President Jammeh is appealingly witting when it comes to making others carry out his dirty jobs for him. His propaganda machinery is equally obnoxiously and downright insurmountable. He excels in operating from within the shadows of darkness and emerging in snow-white gowns during the daylight like someone butter won’t melt in his mouth; a personality trait I personally find nauseating. I could not help but laugh in tears at newspaper reports that Honourable Abdoulie Saine, Member for Banjul Central Constituency, had called for the crowning of President Jammeh at the National Assembly. On a note, I settled for the wisdom “when what is said is not what is meant, what ought to be done will be left on done. Men, women and children will be intoxicated with confusion and stagger in utter disarray”. Jammeh, a King? Oh hell no. God forbids.
What is even more disturbing about Honourable Saine’s suggestion at Parliament to crown Jammeh a King is defining his new power. Will he be reduced to performing only ceremonial royal duties such as the opening of parliament and/or confirming an elected President? Knowing Jammeh, he will become omnipotent and omniscient; more autocratic, ruthless and deadly. Does Jammeh possess any royal attributes in his comportment, aptitude and attitude? Don’t hasten to get me wrong by assuming at this juncture that I am passing the royals as flawless. They are humans with limitations. But Jammeh lacks any rectitude to pass as a decent and civilised human being. A notorious monster, Jammeh detests the Royal Family because for him, “they have not been elected to rule the people. They are the most undemocratic people who live on the sweat of the poor”. Now, assuming all things being equal and normal in the Gambia and Jammeh is crowned a King, will his Kingship be contested every five years? If not, what does that make him any different from the Royal family in the United Kingdom?
Furthermore, Jammeh has committed so many atrocities against innocent Gambians that it would be a betrayal of our nation and many generations to crown Jammeh King. It never ceases to amaze me how the President so ungraciously conducts himself over Gambians: the stormy political platforms; the eroding economic landscape; the decaying social cohesion; the terrible insecurity; the gross violation of human and people’s rights; your poor governance and the disheartening frustration of the Gambian youths and yet the likes of Abdoulie Saine are contemplating President Jammeh’s coronation as King.
Barely two years ago, had Jammeh not ordered the killing of 9 dead row inmates in Mile II Central Prison. Although, he and his rogue government disgracefully attempted to mend his tainted image to no avail; that the inmates were condemned to death by laws of the Gambia, yet he denied that the executions were carried out until he was compelled by the Diaspora media to retract his story. He had blatantly lied to Senegalese President, Macky Sall, that he was just making a veiled threat while the executions were in fact conducted two days earlier. If the executions were conducted in accordance with Gambian law as Jammeh alleged, then why the denial? Who in his or her right mind would crown such an unstable and miserable person King?
As Gambians, we should not allow our emotions garb our judgement. The Gambia belongs to all of us and history will judge each one of us in how we contributed to either her building or destruction. As a result, it is fitting to assert that we should never compromise our dignity, morality and ethical virtues for a pin of pleasure. For a person whose good virtues are prostituted becomes a beast of burden whose daily survival revolves around scrubbing the indelible mars of their manipulators. Let us put political affiliation aside and put the Gambia first and above anything else. Like the drug addict who depends on drug for self-gratification, such morally and ethically bankrupt individuals heavily rely on dictator Jammeh for their very existence and livelihood.
Perhaps, Jammeh must know that conferred cosmetic recognitions received on a silver platter do not radiate the pride that successes achieved through hard work and personal sacrifices reflect. In a nutshell, one tends to value and cherish things that one has toiled hard for more than those received from the hand of fortune. The same argument is valid for undeserved or manipulative Royalty.
Jammeh has not laid any foundation that would warrant him to be crowned King of Gambia. Let us be reminded that “peace does not only mean the absence of war”. It entails personal and national security, political stability, economic growth, good health and sanitation, affordable and accessible clean water and electricity, excellence roads networks, freedom of expression and good governance: accountability, transparency and probity. Under Jammeh, Gambians have experienced extra judicial killings, disappearance, arbitrary arrests and detentions, muzzling of the press, poverty and live in constant fear. At least one can argue even though he is the most detestable dictator living, he is elected. If he can, therefore, conduct himself as being above the law as an elected President, how will he be behaving if he is crowned a King and for life? Oh hell no! The mere thought of that erupts volcanos in my spine.
In conclusion, I will remind Honourable Abdoulie Saine that flirting with insanity is a deadly game.
Sulayman Jeng, UK