THE GAMBIA AT THE CROSSROADS: My personal 6-year anniversary greeting for
Yahya Jammeh!!

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My fellow Gambians:

As Yahya Jammeh celebrates six years in public office today Saturday, it is
clear to us all that our nation is indeed rapidly approaching crisis point
because of his actions and his gross mismanagement of the country's affairs.
Already, there are distinct and worrying signs that the total collapse of
our society could be imminent, unless we, as a people, can unite to avert
disaster.

Therefore, from now on, we can no longer afford to leave the administration
of our beloved country to Jammeh alone, if we don't want The Gambia to slide
into anarchy and chaos. It should now be clear to every Gambian that
Jammeh's very name only spells ruin for our country, and is synonymous with
despair, lawlessness, depression and despondency. Consequently, if we allow
Jammeh to continue in his role as a tyrant, then instability of a previously
unknown level will follow in our motherland as surely as night follows day.

Indeed, the signs apparent in our country are worrying to say the least.
From a human rights standpoint, the situation is calamitous: repression is
the catchword of the regime, and illegal detention is the strategy adopted
by Jammeh and his thugs for managing any sign of opposition.

Dumo Saho is still held incommunicado, despite the recent Court rulings
calling for his immediate release. In fact, his Lawyers have even failed in
all attempts to make any contact with their client.  When the State does not
bother to comply with Court judgements and the rule of law, then the
situation is really serious.

With his total lack of regard for the due process of the law, Yahya Jammeh
is incurring the anger and indignation of citizens and the international
community: his record over the last few years speaks for itself. Let us, for
a moment, contemplate the names of just some of those who have been
illegally detained just last month: Lalo Jaiteh, Omar Darboe, Ebrima Yarbo,
Modou Marenah and Dumo Saho, who even with the court ruling in his favour,
is still held against his will at the behest of our autocratic leader.

Clearly, the situation in the country has reached a crisis point and we
should be looking for solutions but Jammeh's actions in dealing with the
deteriorating political situation in the country are not helping at all.
That is why I insist that all he wants really is for the country to slide
into chaos and mayhem because he is aware that he is a drowning man! And a
drowning man, as we all know, clutches at straws. Gambians should do
everything to steer clear of his death throes.

For instance, for the sake of the continued peace and stability of The
Gambia, Jammeh could have at least demonstrated his willingness to
compromise in the case of Dumo Saho following Mam Yassin Sey's ruling, but
he has become so entrenched in his own self-importance and
self-preservation, that compromise is a totally unknown concept to him. He
shows deliberate and perverse disrespect for the rule of law.
Therefore, his actions are inviting trouble and instability in the country.
This is why it is important that the Gambian people be extra vigilant not to
fall into Jammeh's trouble-inviting trap.

Just witness the case of Buba Baldeh: as you will recall, Buba Baldeh was
the former Minister of Youth and Sports under Jawara. The AFPRC's Decree 89
banned former politicians from participating in Gambian politics, so we now
wonder why Jammeh has felt free to appoint this man as Deputy National
Mobiliser of the APRC. There is no doubt that he is a banned politician
according to Decree 89, but Jammeh cares nothing for that: his will, he
believes, is supreme and he is accountable to no-one for his actions, not
even the highest court in our land.

So, my fellow Gambians, it is very apparent that Jammeh's handling of the
current crisis situation is not helping matters: he is rarely seen in public
nowadays and all his motives are questionable. The question to be asked
therefore is this: what precisely does Yahya Jammeh want? Trouble?
Instability? War? Frankly speaking, given the volatility of the situation
gripping our beloved country today, what good measures or compromising
actions is Jammeh taking to manage the unfolding crisis/events? In fact, his
repressive techniques have continued unabated, to the extent that ordinary
Gambians are now becoming openly defiant. Our very streets are alive with
conjecture, rumour and intense resentment of the man supposedly in charge of
the nation.

My fellow Gambians, it is now an opportune moment for Gambians to assert
themselves and to teach Jammeh and his ilk a lesson they will never forget.
Jammeh MUST GO come the next elections. But the way things are going in the
country; he may not even go up to the next elections for the simple fact
that he is the very one inviting unwarranted and unnecessary trouble and
instability in the country.

He had better be warned that if and when  trouble erupts in the country, he
will not escape the hands of the Gambian people given their current angry
mood. So Jammeh should know that by his actions, he is certainly playing
with fire. This is what makes it all the more urgent and pressing for
Gambians to vote the butcher of Kanilai out of office come the next
elections. He cannot be allowed to hang on to power.

Jammeh is synonymous with a dodo and is fast becoming as dead as one. As the
poet Stevie Smith put it, Jammeh is "not waving, but drowning". So let us
watch the malevolent man drown, and celebrate his downfall: let not one of
us reach out a single finger to save him. Each of us has to avoid contact
with the man and all those closely associated with him; do not allow
yourself to be tainted by him and his like.

I have to say that when a country reaches a certain level of instability as
The Gambia is fast doing, then trouble could well follow. And the sad thing
to observe is that our Security Forces, particularly the Police and the
Army, are no longer defending the public: as a result there is a total lack
of public confidence in them. People can no longer trust that their lives or
property will be defended or their human and civil rights upheld. May God
forbid, but when and if trouble erupts in our small country, we can be
assured that it will be severe - and it would be all down to Jammeh.

So Jammeh should not fool himself; he should be warned that he MUST STOP
playing his games. The repression must end! Certainly, if trouble were to
erupt in the country, and clearly all the signs in the country point to
that, then the people will search him out to lay the blame fairly and
squarely on his doorstep and at his feet.

Anyway, we can only pray, as Jammeh celebrates six years of mis-rule today,
that The Gambia does not go down the route of other countries in the
sub-region: that we do not become another Liberia or Sierra Leone.

In my view, it  must be said that our only hope lies in our people and their
political will. It is therefore imperative that we, as a people, start
wrestling the lead away from Yahya Jammeh and his minions and assuming the
mantle of power for ourselves. We have to start taking collective action and
responsibility for our nation's future.

Certainly, any government, which like the APRC regime constantly resorts to
repression, is a government that should not be acceptable and one that
should be doomed to failure. This regime's continual violation of people's
unassailable rights on a daily basis cannot last.

Tyrants will always ultimately be defeated: the people will have the last
laugh and the last word. In fact, I may sound too over optimistic, but in my
view, Jammeh is living out the final days of power; clearly, his sphere of
influence is in total decline. He has now developed an "I don't care"
attitude, and  put himself on a pedestal at several removes from reality.

It is evident that he has now proved beyond refute that he does not care two
figs for his country or his fellow citizens. However, I can bet that he is
on course to receive everything that he deserves.

Currently, he is like a cornered rat: he attacks with his teeth from a dark
corner. Word is out from my irreproachable sources that he has several times
been on the verge of physically attacking some of his ministers and
advisers:  the man's mental state is perilous, and it seems that he has
totally "lost the plot". Gambians should be in no doubt about this: the man
is no longer trusted or respected by even his closest colleagues:  he is
fast becoming psychotic.

So, my fellow Gambians, be warned: all of us should be aware of Jammeh's
tactics and his current precarious state. He is a man on the edge of a
precipice, and we should take great care and vigilance that he does not pull
a single decent Gambian over with him. We need to be looking for ways to
avoid being a part of his downfall, and we should be looking to protect
ourselves against him. It is absolutely vital that we all keep up the
pressure on this declining so-called president of the Gambia: the more
pressure we exert, then the faster will be his demise.

There can be no doubt that Jammeh may not even contest the next election if
we increase and sustain the pressures. His current actions, attitudes and
uncertainties demonstrate the extent to which he has lost grip on the
country and on himself.

I heard that last week that when Edward Singhateh (Secretary of State for
Presidential Affairs, Fisheries and Natural Resources) travelled to Kanilai
to consult with his chief, Jammeh, he, the Kanilai dictator, refused
point-blank to see him (Edward) because he "did not have a prior
appointment". Can you believe it? Jammeh is also now refusing to accept even
phone calls from Senegalese Ministers: he now perceives everyone to be his
enemy, and of course, in this he is quite right.  He has become a
friendless, social and political isolate.

Worst of all, Jammeh's domestic circumstances are certainly not conducive to
any sort of good mental state:  he is the head of an empty household. His
wife has been shipped off to America to give birth to who knows whose baby,
while he remains quite alone in his bunker. He even refuses to meet with the
country's religious leaders who have been calling to offer congratulations
and prayers to the new father and "his" baby daughter. What a state of
affairs!

My fellow Gambians, Jammeh is recognised as a nonentity, a waster of
opportunity and resources; a man who is now totally out of his depth. His
meteoric rise from Lieutenant to Colonel (Retired!) has made him a worldwide
laughing stock: he is universally recognised as being politically inept and
ham-fisted - and much worse, because given his current state of mind, he is
fast becoming an extremely dangerous man.

All of us need to see him off on OUR own terms, not his. Although it is
clear that Jammeh wants trouble in our country, we must, all the same, do
all in our power to avoid the disasters which overtook Liberia and other
West African states. There is no doubt that the warning signs in present-day
Gambia are ominous: without proper management, the developing crisis will
overtake us all and could spell downfall and ruin.

But the one ray of light on the situation as it is developing is that Jammeh
is withdrawing into a hermit-like state and is increasingly secluded in his
boltholes, which is a good sign for the Gambian people. Yahya is a traitor
who is feeling the pinch of democracy and national condemnation.

Meanwhile, the external pressures on the regime continue. Just yesterday,
the European Union issued a statement lamenting the deteriorating political
situation in The Gambia; the swiftness of the response of Foreign Minister
Dr Sedat Jobe took everyone by surprise.
Why? Because under normal circumstances or in the past, the Gambia
government would have ignored such international criticism. There can be no
doubt that the regime is aware of public opinion and international
displeasure, and increasingly mindful of it. So the EU, Senegal, America and
the UK are all starting to exert pressure on the crumbling regime. Let us
then give the International Community every assistance that we possibly can!

It is also encouraging to hear that people are now speaking out in The
Gambia; and it is not just the journalists, the politicians, and the
intellectuals. Even ordinary men and women are demonstrating that they have
reached the end of the line with Jammeh and his gang. They are recognising
their strength and ability to oppose the cruel and unjust regime, and to
take control of The Gambia's destiny once again.

They are reassuming their rights to freedom of speech and assembly, and they
will be using their power as voters to put our country back on track again.
Despite all the gloom, there are signs that ordinary citizens can play a
part in bringing light and hope back into our wonderful land. We Gambians
have cause to celebrate, because in the final analysis, victory is going to
be ours!  But we send our commiserations to Jammeh, the man with no future.

Ebrima Ceesay,
Birmingham,  UK.

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