YAHYA JAMMEH MUST GO BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY. PERIOD!!

                                               Prof.


>From: Ebrima Ceesay <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: My Fifteenth Message To Gambians!
>Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 22:34:11 GMT
>
>My Fellow Gambians,
>
>These are indeed really hard and trying times in The Gambia, and whether
>people realise it or not, a tragedy of catastrophic proportions is
>unfolding
>in our country because of Jammeh’s mismanagement, ineptitude and
>disgraceful
>leadership skills.
>
>Soon, the destruction of and damage to our country will be beyond repair,
>unless Gambians DO something practical and realistic NOW to change the
>course of events.
>
>We have been aware of the chaotic situation in the Gambia on the political,
>social, judicial and economic scene. However, it seems that we have in fact
>been underestimating the calamity facing our country, but now you, like me,
>will have read, digested and analysed the report of the Participatory
>Poverty Assessment Report (parts 1 and 2 of the "How Poor Am I?" posting
>from one of my sources in the heart of Government).
>
>My fellow Gambians, it is now clear as a noonday that as long as Jammeh is
>at the helm, we cannot look towards a better and fairer future. His regime
>is characterised by negativity, illegality, nepotism and corruption. The
>CRISES (and I specify the plural of this word – there is not just one
>particular crisis facing us) gripping The Gambia are more than worrying:
>they are indisputably frightening.
>
>The Gambia's debt burden is exorbitant; the economy is stagnant; the Civil
>Service is crippled; the Media is gagged and restrained; the Judiciary is
>compromised; the Health and Education services are floundering; and the
>infrastructure of our Nation is in a diabolical state.
>
>And on top of all these terrible burdens, we are now being told that a
>sufficient food supply is not guaranteed for our population: that we are
>facing both an acute shortage of the staple foods we need to ensure life,
>as
>well as a chronic shortage of vitamin and mineral-rich food-stuffs.
>
>My fellow Gambians, political repression is unbearable, but worse still in
>this new millennium is the scale of economic stagnation and food shortage
>in
>the Gambia.
>
>Yahya Jammeh should really be ashamed of himself: under his leadership, we
>have encountered repression, tyranny, theft, murder, inefficiency, lack of
>vision, lack of understanding, lack of action, lack of dreams of a better
>Gambia. This dreadful leader has seen The Gambia as his picking ground – he
>has taken from it what he has hungered for, and he has feathered his own
>nests to the detriment of people like you and me.
>
>Indeed, the levels of poverty (from 86% in Lower River Division to 99% in
>Upper River Division), as assessed by the people themselves, are critical
>and alarming, and the effect of poverty on this scale is devastating to our
>small country. It is therefore clear that under the present regime, the
>situation is in fact deteriorating daily and people are becoming more and
>more desperate in their struggle to survive and to help their families to
>survive.
>
>As the report indicated, poverty in The Gambia manifests itself in many
>ways:
>
>* Poor health and poor access to limited health care and medicines.
>
>* High levels of infant mortality
>
>* Low levels of life expectancy (particularly for women)
>
>* Income insufficient for needs (or totally lacking)
>
>* Poor access to education
>
>* Lack of skills necessary for employment
>
>* Poor housing
>
>* Poor clothing
>
>* Inadequate diet
>
>* Rural – Urban drift
>
>* Inadequate infrastructure (roads, sewerage, electricity supply, potable
>water supply, social services, postal services etc.)
>
>* SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ATTITUDES
>
>
>
>Our next Government will have a huge task on its hands to try to tackle
>these manifestations of poverty: the job will take years, and it will
>demand
>commitment, energy, drive, vision, honesty and INVESTMENT on the part of
>our
>leaders.
>
>In previous postings, I have considered many of these issues, and have made
>recommendations for our next leadership team. In this posting, I should
>like
>to take a closer look at wider issues relating to levels of poverty in The
>Gambia.
>
>
>
>1. The Role of Government/Leadership
>
>
>Unless our leaders are genuinely committed to alleviating poverty in the
>general population, then there can be little progress. This current regime
>pays lip service to addressing the problem, but in reality there is no
>strategic, cohesive vision; no real master plan; no method in place of
>monitoring, evaluating and reviewing progress; no coordination of effort;
>no
>commitment to investment; no real intention to make things better. Our
>present government is characterised by greed, self-interest, corrupt
>practices, fragmentation of aid, and inactivity.
>
>For the future, we have to ensure that we elect people of quality who are
>genuinely concerned to take our country forwards, and who have the right
>attitudes to do this. We have lived for too long with a leadership which
>concentrates on the description of the problems, rather than on the solving
>of them.
>
>The task that faces us in alleviating poverty is enormous, but if there is
>real intent, real commitment to tackling the issues and genuine optimism
>that our country does have a viable and prosperous future, then we can move
>forwards and get the job started.
>
>We have let ourselves become used to inactivity, insensitivity, ineptitude
>and incompetence:  to take our country on, we need to be putting into
>power,
>those Gambians who have the interests of the whole population at heart. We
>should not be letting our leaders give us second best.
>
>We need leaders who contribute effectively to international organisations;
>who make pertinent suggestions for progress; who are respected for their
>integrity on the world stage; who have a clear view of what our country
>needs to move into a more prosperous future.
>
>Because our current leaders have proved themselves to be corrupt in their
>handling of public funds and business deals, they no longer command respect
>in the world markets or on the international scene.
>
>This has to change! We have to put in power people who will look to line
>the
>country’s purse rather than their own. We need people who genuinely care to
>see The Gambia progress and prosper.
>
>
>
>2. Role of the Civil Service
>
>
>To support the strategic vision of our leaders, we need to be able to rely
>on a decent, well-staffed and well-qualified Civil Service. In order to
>attract the right people, we shall have to pay a decent wage and offer
>decent prospects. So many highly qualified Gambians are working overseas
>because the opportunities in our nation are so limited and so underpaid:
>why
>work at home for a pittance and without high status, when salary levels
>abroad are so attractive?
>
>We have to put in place measures to ensure that we can bring home our
>citizens educated overseas by offering them a good remuneration and
>promotion package.
>
>In the short term this is not going to be easy to accomplish: we shall need
>to make massive investments in order to ensure medium and long term
>progress
>in the efficiency and expertise of the Civil Service.
>
>In order to tackle the problems of overriding poverty, we have to have an
>administrative capacity to put into practice all our leaders’ hopes and
>dreams. Much of the money which will be needed to achieve this goal is
>already in the country: however, it is being misused, misdirected and
>misappropriated.
>
>We have to set up a system against which our public servants will be
>accountable and answerable: in their turn, they will also need clear
>guidance, transparency and accountability in their government bosses. It is
>essentially a two-way process where each group of people have confidence
>and
>trust in each other.
>
>It is only by working together in an atmosphere of mutual trust and mutual
>respect that we shall be able to begin to solve the problems besetting our
>country.
>
>
>
>3. Role of the Aid Agencies
>
>
>As a developing nation, we receive large amounts of help from a variety of
>Aid Agencies. Many of these Agencies work in isolation from each other, and
>quite often "the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing".
>
>It will be vital for our future government to coordinate, manage, oversee
>and evaluate the work of Aid Agencies involved in The Gambia.  It is
>incumbent on us, the recipients of aid, to know how effectively it is being
>put to best use. We need to be able to demonstrate how each dalasi has been
>put to good and effective use.
>
>We shall also need to set up stringent accounting and report-back
>procedures
>in order to ensure that the monies we receive at national level are
>devolved
>and used at local/district/village level.
>
>Our leaders will also need to look more imaginatively at how to attract
>outside help and investment to take our country on into the future.  That
>we
>need outside aid is certain: but we should also be looking at innovative
>ways of using this aid to best effect.
>
>By analysing the findings of reports such as the Participatory Poverty
>Assessment group, we can start to review what the real needs of ordinary
>people are. It seems to me that we shall need to look at ways of empowering
>our agricultural population (and in particular, women involved in
>agriculture). A productive and profitable Agricultural base is at the heart
>of the future prosperity of The Gambia.
>
>The solution to many of our poverty problems lies in the encouragement and
>empowerment of the Gambian people as a "producing nation". By investing in
>people at a local level, it seems to me that we can start to turn things
>around: if people at local level know that their leaders at national level
>are interested in their problems, and can offer help on a small-scale
>level,
>then we can start to change attitudes and expectations, as well as
>encouraging participation in our poverty alleviation schemes.
>
>As a nation, we do not want year on year handouts to ensure our people are
>fed: we want investment in the futures of ordinary people: the chance for
>proper development and progress: we want Gambians to have the wherewithal
>to
>develop their own schemes for family prosperity. With small amounts of
>money
>in loan terms, combined with high-flying dreams of success and future, then
>Gambians can have a real chance of solving problems of poverty at a basic
>level.
>
>
>
>4. Business/Investment/Employment
>
>
>The current government is overseeing a dying economy: business life is more
>or less at a standstill in The Gambia, and there is little hope for
>improvement in the short term.
>
>In order to be able to plan ahead for a better future, we have first to rid
>ourselves of this appalling regime. They have done everything in their
>power
>to ensure that The Gambia is a stagnating, repressive, unimaginative and
>dying economy.
>
>Our next government will need to put effort into restoring The Gambia’s
>prestige in the African and world markets. We have to be looking for
>effective ways of encouraging investment in our country: we need to search
>for ways in which we may diversify our productive base: we need to look for
>ways to create real jobs for our people.
>
>The Gambia is a storehouse of right-minded, well-intentioned and
>hard-working people. If we are given the chance to work for a decent wage,
>then we give 100% in time, effort and dedication.
>
>All we ask is that our leaders help to empower us, by creating a lively
>business environment:  by encouraging diversity in business investment; by
>ending restrictive practices (such as the BIVAC scheme); by searching out
>new investment opportunities: by promoting innovative thinking; by looking
>to increase the productive base of our nation by encouraging small and
>medium size businesses.
>
>Instead of discouraging investment and innovative ideas, we have to turn
>the
>situation around so that Gambian entrepreneurs have the right environment
>to
>develop their ideas and dreams, so that international investment is
>actively
>encouraged, and so that ordinary Gambians may seize opportunities and make
>the most of them.
>
>The background for business, employment and economic growth has to be
>carefully planned and nurtured by our leaders: nothing will happen by
>chance:  we have to do all in our power to encourage the development of our
>economy and to change people’s attitudes. We have to dream of success and
>not of failure.
>
>
>
>5. Attitudes
>
>
>Under this present regime, our attitudes as citizens and workers have been
>seriously challenged. We have always been able to assume that hard work
>will
>bring good rewards, and that with our efforts, we shall be able to ensure a
>good future for our families and friends.
>
>The current situation in The Gambia is quite different:  because of
>economic
>stagnation, the oppression of business, political repression and social
>deprivation, our people have become disenchanted and disenfranchised.
>
>On the streets, there is a general feeling of unease: people feel that
>there
>is nothing an ordinary Gambian can do to change the course of events in the
>country. There is despair, discontent, dissatisfaction and disaffection.
>
>Our next Government will need to do all in its power to restore confidence
>and independence to our population:  it will need to look for ways in which
>to turn these negative attitudes around, and to encourage people to think
>positively and constructively about the future.
>
>We have to move from being a people "to whom things are done", to being a
>population "which does things". We have to take control of every aspect of
>our lives, and the only way in which we can start this process of change,
>is
>by seeing the back of Jammeh and the APRC and putting in their place a
>truly
>Gambian-orientated leadership.
>
>Our future lies in the ballot box - without a leadership change, we are
>condemning ourselves to ruin.  We have to use our electoral rights of
>choice, if we are to change The Gambian scenario.
>
>
>Ebrima Ceesay
>Birmingham, UK
>
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