Madam Zeinab Suma Jammeh’s frequent shuttles to and from America raised a lot of suspicion and created many unanswered questions in most Gambian quarters. Some asserted that she is ducking under diplomatic immunity to ferry President Jammeh’s cocaine to America. Others insinuated that she is a shopaholic who only lands in the Gambia to collect millions of dollars from cocaine rich Jammeh to lavish in America on shopping sprees.
Assuming that the latter holds water, the former is definitely unfathomable given America’s uncompromising position against arms and drug trafficking especially into their own backyard. The American intelligence would have sniffed her on her first attempt and nets put in place to trap her. The question now remains why is she frequently ferrying back and forth to America? President Yahya AJJ Jammeh is suffering from bipolar disorder and he is been treated by a specialist in America. Since he is treated at home from afar, he needs someone to be collecting his medication for him whenever it runs low. And Jammeh being the Jammeh he is, he does not trust anyone in collecting his medication for him from America apart from his sexy wife. He gave two reasons for not trusting anyone else but Zeinab Jammeh. On the one hand, he feared that if someone apart from Zeinab was to be entrusted with such a private errand, it will be leaked to the public and he does not want his illness to be blown out of proportion or even made public. On the other hand, he feared that his medication will be substituted with poison by his enemies to get rid of him. As a result, Zeinab is the only suitable candidate to run this errand for him; hence the main reason for her many visits to America.
What is a bipolar disorder? Bipolar disorder which is at times refers to as either manic-depressive disorder or manic depression can be described as a mental illness termed as a mood disorder by psychiatrists. Persons with bipolar disorder encounter episodes of a turbulent mood branded as mania alternating with episodes of depression. It is important to note that a person suffering from this illness experiences varied levels of severity. At the milder level, the person appears to be energetic and excitable whereas at the severe level, he or she succumbs to erratic and impulsive behaviour often making poor decisions as a result of unrealistic ideas about the future, and may also experience great difficulty in sleep. In other words, such persons can also experience much distorted beliefs about the world known as psychosis.
A closer review of President Jammeh’s unexplained erratic behaviour and incoherent ranting which lack any relevance to Gambia’s socio-economic and political need have the signs and symptoms of manic episodes all over it. Mania is generally regarded as the defining feature of bipolar disorder. It is a noticeable period of aggravated or irritable mood which can take the form of euphoria and often last a week. When he speaks, one can clearly detect that he is exhibiting a pressured speech and racing thoughts. This is aptly manifested in the inconsistency of his thoughts when addressing any political forum particularly when he is not reading from a written speech. Ample instances of such can be traced in his recent concluded meet the people tour during which he appalled his audience by making silly utterances such as his “kabaa” been stolen by some Senegalese and most Gambian youths experiencing erectile dysfunction due to eating western produced food stuffs. Of what relevance are any of these immature statements to the ailing Gambian economy and political decadence?
Jammeh frequently experiences low attention span and gets easily distracted. When he descends into a manic state, his judgement becomes impaired, his behaviour aggressive, intolerant and even intrusive. His sexual drive also increases. When in such a state of manic episode, a person feels out of control and unstoppable. He or she may even believe they have been “chosen” and are “on a special mission”, or have other grandiose or delusional ideas. Such is the behaviour of Jammeh. That is why he often asserts that nobody can do anything to remove him from power. He believes, in his delusional mind, that he is “special” with “special powers”. To suppress their anxiety, some indulge in substance abuse. Precisely why Jammeh takes solace in alcohol and marijuana. A source very close to the First family disclosed that Babe Mariam Jammeh experiences fits now and again; sometimes while she is at school. She has inherited her illness from President Jammeh.
I do not know the Gambia’s constitution position on what happens when a President suffers from mental illness. Notwithstanding, it is an established fact that Jammeh is suffering from bipolar disorder and that Zeinab travels to America regularly to collect his medication. Common sense teaches that whenever a leader becomes incapacitated by an illness which interferes with his or her ability to lead justly and make sound judgement, he or she hands over power to a care-taker government to run the affairs of the state. Since President Jammeh is current treated from an illness with serious impairs his judgement and affects his mental state of being it is fitting for him to hand over power to a care-taker government until such a time he is fit and sound to takeover running the affairs of the state. If in the event during this period, it dawns on him that it is in his own interest and that of the Gambia to completely take a backstage in politics, early election should be organize to elect and form a new democratic government that would steer the Gambia back to normalcy. However, if he chooses to continue running the affairs of the state despite suffering from bipolar disorder, he will only plunge the Gambia into further economic and political hardship. His poor judgement and erratic mood swings will earn him further isolation from the international community and eventually making the Gambia ungovernable. Suffice it to say; when the Gambia finally arrives at such a stage, all hell will break loose. He keeps saying that he will not leave without a fight. This is folly and will not bear him any good return but a disgraceful and brutal end. In life some simple acts of good will and sacrifice often produce lasting great and enviable results. Perhaps, if he chooses to let go of power now due to health reason, who knows, Gambians may forgive him for some of his crimes based on humanitarian grounds. He will then concentrate on having full medical care and recover quicker rather than trying to joggle treatment with running the affairs of a state. By doing so will place him in a catch 22 situation: his medical condition will get worse and the state of affairs of the Gambia will sink deeper into a devastating level.
Sulayman Jeng, UK