We respectfully urge the genuine Opposition to the tyranny back home to stay
away from the vision-less competition of: "We Hate Jawara More". By the same
token, we counsel the genuine Opposition not to espouse the equally
ridiculous posture of dwelling in the past and trying to defend the Jawara
record and saying that: "We Love Jawara to Death." In short, Jawara is
irrelevant (in the most part) in this struggle to rid our society of
tyranny, murder, mayhem, corruption, etc.

One can understand why a backward outfit like the AFPRC/APRC (populated
mainly by High School drop-outs) will be fixated on Jawara and the PPP
regime which has been out of power for the last seven years. Simply put,
Yaya and his gang have nothing to offer us. They do not have ideas to move
the country forward. By their own stats, Gambians have grown poorer under
their watch. By their own admission, Yaya has stolen more from the Gambian
poor (in six years) than Jawara and his entire government stole in thirty
years. Tell me how a High School drop-out who never even ran a household
before 1994 can now boast of being the richest man in the country.

The Dictatorship could not solve our health problems. They could not solve
our education problems. They could not solve our employment problems. They
could not solve our transportation problems. They could not solve our energy
problems. They could not fix the economy. They could not ensure that the
farmers have a conducive environment to sell their crops.

To add insult to injury, the Dictatorship is the most corrupt government the
country has ever seen. They steal the little that comes into the country in
terms of aid in order to finance their petty luxuries (e.g. sending their
wives to The U.S. for medical treatments). Yaya and his gang are also the
most callous people the country has ever seen. By now we all know how Yaya
ordered the massacre of children as young as three. I would not even get to
the other human rights violations and lawlessness that goes on in the
country up to this day.

Clearly, what is relevant to the farmer up country, as we speak, is how to
sell this year's groundnuts in order to feed a family. That farmer does not
care about a competition called "Who Hates Jawara the Most?" That farmer
does not care about theories about how the 1994 coup could have been
avoided. That farmer does not care about how former politicians (that are no
longer alive) used to fool voters (that are also dead as I write this).
These farmers are hungry for pragmatic ideas. These farmers want to know
what the government can do for them to enable them to enjoy the fruits of
their labor. These farmers want to know how they are going to pay their
debts. They want to know how they are going to educate their children so
that those children would not be programmed fanatics of vision-less
politicians. These farmers want to know why a corrupt Yaya government will
get rid of Alimenta and replace them with unscrupulous businessmen
introduced to the country by Baba Jobe. These farmers want to know why 12
million pounds sterling worth of aid money is being paid by our government
to Alimenta in order to compensate the latter for the illegal and corrupt
activities of Yaya and Baba Jobe. Farmers want to know why the EU money did
not go to them instead.

While we focus on Jawara who is thousand of miles away, Yaya and his gang
are selling   garbage to our farmers that it is not the government's place
to help our farmers. You have senior government officials going to the
farmers and telling them that 'it is not the government's place to buy the
groundnuts from the farmers'. I wonder why our 'smart' politicians in the
country could not see through this smoke-screen. To be bamboozled by a moron
like Yaya, is the ultimate insult. I have no respect for someone that cannot
mount an effective opposition against Yaya, but boast of being able to duel
Jawara. This is an illustration of the wollof saying: "hold the kids for me,
while I beat the adults." Case of misplaced priorities.

Yaya and his gang should have been exposed. Although the government does not
buy the groundnuts, it plays a major role in the industry. It is the
government's duty to provide a conducive environment where farmers can sell
their goods at competitive prices. If the government did not have that role,
how can they explain the mess they put us in because of the Alimenta fiasco.
Who vets the operators that are supposed to buy the groundnuts from the
farmers? Who levies tax on our farmers? The Agriculture minister goes around
the country to inform farmers about what is NOT the government's
responsibility. He tells them that the government should NOT be given the
responsibility of buying the groundnuts. 'Smart' politicians would have
asked the vermin to explain what IS ACTUALLY the government's
responsibility. Then we will measure to see if they delivered. 'Smart'
parties will not fall for this smoke-screen. Yaya and his gang should be
held responsible for the plight of our farmers. Records show that our
farmers are producing more now (thanks to good rainy seasons). How come
those very people are still poorer than they were six years ago? The
nonentities running the country do not have the wherewithal, honesty and
dedication it would take to move the country forward.

As you can see, there is tons to rip from this illegal government we have
back home. I just touched on one topic and I am running the risk of
deviating from the crux of my posting. If one wanted to criticize this
government and highlight the missed opportunities for the Gambian people,
one can write a multi-volume book. If one wanted to catalog the lawlessness
and callousness of the vermin running our country, one can produce an
equally voluminous book.

Pragmatism tells us that the war against Yaya's tyranny is the one we should
fight NOW. As I said before, Jawara cannot murder our children while he is
in London. He cannot steal money from the Central Bank of The Gambia while
he is in England. Saying today that Jawara is not an intellectual or is not
a Democrat, does not solve the current problems we have with a moron holding
our country hostage.

We have people like Dembo Bojang (MP from Bakau) who has been in the
Opposition since time immemorial. Bojang battled PPP. So did Gibou Jagne;
and these people have something to show for it. They won elections against
strong PPP candidates. There are a number of us (non-politicians) that were
not happy with the situation pre-1994 and we voiced our discontent. Does
that give Dembo the moral authority to constantly preach to people how they
never stood up to Jawara like they are standing up to Yaya? Does that give
Dembo the right to say that because he was opposed to Jawara pre-1994, he
has authority over anyone that did not expose his or her contempt for
Jawara? Would it be right for Dembo to think that anyone that did not oppose
Jawara is stupid or is corrupt? Is it justified for Dembo to ignore the
current plight of his constituents at Bakau and remain fixated on Jawara and
Sam Sillah?

That is absurd. If opposition to Jawara and PPP is a medal of honor, very
few Gambians deserve that medal more than Dembo. I do not hear the man going
around town boasting about that. The man is moving on and taking care of the
business of his constituents. He will stand in the same rallies with Sam
Sillah, the PPP candidate he defeated. That is what pragmatic and smart
leaders do. They form intelligent alliances to defeat a bigger evil. They do
not stake out ridiculous positions by fighting old wars that have no
relevance to our current plight. Pragmatic and smart leaders do not let a
moron like Yaya hoodwink them with his infantile divide and rule tactics.
Smart leaders learn from the past to shape the future. They do not dwell in
the past and stay fixated on things that divide the Opposition. Smart and
tolerant leaders recognize that people are capable of learning from their
past errors and changing for the better. Smart leaders do not just condemn
people because of their associations years ago. Tolerant leaders welcome
with open hands genuine Opposition members that want to see the back of
Yaya's tyranny.

Smart and confident leaders will welcome anyone into the struggle and be
prepared to convince them to abandon some of their redundant ideas. For
instance, instead of arbitrarily condemning people that previously had
sympathies for PPP, smart, confident and tolerant leaders, should welcome
the genuine PPP people into the struggle and endeavor to change some of
their bad PPP ideas. It is wrong to partake in this PPP bashing competition.
The best Gambian politician is NOT the politician that Hates Jawara the
Most. The best Gambian politician, in my book, is the one that is going to
spearhead the alliance to defeat Yaya and eradicate tyranny in our society.
KB

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