*President Jammeh’s Lame Excuses for removing Ministers, Judges and Officials: Everyone else is to blame but...! * * *By Momodou Olly Mboge* * These past few days the Gambian community both at home and abroad have been preoccupied discussing Jammeh’s cacophonous public explication of the reasons why he had to sack senior government officials. The online media is wired and the telephone lines to their sources embedded deep inside government are filing updates. The various papers are screaming with breaking news headlines. Amongst the breaking news, perhaps the most surprising of all the sackings is that of the speaker of the Gambian National Assembly, Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay-the self-acclaimed *‘Mbindan or maid’* of the Sheikh. Indeed, one would be excused to opine that FJC’s sacking is more dramatic than that of the APRC mouthpiece Yankuba Touray, though recycling of the sycophants wouldn’t come as a surprise to most. As reported by the The Point Newspaper (09/06/06) amongst some of the reasons cited by the *venerable sheikh* were that of lack of initiative, corruption, and non-commitment to work by those axed. Mr Jammeh, lamented how difficult and frustrating it is for him to have to always intervene with threats so as to get projects moving and meet deadlines. Jammeh, in the usual churlishness characteristic of him reminded his audience that he took over power to *‘develop Gambia at all cost’ *thus nothing will hinder him achieving this goal. Gambia should be grateful to have Jammeh the great *visionary of development* at the helm going by the pathology of his ardent supporters. Here one is reminded of the fatuous fake character calling himself Fankung Fankung. Why use fake identify if you believe in the benevolence and inherent goodness of the *Great Leader and herbal doctor.* Listening to the *Sheikh, Professor, Alagi, Doctor, Chief of Staff, President Jammeh,* one is apt to sympathise with him for putting to work the magical *iron broom to cleanse *his government of* *saboteurs of his *great development plans. *However such sympathy quickly dissipates as soon as one’s conscience is confronted by Jammeh’s notorious and bloody record from the moment he forced himself upon Gambians. One realises that all these explanations are evidence of a failed leader refusing to take responsibility of his policies and actions. Mr Jammeh, as with most autocrats take themselves as masters rather than servants of the people they rule. Paul Collier delves in his latest book *War, Guns, and Votes (2009)*, the different approaches to governance found in mature democracies against those found ‘in societies of the bottom billion’, that constitute the poorest of the poor of the world and mostly found in Africa. He observes that in the latter there is an ‘arrogant assumption that government is there to rule rather than to serve’. He further illustrates his point by stating that: ‘*You only have to look at the official photographs of political leaders to get the point. In the mature democracies our political leaders smile: they are desperate to ingratiate themselves with their masters, the voters. In the societies of the bottom billion the leaders do not smile: their official portraits stare down from every public building, every schoolroom, with a menacing grimace. They are masters now that thankfully the colonialists have gone’ (2009:2 *emphasis added*). *It has been a while since I was last in the Gambia, but I have no doubt the portrait of the great *demon fighter, nemesis of the witches cum AIDS curer* looms large everywhere. His masterful and watchful grimace hounds every soul in the Gambia. Indeed Collier captures the reality of the megalomaniacs posturing as visionary leaders across Africa; from the greatest disappointment of them all the *Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to the raw brute Yahya Jammeh.* When these autocrats blame their subordinates for lackadaisical behaviour and other short comings one wonders really what is going in the head of such leaders. They have no iota of compunction in relation to the abject hardships and suffering their rule is having on ordinary folks. For the likes of Yahya Jammeh being responsible is anathema to them, their failures are the fault of everyone else but. They keep saying or reminding everyone that they have the best intentions for their countries and peoples. For these mad men, the problem is their citizens who are lazy and unreceptive to their brilliant initiatives. In the case of Gambia too much ‘*Ataya*’ guzzling is to blame for idleness and bad work ethics according to Mr Jammeh. Maybe Jammeh should blame the British for not doing their colonising properly, why didn’t they enforce the so-called *Protestant work ‘ethic’ *the president wants to see in Gambians when they criminally acquired our domain and were illegally residing in it. Maybe as thieves and bullies always do, the British colonialists were busy watching their backs against the unpredictable *‘noble savage’ *less he attempted to revert into his *‘dishonest and atavistic’* ways to disrupt the paradise-like sojourn they were enjoying. Or perhaps the *Protestant work ethic* is just another of the many myths and hoaxes the British are adept at creating a false consciousness and greatness of their national identity. One would have thought that visionaries are meant to inspire people and get them to take ‘ownership’ and be full participants and partners in development endeavours. However, our Fankung Fankung in his diabolical lecture on ‘development approaches’ such as the people-centred approach exemplified by Jammeh going by his warped definition, never ventured to understand why people are not taking ‘ownership’ of the *Great Leader’s initiatives*. It did not occur to him that as per development theory and practice, ‘participation’, ‘partnership’, ‘empowerment’, ‘ownership’ and the many several buzzwords only becomes panacea for positive change for people only if they are actively part of decision-making processes, are consulted, respected, and allowed to express themselves freely about things that matters to them. The basics of development studies since beginning of the ‘development era’ associated with the aftermath of the Second World War has been vociferous on the why development-*meaning good and positive* *change * (*in agreeing with the definition of the iconoclastic Robert Chambers of the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University)* hasn’t been realisable to most countries south of the Sahara and notably north of Limpopo river. The debate which is still on-going concerning why development has been a mirage to the ‘bottom billion’ is largely attributed to the lack of bottom-up participatory approaches. The top-down approach which Mr Fankung Fankung is confusing with participatory development does not work and hasn’t worked. Development comes from within, it cannot be imposed. If it is imposed people will resist. Power can be resisted by a weak, demoralised and scared people through various means. A people living under fear and oppression through their everyday lives can give the two fingers to their oppressors through subtle resistance. In *‘Weapons of the Weak’* James Scott (1985) theorised that the weak do not always succumb to the dominance of the powerful. The weak according to his typology do have the tendency to use foot dragging, pretending to be stupid, and absenteeism and so forth to register their disgust and indifference to their oppressors. If Mr Jammeh has a little bit of insight on the psychology of the subaltern masses, he would have realised that his governance style of using of raw, brute and cowardly force to subjugate will be sabotaged in one way or another. *Ya Sheikh Demon Destroyer Jammeh you should be told power cannot be sustained through fear, greed or patronage.* As an autocrat who is only interested in himself, Jammeh’s problem is self-inflicted. Claims of sacking people for corruption is rich coming from someone who was a pauper before the 22 July 1994 and has amassed so much wealth that his future descendants will never be poor according to his own declaration. The most corrupt and number one thief in the Gambia is the Mobutu clone Yahya Jammeh. The President cannot surround himself with sycophants as his advisers and expect to feel the pulse of the ordinary Pathe, Kebba or Kumba. Perhaps, it is time to step down and apologise to the Gambians that he had failed to deliver. When Nyerere realised that he was not delivering the promises he made to Tanzanians, he graciously bowed out of politics and honourably retired. He is remembered today as someone who’d tried to do his best but failed. He left a good legacy. There are decent leaders though few who’d tried to make a difference but failed and stepped down with their head held high, Yahya Jammeh can follow these lot and be remembered in the good books of Gambians. A decade and half has passed and still Gambians are gazing at the ever disappearing ‘lighthouse’ of the development promised by ‘*soldiers with a difference who proclaimed transparency, accountability and openness as their guiding values’* to usher in a new prosperous nation. Mr Jammeh you are advised to stop blaming others for your ineptitude and failures and understand you will only succeed in moving Gambia forward if you stop behaving like a master and be more like a servant. Take responsibility, great visionaries are responsible leaders. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤