By Ebrima Camara.
Dictator Yahya Jammeh must be laughing at this hour for all the bickering, wrangling and brouhaha that have dominated the airwaves of both Freedom and Kibaaro online radios lately. Those claiming to be fighting for the same purpose to remove Jammeh are now butchering one another!
Let me make it clear that average Gambian does not give a damn about the tribal hullabaloo. Gambia has many problems but tribalism is not one of them. We have now played into Yahya Jammeh’s tribal politics. He wanted to see a divided Gambia based on tribalism as demonstrated by the hatred message read by Lamin Sabally branding UDP as Mandinka political group. Interestingly, our able Pa Nderry fell for his trap this time around when he authored a piece “Give me a break my Mandingo brothers” making a reference to a particular tribe for a political party as if he agreed with Jammeh’s position which some consider it provocative. Tribalism is quite troubling considering the fact that it is a double-edge sword and rarely has any clear winner in an eventual confrontation.
As a small country, it has been relatively easy for its various ethnic groups to integrate because they share the same territory and live together in close proximity. Intertribal marriages are very common to an extent that many families are considered “united nations”. As a Mandinka myself, my father married a Jolla woman, eldest brother married a wollof and one of junior brothers is eyeing for a beautiful Fula woman talking about life long commitment. It is also obvious that since Yahya Jammeh became the national leader of The Gambia, tribalism has reared its ugly head in a way it never did before. President Jammeh is fanning tribal discrimination in our country. It is about time for Gambians to stand up to be counted to end such social and political injustices meted out to our dear motherland. Whether admitted or not, the Jolla minority tribe has been favored against other tribes in the country. Many workers are being discriminated because of their tribal status. They are being denied promotion, decent raise and overseas studies.
In Rwanda, the implications of tribalism have been disastrous. Around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide largely promoted by unscrupulous journalists. South Sudan has also dipped itself into the tribal furnace. The world’s newest nation, which is dominated by the Dinka tribe of President Salva Kiir, has been accused of side-lining members of the Nuer, Murle, Bari, Acholi, Ding-Dinga, Anyuak, Taposa and Mundari in state jobs as well as resource allocation. What is now happening there is known to all, innocent people are being killed daily because they belong to a particular tribe. All Gambians should fight to ensure the tribalism does not rear its ugly head in the Gambia as sole indicator for what one becomes as seen in other African countries. Africa’s democracy has not only been the dominance of ethnic diversity but also the conceited politics that seek to promote tribal interests.
Clearly, the oppositions in The Gambia have not lived up to their expectations. Jammeh continues to do whatever he wants without due consideration to the constitution largely because of the tolerance from the opposition leaders. One would think that by now the opposition would have overcome any petty squabbles to focus on a common enemy. Opposition should not allow Jammeh to jail anyone beyond 72 hours stipulated in the constitution without consequences. Lawyer Darboe’s policy of following the judicial process is largely a waste of time and calculated move by Jammeh to frustrate UDP leadership since he, Darboe is wasting lot of his valuable time defending the defenseless. Lawyer Darboe does not have the gut to lead his party, period! He is more of a symbolic feature than a leader. We all remember when Femi Peters Sr. propaganda secretary was arrested at the UDP meeting for merely using the loud speaker. Why didn’t lawyer Darboe offer himself for arrest as the leader? Femi applied for the permit which was denied, yet the leadership agreed to hold the meeting. Then it could be seen as a collective decision but Femi was sacrificed for one year and nothing came out of it. If you are supporting UDP, be very careful because you do not have a leader to fight for you when you are in trouble, period! How many UDP supporters were arrested, tortured, and even killed while working for the party? What would move the party beyond court rooms?
The common view is that opposition parties are not offering anything viable and lack the democratic credentials within their own parties. All these political parties have had the same leaders since their inception. Since 1996, it is lawyer Darboe as the head of the UDP party even though he has unsuccessfully contested three elections and is above the age limit. There is no indication that Jammeh will change any electoral policies that will not favor him. Halifa Sallah has been the secretary-general of PDOIS since 1987 (yes, over 25 years!!!), Hamat Bah (APRC extension party) is still falsely counting himself as an opposition party. When was the last time any political party held any credible and transparent national delegates’ conference to subject themselves to the democratic will of their members?
All of these party leaders are shouting on top of their lungs for presidential term limit yet still there seems to be no such limit imposed either by a party’s internal constitution or its electoral fate. Just ask any political leader, they will probably tell you we operate on the system of collective leadership. Individuals who are in authority do not have individual powers… because there is no individual-centered leadership in the party. Mr. So and So is our leader because he is the “fittest” and if we find a better person, he will be replaced. What a piece of crab….In The Gambia, the tendency should be that anyone who leads a party to a defeat at the polls for two elections immediately ceases to be its leader if we have to promote decent democracy in our country. Secondly, the party leader must be willing to stay in the country. Mai Fatty knows that he cannot lead the country through Skype, he must be physically present and challenge Jammeh head-on. He is showing Jammeh, he is afraid to stand him. He too is not serious as a political leader and should be abandoned.
It is high time Gambians realize Jammeh is not our only problem. We have a long way to go. Jammeh can be in power as long as he wants until there are fundamental changes within these so-called opposition groups. If they cannot agree to come together “as Gambians” for a second who should take them seriously? Of course we all know that no election will remove Jammeh from power without any reforms in electoral processes. For that to happen, they must put pressure on Jammeh through popular demands. For instance, if a Gambian is arrested beyond 72 hours, then opposition must collectively demand for answers from the authorities.
Disassembling a dictatorship in The Gambia will require first intellectual reform (a push for freedom of expression and the media); second, political reform (democratic pluralism and free and fair elections); third, constitutional reform (limiting the powers of the executive); fourth, institutional reform (independent judiciary, electoral commission, efficient civil service, and neutral and professional armed forces); and fifth, economic reform, or liberalization (free markets and free trade).