Brother Sanusi,
The self contradiction of the regime are too many to be all documentable by
one person. The case of Bakary Njie is just one among many of Yahya Jammeh's
relationship with individuals who were condemned as corrupt by his
instruments for legitimacy that he set up against officials of the previous
regime. Now that Jammeh has submerged himself into corruption of a nature
and scale unprecedented in the Gambia, he might have concluded that his most
reliable allies will be those who have been publicly judged by him to be
corrupt. 'Join my alliance or i will seize all your assets', Jammeh says to
them.
Even whereas Mr Bakary Njie was 'found guilty' by one of the phoney
commissions of Inquiry set up by the APRC, he is far, far more decent and
cleaner than the rogue who appointed him. After all, Isn't the APRC presided
over by an Alliance of Puppets, Rogues and Corrupt (APRC) individuals? Of
course, it is. If Bakary Njie is truly guilty of corruption as reported by
Jammeh's commission, then it would absolutely be easy for him to fit into
the APRC cabinet. Otherwise, sooner rather than later, Mr Njie's assets will
be confiscicated again and if this should recur, his chance of having them
back will be nil.
It is also my view that whatever his shortcomings, Mr Njie should be
credited with creating and presiding over the most successful parastatal
that the the Gambia had ever seen. In fact, thanks to his leadership that we
are where we are in the telecommunication sector, this is inspite of the
excessive thefts from the accounts of Gamtel by the current regime. Had
NAWEC formerly GUC, GPTC, Co-operative, GPMB, etc yielded the same or near
results as Gamtel, maybe the need would not have arisen for the most easily
corruptible person in Africa to emerge posing himself as a saviour leader of
our nation. S'il vous plait, I don't want Gassa or anyone else to remind me
that it is the APRC that brought about the nearly outdated GSM system in the
country. Where was transparency and accountability when that deal was made?
killed and buried by Jammeh. I will only be impressed by the APRC in the
sphere of telecommunication when the land telephone exchange is extended to
every hamlet, village, and town in our small country. Maybe most in the
countryside are too much preoccupied with prayers for the government to be
able to pay them for their groundnut produce inorder to get on with survival
and to be able to educate their children to be bothered about mobile phones
or any other Gamtel impact.
Gassa, although i believe that there is more justification in opposing the
regime than supporting it because of its record in power, i nonetheless
always look forward to getting your perspectives on national issues about
which i mostly disagree with but respect. As far as your support for the
APRC is concerned, you stand on different sides of the political spectrum
from individuals such as KB, Ams or even myself but we are not enemies and
should never be so.
Ams, please therefore conduct your discussions with a more semblance of
maturity rather than peddling allegations of drunkeness at Gassa. There is a
difference between rivalry and enmity and the failure of Africans to
recognise such a difference is part of the reasons for the so many wars on
our continent. We should never be afraid to let our feelings known to one
another, it is a sure way for us to better understand one another and
accept each others viewpoint. Unfortunately for President Jammeh any person
who genuinely opposes him is fit to be taken six feet deep irrespective of
his hypocritical calls for the opposition to work with him. We should all
share a common objective for a Gambia in which all political views with the
exception of anarchism are tolerated and where the rule of law is upheld and
promoted. Had the rule of law truly ruled in the Gambia, do you believe that
Dumo and his co-defendants would still have been in jail without any iota of
evidence proving their guilt produced against them so far by the State. What
a shame on the leaders of the 22nd July revolution! Who was Maitre Wadda
kidding when he said that the Rule of Law prevails in the Gambia? If not
Jammeh, maybe Yerro Mama who has now turn to the G-L Archives as a means of
getting information from the forum. Yerro Mama or Essa Sey, good luck in
your new assignment but be assured that threats cannot deter us from
speaking our minds.
The future of the APRC
My statistical take on the ever-waning APRC support base is:
1-Between July 22nd 1994 and 10 November the AFPRC enjoyed circa 75%
support among potential voters.
2-In the 1996 unfair presidential contest, the APRC secured only 56% of
the vote.
3-In 2001, the APRC vote declined to 53% inspite of the significant number
of cassamance voters for the party.
In so far as the survival plight of the avarage Gambian worsen from the
uncessant fluctuation in the value of the Dalasi coupled with lack of
concrete government financial and economic policies to arrest this
undermining trend, the support base of the regime will continue to be eroded
beyond salvation. Then the poor farmers and urban dwellers who are the
majority within our population will be convinced beyond any doubt that
Jammeh has failed them. The person who feels the pain need not be told of
its extent as goes the saying: "He who feels it knows it".When the time
comes, no one would even need to remind them of Jammeh's inability to fulfil
even their most humbled expectation, which is curtailing poverty.
In spite of the state-sponsored acts of illegalities being committed against
Gambians, i am convinced that Gambia has not reached the state for mass
agitations in the streets or uncontitutional acts of last resort to provide
the solutions to the problems or abuses of power in our country. Most often
than not, in times of upheavel it is the innocent that pay the price as the
conflict in S/Leone has shown. Jammeh's departure from the political scene
will be as smooth as his arrival, not even a fly will be killed nor will he
leave aboard his private plane or any ship on the port of Banjul. At least,
this is what i am dreaming to happen. The only source of comfort about the
unfortunate situation of the country is the perpetrators of the crimes are
known to all us and one day they will be arraigned before the law to answer
to their crimes. Gambians are typically very patient people but it is
assuring to know that the majority of us hate injustice and arbitrariness in
the exercise of power. Patience should never be equated with weakness or
fear. Only the strong can be patient, the weak always succumb.
It is therefore incumbent on the so-called diasporans and all genuine
opposition parties to campaign for the enfranchisement of Gambians living
abroad. Their vote is essential to offset the number of cassamance voters
that Jammeh will increasingly resort to especially as Gambians discover that
he chose green for the color of his party's flag because he is like a green
snake in the green grass. If left to the APRC or the IEC, people from
cassamance are preferable to vote than Gambians abroad.
The yoke of oppression must be shattered!
BMK
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