The president of the Republic and leader of the Ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) Monday held the last of series of meetings with different regional delegations at State House, using it as an opportunity to once again take stock of his achievements since he assumed the mantle of leadership 17 years ago.

His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, during the meeting with the people of Lower River Region (LRR) who like other regions called on him to renew their allegiance and appreciation of the developments brought to the doorsteps of the citizenry by his regime, seized the opportunity to express thanks and gratitude to Gambians for their loyalty to the APRC government.

Despite the massive developments that all the regions have highlighted and applauded, the president told the high-powered LRR delegation that Gambians have seen only a ‘tip of the iceberg’ of the developments, promising that more will come their way.

“My intention is that with God’s grace, time will come I will crisscross the length and breadth of this country and yet the citizens will request nothing from my government development wise because they would have been provided for. If you observed, during the tour, many said that they have nothing to request for, but only to thank my government in view of the fact my government did not only provide their development needs, but also because we have provided what they didn’t even request,” he told the LRR delegation that was headed by the governor of the region, Lamin Waa Juwara.

President Jammeh, in assessing his developments said the work is not complete, recalling that he had earlier promised Gambians that he will transform the entire country into a capital. He stated that  the achievement of this ambitious goal is certain, stressing that nothing can stop that apart from God. He told the LRR politicians and Council of Elders that most of the promises he made to Gambians that have been fulfilled were pledged in 1994 when he came to power.

He added: “I have said in 1994 that time will come it will be difficult to distinguish Gambian women that work in the office and those on farming. I have also said in 1994 that time will come it will be difficult too to differentiate at high institutions of learning children of farmers and that of those who are well-off. This was the case in 1994 because you could easily tell between children of poor farmers and the rich. Even the look of the uniforms of students, you will be able to tell who is who. In fact if schools open, any student that you see carrying table and chair was the child of the poor. But tell me whether that is happening today.”

Tip of the iceberg

The president, while reiterating that Gambians have not seen all the developments that he plans for the country, stated clearly that whatever he promised the people in terms of development to is non-political; but anchored on the fact that  the time that he made the pledges in 1994 was a period when there were no elections.

Belt tightening

What is incumbent on every citizenry, President Jammeh maintained is for all and sundry to tighten their belts in the march towards developing the country, because as he puts it, “the West will never develop an African country”.

He added: “Even if I don’t tell you, you should know for yourself that the West would not develop an African country. The West would not develop an African country because if they were here for 400 years and refused to develop this country, they will not do so now. Who can tell me which Gambian was trained as a doctor during the rule of the British? Before we came, it was very easy to count major high schools, but today they are countless under my regime.”

Best tour

The Gambian leader also harped on the successful 2011 Presidential Dialogue with the people’s tour; one he qualified as the most successful since he assumed the mantle of leadership 17 years ago.

He explains: The amount of people that turned out during this tour was unprecedented and I don’t think it can even be compared to 1994 when we took over the reins of this country. If it can be compared to the turnout in 1994, then the turnout for this year is more important. This is because some of the people who turned out in 1994 were inquisitive to know who Yahya Jammeh is. But anyone who turned out in 2011 did so to show love, allegiance and appreciation of the 17 years of progressive governance.

“Some people thought that the tour makes me happy, but it makes me sad for the simple reason that anytime I go around the country in spite of the developments I have brought to the people, I still feel that I have not done anything for the country in view of my ambition. But a human being should be grateful to God because of the fact that he has given you something that someone else is fighting to achieve all through his life and could not get it.”

Democracy

President Jammeh also commented on the smear campaign launched against Gambian democracy, questioning the West’s credibility to preach democracy to Gambians, and Africans in general.

He said: “Those who were here for 400 years and didn’t do anything to develop the country are today the very ones sarcastically saying there is no democracy in The Gambia. Who can tell me of an election that occurred in The Gambia in 1957? There were no elections in the country at the time but there were elections in Britain at that time. Why would there be the need for an election there and not in Africa at the time?

“But what they [the West] continue to say is that there is no democracy in the country. Our youths who want to travel to their countries to learn about democracy are denied visas to do so. You said there is no democracy in The Gambia, you didn’t teach us about democracy in your 400 years rule; but now our youths want to learn that democracy in your own country and yet you refuse to that.

“The reason why I am telling all this is because in 1939 to 45, the West themselves who were engaged in a brutal and devastating war ripped Africa of its healthy strong youths to fight for them, especially for France and Britain. Just a little while ago, they commemorated the 70 years anniversary, and yet not even a single Blackman was decorated among the war veterans. I think that is enough to serve as food for thought for Africans.”

President Jammeh cited recent events that unfolded in UK as something that should further serve as food for thought for Africans.

He continued: “Wherever there is problem, they support those people as pro-democracy forces and brand the government as dictatorial. But God is the greatest. Forces that get up to instigate chaos are supported as pro-democracy and the government branded as corrupt, bad and so on. But the same youths took to the streets in UK to replicate what happened in other countries, yet the authorities say the youths are not disciplined. 

When Mubarak blocked the blackberry phone and Twitter used in Egypt to stage the demonstrations, he was condemned for that move in the name of freedom of expression. But when violence erupted in UK, only one person advised for the same communication facility [Blackberry] to be shutdown. In fact what they did was to take young ones to court around 3-4 am. Before Muslims could get up for early morning meal in the month of Ramadan, they jailed people as young as nine years. All of them stood up to say that the youths were not disciplined and their media never criticised the authorities for such actions.”

Speaking earlier, the vice president and minister of Women’s Affairs, Her Excellency Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy stated that even those who oppose the regime did acknowledge the development achievements of the leadership, while calling on the opposition remnants to join the bandwagon of the ruling party. Similarly, the VP equally challenged the party militants to welcome the newcomers with open arms, as that is very important to the growth and development of the party.

She also harped on the achievements of the present government, noting that one of the Gambian leader’s achievements is his success in eradicating ignorance in the country through the promotion of education at all levels. She also lauded his support to women, citing the free maternal care women enjoy at health facilities in the country.

The vice president then urged the people of LRR to vote for the APRC in the upcoming election.

The minister of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters, and the deputy minister of Petroleum, Lamin Kaba Bajo and Teneng Ba Jaiteh, respectively both took turns to stress on the developments registered by the present regime, while calling on the militants to remain not only committed but open to newcomers.

Stalwarts’ account

Other speakers at the meeting took turns to heap praises on President Jammeh for his achievements, while reassuring him of LRR’s desire to give him a historic percentage at the polls in the upcoming election.

The governor of the region, Lamin Waa Juwara, said The Gambia’s political temperature has never been so low before as it is this year, noting that the country is just less than three months to election, yet it is as if there is no election; a situation he attributed to the love majority of the people have for the Gambian leader.

Juwara declared that Gambians will stand up to defend any smear campaign against the APRC regime by portraying the true picture of what prevails in the country in terms of development.

The LRR governor, who used the opportunity to solicit for government’s intervention in reconstructing the Kiang West feeder road, concluded by assuring the Gambian leader of his region’ s readiness and commitment to record the highest percentage of votes for the ruling party in the upcoming election.

Honourable Njie Darboe, NAM for Jarra West and APRC desk officer for the region, Chief Yahya Jarjusey of Jarra West, and other speakers all thanked the president for the achievements, while also assuring a landslide victory for him in the region in the upcoming election. However, they appealed for campaign materials to boost mobilisation at the grassroots.