A democratic Gambia  properly led and at peace with itself would indeed have
been on British Prime Minister Tony Blair's itinerary. The reason is very
simple: we would have been an integral part of the new initiative the G8
under the leadership of the British are currently undertaking. This
initiative is by far the most important opportunity for Africans to begin to
turn a corner and move their nations in the right direction. It is also true
that neither Tony nor any leader who values progress and human dignity would
want to sit down with Yahya Jammeh who routinely uses murder and terror as an
instrument of government. It is never going to happen. Our country in the
meantime is going to be mired in abject poverty as all these initiatives
passes us by. I told you Senegal was a major player and the British
ambassador underscored that very sentiment. He also ineffect is saying
Britain had much more valuable partners they would engage in their most
ambitious agenda in our subregion  and Gambia wasn't part of that grouping.
In diplomatic parlance, he is saying our country is relegated to the bottom
of the priority list. Gambia is going to forgo millions of dollars in aid and
a chance to be fully integrated into the family of nations whose common value
is respect for the lives of their citizens and their overall economic
well-being simply because we have thugs and criminals pretending to be a
government. To suggest that not visiting Gambia was a scheduling issue
displays an acute lack of understanding of the way relationships are
nurtured. Leaders who share a common set of values and interests tend to
visit each other.Yahya is a murderer and a terrorist with absolutely nothing
in common with Mr Blair. That's all. He does not fit a single criteria
required for the new partnership the G8 is working hard on. President Wade on
the other hand does and he will make Senegal a better place for it. You may
also be interested to note that Senegal is a major component of the Africa
Stabilization Force that is being created primarily with American funding to
have a robust peace keeping force within the subregion. The Americans will
train and equip battalions from Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria to form the core
of the group. Again it would be another opportunity for the already
professional Senegalese army to get further training and bolster their
impressive record for peacekeeping. The Gambia is out  of that loop too. What
Yahya does is to pretend to be interested in peacekeeping by sending a
handful police officers or soldiers from the decimated and ragtag security
apparatus to East Timor and Sierra Leone. They are often not even the better
suited ones. Just cronies of the regime jostle for these token deployments.
Our national army is a shell of an organization with all of the trained and
experienced officer corps who the taxpayers spent a lot of money to train
purged. It is now led by tribal cronies most of whom cannot pass basic
officer entrance exams. Our small army if it were competently organized and
professionally led by good and trained officers could have been at the center
of this peacekeeping architecture with our Senegalese , Ghanian and Nigerian
brothers keeping the peace in our own backyard. It would also vastly expand
opportunities for folks who want to make a career out of the army.
      While it is relatively easy to quantify the real cost of this regime to
the Gambian people, the opportunity cost in terms of what we can do with our
limited resources and all the good and I must add very much needed things
that are passing us by is even greater. Even the most conservative estimates
has it that The Gambia is loosing tens of millions of Dalasis in funding
because of the regime we have. It is brutal, corrupt and incompetent. They
simply are a disaster to our people. What is going to happen to the hundreds
of thousands of young people in our country? There are no jobs and there
won't be any jobs either because this government does not have a clue. you
will not see a single statistic that points to a promising future. It is an
unmittigating disaster and yet all we here from them is an endless stream of
lies , excuses and clumsy attempts at rationalizing their failures.
Leadership requires people with talent, tact, temperament, integrity and a
strong desire to make a difference. I'd like to hear from any list member who
thinks even one of these thugs fit this billing. Until they are out of there
and replaced by honorable with the requisite qualities we are going to remain
firmly in the diplomatic leper colony.
Karamba

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