Gambia L,
Whenever I write, or say, something critical of Mr Jammeh, or his
government, those die-hard supporters of Jammeh, be they on the L, or
outside the L, are always quick in accusing me, among other things, of just
being "anti Jammeh".
But, as I indicated on this forum, some time ago, I can, without any
protraction, put my hand on the Holy Qur'an (to the effect) that I have
nothing personal against Mr Jammeh.
Of course, what I have been consistently opposing are Jammeh policies and
actions, which, in my view, are detrimental to the well-being of the
majority of Gambians. People keep saying that the living conditions of the
majority of Gambians have improved "considerably" since Jammeh seized power
in July 1994.
But these claims, unfortunately, are not supported - or backed - by various
economic reports on the Gambia that are published from time to time. Perhaps
something is wrong with my eyes, or I must be reading from the wrong reports
on the Gambia (laugh!). Of course, I am not!!
For those of you who do not know, the United Nations Economic Commission for
Africa (UNECA) recently published an "Economic Report on Africa for 1999",
and the report makes interesting reading/revelations, in relation to the
state of the African economies in 1998.
The report is long and technical, but I'll try to interpret it as simple as
possible, so that its content can be fully understood. Unfortunately, time
does not permit me to interpret, or put the whole report in proper
perspective as at now.
What I'll do in this piece is to confine myself to chapter 3 of the report,
which looks at the well-being of Africans, in terms of income, health,
education and freedoms.
For your information, Chapter 3 of the report names 12 countries in Africa
that have the lowest scores in a survey conducted, which looked at the
well-being of Africans, as I already mentioned, in terms of their income,
freedoms, health and education. And I am afraid to say that the Gambia is
one of the 12 countries in Africa that are trailing behind, according to the
UNECA report.
I would give you the 12 countries named in the report later on. Also, later
on, I'll give you the 13 countries that have the highest scores, according
to the report.
But before that, let me inform you that what chapter 3 of the report
did/does was/is to develop indices, not only to assess current (economic)
performance and policy stance (in Africa), but also to evaluate the medium
to long-run sustainability of economic growth (in Africa).
The UNECA then stresses the importance of the well-being of each African,
saying it is central to the notion and measurement of our economic
development.
Economic policies and performances are deemed good if their impact on
well-being is both positive and sustainable, according to the report. Having
said that, the analysis in chapter 3 of the report then uses four elements
to measure the quality of life of the African. The elements used were income
levels, health status, educational attainment and political and civil
liberties.
In short, the report holds the view that (our) economic development can be
measured by increase in real incomes, improvements in health and educational
status and the widening of the freedoms of the people. The report further
indicates that one way of enhancing the well-being of Africans is by
eradicating poverty.
Now, having looked at, or studied, 46 countries in Africa, in terms of real
per capita GDP, life expectancy at birth, infant mortality, adult illiteracy
and freedoms, the UNECA came up with a welfare index, in which countries
that perform "best" have the highest scores, and countries that perform
"worst" have the lowest scores.
What this means is that the 13 countries with highest scores are the
countries that are doing very well in terms of real per capita GDP, life
expectancy at birth, infant mortality and adult illiteracy, while the 12
countries (Gambia included) with lowest "Borda" scores are the ones lagging
behind in terms of income, health, education and freedoms.
The 13 highest-scoring countries in ascending order are Egypt, Gabon,
Morocco, Cameroon, Botswana, Swaziland, Algeria, Cape Verde, Tunisia, Libya,
South Africa, Mauritius and Seychelles.
The 12 countries with the lowest scores in ascending order are Sierra Leone,
Mali, Burundi, Mozambique, Malawi, Ethiopia, Niger, Chad, THE GAMBIA,
Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso and Uganda.
Having said that, let us also not forget that in 1996, the Gambia was ranked
162 out of 174 countries in terms of human development in the UNDP's Human
Development Index Report. However, last year, the Gambia's performance was
even poorer. We were ranked 165 out of 174 countries.
Interestingly, the Gambia was not even selected to be among the 23 African
countries that were surveyed by the World Economic Forum and the Harvard
Institute for International Development in the "1998 Africa Competitiveness
Report".
Mauritius takes the lead in the competitiveness index of the 23 countries on
the African Continent, followed by Tunisia, Botswana, Namibia, Morocco, and
Egypt. This means that these six countries are the most competitive
economies of the 23 surveyed.
The Africa Competitiveness Report measures the competitiveness of these 23
countries based on estimates for medium-term economic growth and their
control of income levels. In other words, in the report, overall
competitiveness is calculated based on an average of six indices: openness,
government, finance, labour, infrastructure and institutions.
It is therefore clear - looking at the various economic reports that are
published from time to time on the Gambia - that the Gambian economy has
indeed been sinking, since Jammeh assumed leadership of our motherland,
unless these reports are not telling the truth. Which is, of course, not the
case.
Please, take it or leave it, but what prevails in the Gambia today, as far
as the economy is concerned, is nothing less than a mismanaged economy or an
economy in crisis. In fact, in my view, sooner rather later, the real/true
picture of the state of the Gambian economy will come clearer, even to the
pro-Jammeh camp. No one can suppress the truth eternally!! The truth must
prevail at all cost!!
Ebrima Ceesay,
Birmigham, UK.
Wassa Fatty,
Good to hear from you, and thanks for your useful contribution to the
subject of Socialism. The person who privately requested some information
regarding the "failure of Socialism" is on the L, and I hope he, too, finds
your contributions helpful.
I have also given him (the person who needs the information) some references
from both leftist and rightist perspectives on the subject. Paul Foot, a
die-hard marxist/journalist/political commentator has also addressed the
issue quite adequately in one of his books. Once again, Wassa, thanks for
your input and keep it up!
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