My Fellow Gambians, These are indeed really hard and trying times in The Gambia, and whether people realise it or not, a tragedy of catastrophic proportions is unfolding in our country because of Jammeh’s mismanagement, ineptitude and disgraceful leadership skills. Soon, the destruction of and damage to our country will be beyond repair, unless Gambians DO something practical and realistic NOW to change the course of events. We have been aware of the chaotic situation in the Gambia on the political, social, judicial and economic scene. However, it seems that we have in fact been underestimating the calamity facing our country, but now you, like me, will have read, digested and analysed the report of the Participatory Poverty Assessment Report (parts 1 and 2 of the "How Poor Am I?" posting from one of my sources in the heart of Government). My fellow Gambians, it is now clear as a noonday that as long as Jammeh is at the helm, we cannot look towards a better and fairer future. His regime is characterised by negativity, illegality, nepotism and corruption. The CRISES (and I specify the plural of this word – there is not just one particular crisis facing us) gripping The Gambia are more than worrying: they are indisputably frightening. The Gambia's debt burden is exorbitant; the economy is stagnant; the Civil Service is crippled; the Media is gagged and restrained; the Judiciary is compromised; the Health and Education services are floundering; and the infrastructure of our Nation is in a diabolical state. And on top of all these terrible burdens, we are now being told that a sufficient food supply is not guaranteed for our population: that we are facing both an acute shortage of the staple foods we need to ensure life, as well as a chronic shortage of vitamin and mineral-rich food-stuffs. My fellow Gambians, political repression is unbearable, but worse still in this new millennium is the scale of economic stagnation and food shortage in the Gambia. Yahya Jammeh should really be ashamed of himself: under his leadership, we have encountered repression, tyranny, theft, murder, inefficiency, lack of vision, lack of understanding, lack of action, lack of dreams of a better Gambia. This dreadful leader has seen The Gambia as his picking ground – he has taken from it what he has hungered for, and he has feathered his own nests to the detriment of people like you and me. Indeed, the levels of poverty (from 86% in Lower River Division to 99% in Upper River Division), as assessed by the people themselves, are critical and alarming, and the effect of poverty on this scale is devastating to our small country. It is therefore clear that under the present regime, the situation is in fact deteriorating daily and people are becoming more and more desperate in their struggle to survive and to help their families to survive. As the report indicated, poverty in The Gambia manifests itself in many ways: * Poor health and poor access to limited health care and medicines. * High levels of infant mortality * Low levels of life expectancy (particularly for women) * Income insufficient for needs (or totally lacking) * Poor access to education * Lack of skills necessary for employment * Poor housing * Poor clothing * Inadequate diet * Rural – Urban drift * Inadequate infrastructure (roads, sewerage, electricity supply, potable water supply, social services, postal services etc.) * SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ATTITUDES Our next Government will have a huge task on its hands to try to tackle these manifestations of poverty: the job will take years, and it will demand commitment, energy, drive, vision, honesty and INVESTMENT on the part of our leaders. In previous postings, I have considered many of these issues, and have made recommendations for our next leadership team. In this posting, I should like to take a closer look at wider issues relating to levels of poverty in The Gambia. 1. The Role of Government/Leadership Unless our leaders are genuinely committed to alleviating poverty in the general population, then there can be little progress. This current regime pays lip service to addressing the problem, but in reality there is no strategic, cohesive vision; no real master plan; no method in place of monitoring, evaluating and reviewing progress; no coordination of effort; no commitment to investment; no real intention to make things better. Our present government is characterised by greed, self-interest, corrupt practices, fragmentation of aid, and inactivity. For the future, we have to ensure that we elect people of quality who are genuinely concerned to take our country forwards, and who have the right attitudes to do this. We have lived for too long with a leadership which concentrates on the description of the problems, rather than on the solving of them. The task that faces us in alleviating poverty is enormous, but if there is real intent, real commitment to tackling the issues and genuine optimism that our country does have a viable and prosperous future, then we can move forwards and get the job started. We have let ourselves become used to inactivity, insensitivity, ineptitude and incompetence: to take our country on, we need to be putting into power, those Gambians who have the interests of the whole population at heart. We should not be letting our leaders give us second best. We need leaders who contribute effectively to international organisations; who make pertinent suggestions for progress; who are respected for their integrity on the world stage; who have a clear view of what our country needs to move into a more prosperous future. Because our current leaders have proved themselves to be corrupt in their handling of public funds and business deals, they no longer command respect in the world markets or on the international scene. This has to change! We have to put in power people who will look to line the country’s purse rather than their own. We need people who genuinely care to see The Gambia progress and prosper. 2. Role of the Civil Service To support the strategic vision of our leaders, we need to be able to rely on a decent, well-staffed and well-qualified Civil Service. In order to attract the right people, we shall have to pay a decent wage and offer decent prospects. So many highly qualified Gambians are working overseas because the opportunities in our nation are so limited and so underpaid: why work at home for a pittance and without high status, when salary levels abroad are so attractive? We have to put in place measures to ensure that we can bring home our citizens educated overseas by offering them a good remuneration and promotion package. In the short term this is not going to be easy to accomplish: we shall need to make massive investments in order to ensure medium and long term progress in the efficiency and expertise of the Civil Service. In order to tackle the problems of overriding poverty, we have to have an administrative capacity to put into practice all our leaders’ hopes and dreams. Much of the money which will be needed to achieve this goal is already in the country: however, it is being misused, misdirected and misappropriated. We have to set up a system against which our public servants will be accountable and answerable: in their turn, they will also need clear guidance, transparency and accountability in their government bosses. It is essentially a two-way process where each group of people have confidence and trust in each other. It is only by working together in an atmosphere of mutual trust and mutual respect that we shall be able to begin to solve the problems besetting our country. 3. Role of the Aid Agencies As a developing nation, we receive large amounts of help from a variety of Aid Agencies. Many of these Agencies work in isolation from each other, and quite often "the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing". It will be vital for our future government to coordinate, manage, oversee and evaluate the work of Aid Agencies involved in The Gambia. It is incumbent on us, the recipients of aid, to know how effectively it is being put to best use. We need to be able to demonstrate how each dalasi has been put to good and effective use. We shall also need to set up stringent accounting and report-back procedures in order to ensure that the monies we receive at national level are devolved and used at local/district/village level. Our leaders will also need to look more imaginatively at how to attract outside help and investment to take our country on into the future. That we need outside aid is certain: but we should also be looking at innovative ways of using this aid to best effect. By analysing the findings of reports such as the Participatory Poverty Assessment group, we can start to review what the real needs of ordinary people are. It seems to me that we shall need to look at ways of empowering our agricultural population (and in particular, women involved in agriculture). A productive and profitable Agricultural base is at the heart of the future prosperity of The Gambia. The solution to many of our poverty problems lies in the encouragement and empowerment of the Gambian people as a "producing nation". By investing in people at a local level, it seems to me that we can start to turn things around: if people at local level know that their leaders at national level are interested in their problems, and can offer help on a small-scale level, then we can start to change attitudes and expectations, as well as encouraging participation in our poverty alleviation schemes. As a nation, we do not want year on year handouts to ensure our people are fed: we want investment in the futures of ordinary people: the chance for proper development and progress: we want Gambians to have the wherewithal to develop their own schemes for family prosperity. With small amounts of money in loan terms, combined with high-flying dreams of success and future, then Gambians can have a real chance of solving problems of poverty at a basic level. 4. Business/Investment/Employment The current government is overseeing a dying economy: business life is more or less at a standstill in The Gambia, and there is little hope for improvement in the short term. In order to be able to plan ahead for a better future, we have first to rid ourselves of this appalling regime. They have done everything in their power to ensure that The Gambia is a stagnating, repressive, unimaginative and dying economy. Our next government will need to put effort into restoring The Gambia’s prestige in the African and world markets. We have to be looking for effective ways of encouraging investment in our country: we need to search for ways in which we may diversify our productive base: we need to look for ways to create real jobs for our people. The Gambia is a storehouse of right-minded, well-intentioned and hard-working people. If we are given the chance to work for a decent wage, then we give 100% in time, effort and dedication. All we ask is that our leaders help to empower us, by creating a lively business environment: by encouraging diversity in business investment; by ending restrictive practices (such as the BIVAC scheme); by searching out new investment opportunities: by promoting innovative thinking; by looking to increase the productive base of our nation by encouraging small and medium size businesses. Instead of discouraging investment and innovative ideas, we have to turn the situation around so that Gambian entrepreneurs have the right environment to develop their ideas and dreams, so that international investment is actively encouraged, and so that ordinary Gambians may seize opportunities and make the most of them. The background for business, employment and economic growth has to be carefully planned and nurtured by our leaders: nothing will happen by chance: we have to do all in our power to encourage the development of our economy and to change people’s attitudes. We have to dream of success and not of failure. 5. Attitudes Under this present regime, our attitudes as citizens and workers have been seriously challenged. We have always been able to assume that hard work will bring good rewards, and that with our efforts, we shall be able to ensure a good future for our families and friends. The current situation in The Gambia is quite different: because of economic stagnation, the oppression of business, political repression and social deprivation, our people have become disenchanted and disenfranchised. On the streets, there is a general feeling of unease: people feel that there is nothing an ordinary Gambian can do to change the course of events in the country. There is despair, discontent, dissatisfaction and disaffection. Our next Government will need to do all in its power to restore confidence and independence to our population: it will need to look for ways in which to turn these negative attitudes around, and to encourage people to think positively and constructively about the future. We have to move from being a people "to whom things are done", to being a population "which does things". We have to take control of every aspect of our lives, and the only way in which we can start this process of change, is by seeing the back of Jammeh and the APRC and putting in their place a truly Gambian-orientated leadership. Our future lies in the ballot box - without a leadership change, we are condemning ourselves to ruin. We have to use our electoral rights of choice, if we are to change The Gambian scenario. Ebrima Ceesay Birmingham, UK _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. 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