Mr Samateh's characterisation of President Jammeh as being a clone of Mobuto
Seseko is eerily apt . Both men ran creul regimes employing all manner of
strategy to purge their societies  of any perspective challenge ranging from
murder to ceaseless intimidation and corruption. They also went to great
lengths to insulate themselves from the fetid circumstances that is the
natural product of the kinds of leadership both men embody. In mobutu's case
he spent months plying the mighty Zaire river in a luxury yatch occasionally
breaking the monotony by spending time in homes on the French Reviera. In the
same our President esconds himself  at the state house  far from the grinding
poverty just up the street from him venturing out only in a thick bevy of
silly security either for a quick trip to the airport  or for caravan trip to
Kanilai or the provinces . The overseas trips are almost never for advancing
critical foreign policy issues important to Gambia, rather  they are meant to
benefit him personally as the countless trips made to then Nigerian dictator
Sani Abacha and Friday prayer rendes vous with Colonel Ghaddifi. Infact
Nigerian papers later reported that President Jammeh was among people who
received hefty sums of cash  in return for diplomatic support at a time when
the entire world was condeming the brutal regime General Abacha ran. In
return for these bribes he had our representative at the commonwealth meeting
in New Zealand cast the lone dissenting voice in denouncing the brutal
execution of Mr sarawiwa.
 Both men have perfected the way to slowly but surely kill their societies by
deftly combining cooption, corruption and intimidation enabling them to
maintain a semblance of order . That way they can remain in power while the
people wallow in misery but  utterly unable to quickly remove them. While it
is unlikely as in the case of mobutu that Present Jammeh would enjoy a
graceful retirement out there in Kanalai with a prayer bead and rocking  in a
chair, I cringe at the notion that we may have to endure a few more years of
him. Like Mobutu he may have to head over to Morrocco when his  scheme cathes
up to him and he is made to realise that ruining a nation and it's people
along with it is not a risk free undertaking . When that moment comes like
Mobutu before him , I would hope he gets exactly what he deserves.

karamba

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