Dr. Saine,
As usual, thanks for a very scholarly job. It's first-rate. My head is
spinning from having to run thru the paper in an hour. Reading the paper
though, I found myself struggling with different emotions. At some points, I
found myself empathizing with Jawara the decent fellow; at some, he truly
confused me; and yet at other points, I feel really disappointed that he
hasn't taken that extra step to apologize for some of the terrible mistakes
of his reign.
I empathize with him because of the way he has been maligned by the Yaya
Jammeh people, even though it's abundantly clear to all now that they're
bigger crooks than he ever was. He certainly never had a private plane, or
mansion anywhere.
But he confused me regarding the role of Saihou Sabally/Hassan Jallow in his
ouster. Clearly, he's insinuating that Sabally at the very least was in on
whatever was in the offing. This being hind sight, there's simply no merit
to that story. Prez Jawara as a Yaya Jammeh prisoner would have survived,
Saihou Sabally as a Yaya Jammeh prisoner would be dead meat. No doubts
there. The silly rivalry between Sabally and Bakary Darbo was no secret, but
even there, Sabally had all his cards riding on Jawara's good graces.
Sabally was simply the MOST HATED personality in the PPP between 1992 and
1994. Only HE Jawara couldn't see the bozo for what he truly is. So, what's
the Old Man trying to say now? Also, on the case of a successor, he
proclaims it would be un-democratic to annoint Darbo, or someone else
because others in the ranks were eligible as well. Maybe so. But was there
any mechanism in place that would ensure a smooth (internal PPP) succession,
rather than the chaotic public back-stabbing that his Boys engaged in. We're
none the wiser from this exchange regarding that. And one has to wonder if
Sir wasn't encouraging that in-fighting just so he continued to be the
indispensable "compromise candidate" that both the Darbo and Sabally camps
can't live without (since they evidently couldn't stand each other.) In any
case, how was the PPP supposed to select his successor?
And regarding the apologies, it's not even the lack of a coherent and
disciplined development agenda all those years, it's the corruption jamboree
that he's dismissing as the manifestation of "petty jealousies" that is a
little hard to swallow. In truth, it's ok for Mr. Civil Servant to build a
"self-contain" or buy a Mercedes. But when this "civil servant" only earns
$250/mo, yet manages to build a $25/$30K house, and a $40K car -all in a few
years period, those who raise eye-brows are hardly doing so out of "petty
jealousy" in my view. But if truth be told, this has always been Sir Dawda's
attitude towards corruption in his government. And it doesn't help matters
at all, because anyone with a modicum of decency could look at 1992/93
Gambia and spot the open bleeding of public coffers.
I had a senior govt officer as a neighbour. This gentleman spent nine
years struggling to build a four-bedroom house. Right next-door, a junior
Customs officer who is a friend of mine (and who confided in me at one point
that his salary was around D750 ($56-60),) took less than three months to
build a D300K ($25K) house! And life would be great back there if one could
dismiss that as an aberration. It simply wasn't. From the 25c toll
collectors on the streets, to his cabinet ministers, looting public money
was the rule! Neither could one exonerate Jawara. Deng Xiao Ping, the late
Chinese leader for all his sinility, said it best when he declared that:
"When you have an evil system, even good people are forced to do evil; and
when you have a good system, even evil people are forced to do good." Get
the point? So, while individual Gambian citizen hypocrisy, and selfishness
was a major factor, culpability ultimately lied squarely at the foot of Prez
Jawara. And it really would enhance this gentleman if he would accept the
abundant evidence out there regarding his govt's corruption, and apologize
to the Gambian nation -if for nothing else, but the WASTED CHANCES that the
nation was given under him. But, if that is too much to ask, how about
"Jawara the Human Rights champion" apologizing for killing a 98 year-old man
named Pa Ali Jammeh of Bakau for political reasons? I don't care if the old
man manufactured guns and handed them to Kukoi rebels. He was 98 years old
for god's sake! For Jawara to have let that half-dead man to rot in jail is
un-forgivable to me.
But generally Dr., I think you've done a balanced overview of "Jawara
the man." On the other hand, some of us who are yearning to understand some
of the monumental mistakes of "Jawara, the President" may have to wait some
more. For indeed, there are too many un-answered questions/unresolved
issues. I believe one is sincere when one admits to errors that were made in
good faith. "To err is human" they say. But when obvious wrongs to a whole
nation are brushed aside, or trivialized, then one is forced to wallow in
cynicism, even if the subject is an otherwise desirable character like DK
Jawara. For "Jawara, the decent Statesman" to take his rightful place in our
collective memory, he HAS TO take that extra step to apologize for his
misdeeds, inactions, or oversights -whether they were committed wittingly or
unwittingly. Otherwise there'll never be a definitive conclusion to the
"Jawara Chapter" of our nation's history. What we've seen so far (and what
has been re-inforced by this paper,) is that "Jawara the Man" is more
acceptable than "Jawara, the Prez." For you can call Prez Jawara a "tragic
hero" and produce a mountain of evidence to back up your assertion. On the
other hand, you can call him a villain/crook, and back that up too with tons
of evidence. In American gender terms, you'll have to call the man
"bi-sexual." He simply goes both ways! So, as we struggle to unearth the
"real Prez Jawara," we're left reeling from all the contradictions, and
confusion... Exactly how I feel at the moment after spending the last two
and a half hour reading and writing about Sir. I would have loved to do a
longer piece, but I simply don't have the time. All I can say is that, I
love DK Jawara the man. I don't have much stomach for Prez Jawara. And I
hope the man will some day come to terms with his failings as president,
and do the right thing. Our country deserves "closure" to the "Jawara
Chapter."
Thanks for the piece once again -Dr. Saine.
Good evening!
Saul.
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