My Fellow Gambians, As we are approaching a New Year, it is important that Gambians should take stock of what has been happening in their country for the past eight years, and ask themselves whether it is what they want for the country, or whether they want something better. In all continents of the world, the New Year is a time when people make resolutions, re-state dreams and give pledges of what they intend for the next year: it is a time when people plan for change, and hope for better things to come. Every New Year is therefore an important time and is a period when people should examine their inner selves, should reflect upon their country, should take stock of their political leaders and ask themselves which is the surest way to lead them towards a better future. Therefore, as we enter 2003, Gambians need to do some soul-searching: they need to evaluate Yahya Jammeh’s rule; they need to assess Jammeh’s performance at the helm. Gambians should be taking account of what has been going on in their country since 1994, and asking whether in reality, this Jammeh regime has what it takes to "deliver the goods" for each and every Gambian and for the country itself. This is an era when it is vital that we are vigilant: an era for asking the right questions; an era for good positive and strong leadership. If Gambians take a critical look at Jammeh’s rule, they will be convinced that Jammeh is a miserable failure: that this leader does not have what it takes to take our country into a prosperous future. Jammeh has had eight years to prove himself as an effective leader, but who needs convincing that these last years of his rule have been synonymous with repression, corruption, tyranny, poverty, nepotism, favouritism, incompetence, intransparency and unaccountability. The longer Jammeh remains in power, these things will only become more and more engrained into the fabric of Gambian life. All Gambians in their right minds know that Jammeh will never take our country in the right direction: in fact, he will do the reverse. Jammeh is the leading example of the worst type of African military-turned-civilian leaders on our continent. The military in Africa does not have a proven track record for fulfilling grandiose promises, or for providing leadership of excellence. On coming to power, these people make empty promises based on grandiose schemes. As soon as they taste the sweetness of power, all the high-sounding promises they have made are discarded on the rubbish tip of absolutism, tyranny and corruption. Therefore, for us, the crucial question is "what can we do as ordinary Gambians to change the status quo in our beloved nation"? The first point to make is that it is not easy to defeat political incumbents in Africa, especially when the incumbent has been a soldier-turned-civilian head of state. These incumbents have the whole of the machinery of state to support them – the government coffers, the national media, the civil service etc. – and to keep them in power. It is therefore, a hard task to unseat these leaders with these sorts of built-in advantages. In fact, the distinguished scholar, Professor Patrick Chabal, has said that as well as having all the state machinery in their pockets, incumbents in Africa also have another advantage working for them: that is, a tendency for the people themselves to collude in maintaining the status quo; to be resigned to poor government and poor leadership. African people have a respect for leadership and for authority, and they tend not to challenge it, even when they know that the leaders will only continue to bring them closer to doom and gloom. Chabal’s thesis is shared by other renowned scholars of the African political scene: they agree that in Africa there exists a tendency for the people to be acquiescent, even in the face of the worst sort of tyranny and corruption. Therefore, we should not fool ourselves that it will be easy to defeat an incumbent leader, but neither should we be dismayed by the task. I am reminded of the saying that "God helps those who help themselves". Folding one’s arms in quiet resignation to fate will solve absolutely nothing – except the continuation of misery and misrule. Consequently, the people themselves have to show vigour, determination, dedication and willingness to effect change in their country. If the people are not ready to take decisive actions, they will never be safe: their country will only head further onto the rocks. To this end, I challenge every Gambian in this coming New Year, to make a resolution to do all in their power and legally, to unseat Yahya Jammeh from the presidency. However, how many times do we need to be reminded that the people cannot do it themselves ? They need leaders of high calibre, an effective alternative viewpoint, an organised and well-structured opposition to lead them. The people need access to opposition parties who can organise them, give them direction and strength of purpose, give them guidance. In this way, tyrannical incumbents will meet with a united and vital force to reckon with. The Opposition parties in The Gambia have a duty to organise the people, to tell the people what are their rights, to tell the people what constitutes a violation of their rights, to provide an alternative and better programme of government. In more developed countries, the opposition parties are perceived as governments-in-waiting; governments out of office. Their organisation is pre-set for immediate takeover of the reigns of power at the earliest opportunity. They are able to offer a revitalised and different programme for the country, and better hopes and aspirations for the nation’s future. However, in Africa, we are not yet at this stage of political development, but nevertheless we should be doing all that we can to encourage our opposition movements to form into effective oppositional parties with good structures and lines of communication with the people. The opposition parties in The Gambia have to get their acts together: they have to take stock of their own actions over the years and ask themselves what are their strengths and shortcomings. They have to undertake to act on their weaknesses and to build on their many strong points. Jammeh needs to go, but in order to send him on his way once and for all, we need a strong and determined opposition: an opposition which is united, which is coherent, which is sincere, which is fearless, which is determined and which is energetic in pursuing change for the better. Once the opposition parties in The Gambia can come together with the people, and see Jammeh as the arch-enemy of progress and prosperity, then change is bound to happen. We Gambians overseas are limited in what we can do directly to bring about a strong and united oppositional front, but nevertheless it is important that we contribute in whatever way we can to the process of change at home. We have seen time and again throughout history that the people ARE a force to be reckoned with. In those countries where the people have succeeded in bringing about change, there were effective oppositions which gave them direction and inspired their determination for change. However, having said that, the Gambian people MUST be proactive. They have to take the bull by the horns and get ready for action. They are seeing the hardship in the country at the moment and are bearing the brunt of it. Under Jammeh, things can only get worse. The current situation is bad enough, but what is to come if Jammeh remains at the helm is unimaginable. Already, the Gambia's national debt is rising; government ministries are cash-strapped; the health, education and agricultural sectors are in disarray and struggling to maintain even the most rudimentary of services. The new taxes being imposed now, are the tip of an iceberg of despair and desperate poverty to come. By March 2003, as one of my sources indicated to me the other day, things will really start to get tough at home: Yahya Jammeh’s proposed dramatic increase in the petroleum tax will hit our country in a way which we cannot begin to envisage. Gambians have to realise that when Baba Jobe, Yankuba Touray, Amadou Samba, Lang Konteh, Tariq Musa, even Jammeh himself, hand out money to alleviate people’s distress, then this forms only a very temporary solution to the problem of poverty and need. No matter how much the money handed out, after just a few days, the problems will resurface in just as great a force as before. Jammeh’s cash handouts only serve to paper over the cracks of a disintegrating economy and a ravaged social climate. The problems which Jammeh and his ilk have brought about in The Gambia are more and deeper than any temporary solution can deal with. The system of life which Yahya Jammeh has brought into being and over which he continues to preside is rotten. Poor leadership – corruption – disregard for human rights and civic decency – these are the building blocks of Jammeh’s Gambia. The way forward is for the people to join hands, to join hearts and to join minds in a concerted effort to change the regime in our beloved country. As long as this regime stays in power, then Almighty God have mercy on Gambians everywhere. Ebrima Ceesay, Birmingham, UK Post Script Over this holiday period, I intend to write an open letter to Yahya Jammeh himself, in which I shall directly accuse him of crimes against our nation and its people. I urge Gambians at home with access to computers and printers to ensure that this open letter, and other oppositional messages, are distributed as widely as possible throughout the length and breadth of the country. _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 3 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus&xAPID=42&PS=47575&PI=7324&DI=7474&SU= http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg&HL=1216hotmailtaglines_eliminateviruses_3mf ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~