Mr. Giallo,
You know that nine years of Yaya Jammeh has not resulted in any significant socio economic development of The Gambia. The government itself acknowledges the deepening poverty in the country. Other than infrastructure what has this government to show for the socio economic development of the Gambia. Yaya himself catalogs the same infrastructural achievements i.e. the university, airport, hospitals, etc as if infrastructure is the panacea to the problems of the Gambia. The modern hospitals that Yaya claimed to have built I guess are not modern enough for the delivery of his child and you like many Gambians who have a choice chose to go the school in the USA rather than the University of the Gambia.
If the meritocracy of the Jawaras and Nkrumahs did not deliver for the vast majority of Africans the pragmatism of Yaya Jammeh is not delivering for the vast majority of Gambians either. Yaya falls right among the African leaders who conduct themselves as village tyrants, kings not elected officials and a master at manipulating and misleading their people. Yaya told the press that with or without legislation his ban on Nawetan in the summer will stand. Yaya like Jawara surrounded himself with praise singers just like you. Yaya accuses the opposition of ethnic politics yet he surrounds himself with Jolas and the Fonis is out of bounds for the opposition. Yaya told the people of Bakau that there are no Jammehs and Bojangs in Mali meaning Jammehs and Bojangs are Jolas like him and they should therefore rally behind him. Your claim that the leadership of the APRC augers hope in Africa is a joke for there is no real leadership in the APRC. If there is real leadership in the APRC
Yaya cannot behave the way he does and make outrageous remarks that he knows are untrue and nobody challenges him. Whatever you can accuse Jawara of doing Yaya is not only doing that but has taken it a step further. Yaya makes no distinction between party and state, equates opposition to him with opposition to the state and has created a personality cult befitting kings of a bygone era.
The APRC has all the elements of the very failed leadership that characterize post colonial Africa: one man rule, a corrupt elite, no term limit, breakdown of the rule of law and a rubber stamp national assembly.
"A. Ebou Giallo" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:The Magi of 22nd July: Socio-economic Development, Human Dignity and Security
Once again President Jammeh’s speech has articulated the bedrock foundation of the APRC political
platform that envisions a better Gambia. Jammeh has enunciated these three cardinal points at
various moments of his 22nd July address to the nation: Socio-economic development; human dignity
by freedom of conscience and religious tolerance; peace and stability.
Jammeh is obviously a realist, a pragmatic politician and definitely no dreamer. As such the APRC
approach to governance defines a stark contrast with the Opposition i.e. the socialist and utopian
PDOIS; the politics of vengeance as preached by NDAM, UDP, PPP and the marginal NRP. The APRC
leadership has a firm grasp of what Machiavellian “virtu” means in a struggling democracy that
lacks the institutional guarantees modified by trial and error over years in developed countries.
The good of any society is cultivated by citizens exercising certain civic virtues. Jammeh says
this very eloquently: “socio-economic development is a noble duty...of every good citizen.” This
requires practical wisdom and not empty claims to some abstract human rights. Jammeh also echoes
the Lockean proposition that human beings have an “inalienable right to life, liberty and
property.” So far history has proven the Magi of the 22nd July correct and yes Jammeh is right,
within only nine years the APRC has wrestled with ignorance by establishing a university and
expanding education beyond the imagination of all skeptics and nay-sayers. Democracy and the
respect of rights do not rhyme with ignorance, illiteracy and poverty. Again Jammeh is right,
without peace and stability life is absolutely impossible; human dignity has no meaning without a
conscientious belief in the transcendence within an environment of religious tolerance; and
liberty is unachievable without the acquisition of individual property. Political defiance or
resistance without finance is a nuisance. And nuisance not social justice is what most of these
“oppositions” are all about.
So what has 22nd July demonstrated to us in the new era of African politics? Long ago, an era
that spans the whole postcolonial period, African politics was dominated by the meritocracy of our
learned doctors: the Osagyfos in Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana; the Ulemas in the Grand Teacher of
Tanzania peoples, Julius Nyerere; and the Kairabas in Dr. Jawara of Gambia. These are all typical
philosopher-kings, the arch-enemies of any open, free and democratic society as the British
philosopher Karl Popper once argued. They have mismanaged their countries, misled their people
and emasculated all hopes of a prosperous democratic Africa. Instead they left a sordid legacy of
wretched idealism and lethargic wishful thinking that still haunt the Gambian “Opposition”.
In the new APRC leadership we have a new breed of leadership that augurs hope in Africa: a
synthesis of timocracy and democracy as manifest in Presidents Jammeh, Museveni, Toure and
Obasanjo- pragmatic leaders who know how to be a Machiavellian “fox and lamb” in order to husband
the civic virtues and energies of their people for the common good. These leaders exuberate the
very essence of a democratic spirit that great achievements always have a humble origin; that
nobility can rise up from just about any where, it has no social class, ethnicity or any other
special attributes. Thank God none of these leaders intimidate the common people with a long list
of academic credentials.
Finally, I shall end with these sagacious words of Edmund Burke:
“In the course I have known and, according to my measure, have co-operated with great men; and I
have never yet seen any plan which has not been mended by the observations of those who were much
inferior in understanding to the person who took the lead in the business”.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
