Open Letter to Zeinab Souma Jammeh – Woman to Woman
Woman to Woman
With only four (4) days to go for the departure of your husband President Yahya Jammeh from the Presidency I feel it incumbent on me to write to you in the hope that where all else has failed this letter might be the one that will prompt you to persuade your husband to leave peacefully and not forcefully. Having listened to your statement to the people of The Gambia made a week ago I would like to react to some of the things you said that struck me deeply.
The first is where you describe yourself as ‘First Lady and Mother of the Nation’. I have no issue with your title of First Lady as it is rightly yours in your capacity of wife of the President of The Republic of The Gambia. What I do have a problem with however, is where you call yourself ‘Mother of the Nation.’ Your behaviour in the past month that is from December 9th, 2016, when your husband did a volte-face and refused to accept the election results that he had previoulsy accepted and conceded defeat to is not consistent with that of a mother.
While there are many descriptions of what a mother is, this one is my favourite definition: ‘a mother is a selfless, loving human being who must sacrifice many of her wants and needs for the wants and needs of her children’. If we use this definition and apply it to you being the ‘mother of your beloved country The Gambia’ how would it fit? Can you with all honesty say that in the 2016 post election period you have sacrified or indicated a willingness to sacrifice your wants and needs for the wants and needs of the people of The Gambia?
I will give you just one illustration of a good mother based on religious teachings to help you rationalize your thoughts and actions. The example is derived from King Solomon noted for his wisdom in the Holy Quran, Surah Al Baqarah 2: 249 and Anaya Surah Al-Anbya 21 : 78/79 and in the Holy Scripture, Book of Kings. According to the details of a case contained in the Book of Kings 3 :16 the two women came to him to plead their case. One of them was holding a baby which they both claimed was theirs.
Having listened to both sides of their arguments, Solomon demanded that a sword should be brought to him. When this was done he ordered that the living baby should be cut in two. One half should be given to one woman and the other half to the other woman. The woman who was the real mother of the baby cried out begging that the child should not be killed and that the living child should be given to the other woman. The woman who was not the mother insisted that the baby should be split in two with each of them having half the body. King Solomon declared that the woman who pleaded that the baby should not be killed was indeed the real mother and ordered that the baby should be given to her. The story is a landmark verdict.
While it can be argued that King Solomon was divinely inspired whereas you are just an ordinary human being, it can also be argued that you can be inspired by your self professed love for the The Gambia and its people. Such love would motivate you to put the country and its people over and above your own wants and needs. You would opt to give The Gambia its choice of President and urge your husband, President Jammeh to give up his claim that he is the rightful winner. You would not want the country to be embroiled in turmoil. As a mother you would ensure that the sacred lives of people would not be lost. By so doing you would indeed deserve the title – Mother of the Nation.
The 2nd issue is your insinuation that the people that voted for President Elect Adama Barrow and the Coalition are being manipulated. In your words you say that ‘people have the right to express themselves but that they should not let anybody else think for them or tell them what to do.’ This is a message that has been heard several times when Gambians take an alternate position on any matter just as if they do not have brains to think for themselves. For the purposes of this letter I will limit my comments on this issue to the 2016 post election period.
From what I can see and what is apparent to the whole world is that it is the APRC supporters who are being told what to do and they are blindly following instructions. This is from the level of Cabinet Ministers who are all literate and numerate and who heard the results and saw the printouts and still believe that there is foul play to the crowds who are taking to the streets in support of the conspiracy theory of foul play. Crowds who are so lost that they converge on a Court House to listen to a case when there was no court sitting. Crowds that have been bussed to the airport to give the impression to the ECOWAS Mediation Team that the President is still popular and has the support of the people.
Unfortunately for the crowds and the organisers of the ‘rent a crowd’ the persons that they were trying to impress are seasoned politicians and administrators who at a glance would know that something was amiss. If the supporters of President Jammeh were out in their numbers then where were the supporters of the President Elect, Adama Barrow ? Their absence from the airport and along the streets sent a much stronger message to the mediation team who know that in any thriving democracy there must be the supporters and the opposants each one freely sharing the space to express themselves.
In this case my dear Zeinab, who is being manipulated ? Is it the ones that took to the streets or that stormed the empty Court House ? Or the ones that went about quietly minding their own business and not being manipulated like puppets on a string moving only as directed by the puppeteer? Is it the petitioner to the election results or is it the IEC Chairman? The IEC Chairman did what he had to do based on a conscience. Th epetitioner did what he had to do as instructed and not from his own free will.
Adjusting figures to give a correct version of the data rather than keeping quiet about the error is an ethical and safe act. The ramifications would be much more serious if it this error is hidden and is picked up at a later date and exposed by someone else other than the responsible person or body and being held to account for this. The IEC chairman took his responsibilities seriously, admitted the error which did not change the outcomes of the results and had the courage to publicly acknowledge the error and correct the anomalies. Only a myopic person would see faults in this.
The third issue is the issue of peace and security. In charting out your husbands achievements you indicate that he has done a lot. The most pronounced for you is that he has been able to maintain peace and security in the country. The truth dear Madam, is that he found a peaceful country, a country that was renowned for the peaceful and friendly nature of its people to the extent that it became dubbed the ‘Smiling Coast of Africa’ by some and ‘The Gambia ! No problem.’by others. A country where people co-existed peacefully inspite of ethnic, linguistic, religious and socio-economic diversity.
Because of this peace, The Gambia was able to welcome thousands of economic migrants from Ghana and Nigeria and refugees and displaced persons from conflict zones from neighbouring Casamance, Sierra Leone, Liberia and as far away as Namibia. The country was a safe haven for them and assured their personal securities. They had access to education, health care, housing and decent work. Many of them got employment as teachers, nurses, doctors and others were self employed as technicians, engineers, fisherfolk or business persons. The Dalasi was strong enough for them to work and make remittances to their countries of origin. Yes the Gambia was a country from which remittances were made and not a country which survived on remittances.
Apart from the rupture in 1981 emanating from an attempted Coup d’Etat, people’s lives reflected the words of the National Anthem that read: ‘that all may live in unity, freedom and peace each day’. The peaceful co-existance between Gambians and non-Gambians earned the country the admiration and respect of the wider global community. Tourists came in large numbers from Scandinavia and the UK to enjoy the sea, the sandy beaches and the sunshine which was guaranteed. Gambians did not need visas to travel to many countries in Europe including the UK. All this changed in the post 1994 Coup era and the period which is known as the 2nd Republic.
It is not your husband that brought peace and security to The Gambia. You may not know this as your knowledge of the country is limited to the period of the 2nd Republic. On the contrary he destroyed the idyllic lifestyle of Gmbians and transformed the country into a place of conflict, of hate and of destruction. It is ironical that people are fleeing from a country that once served as a safe haven for others. Thousands of youth have left the country in search of greener pastures taking the route that has left many dead in the high seas or the Saharan desert. Other people have fled for fear of their lives. Our communities and institutions have been robbed off the required physical and intellectual human resources needed for their effective function.
Your husband never gave The Gambia peace. In his definition peace is to subjugate a people into servitude. This is all water under the bridge now. Gambians have decided that they cannot take the pain, suffering and abuse any longer. They want their fundamental rights and freedoms back and the only way in which they can regain this is for your husband to leave the Presidency. Finished or unfinished business, met expectations or unmet expectations, delivered promises or broken promises for the people of The Gambia none of this matters anymore. All they need is for him to respect their vote and to leave. He has to respect that wish and you have to encourage him to do so.
You have said that ‘it is now more than ever before, that you love him and will support and standby him no matter what’. You have always unbashedly openly declared your love for him. You have done so in a most unAfrican fashion in front of religious and traditional leaders and elders. You have used your womanly charm and wits to get rid of his first and third wives and get him to eat out of your hands. Now is the time to put this love to the true test. The test that makes a woman to get her husband to do the right thing at the right time. In this instance the right thing is to standby his statement of the 2nd December 2016. That is to accept the results, concede defeat and handover the government to the President Elect, Adama Barrow.
This is the wise and honourable thing to do. This is what the people of The Gambia want him to do as voiced by CSOs, economic, political, religious, legal, socio-cultural and community based leaders and organisations including members of his own executive, judiciary, legislature and party. Bilateral, multilateral, pan African and human rights leaders and institutions have added thir voices to the national effort. They cannot all be wrong. Everything at this stage boils down to what Yahya Jammeh chooses to believe and what he has made you believe.
What happens to your husband is now in your hands. The hands that lead him to the road of sanity by going out gracefully on the 19th January 2017 or the hands that lead him to destruction and ignominy. As an older woman talking to a younger woman I hope that you will take the first option. You and your family have too much to lose by taking the 2nd option. The choices are hard but it is now up to you to demonstrate that your love for The Gambia is genuine and surpasses your need for prestige, power and wealth. The love that drives you to eliminate the outbreak of post election violence in The Gambia by ensuring that the choice of the people of The Gambia is respected and maintained.
If this is done then you would have earned the title –Mother of the Nation. Failure to do so would result in you having blood on your hands. The blood of a people who accepted you as a First Lady of their beloved country and gave you all the honour and respect due to this position. It is now pay back time.
I conclude by asking you to read this letter with your head and not with your heart and understand the contents in the spirit in which it is written. The Gambia has decided and neither your husband, nor you can stem the tide.
Yours Sincerely
Adelaide Sosseh