Astuteness instils that unity is the bedrock of strength, love, harmony and looking out for one another. Consequently, for any society to subsist and develop progressively, its people must hitch and put their societal interest and values before individual goals. Suffice it to say a society which is closely knitted will be very difficult to divide and rule. In such a society, the people not only value and respect each other but also avail and alert themselves to protect, support and guide one another. Each contributes according to his or her ability to the betterment of the society. For instance, communal properties are perceived as the property of each member of the society.
As a result, it was the responsibility of each and everyone in the society to ensure the property’s security, maintenance and development. Most importantly,at any one point in time when society requires work and labour such as clearing graveyards, mosques and markets every able-bodied member of the society responses to his or her call of duty to society without expecting any return for his or her service and labour. Even the weak and elderly graced such communal calls to motivate and cheer the workforce through singing, fetching water, and looking after the children. Stealing from society was a big taboo and can drag a whole clan into shame. Crimes such as rape, murder and delinquencies were very rare. In a nutshell, collective responsibility was the order of the day. Sadly, in the Gambia today collective responsibility is a foreign attribute. Brothers compete with one another for wealth, status and recognition. Sisters compete for attention, the richest suitor, the best house and clothing. Neighbours rejoice in each other downfall and mishap. At the state level, civil servants put their pockets above national duty and responsibility. The lack of collective responsibility in the Gambia boils its socio-economic and political institutions to a melting point. One can unreservedly assert that this is one of the main factors which is still keeping and maintaining Yahya Jammeh in power in the Gambia. The Gambia degenerates to a cosmopolitan rotten sewage as we all walk on majestically chasing our tailor-made personal ambitions. How do we fix this precarious dilemma of modern Gambia under a heartless dictator?
One obvious option which quickly springs to mind is to sit and wait for a God-sent savior to usher us into liberation. Well, albeit, it is one of the options on the table it is utopian, unrealistic and far-fetched. To further disqualify this option of a sleepless dreamer, Allah has made it very clear in the glorious Quran that”he will only change a condition of a people if they change themselves”. Therefore, until we wake up from our sleepless slumbers it is never and ever going to happen. The most radical and violent exit route is the arm insurgency alternative. For many of us who opposed bloodbath shy away from this path for a number of reasons. First and foremost, there is no guarantee of immediate success. Added to this gloomy uncertainty is its mountainous cost effectiveness in terms of loss of lives, property, peace and stability. Moreover, it requires huge financial base, trusted allies, equipment, arms and ammunition, locations and camps and loyal militants to name but a few. A similar option to the arm insurgence is a military coupe. Yes it may be a viable option a couple of years ago but to be quite honest this is even riskier now in the Gambia than an arm rebellion. Perhaps those who strongly append to this possibility underestimate Jammeh and/or fail to look at the storied history of forgone dictators. It will be an understatement to assert that Jammeh has long through the years perfected his game of cheat and retreat in which he sacrifices any person: military or civilian he perceives as a potential threat to his regime. Hence his systematic abduction, killing, torture and occasional release of his hostages paraded on state television. Jammeh is very skilled in the art of denial and deception. How often have we seen and heard him addressed both Gambians and International institutions gaffing home truths only to be seen doing something completely parallel? How many times has he peddled fiction for facts? Has Jammeh since 22 July 1994 once told Gambians one iota of truth? Jammeh continues to lie through his teeth to Gambians whenever he opens his alligator mouth. To add insult to injury, Jammeh like most dictators such as Saddam Hussein is conscious and alert to the fact that an arm insurgency and/or a military coupe are the possible options that are likely to be employed by dissidents to depose his regime. To avert such a variable from materialising, he set in place a mechanism which will systematically weed out and destroy any potential soldier or officer who poses as a possible candidate. He plants the seeds of fear, mistrust and disunity amongst the security services as well as civilians. As these toxic seeds germinate and grow each cares only about the self and not the other person. Hearts become hard and cold as a rock. No one trusts the other. Those who go the extra mile in turning in innocent citizens to his blood-soaked hands are rewarded with public appointments and extra cash in their hallow pockets. Tell me how will a military coupe or rebellion take place in such a volatile and polluted atmosphere? Why do you think Jammeh is now shuttling in and out of the Gambia more frequently than before? Do you think that if he wasn’t still sure that he may or may not be toppled through the army that he will risk traveling outside the Gambia? At this juncture, one may wonder how do we then bring about this most yawned for regime change without a bloodbath? There are perhaps three viable options: poisoning him, a sniper killing him and through a democratic change.
To put the records straight, I subscribe to a meaningful democratic change through the electoral ballot and not bullet. This is a very tricky one but very attainable and effective. However, it requires collective responsibility from each and every Gambian. To begin with, we must see the nation and state as our own embodiment instead of some property belonging to no one. Have you ever seen or heard anyone stealing from his or her own savings? Who will till and plant a farm only to leave it to rot because it is his or hers? Similarly, if we perceived public as well as private institutions as our own communal properties, we will look after them with utmost care and sincerity. We will dispense our responsibilities to the best of our ability. Once that level of love for ourselves and country is attained, we will then hold each other accountable for been wanton in executing our civic and public duties. Together we can compel our politicians and representatives to serve us as a nation but not individuals. Needless to say any politician who fails to dispense his or her obligation without fear, favor and/or ill-will is recalled and fresh elections to replace him or her arranged and held.
Furthermore, civic education centres should be decentralized in all the regions in the country to educate the masses of their civic rights, duties and obligations to state and country. They must also be empowered to express and demonstrate their political will by effecting necessary and meaningful change without fear of harassment and intimidation by stakeholders and their institutions. From the recent concluded Raleigh conference, it emerged that there is an undisputed need for all the opposition parties in the Gambia to come together and put aside their political parties’ differences in order to bring about a meaningful democratic change in the Gambia come next Presidential and General elections. Even though most of them graced the Raleigh conference, I am of the opinion that they can still hold another conference in the Gambia where they will come up with a blueprint binding them through the change period. They must be very honest and open in putting all their cards on the table so as to agree as a united front with a common goal to depose Jammeh. Once they forged a united front, both government and the IEC will be compelled to conform to a level playing field for a free and fair election to take place. This must be backed by our collective responsibility to our state and country: The Gambia. We must put the Gambia before our persons and contribute to its democratic meaningful change and development with sincerity and patriotism. The time has ripened and accords no room for complacency and faltering in the quest to oust out the dictatorial Jammeh regime and set in its place a democratic government. Whatever we do today history will hold us accountable tomorrow.
While counting on the fact that no one wants to be on the wrong side off history, I hope we will rejuvenate our collective responsibility to the Gambia.
Sulayman Jeng, UK