That the Jammeh establishment in Gambia is reportedly selling Visas to pilgrims to attend Hajj comes as little surprise. The regime is showing signs of being impecunious, following sales of family silver such as Embassy properties abroad, the erratic levying of taxes on all businesses, seizure of prime land and real estate from unsuspecting owners, and interference in the running of the currency market.
My understanding is that, The Saudi Government would normally offer poor Muslim Countries a number of visas for free, thru the Government of the day or its chosen representative. This is to facilitate travel for the faithful poor. If my information is correct, then the sale of these visas(apparently in Dollar bills),constitutes pilferage of public property, a shameless act of fraud and another notch on the international humiliation of Gambia in the eyes of the international community. On the other side of the coin is the wasteful expenditure on the presidency, particularly on his personal security witnessed by armoured motorised equipment, standing security units around his person and numerous homes and the frequent acts of patronage of lavishing gifts to ministries, organisations and individuals to court public praise of his generosity.
Jammeh’s handling of Governance, his record of “power-fuelled” acts of banditry and comic buffoonery, abuse of his perceived detractors and critics, gross mismanagement of the economy and sheer abuse of executive power witnessed by the frequent arrest of public servants, detentions without charge and the grid in the courts to try people on spurious charges of economic crimes and giving False information to a public servant, has reached an intolerable zenith. These two draconian laws have been designed to contain dissent and punish detractors, and of recent another piece of legislation to silence internet and media activists from tarnishing the image of Gambia abroad.
The Gambia has reached a crisis point of monstrous proportions, and an organised response equal to the task is called for. Gambians tend to be good at reacting to Jammeh’s acts of Felony and humiliation of our country, as we pour out into the streets protesting and taking to air waves and scribbling away. We need to combine this with a proactive stand on all the issues affecting us at home(rising cost of living, abuse of citizenry, misuse of public Funds, disregard for the rule of law and proper procedure and the sheer colossal amount of scorn and shame coming out of Jammeh’s antics).Our various organisations in Europe,USA,and Africa , the political parties on the ground and the Gambia media need to engage regularly to assess our various efforts and redirect these to areas where we could make greater impact .This process needs to stay on a relentless course , combined with informing the international community (corridors of power and influence and friends of Gambia) of our plight. We have had measurable success in our work but can always do better if we combine sincerity, discipline and Fund -raising to fuel our efforts.
Abdulai Jobe London UK