The Gambia: the Balangba uprising necessary; even inevitable (2011) By Mathew K Jallow The swanky private jet with the distinctive Gambian flag festooned conspicuously on its sun-scourged sides stood idly in a secluded corner of the Ronald Reagan International airport in Washington, D.C. As its primary occupant, Zeineb Jammeh, accompanied by a large entourage of bodyguards and other human accessories, made their way in a convoy of limousines to a plush hotel in a seedy part of suburban D.C, the country she left behind three thousand miles away on the miserable continent of Africa, was crumbling under the weight of her husbands repressive regime. This was only one of Mrs. Zaineb Jammeh and her childrens many shopping forays to the U.S. But this time it was far different. Mrs. Zaineb Jammeh, for all intents and purposes, had, this time around, come for the kill; the purchase a big ticket item worth over million dollars. The mansion she bought in a Washington DC suburb was an investment she and her dictator husband Yahya Jammeh hope to hedge against his inevitable downfall. Mrs. Zaineb Jammeh, the quintessential Imelda Marcus of Gambia, cold and seemingly heartless, had done it again. But all this was last year. This year, far to the north of the Gambia, where the golden sun scourged the rugged landscape across the northern edges of the African continent and the tip of the Atlas Mountains soar majestically high above the ominous clouds, the political geography of a continent is changing as rapidly as a New York minute. These harsh and unforgiving odd twins, the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara desert, at once serene and strangely beautiful, are witnessing one of the greatest political upheavals of the past several decades. The Maghreb region, with a history as ancient as human civilization, is undergoing a political transformation that would make the revolutionary movements and violent collapses of the Eastern European socialist regimes look like picnic. And as history repeats itself in the Maghreb, the striking political and economic parallels between Eastern Europe then and the Maghreb and Middle East now, is glaringly self-evident. But evident also are the similarities between the dictatorial regimes of North Africa, the Middle-Eastto that of the Gambia, where Yahya Jammehs exercise of absolute power and authority is akin to the obsolete kingdoms and outdated feudal systems of long ago. The compendium of excesses that have defined Yahya Jammehs regime over the past two decades are unequalled both in the depths of their gravity and the broadness of their reach. By far, Yahya Jammeh and his regimes greatest and inarguably most serious criminal offences against the Gambian people and the world are the litany of executions, disappearances murders of citizens and non-citizens alike. Anecdotal evidence shows that the frequency with which the murders, executions and disappearances occur in Gambia long ago reached a crisis point. Between January and February this year alone, two civilians deaths under police custody were reported, and a third, the high profile murder of my nephew Sgt. Illo Jallow, former chief body-guard of Zaineb Jammeh, left Gambians bewildered and demanding answers. As usual, Yahya Jammeh has remained mute and appears unburdened by his criminal responsibility for these extreme cases of crime against the Gambia people. To-date, hundreds known deaths by execution and murders at the hands of agents of the regime are recorded, and still more than two dozen forced disappearances at the hands of the Intelligence Agency and other branches of the security remain unaccounted for, most since 2005. These deaths and disappearances figure as serious moral and criminal aberrations, but they represent only a part of Yahya Jammehs overall record of atrocious and abusive behavior and denigration of Gambian society. As of now, the Gambias descent into chaos in governance and the disintegration of its social and political fabric, have combined to put the country on edge, as thousands of its citizens flee the country as a million and a half more remain powerless and captive to Yahya Jammeh’s regime. The call for a popular uprising and the demand for political change is overwhelming. The reasons, motivations and the need for regime change in Gambia are many and varied, yet they all stand on a strong and credible foundation based not on political hyperbole, but on objective fact and lived reality. Before the advent of the proliferation of Gambias vocal overseas on-line media, the atrocious executions, murders and blatant and frequent disappearances were mind boggling, but that has since changed slightly as the vigilant media has significantly altered the regime’s cruel and criminal behavior. Notwithstanding the diminishing executions and murder rate, crimes against our people has remained a constant feature in our country, instigating a widespread hatred of Yahya Jammeh and his cabal of rapists, drug dealers, violent robbers and businesses extortionists. The off-the-wall evidences of citizen intimidation are bad enough, yet they pale in comparison to the endemic and institutionalized corruption in government, which has also risen to the level of a crisis. The nefarious social and economic imbalances that have developed over the past two decades have left a lasting, if not, a traumatizing imprint on the Gambian psyche. And in his effort to build a wall of intrigue and mysticism around himself, Yahya Jammeh has instead only succeeded in reducing himself to an embodiment of stupidity as evidenced by the bizarre witch-hunting exercise around the country only two years ago. To date, the statistics surrounding the incidences of random witch-hunting terrorism directed primarily at elderly and weak Gambians remains unknown, but a rough estimate put the death toll to a dozen elderly men and women with three dozen more elderly hospitalized for prolonged periods of time. The health statuses of the victims of the witch-hunting are unknown years after their victimization. If these examples of tyranny and moral bankruptcy are not enough, the general narrative about the countrys welfare, point to a sense of utter esperation. Unemployment, especially among the youth, is as high as seventy percent, and this is a growing, particularly due to the decline in tourist arrivals, which began two decades ago and is not projected to improve due to hatred of the dictatorship. But even tourism decline is only part of the story of how Yahya Jammeh, with the collaboration of elements of the military and security forces, has instilled paralyzing fear and hopelessness around the country. This is evidenced by how some citizens and other selfish elements in the military and security forces are willing to support Yahya Jammehs subjugation of our people and the denial of opportunities to select tribes Yahya Jammeh has categorized as enemy worthy of marginalization. One has only to look at the people of influence in government agencies, departments, ministries of the government and the security services; both the police and military, in order to determine that that this level of tribal bigotry and economic injustice is unsustainable. In government agencies and institutions where the heads do not derive by Yahya Jammehs preferred tribes, which are rare, a junior employee from Yahya Jammehs preferred tribes are empowered to exercise power and authority over the institutions. But tribalism is only a part of the story of how Yahya Jammeh has run the affairs of the country into a ditch. In the business sector, Yahya Jammehs control of the economy; import/export, bakery, transportation, sand mining, agriculture, meat processing, distribution of food and general goods, and port handling among others business ventures, is jaw-dropping. Yahya Jammehs illegal participation in the business sector undermines Gambian’s entrepreneurial spirit due to the disadvantage this poses on other businesses. For one thing, Yahya Jammehs and his cabal do not pay customs and excise, labor and import taxes that other businesses are subject to; consequently other businesses cannot compete in the marketplace. But one of the most intriguing aspects of Yahya Jammehs reign used to be where gets the millions of dalasis to buy loyalty, bribe and give away. Yahya Jammeh recently put aside two million dalasis as prizes money for Quran recitals, but this is discriminatory in a secular society. The separation of religion and politics must be absolute and unambiguous. Governments primary responsibility is to the wellbeing of its citizens; not their spiritual sanctity; consequently, funding religious activities of any nature falls beyond the parameter of what is acceptable. But one of the most disturbing aspects of Yahya Jammehs rule, is the quality of public servants, many of whose competence and qualifications have been called into question. Yahya Jammehs war on the educated class has significantly reduced the quality of government performance, and reduced Gambia’s civil service to a mere skeleton of its former self. If anyone knows anything about administration, it is that there is a financial cost involved in the frequent hiring and firing of civil servants; regardless of their hierarchy levels in the bureaucracy. To look at it from another angle, the implications of frequent hiring and firing means that no one stays in any particular position long enough to acquire competency, because no one remains employed long enough in any particular position to develop the knowledge and professional expertise required in their field of work. Clearly, there is a calculable drain on Gambia’s meager resources, which is more than just the financial component, but includes other indexes that measure citizens’ quality of life; economic security among others. Gambia now has a completely dysfunctional government bureaucracy, which will take a lot of work to rebuild into a fully functioning and efficient state apparatus serving the needs of our people. The challenges that lie ahead, post Yahya Jammeh’s regime are daunting, but not insurmountable. We have the will and capacity to successfully give our people the government they deserve, after years of unbridled corruption, nepotism, tribalism and political patronage. The youth of our country and future generations deserve nothing less. But as long as Yahya Jammeh remains in total control of every aspect of our lives, the Gambia will continue its downward spiral and descent into bureaucratic chaos and civil strife. The obligation to save our country from this eventuality means that a popular uprising a-la Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, is not only necessary, it is perhaps even inevitable. The absence of war does not mean the existence of peace~ Impaled Nazarene
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 05:02:47 +0000
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