My fellow Gambians:
Every day, the reports coming from Banjul and Kanilai are painting a very
gloomy picture of life in The Gambia, and in fact the truth is that things
will show no sign of any improvement at all as long as Yahya Jammeh remains
at the helm there.
From any angle you choose, the forecast for the future is not good, and
there are clear indications that with Jammeh continuing in power, then
serious trouble will erupt in the country sooner rather than later. There
is a time bomb in our nation, which if it explodes, will do serious
long-term damage.
Of course, Jammeh is the time bomb, and the longer we allow him to continue
in the presidency, the greater the damage he will directly cause. The
Gambian situation is worrying to all of us who love our country, and it
boils down to the issue of serious mis-governance and corruption of the
worst sort at the highest levels. All sectors of government and of daily
life are tainted with the rottenness of Jammeh, and the illegalities that
surround him and his band leave a bad taste in our mouths.
All Gambians should be absolutely convinced that Jammeh could never, ever
turn things around in the nation; he has not lived up to his avowals and
protestations, or to people's expectations of him. He is a travesty of a
leader, and his rule is polluted with repression, fear, poverty, nepotism,
incompetence, tribalism and jingoism. Since seizing power in the illegal
coup d'etat of 1994, Jammeh has handled the situation in such an inefficient
way that the country is now virtually without government and definitely
without any semblance of effective leadership.
Indeed, our nation is teetering on the brink of disaster, and the situation
is worsening day by day: the unending repression, the miserable poverty of
most of our population, the daily grind and struggle of survival, the
culture of blame and fear - all these are the backdrop to the life of our
fellow Gambians at home.
People of necessity are developing an "I don't care; what can I do about
it?" mentality: the temptation is to look after one's own family, to bury
one's head in the sand of despair, and to forget about all those issues of
what constitutes good citizenship, cooperation, commonwealth and social
worth. Gambians are naturally decent, responsible, law-abiding people with a
tremendous pride in their nation: all this is now being put at serious risk
by Jammeh and his APRC minions.
Thank goodness that there are signs that Gambians understand what is
happening to themselves and the country, and that they are increasingly
prepared to do anything to ensure that their fundamental rights as human
beings and citizens are respected. There is a loss of belief in government:
people have become disillusioned and can no longer be fooled by Jammeh's
empty promises or threats of death.
Jammeh has not only introduced never-ending repression into the whole fabric
of life, he has also destroyed the economy to the point that money is scarce
for everyone except his crooked cronies. The man's constant travelling at
his people's expense, his rich man's lifestyle, and his rampant swindling
and corruption have taken so much out of the public coffers, that I am
reliably informed that Gambian financial reserves are at an all-time low,
and at a dangerously worrying level; my sources tell me that in the next bit
of time, the government will find it impossible to pay its workers: what a
recipe for national disaster.
Consequently, Gambians really do need to take the situation very seriously
indeed: it is becoming a matter of life and death. All the sycophancy that
permeates our society must end now that people have seen Jammeh's true
colours. The man patently cannot "deliver the goods", and the longer he
stays in power, then the worse for the country and its people.
Our common purpose should be the removal from power of Jammeh and his thugs,
and we should be looking to do this at the earliest possible opportunity. We
have to be working together as one nation to rid ourselves of this
pestilence. Only by joining together, can we liberate ourselves from the
bondage of the last six years, and embark on the long task of putting the
country back to rights again.
Apart from his terrible incompetence and inefficiency as a leader, Jammeh is
now displaying all the hallmarks and symptoms of psychosis. Based on his
actions and speeches, there are clear signs that the man is mentally
unstable, and that his condition is deteriorating rapidly.
The stress which accompanies his inability to cope with the pressures of the
job, the guilt he must carry day and night as a bloody burden, the false
promises which characterise his life, his ineptitude and total unsuitability
for the "presidential" role - all these things are taking their toll on him.
People who work with the man report that his psychosis is becoming so
pronounced that on at least two occasions very recently, he has physically
manhandled two of his aides because they were a little slow in performing a
service for him.
I am also very reliably informed that Yahya's apparent domestic bliss is
actually far from that. All Fatou Jahumpa Ceesay's spin cannot fail to cover
up the disharmony that prevails in Jammeh's own household. There have been
several occasions when Zeinab Jammeh has returned to Morocco and refused to
come back to The Gambia.
It has only been the direct, personal intervention of her step-father which
has forced her to rejoin Jammeh in Kanilai. Zeinab's stepfather and Jammeh,
as you will recall, are old partners in crime/business and our so-called
"president" has seen to it that his wife's family have been well rewarded,
both in Morocco and in Guinea Conakry.
The matter of Paul Sambou is also refusing to die! Jammeh knows full well
that his wife had a liaison with her Aide de Camp, and that this is the
true, but unspoken, reason for Sambou's then detention in Mile Two.
In fact, unofficial sources tell me that Zeinab's stepfather had to plead
with Jammeh (his son in law) to let his pregnant wife (Zeinab) at the time,
return (from Morocco) to the Gambia. So, my fellow Gambians, do not be
fooled by the press photographs that portray a "radiant first couple with
their Princess, Mariam". In reality, Jammeh is a man who is struggling to
cope publicly with a marriage, which has failed privately.
Interestingly, I was informed by a foreign journalist who went to interview
Jammeh in Kanilai some time ago, of Jammeh's unhinged state of mind. While
the interview was in full flow, Jammeh was interrupting the journalist
repeatedly, by saying, "Let me watch the birds! I enjoy watching them fly!"
Patiently, the journalist complied with Yahya's request, and watched Jammeh
watching the birds.
Having watched the flying birds for two minutes or so, Jammeh then asked for
repetition of the question, before the birds intervened again! The
journalist in question expressed total surprise to me that this calibre of
man held the position he does - "May God have mercy on The Gambia if this is
what you have to contend with in your leader" were the actual words used.
And just the other day, I was in Manchester, UK, and a Gambian colleague
played me and some other British guests video footage of Jammeh giving a
speech about the Slave Trade. My colleague introduced Jammeh as the
President of The Gambia, and the people present really could not believe
their ears or eyes watching Jammeh talk rubbish.
They insisted that my Colleague was teasing them, and that they were in fact
watching a very good, class A West African Comedian in action! They even
suggested that Jammeh could carve out a very satisfactory and rewarding
career for himself in the entertainment field when we put him out of office.
Gambians need to know these things about their leader: we may laugh as we
read this evidence of the man's total unsuitability and instability for high
office, but let our laughs not overshadow our genuine concerns about what
this man has done, and is continuing to do, to our country and its citizens.
Let us stay mindful of his machinations, and watch him carefully before he
mentally disintegrates entirely.
Gambians also need to remind themselves of Jammeh's cowardice at heart. His
strings of tough-sounding words - "I'll slaughter them like chickens", "I'll
bury them a hundred feet deep" - are a cover for the man's deep-seated lack
of courage. Then combine Yahya's cowardice with his outright lies and get a
fuller picture of the man in charge of our nation.
In his carefully orchestrated Curriculum Vitae, Jammeh claims to have served
with the first Gambian Contingent in the Ecomog forces in Liberia. My fellow
Gambians, this is a total fabrication designed to massage his oversized ego.
Jammeh certainly did NOT serve in Ecomog at any time. We should all be
mindful of what the man says, and we should believe not one iota of any of
it.
Nor should we believe our eyes: Jammeh clothes himself in the robes of a
devout Muslim, and carries the beads of prayer for all to see. Well, the
man may be deluding himself, but he is certainly not fooling us, not me
anyway. All the information we have is that the man is a fake and
dissembler. It matters not how long the string of beads he holds, how wide
and white the caftan he wears, how tall the hat that covers his head: none
of these things can hide the fact that Jammeh hides behind a semblance of
religious rectitude, and uses Islam for his own personal ambitions.
Meanwhile, Yahya's falsehoods, and his cowardice are leading him to fortify
himself in bunkers in and around Kanilai and State House in Banjul; he is
gathering a whole armoury of weapons around himself, and paying foreign
mercenaries for their protection. He mistrusts everyone, and at heart, is
afraid of everyone. This fear is our good news! We shall be voting him out
of office in the forthcoming elections, and there will be nowhere for him to
hide from the anger of his people.
My fellow Gambians, Jammeh is costing the State millions of Dalasis each
year: the additional financial burden of a government "led" from Kanilai
runs to a huge amount of money as Secretaries of State and Civil Servants
run backwards and forwards between Banjul and Foni. The modifications to
State House in Banjul, which should have taken a mere six months at the
most, have stretched into years.
Jammeh is using every delaying tactic in the book to avoid a return to
Banjul, and every minute he spends in Kanilai is costing Gambians money.
And what does the country get in return from this lunatic? Well, certainly
not a whole lot of hard work. The man's usual day in the office starts
somewhere between midday and 2pm, and ends on the dot at 4pm, unless there
is a courtesy visit from a foreign dignitary to host. For the rest of his
time, Jammeh is watching Satellite Television courtesy of Gamtel, checking
the Gambia List postings on his computer, watching American Western movies,
drinking attaya - and, of course, bird watching!
It is therefore clear that Yahya Jammeh is a travesty of a president - a
joke, and a national tragedy. Since his seizure of power, he has brought our
nation nothing but grief, and the scorn of the outside world.
My fellow Gambians, I beg you to take these things seriously, and to be
mindful of all our futures. If we allow Jammeh to hold onto power, then our
nation is truly doomed: the man has no answers, no solutions. Even many of
his former die-hard supporters are withdrawing from him and distancing
themselves from his excesses. As a nation, we have to use our power as
voters to topple the tyrant.
My fellow Gambians, we have to be practical, realistic, determined and
committed to working out an effective formula in order that we may do this:
only then shall we be able to take the man to the highest court in the land
and try him for murder, theft and corruption. We can be sure that unless we
vote the man out of office, then recent events like the burning of Radio One
FM, the attack on DJ Alieu Bah, or the kidnapping of Dumo Saho are going to
become the norm of daily life.
Many of the people known to be on Jammeh's "hit list" have already been
targeted (George Christensen, Lamin Waa Juwara), but now I am getting
information from the heart of government that Jammeh's own advisers are on
the list, including his Chief of Protocol, Demba Njie, whom Jammeh feels
knows too much about his (Jammeh's) dealings.
Yahya is inciting the youth wing of the APRC to illegal acts, and everyone
knows that no-one will ever be brought to book for the terrible things that
are taking place. When a Government encourages illegality, and cannot
maintain law and order in the country, then it is high time for that
Government to throw in the towel.
Also, I am receiving increasing numbers of messages of discontent from the
various security forces in The Gambia. All the promises that Jammeh made to
them, have come to nothing and it is obvious that only the smallest minority
in these Security forces are benefiting in any way from Jammeh and the APRC.
And when the going gets tough, Jammeh distances himself from the security
forces and as a result, there are many who are angry and dissatisfied.
These people are sending me news of their anger with the regime, and talking
openly of rebellion and mutiny. The jealousies, which Jammeh foments between
the various arms of the security forces, are leading to even more problems:
the atmosphere is tense and threatening for us all.
Gambians therefore need to take the destiny of their country into their own
hands: unless we are very careful, then we shall be faced with further
bloody coup d'etats which will perpetuate the cycle of tyranny and military
despotism, and plunge our nation into bloodshed. But by taking the bull by
the horns and VOTING JAMMEH and the APRC OUT OF OFFICE, we shall do the best
possible service to our land.
There really are no other options, except to rid ourselves of this terrible
regime through the ballot box. My earnest message is for us to unite, to
come together, to see Jammeh as our common enemy and to defeat him in the
polling stations. We need to be talking together NOW, in order that we can
achieve our longer-term goal of a truly democratic Gambia restored to law
and order.
Our Opposition Parties should be speaking with one voice of the need to
monitor the electoral process, to maintain an eagle-eyed check on what is
happening, and to report any hint of corruption or presidential
interference. The message they should be relaying to the whole nation is
simple and clear: let us concentrate on the real issues, and campaign to
rid ourselves of Jammeh and the APRC as though our very lives depend on it
(for in fact, they do).
I believe our Opposition Party leaders are decent Gambians who CAN work
effectively together in a spirit of compromise, tolerance and common
purpose. It is only by joining/coming together that can we offer a viable
alternative to the APRC, which will be strong enough to win the elections.
Coalition is vital, and the Opposition will need to search out a
presidential candidate acceptable to all.
Be in no doubt that Jammeh will do all in his power to divide and rule: by
splitting the Opposition, he stands more chance of re-election. None of us
should be in any doubt that Jammeh could be re-elected.
But if there is an alternative presidential candidate of stature, who is
acceptable to all Opposition parties and who can offer a viable coalition,
then the ballot box will serve Gambians well, and we shall be able to get
rid of the Butcher of Kanilai.
We really do have the ability to defeat him fairly and squarely, and to see
the back of him. Of course, if Jammeh then refuses to accept the will of the
people, there will be every reason to use other methods to drive him away,
or for other states such as Senegal and Nigeria to intervene to ensure the
rule of law in the Region.
I therefore beg you Darboe, Sidia and Hamat Bah - for the sake of The Gambia
- get together NOW; consult with each other NOW; meet together NOW; start
campaigning together NOW across the length and breadth of the country.
And my fellow Gambians - including those of us abroad - let us be prepared
to give moral AND financial support to a united Opposition.
LET US BOOT JAMMEH OUT OF OFFICE THROUGH THE BALLOT BOX.
Ebrima Ceesay,
Birmingham, UK.
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