So to say it was moving to read the reaction of ordinary Gambians about,
among other things the lifestyle of their president,the offering of contracts
to Morrocans without leasing it out,about his Zoo etc,if the political
conciousness of Gambians is a problem for anybody,then that person needs to
read this and read between the lines too.
Jammeh's Move To Kanilai.
This Week News watch examines the reaction of the general public on President
Yahya
Jammeh's settlement in Kanilai while State house is being renovated. Although
the duration of
his stay has not been confirmed, what is known for sure now is that he is
currently residing in
Kanilai.
Pa Musa, Trader:- "The move is a bad idea, in the first place the awarding of
the contract is
illegal because it should have been tendered, even the labourers are said to
be non-Gambians
which is grossly wrong considering the high level of unemployment we have.
The second fact that I know is that Jammeh's decision to transfer the seat of
government to
Kanilai has been in his mind since 1995. But he should know that this is not
possible for a
village with less than 12 compounds and less than five minutes walk from
Cassamance
especially where his house is built."
Ngorr Tambadou:- "This move is not good for the country because Banjul is
the seat of
government. As it is, he is setting a precedence, if State House is being
renovated the simplest
thing is to move to Jawara's old residence at Cape Point."
Mike, Businessman:- "It puzzles me how Gambians can so easily accept this
kind of things.
How can the President of a whole country do this kind of thing without
informing the public or
the National Assembly. Yet still not a single person has come up to oppose
this move."
Bamba, A.PR.C supporter:- "I am one of those who voted for Jammeh during the
elections and
when the opposition talked about plans to transfer the capital to Kanilai, I
vehemently
confronted them on the issue. But now, I am ashamed to stand in front of the
people I used to
argued with. This move taken by the President is totally wrong and I am not
the only APRC
member against it. People do not have the feeling that he is in Kanilai
because State House is
being renovated, they think that he is running away from something, what it
is, we don't know.
Come to think of it, I am not even convinced that he is there because of the
renovation."
Ali Jobe, Banjul:- "My honest opinion is that Jammeh is taking advantage over
the people. He
feels that he can do anything he feels like and gets away with it. Imagine
being in a small
village like Kanilai and thinking that you can run a country from there. This
kind of ridiculous
thing has never happened anywhere in the world, anyway, let's wait and see.
Omar Jallow:- "You see, Jammeh is taking people for granted. State House is
the last place to
be renovated; can you think about the cost of transportation, feeding and
other logistics for
the soldiers and other personnel there, not to talk about the cost of feeding
the animals in his
zoo there. Just count the number of deaths in accidents between Banjul to
Kanilai."
Paul Gomes:- "From my point of view, this is not correct it only shows that
the administration
is lacking in maturity: what will happen to important documents which need to
be signed by
the president. Is it that they will drive all the way to Kanilai to get them
signed. Think about
what would happen if a secretary of state or head of department sits at home
and decides that
all the work should be brought to his house, what do you think will happen.
Nobody is saying that he should not got to Kanilai but he could do so on
weekend visit like,
he used to do but to transfer the seat of government is out of the
question."
Baboucarr, Kanifing:- "Whether this is Jammeh's idea or that of his
security advisers, the
only thing I say is that this is a bad move. You know it reminds me of Idi
Amin of Uganda
when he entered a small hut with a small door and asked the British High
Commissioner to
crawl though the door to talk to him. In many ways it's the same with Jammeh,
staying in that
little villages and expecting diplomats and other dignitaries to visit him of
such a remote area.
Totally unacceptable."
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