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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