This is a topic I hope the current Opposition addresses exhaustively. I
encourage people that are more versed in these issues to help our leaders on
the ground formulate some progressive foreign policies and start
implementing some of those policies as we move to October. The recent
travels of our Opposition leaders showed us that they are ready to engage
the Diaspora. Unlike the despicable Joseph Joof, none of our leaders ran out
on us. Unlike Yaya who locked himself in a hotel room when he came to the
US, our leaders were very accessible and anybody that wanted to speak to
them about ANY issue, was given an opportunity to discourse.

But dealing with Gambians in the Diaspora is only one aspect of foreign
diplomacy; a very important aspect though. Our leaders showed us that they
valued all the citizens of the country (inside or outside Gambia). I am
confident that if the current Opposition were in power, Gambians in the
Diaspora would be allowed to vote in the coming elections. But this
government again showed its disregard for the wishes of the citizens and
disenfranchised a whole host of eligible Gambian voters while registering
foreigners to vote for the government.

By extension, we can also discern that when the Opposition is in power, our
embassies will be reorganized and nonentities like Essa Sey, Antouman Saho
and John P. Bojang and people of their caliber will no longer represent our
country in the international community. A new government will select
top-notch Gambians with wherewithal, that will NOT disgrace our country. The
embassies will be staffed by Gambians that are highly sensitive to the
plight of Gambians in the Diaspora. We should NOT have embassy officials
that are on a permanent vacation at their various locations. People that do
NOTHING apart from acting as messengers to the wives of APRC stalwarts
coming to the U.S. (for example) to have babies. The embassies will be there
to serve ALL Gambians.

Needless to say, the next Foreign Minister will be way above the caliber of
the moron currently handling that portfolio. The new minister would NOT be
engaged in the infantile tirades Sedat Jobe is accustomed to; accusing our
‘development partners’ of silly matters that only helps to alienate donors;
making misguided utterances that only attract sanctions towards our poor
citizens. We should have a level-headed individual that would be respected
throughout the world. A person that would NOT go to UN Meetings and spend
the better parts of his days sleeping in his/her hotel room like the lazy
Sedat Jobe does.

We need someone with a vision. Someone that is going to tackle the hard
issues that are currently facing us in the international arena. We need to
get Gambia off the list of pariah states in the world. Bad citizens such as
Baabaa Jobe should be handed over to the Sierra Leone government for him to
be tried for crimes against humanity. Rather than ‘deporting’ Gambian
journalists,  ‘deport’ the vermin (Baabaa Jobe and his brother) to go stand
trial in Sierra Leone for helping in the chopping of the limbs of children.

But I think the toughest challenge that will face any future government, is
how to help STOP the war in Casamance. We want to return to the times when
people can freely eat lunch in Serrekunda and board a vehicle and spend the
night in Ziguenchore. We do NOT want to be dealing with stray bullets and
landmines. This aspect of Opposition diplomacy should be pursued vigorously
as we write/speak. The current Opposition should engage the legitimate
(democratically elected) Senegalese government, and convey to the government
in no uncertain terms that a future Gambian government will NOT take sides
in this war. When a future government says that it will mediate for peace,
it will mean exactly that. Our future government will NOT go to the
Senegalese government and say one thing and then go to the Casamance rebels
and say and do another thing. Gambia will NOT be a safe haven for the
rebels. Just like Bissau has disentangled itself from the Casamance fiasco
upon the demise of Ansumana Mane, a new Gambian government will also sever
all partisan ties with the rebels upon the demise of Yaya. We will endeavor
to bring the rebels and the government together and be honest brokers for
peace. We will NOT supply any side with arms. We will NOT tolerate any
combatant running into our country after creating havoc in Senegal. I am
sure that if both the rebels and the government realize that Gambia is NOT
taking sides, both parties will respect the Gambian position and our
territorial sovereignty. There will be no ‘hot pursuits’ into our country.
There will be no medical treatments and press conferences. No
arms-trafficking.

I sincerely hope that our leaders address the Senegal situation with the
urgency it requires (NOW). The leaders should talk to President Wade
(face-to-face). Apart from the Casamance issue, a number of issues need to
be discussed with our regional allies. Economic issues. Civil wars.
Immigration. Etc. From the sub-regional plain, we also need to address the
larger African situation. For starters, we need to pay our dues to regional
organizations. Our diplomacy, as we write/speak, is so chaotic that even
Libya is no longer a strong Yaya ally. When Libya was paying OAU dues for
certain countries, Gambia was excluded. It seems like the only allies our
rogue government has are Taiwan, Liberia, and Cuba. This is disgraceful.
Sedat Jobe should be ashamed of himself. Under his watch, Gambia has been
proscribed as a criminal country involved in ‘blood diamond’. Under Sedat
Jobe’s watch, Gambians like Baabaa Jobe have been proscribed as world-renown
criminals. All these criminals are good for is to beg loans from Taiwan and
put the money in Swiss Bank accounts for Yaya. That is the crux of their
diplomacy. Selling Gambia’s vote at the UN just to fatten Yaya’s Swiss Bank
accounts. That’s all. This type of ‘check-book diplomacy’ will NOT be our
forte. We will have a REAL ETHICAL FOREIGN POLICY.

When we say that we want to broker peace, we will NOT take sides. When we
vote at the UN, we will vote for what is right and not necessarily for the
country that is fattening the Swiss Bank account of corrupt government
officials. We will ensure that Gambia gets out of its proscription.
International outlawry will be a thing of the past. International outlaws
like Yaya and Baabaa Jobe and their plane will be jettisoned to the mercy of
the international community like Milosevic was treated by his people. We
will seek to regain Gambia’s good name in the international community. We
will treat our ‘development partners’ with respect and attract reciprocal
respect from them.

I encourage other subscribers with experience in this field to explore
further some of the issues raised here and those that have been left out.
Moreover, I hope that out leaders on the ground articulate their foreign
policies, especially towards Senegal (BEFORE October). We all know what the
APRC policies (or lack thereof) are. Sedat Jobe is busy defending
international outlaws and falsely accusing British and American diplomats in
the country while Yaya is dining with the Casamance rebels. We want none of
that.
KB


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