This interview conducted by Gainako’s Yero Jallow featuring Frederic Tendeng discusses the current political environment in The Gambia and the special relationship between Gambia and Senegal. Topics discussed include ECOWAS military forces currently in The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh’s escape to Equatorial Guinea and much more.
YJ – Hello Monsieur Tendeng, I say hello to you. I wanted to reach out for an interview on the political situation in The Gambia.
FT – Hello my brother, it’s always a pleasure speaking to Gainako.
YJ – Many have known you to be sidelining with the Gambia’s political struggle. Briefly, introduce yourself for the sake of our readers.
FT – Well, I am a Senegambian journalist, my dad hailing from Casamance and my mom from Gambia, which makes of me a legitimate son of these two beautiful sister countries. The Gambia being under the yoke of Yahya Jammeh’s oppressive regime, of which I was also one of the victims, I had no option but to stand by my Gambian brothers and sisters and see that justice and the rule of law prevail over tyranny. As you may recall, I was the Editor in chief at Sud FM radio in Banjul when Yahya Jammeh shut it down for no reason, in October 2005. But since he did not stop at the closure, and sent his rogue NIA thugs hunting us after that, we decided that in the interest of our safety, we should leave The Gambia and pursue the quest for freedom of information to empower Gambians from outside. Because my belief was that I would be more useful alive than dead to fight and see Jammeh out one day. Thank God, it has happened.
YJ – You followed that Senegalese forces backed by ECOWAS are currently in The Gambia. Many nationalists felt intimidated by the intense occupation through clearly understood that it is for cleansing exercise. What is your take?
FT – I don’t think Gambians are intimidated by the presence of ECOWAS forces. You know Yero, the 22 years misrepresentation of an Army role by Yahya Jammeh’s oppressive military system, was negative enough to plant the seeds of mistrust with regards to any uniformed security personnel in the Gambian collective mind. Remember that Gambians were already used to seeing armed military checkpoints and heavy military convoys before this political crisis. Except APRC die hard loyalist and hardcore nationalists, Gambians are well aware today that ECOWAS forces are not a hostile force. Gambians are aware that ECOWAS troops are on their soil to enforce the will they collectively expressed through the ballot boxes, on December 1st, 2016. And yes, as you said, it’s a cleansing exercise. And I guess between leaving Yahya Jammeh and his deadly loyal military to highjack Gambians’ clear decision asking him to step down and inviting any friendly military presence to enforce their votes, our brothers and sisters have no regret seeing ECOWAS troops compelling the 22-year-old dictatorship to freeze. It is my unreserved belief that if The Gambia National Army and all its components refused to be loyal to Yahya Jammeh, after his term ended, and stood by the Gambian people and their vote, the fear factor would have been Jammeh’s concern and he would have gone to respect his words to concede defeat to President Adama Barrow. That’s why it is painful, yet a useful trial time for our Army to learn to remain a strong Republican institution that will solely and fully protect the law, the land and the peoples of The Gambia and not allowed itself to be misused by a person, be it the President.
YJ – The Gambia and Senegal are sister countries. You followed the failed confederation and the 1981 restoration of former President Jawara. There were times when Senegal-Gambia relations went really sour under Jammeh, including border closure. Any insight?
FT – My humble take on this is that Gambians and Senegalese people have proven all along this trial time, imposed on them by Yahya Jammeh, that the historical and cultural ties between their two sister countries are here to stay. I also believe strongly that it’s too early talking about any form of confederation or whatever political entity between Senegal and The Gambia. Simply because the level of trust between the two countries has been seriously eroded since Yahya Jammeh’s arrival in power. A lot must be done to correct that. And I think that technically, there is need to review what remains of that trust while the Governments of the two countries work to strengthen a true Senegambia of the people. Like, encouraging twinship between city councils to exchange on local governance know how, schools visit exchanges to foster youth understanding, regular brainstorming, and exchange between state institutions that share common interests, technical collaboration and exchange in domains like sports, security, fisheries, environment conservation etc. There are many avenues that can encourage Gambians and Senegalese to work together and that way, the State level partnership can eventually develop and yield any form of institutional partnership between the two countries in the years to come. That’s what can give legitimacy to any top level political decision regarding the common interest between the Gambian and Senegalese peoples. And border impasses will be history. Meanwhile, there is need to build on existing opportunities or review them wherever necessary in areas such as the Transgambia road and the bridge, the enforcement of security at common borders, the solution to the Casamance crisis etc. The basis exists to achieve this. We have the same languages, culture, Muslim and Christian worshiping and celebrations, you name it. The basis of such a cooperation must already exist since President Barrow has got the full support of Macky Sall along this hard time.
YJ – Do you feel a need for a term limit on the presence of Senegalese forces? Many are of the view that the intended 6 months is too much. What is your take?
FT – Let’s not make a confusion. The current troops in action in The Gambia are ECOWAS troops. Our duty as journalists is also to help people in the two countries build trust and not confuse them. Yes, Senegalese troops form the majority of the personnel on the ground, but they’re all under the ECOWAS banner and should be seen as such until they act otherwise. However, we’re all aware that sustaining such a military force is not only resource consuming for our economically weak ECOWAS member countries, but it has a risk factor that should be seriously taken into consideration by ECOWAS decision makers. A long stay of these troops in The Gambia may produce the reverse effect of alienating its troops in the eyes of Gambian military and the Gambian people. After all, it would be a legitimate concern for them to recover their full fledge sovereignty. That’s why the six months mandate for the troops to help stabilize President Adama Barrow’s administration is reasonable to me. But at the end of that term, Gambia would have been endowed with a fully functional Administration that will decide for the Gambian people what form of collaboration to consider with ECOWAS forces and how long it would take. But I think that all these points are already taken into account by ECOWAS strategists since they have announced a reduction of their troops for the mean time.
YJ – How about your good old brother Jammeh if you may? He is now in exile. Do you think justice will ever triumph?
FT – Lol, I would have loved to see my elder brother, Yahya Jammeh stay in The Gambia and face the full force of the law so that justice can take its course. But the unfortunate circumstances of the time requested that he flees the country and it’s fair enough for Gainako that is now sure to have a new struggler among your readers and listeners, Lol. This said, new Gambian authorities might be informed, beyond my knowledge, but am afraid that leaving Yankuba Badjie as director general of NIA, and other key enablers of the oppressive Jammeh machinery, is a very murky signal to the “Truth and Reconciliation” Project advocated by President Adama Barrow. Who knows if Yankuba Badjie has truly shifted his loyalty overnight from the Jammeh regime he used to lick the boots for new President Barrow? There is also no evidence that from his current position, Yankuba Badjie is not feeding Yahya Jammeh with day to day happenings in The Gambia. Meanwhile, Jammeh’s killers are running away. Other enables of the dictatorship are still being recycled like Colonel Momodou Alieu Bah who wasted no time recovering his position as director of finance of the Gambia National Army. And by the time a fully functional Barrow Administration is in place, all these people would have finished tampering with evidence linking them to the atrocities they committed on Gambians. What substance would then be left to the concept of Truth and Reconciliation if victims are finally to be left with questions without answers? All the architects and laborers of the Jammeh repressive state machinery must be granted a temporary leave and asked to report to police stations for questioning. That would be a strong signal that there is a true political will to end with impunity.
YJ – With regards to the presence of ECOWAS forces in the Gambia, what would be the right attitude of Gambians in your view? To your experience as a media consultant, what are some of the problems associated with ECOWAS occupation?
FT – Again, it’s not an ECOWAS occupation force and we should not put the seeds of confusion in the understanding of the average Gambian who relies on our mission of information and education for enlightenment. Besides, it is no weakness or betrayal for us to stick to facts shaping the reality of this tricky political situation. Meanwhile, Gambians should exercise patience with ECOWAS troops and trust the President and the Administration they voted for. The onus is on them to fully take into account the supreme interest of The Gambia in whatever collaboration they have with ECOWAS military force. I have no doubt that the ruling coalition has The Gambia at heart and that Gambians will make it easy for President Barrow and his government to shorten the ECOWAS military stay in The Gambia.
YJ – How about Gambian soldiers who failed us?
FT – Our Gambian soldiers should brainstorm and deeply reflect about how they allow themselves and their powerful institution to be misused by one former gendarme to the point of turning its men and women into farmers, bakers, fishermen, herdsmen or drivers among others? Now that this mess is gone, am very disappointed with those claiming we have a professional Army. Am sorry, we didn’t! Jammeh would ask soldiers to engage in a wrestling contest before he gives D 5000 to the winner. He would steal part of their international peacekeeping mission allowances, use cane soldiers and insult their parents, right before civilians. Some of them were even arrested by simple NIAs during Jammeh’s last week in power. What sort of professional militaries are they talking about then, if they became the armed instrument or the Jammeh dictatorship, when they instilled fear in the country and could not even defend and enforce the sovereign will of their peoples who gave them the opportunity to free themselves from the chains of bondage Yahya Jammeh drove them into? The fact and history have retained that Gambian people rescued their Army on December 1st, 2016, but the Army deliberately decided to remain enslaved by Yahya Jammeh until it was forced to side with its people by ECOWAS troops. All stories we now hear about supposed military who wanted to do something cannot change this historical fact. The challenge for our Military is now to reconcile with Gambians by remaining a republican institution that only serves the constitution of the Gambia and not anybody. The faster our Army understands this, the quicker ECOWAS troops will be out. The rest is a mere amplification of fake patriotism that eludes the true issues affecting the minimal existence of this Army.
YJ – Thank you Monsieur Tendeng. I appreciate your assistance during my visit to Senegal. You have been instrumental for my access to information. Any last word?
FT – I Thank you koto, It was a pleasure.
2 Comments
It seems to me as an outsider that the NIA should be disbanded along with its boss. I cannot understand what is going on in the mind of the new leader Barrow that he cares to legitimize the NIA and reinstate its leader in his new Gambia.
I second that motion.The Gambia don’t need a secret police.We regards Senegal as our brothers, who are we gonna fued with? The Gambia don’t have money to send operatives around the world.Tge secret police wi) be a waste of money period.