conflicts, it is nonetheless alive in the Gambia, slowly tearing apart the social cohesiveness across tribe in the most insidious way. The difficulty of discussing tribal politics in the Gambia is predicated on the assumption that it could instigate tribal discord in the country. This is possible, but highly unlikely; moreover, it is not borne out by historical evidences. On the contrary, to discuss tribal bigotry before it escalate into tragic levels, has proven to be an effective antidote to the possibility of conflicts and civil strife. Instead, pretending that tribalism does not exist in Gambia, poses an existential threat to Gambia’s future political stability.
Clearly, Yahya Jammeh has over the past decade deployed an unseemly policy objective that has seen the systemic purging and abdication of non-Jola Gambians from most senior position within civil service; replacing them in short order with Jolas, who possess neither the education nor the capacity to man those positions. And if this does not constitute criminally corrupt practices, then nothing else does. Moreover, in our lifetimes we witnessed many human tragedies of the day; from Syria, Libya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Iraq to name just a few, all of which arose from the kinds of disaffections Yahya Jammeh is by sheer negligence causing in our until recently peaceful country. The bigotry he introduced in Gambia is truly alarming both in its divisiveness and moral bankruptcy, with glaring potential for unintended consequences. This is disastrous to a country that has historically prided itself in its tribal cohesiveness. There are plenty of life lessons to learn from so that history’s darkest hours are not repeat in our country, but Yahya Jammeh’s intoxication with power, his pursuit of momentary gratification, and his intellectual myopia, has blinded him to the consequences of his tribal bigotry, and precluded an reasonable chance to reverse the decade long tribal purge and victimization, which is causing deprivation and psychological traumas among Gambians’s other tribes.
Yahya Jammeh, having tasted power, has no design to relinquish it, and coming from a minority tribe lacking the numerical advantage to keep him in power, he devised many brutal and corrupt ways to perpetuate his rule. This is the origin of his distrust of non-Jola Gambians, a fact that has conclusively been established. The driving force of Yahya Jammeh’s tribal politics and examples of his irrefutable Jola bias are evident everywhere one looks; in the civil service, parastatals, foreign missions, and government projects among others. In a country with seven major tribal groups, the probability that the heads of the NIA, the police and the military will belong to the same tribe, which incidentally comprises only seven percent of the total population, is a big zero. And this degree of probability becomes impossible to fathom considering also that nearly all the heads of government institutions and parastatals are Jolas. This kind of chance does not happen in nature. Consequently, the overwhelming occupancy of senior government positions by Jolas is a social construct by Yahya Jammeh, a person sworn to marginalize Gambia’s other tribes to exclusively benefit his fellow Jolas tribesmen.
The argument that we ought not to talk about Jolas biases is ridiculous. But Yahya Jammeh has also killed and incarcerated more Jolas and most of the twenty forced disappearances since in 2005 are Jolas. Yahya Jammeh’s destabilizing biases and promotions of Jolas interests and his brutalization of Jolas who do not succumb to his tribal bigotry, are not mutually exclusive. In other words, because Yahya Jammeh promotes Jolas biases does not mean he cannot also murder Jolas. The two can happen simultaneously, and if the atrocities he committed against Jolas can be discussed, it stands to reason that there is an obligation to highlight his bias towards and exclusive promotions of Jola interests. Yahya Jammeh has created the tyranny of the Jola minority, a new phenomenon the Gambia has grappled with for the past two decade. But the idea that Yahya Jammeh is doing this to avenge the way Jolas were treated in Gambia under the previous government, is, on its face, downright ridiculous. The Jolas who worked as maids and house servants in Gambia were from Casamance, and our government owed them no legal responsibility as it does to Gambian Jolas. Gambian Jolas did not become maids or servants in Gambia, instead; they got their education and enjoyed the same opportunities the rest of us. Even Yahya Jammeh, as a Casamance born, grew up to enjoy the same privilages as the rest of us. So Jola victimization angle under Sir Dawda Jawara is lame.
Finally, by his policies and bigotry, Yahya Jammeh has engineered a new culture of militarizing many Jolas on both side of the Gambian border; effectively purging the security forces and military of non Jolas and replacing them with Jolas. And even with 7% of the polulation, Jolas are by tribe the single largest and hold all the senior military and security positions. The policies introduced by the regime are stunting the intellectual and economic development of many Jolas by steering them towards the military and other security services, rather than promoting their development in other areas of endeavor. Jolas are disproportionately benefiting from overseas education, their limited population means they can never overwhelm the numerical advantage of other tribes. Yahya Jammeh has, however, created a new mindset in whcih Jolas role has become Yahya Jammeh protectors. This brainwashing is not limited to Jolas in the military and security services alone, but affects the way many Jolas perceive themselves in Gambian society today. This misplaced tribal obligation was exemplified by a blanket ban of opposition party campaigns throughout the Fonis. This manifestation of Jola militancy is dangerous to the future stability of the nation. This tribal opportunity imbalance in our country must be echoed so as to empower all Gambians to resist falling into Yahya Jammeh’s divisiveness. For not only is he Jolanizing the military, he is also militarizing the Jolas. For now, once again, below is the list of the Jola cabal that is now running the country, however, it is far from complete, viz:
Yahya Jammeh, President and Minister of Defense (Jola)
Fatim Badgie, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, (Jola)
Ousman Sonko, Minister of the Interior,(Jola)
Pierre Tamba, Minister of Local Government and Lands, (Jola)
Abdou Kolley, Minister of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment, (Jola)
Ousman Jammeh, Secretary General; Head of Civil Service (Jola) (recently imprisoned)
Harry Sambou, Permanent Secretary, President’s Office (Jola)
Yankuba Kolley, Mayor, Kanifing Municipal Council (Jola)
Fabakary Tombong Jatta, Majority Leader, National Assembly (Jola)
Nfarama Jatta, Governor, Central Bank of The Gambia (Jola)
Abdoulie Bojang, Speaker, Gambia National Assembly (Jola)
Paharry Jammeh, Solicitor General (Yahya Jammeh’s cousin) Jola
Ben Jammeh, Director General, NDEA (Yahya Jammeh’s cousin) Jola
Numo Kujabi, Director General, National Intelligence Agency (Jola)
Yankuba Sonko, Inspector General of Police (Jola)
Buba Sagnia, Director General, Gambia Immigration Department (Jola)
Muhammed L Gibba, Managing Director, Gambia Ports Authority (Jola)
Nfansu Bojang, Director General, Civil Aviation Authority (Jola)
Mr. Lamin Gibba, Managing Director SSHFC (Jola)
Mr. Tamsir Badgie, Snr. Poject Manager, SSHFC (Jola)
Brigadier General Ousman Badjie, Deputy Chief of Defense Staff (Jola)
Ratatouille DK Sanneh, first and only female Army General (Jola)
Momodou Sanyang, Managing Director, GRTS (Jola)