Any person prepared to defend so many wrongs of Yaya Jammeh, the heavy handed self-imposed Gambian dictator needs lot of tongue muscles to win right thinking people. There is yet one situation where Jammeh stays within his rights. Those of you who keep asking why Jammeh does so much wrong especially without respect for rules, there is something you have not caught up clear. No matter how much you hate the dictator and his wayward manners, he is under no obligation to behave as many prefer.
Binding social contract
Even small social formations set out rules and regulations governing good behaviour and penalty for wrong doing. In coming together at time of building a group, members agree on matters of shared values. That is so crucial for orderly social interplay.
More serious groups transform into organisations with regulatory framework. Out of that institutions are born. That is how political parties eventually turned into functioning establishment capable of running a government.
Small and medium enterprises can also advance to higher levels. From being sole trading venture, any small business with solid client base is capable of entering into some formal business relationship in providing good and services. Specified documents are introduced to replace formal lady and gentlemanly agreements. Rules stay as rules and those found breaking them pay the price by penalties imposed.
Formality replaces makeshift verbal agreements. Each of the clients gets treated by merit of their special standing. Rules are laid and respected.
Consider a government that is much larger establishment than any organisations or institutions regulated by that government super structure. Imagine where how a small organised establishment like our small trader keeps to contractual obligations in dealing with diverse customer brackets.
That is exactly the same principle required when a political party takes on the role of governance in any country. Is that what you see in Gambia? Let’s find out.
Unlimited usurped powers
When People’s Progress Party PPP assumed the role of governance at time of Gambia’s independence in 1966, some form of formality and protocol would have been observed. Did former President Sir Dawda Jawara (David Kwesi) need to chase colonial administrators out of Gambia? That was not right and Jawara did not choose paving the forbidden crooked roadmap to political succession.
There and then Sir Dawda Jawara and all members of his political party entered into a contract to govern little Gambia by a pledge. They agreed to rule by laws and those terms have been upheld until one fine day on 22 July 1994 when Yaya Jammeh emerged with guns and military gears, claiming they have overthrown a government that agreed to govern within the remits of law and order.
One important issue of critical concern is the succession passage to power. Jawara by his seasoned professional training as veterinary doctor already knew how to handle fragile test tubes in a scientific lab. Principles of diligent care are upheld. Jawara knew how one minor mishandling of any equipment could have damaging impact on many years research. So Gambia was placed in such hands that handled delicate objects and situations as part of scholarly training and by occasion of his professional service to the particular sector of his expertise. This contrast is useful for our keen assessment.
Yaya Jammeh who took up guns and imposed military rule in Gambia has never been under any contractual obligation. He openly usurped power keeps all instruments and institutions under grip of his lethal claws. However you may hate him or want to see him vanish, remember, Yaya Jammeh has never been contracted for a critical role like presidency of Gambia. He takes personal freedom to do what his heart desires. You may disagree with all the bad ways of Jammeh, he is still outside contract relations.
Then you may advance another dimension of the argument that he later contested elections and swore before Gambia’s more than 1.8 million brothers and sisters calling each other citizens. Think of that properly.
Dead laws will never catch up with living criminals
The point to take home is that by staging a violent takeover of power through coup, Yaya Jammeh and his group openly slaid laws of the land. For almost 20 years, any part of Gambian Laws that could hold Jammeh and his group responsible for their many wrong actions have been buried. Yes, good Laws of Gambia have been butchered and buried. In place of those laws, an atmosphere of lawless prevails. How on this uneven planet is it possible that dead laws catch up with living criminals?
The only way that crafty criminals escape prison is by breaking the gates open. Similarly, the only way that laws of Gambia could not punish Yaya Jammeh is by him killing the laws. Putting a knife on the throat of Gambian laws and physically carrying out the slaughter. If that is simple to understand, then we are on same page of history. To seize power by brutal force of guns amounts to killing established laws. That is exactly what Yaya Jammeh did.
Gun barrel powder and not vote by ballot
Doctoring, slaughtering and burying Gambian laws, next thing Yaya Jammeh considered doing is to set up fake structures and systems. That is how the electoral team was formed. They are not an institution worth the name. They are set up for perpetuation of one man rule. Therefore, Yaya is maintained on gun power by bullets and not through the ballot.
Almost 20 years of dangerous and unsustainable misrule of Gambians by Yaya Jammeh has seen full blown military regime entrenching. Gambia remains a typical police state thanks to Yaya Jammeh.
One million year rule
In his own words, Yaya Jammeh promised he will rule Gambia for one million years. Whatever influenced Jammeh to make such unreasonable and careless pronouncement tells so much about how absurd a power drunk person can be.
Life at stake
To Gambians, Jammeh promising a return to military barracks was good enough to build confidence that he was serious. Far from that, Jammeh’s true intention has always been to deceive Gambians and to establish a military regime as almost 20 years proved under his iron grips. To cap it up, Jammeh challenged any good son or daughter of Gambia that he staked his life to rescue Gambia from Sir Dawda Jawara. He claimed that Jawara was corrupt along his government. Now the mission to rid Gambia of corruption and bad governance turns the opposite direction. Talking and writing about Jammeh’s massive corruption is considered treasonable offence.
Above rules, law and order
Those of you who need gentle reminder, Yaya Jammeh the man being called president of Gambia from July 1994 to May 2013 is after all above law and order. In fact, there is no law and order in Gambia. Gambia is filled up with Yaya Jammeh in form and essence. Gambia is Yaya Jammeh. Evidently, to challenge the intolerable many misconducts of Jammeh that is seen as giving bad name to Gambia. The wider implication is that Jammeh is above laws (if there are any laws) and everything he does is suitable. Everything takes the shape of Jammeh by size and form.
Then we may ask, is Yahya Jammeh under any obligation? You decide.