Mr. Sallah,
I have to begin by congratulating you for exercising good judgment by
refusing a post in Yaya Jammeh's cabinet. If you had accepted his bait, I
have no doubt in my mind that by now you would have been one of the "has
been" (the group of used, dejected, and disgraced professionals who fell for
Yaya's patriotism Bs.) Some people have called you honorable for that. I
prefer to use "good judgment" 'cause honorable is normally reserved for
doing the opposite of what you did. Maybe, it's my inquiring mind, but I
wonder why you're trumpeting your refusal to serve Yaya. You rejected a
position, which if you had taken, would lead to your discredit. Smart move!
But unless you want people to read more into it than there is, why should
that be evidence that you did see something wrong with Yaya's presidency. My
whole contention hinges on what you said (as oppose to every other
politician) when Yaya started feeling the waters regarding his true
intentions at the time. But since I'm asking you to level with people, and
your alacrity to turn the tables, I'll tell you what my feelings are about
the PPP, and why I got on the Yaya Jammeh bandwagon, and later abandoned it.
If this energizes you to lunge after me, you're welcome.
Like many, I was born after Independence. Went to school -Primary, High
School- all under PPP rule. Now, I don't even want to go on about where I
went to Primary school, and the conditions there. At least, I had the
opportunity to go to school. Most Gambian children under the PPP never had
that opportunity. When you look at any sector under the PPP, you find
serious in-discipline - incompetence, ineptitude, corruption etc. There was
always a funding problem when it came to the most vital sectors: Education,
Health, or Agriculture. But when it comes to senior govt. officials enjoying
the fruits of office, they somehow find money to afford themselves those
perquisites. For instance, even in my last year in the Sixth Form, we had a
serious shortage of school buses, while each cabinet member had three cars:
Official car, Utility car, and some other category I cannot remember. [This
was what actually fueled the big Banjul - Serrekunda student demonstration
in 1987. Because of the "success" of that protest, many people have taken
credit/were given credit for organizing it - falsely. But just for the
record, and as a challenge to ANYBODY to tell me otherwise, there was no
organization in that protest. Not a single Head Boy in any of the Banjul
schools was involved either. The Head Boy of Muslim High School at the time
(Ansumana Darbo) did show up just before we started for Serrekunda, to deter
"his" boys from taking part in the march. They jeered, and totally ignored
him. No other Head Boy was at the start. But, that is a whole different
story I intend to write about some day.]
But back to the PPP, I literally hated that party and everything it stood
for. When Baffour Ankomah visited in 1990, and wrote his "Stranger in
Banjul" scathing critique of the regime, they childishly attacked his native
Ghana, when anyone with sense could see he was coming from a Pan African
perspective. Baffour all but predicted a coup in his piece. The PPP gave him
the finger to their peril. So, did I cry when Yaya kicked them out? No, I
celebrated. I loved every minute of it. My only regret was that I wasn't
there to see them go. I used to have a running bet (no money involved) with
a friend/Koto of mine, who was a big PPP-era crook. Also, his ego was out of
control: Jaliba Kuyateh sang songs for him; he went through eight/nine wives
in twelve years; girl friends all over the country, -even took Tuti Fall
from Lt. Jammeh before the coup. I kept telling this man to behave himself,
because of the coming day of reckoning. He would brag to me that the PPP was
going to be there forever, whether I liked it or not. And that he was going
to be the next MP for a certain region. His "sherriffo" has assured him
that. Well, my man has been living in the Cassamance for the past six years.
It's amazing what an ignorance/arrogance combo can get one into. So, as far
as I'm concern, the PPP had it coming to them. They set the stage for all
that we're dealing with today.
To this day, I fully support the banning of the party. What can they do for
us, that they couldn't do in thirty years? They can't say it's for lack of
time that they couldn't build schools - primary & secondary, hospitals, a
university, or a TV station. Yaya, to his credit, has exposed their excuse
for what it really is: a big lie. They've had their chance, and totally
squandered it. Because of their behavior, most members of my generation have
missed out on getting any education at all. Not to talk about the
innumerable people who died of easily curable diseases over the decades.
So, I have nothing but contempt for the PPP. I even support the
confiscation of all stolen public property under their rule. Where I differ
with Yaya, is in the execution of that process. The process was politicized,
and instead of abiding by the rule of law, they (Yaya and his people,) used
personal vendettas against certain members of the PPP establishment. But to
make matters worse, confiscated property from the PPP leaders were, and
continue to be, dished out to cronies of the new regime. How can you rectify
one form of corruption with another? So, what is my opinion of that exercise
now? Return all the seized properties to their original owners, unless a
truly transparent process could be instituted.
To make a long story short, I still totally support the banning of the PPP.
In my view, no individual or group should ever be allowed to play with a
whole nation the way the PPP people did. Because of the lunacy in this
present administration, people tend to confuse the role of the PPP in our
history. Both the PPP and the current rulers are destructive elements - in
different ways. Yaya's foul-up does not in any way exonerate what the PPP
did/failed to do. They all belong in the trash bin of history if you ask me.
I just don't like any of them. In an ideal world, I won't touch any of them
with a barge pole. Call me naïve, but I believed Yaya when he said he wasn't
interested in becoming president. That has always been my dream: get rid of
the PPP, get rid of any military elements, and start afresh on a totally
clean slate. I believed this would come to pass the whole of 1995. But by
June of 1996, I realized something was amiss: we have a wolf in sheep
clothing in State House. You know the rest.
If I'm FORCED to decide between the two today, I'll take the PPP over Yaya.
Their failings, as shameful as it is, gave Gambians more latitude to pursue
their personal interests unhindered than Yaya currently allows. The
brutality and barbarity of his regime, coupled with the fact that Yaya
Jammeh himself is the biggest thief in Gambian history, makes Jawara and his
people a team I can tolerate.
On this "principle" business, mine is simply the adherence, and pursuit of
truth. To me, truth equals justice equals peace. It's a simple equation, or
one can look at it as a domino effect. Like Dr. Saine aptly reminds us by
using it as a signature: "No Justice, No peace." You simply cannot have
peace when injustice is the order of the day. Justice includes holding
people accountable for their actions as it relates to public affairs, and
judging them accordingly in fairness to all. The Gambia is a very small
country, but we do have over a million people. Seeing what the PPP did when
they were in power, I believe it's basic justice to force them to sit by the
sidelines and watch others do for Gambia what they refused/couldn't to do
for her. Why should their right to seek elective office supercede the right
of all other Gambians to live in a livable country? Just an analogy
regarding my principle.
On yours, I was really hoping you will qualify your principle. Because as I
understand it, murderers, rapists, thugs, drug king pins, gun-toting
military dictators, looters of public coffers under past regimes, should all
qualify to vote, or run for public office because they're Gambians. How on
earth can any nation that operates like this survive? Where is the
accountability, or justice for the decent law abiding citizens? What would
deter anyone from undesirable behavior when it obviously pays to be
unscrupulous? Specific to my argument is the case of Lt. Yaya Jammeh, the
military dictator. You're now saying that because of your principle, and
because he is Gambian, there is nothing wrong with him running for office.
Really?
Justice hinges on equality, or fairness. Where is the fairness when one
party in a contest holds all the cards? I'm not a social scientist like
yourself, but I did take a philosophy elective some years ago, and I
remember distinctly St. Thomas Aquinas' theory on justice: "People should be
treated equally to their degrees of equality or inequality." In other words,
to treat equals unequally, or to treat unequals equally is an injustice.
But, here you have a contest where the scales are clearly stacked in favor
of one candidate, and you're saying that there's nothing wrong with that
because they're all Gambians, and therefore each is equally qualified to run
for office. Whatever happened to common sense? (An old army guy I work with
keeps reminding me that "common sense is not so very common." Now I see his
point.) But, how about basic fairness? And you wonder why we haven't been
able to have peace in the Gambia since the elections. How can there be peace
when the wishes of the majority have been so publicly perverted. And it was
all predictable. What type of principle blinds you to basic fair play. Why
can't the pursuit of justice be your principle? From what you're saying,
there's nothing wrong with a boxing match going ahead when one of the
boxers' hands are tied behind his back. Again, what type of principle should
let one sanction such travesty? There's a big difference between candidate
Yaya Jammeh as player only, and candidate Yaya Jammeh as Player and Referee.
That is inherently unjust - by any standard of fairness.
But, when I look at your principle, I'm forced to ask myself, isn't this
very convenient? Let's just say any Gambian can run for office. No
qualifiers. The larger picture -the public good, is apparently totally
irrelevant. How on earth can we go on like that as a nation? Are you being
liberal, or do you have an ulterior motive? Are you being prudent, or are
you being asinine? Are you naïve, or are you sticking it to some people for
past slights? Is this a recipe for true democracy, or a prelude to chaos?
You tell me! In any case, if this is your believe, address this simple
question: should known murderers, thieves, and drug dealers also be allowed
to run for office? If no, why not? I'll await your reply to this last
question.
On a side note, it seems that the "conspiracy" started by Cherno Baba, that
sucked in Hamjatta, and myself is growing. I've noticed that Lamin PF
Manneh, Matarr Sajaw, Pa M Njie, and one M.L. Jassey-Conteh have all noticed
the difference between the Jawara-era Halifa Sallah, and the Yaya Jammeh
one. I can't help but recall the lines about time, and secret keeping. I
urged you initially to 'fess up. You still have a chance. Why not take it?
Just wondering …
Finally, not to disgust you or anything, but I have to say again that I
concur entirely with Hamjatta's last posting. Pele -the football legend,
said of Austin Okocha, the Nigerian football star that "this boy is after my
heart." Well, like Pele, and at least on this issue, Hamjatta is after my
heart. Not to exaggerate or anything, but anytime he responds to your
postings before I can find time, he latches unto the exact points that I'll
hit home myself. I thought your attempt to push a psychological wedge
between us is trivial, but I'm glad Hamjatta brought it out for those who
missed it. It's one of the mind games I enjoy in your writing. Maybe, this
telepathy stuff is true after all. Sorry if I disgust you. It's just a
confession.
Till I hear from you, Good day.
Saul.
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