" Mr President, for the past several years I have fulfilled my self assigned
role of principal courtier to you here in the Presidency. With enthusiasm I
drafted speeches, crafted decrees, help set up overseas accounts and even
occasionally brewed some Attaya for you , all out of my personal comittment
to you. Today , I would like to recast my role and for the first time discuss
with you some pertinent issues as your lawyer.My approach in this regard ,Mr
President ,would be three pronged. First I would present you a synopsis of
the current situation surrounding the country and your leadership of it.
Second I'd talk about a series of options for you to consider based on the
outcome I foresee . And finally I would make some recommendations based on my
best judgment as your attorney. I must emphasize that you may not like what
comes up but I want you to know it is based on sound and dispassionate
appraisal of the situation. Mr President, the country is hurting. Subsistence
farmers who constitute the vast majority of Gambians are wallowing in
destitution because for two consecutive years they have sat empty handed
because this government can't make arrangements to help them market their
produce. Overall volume of commerce and the corresponding revenue have shrank
almost 50% in past years because of adverse business conditions coupled with
confiscatory taxes. The civil service is beset by poor leadership, low
morale and general uncertainty about timely salaries or job security. To put
in stark terms, the entire spectrum of the population, out of the very
understandable desire of self preservation are yearning for a change. Barring
a miracle of biblical proportions, I think we would lose my a wide margin the
upcoming elections.' ' But wait a minute counselor!...Everything reaching my
desk tells me I am the must popular person this nation has ever seen.' 'Mr
President you have to remember the same group of people responsible for the
information you get had you sign a predated congratulatory message to
President Diouf of Senegal. I don't have to remind you on how that one
turned out. Why would somebody who views you and your government as the
primary impediments to not only his livelihood but to his hope as well want
to have you as his leader?. Survival , Mr President , is at the core of the
basic instinct of man and he would do whatever is in his power to get rid of
what stands between him and his livelihood. And you know Mr President , you
can neither rig nor postpone the already announced elections because the
country would simply be ungovernable . I had thought about crafting a
carefully staged palace coup in which you would direct one of your men in the
army to announce a takeover shortly after the municipal elections and purport
to put you under house arrest at your Mansion in Kanilai. In reality you
would be a defacto President Emeritus with the real power even as you remain
in the background. The only problem with that plan is the coup would
certainly snuff out the tiny aid that is the lifeline of this government not
to mention the total isolation and wrath that would ensue. Consequently I
think it is prudent for us to review options that may be available to you
following the end of your Presidency. There is a near certainty that you
would face prosecution if you choose to stay here after the defeat. Infact Mr
President I have it on good authority that files have been accumulated in
preparation for a whole host of charges that would be swiftly levelled
against you . They range from the unfortunate loss of life that occurred at
your behest, graft, conspiracy, torture, abuse of office . Residency
anywhereelse would also have to be carefully chosen since there is now a very
worrying precedence in which ex Presidents accused of muder and other
violations literally have nowhere to go. Look at the former President of Chad
who in 1990 landed in Dakar with $11million of his people's money . He bought
a nice house and figured he can retire gracefully and perhaps repent for all
the grisly murders he ordered . A few lawyers from NewYork and Chad
successfully hauled him to court and he now faces a bleak future of either
jail in Senegal or something far worse in Chad.As a result I would recommend
we start sounding out our friend the Governor of St Lucia out there in the
Carrebean for an eventual relocation even as I caution that even that may
not offer immunity by any means. Afterall you do have some resources over
there already and it would just be a matter getting some comfortable
dwellings by the water, put on shorts and polo shirts with beach sandals and
try your darnest to strike up friendships with western tax cheats, drug
dealers and other kinds of people fleeing their real homes. Alternatively ,
Mr President, you can authorise me to reach out to your likely successors in
an attempt to cut a deal aimed at immunising you. Such a deal can be
structured in a way that would partially bring closure to the families of
those killed by describing in detail how their loved ones where killed ,
where the bodies are dumped to enable a retrieval and proper burial and who
actually did the killing. The last part is a cold and calculated albeit risky
attempt at personally absolving you in the actual murders. This means you
would have to give up loyal underlings of yours who acted either at your
behest or thought they were serving your best interests. I will insist in my
contact that the issue of command responsibilty be abrogated if a deal is to
be made. Another incentive I would offer is that you would agree to return a
significant amount of money to the people of The Gambia, forfeit your estate
in Kanilai and a one hour radio and television broadcast of apology to the
nation. If upon presenting all these concessions I receive a rebuff with the
other side insisting on a proper adjudication in a court of law in which you
and your aides would be tried , I can only promise you a vigorous defense. In
all honesty, Mr President, I would have to prepare you for the specter of
receiving your pension in Mile- Two.'
" Thank you very much Counselor, now I am going to publicly flog you on TV
for against your own basic instinct, you chose to give me a good solid
appraisal. As you languish in jail, I hope you will remember that your role
up until this conversation was singular and you played it well. You should
stayed a courtier.'
Karamba
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