Exposition on Tyranny: President Jammeh & The Gambian Situation

By **Yadicon Charreh

“Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make ye free” John 8:32

Gambian President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh

These days, misconception and ignorance are rampant within the Gambian community, both at home and abroad. Since President Yahya Jammeh came to power much has been said and written about the state of The Gambia and the presidency, and the messages that come from Gambians abroad are, for the most part, different from those that come from Gambians at home.

The misconception: Our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, nieces and nephews, cousins and friends, who still live in The Gambia think that Gambians abroad do a lot of talking about Gambian affairs, but that they have very little knowledge about what is really going on in The Gambia. This view is not entirely accurate. It is a mistake to think that Gambians abroad are clueless about what is going on in The Gambia. In fact, I will argue that some Gambians who are living abroad know more about what is going on in The Gambia than those living at home. I hope by the time you finished reading this exposition, you will be convinced of this fact.

The great divide: The Gambian population seems to be divided into three groups:

• Those who believe that the President can do no wrong
• Those who believe that the President can do no right
• Those who believe that the President has done some good and should be given credit for those things, and when warranted, be criticized for the bad things he has done.

It is clear that the first and second groups cannot both be right. However, the position of the third group is plausible only if the President himself sees criticism as part of the political process and acknowledges that The Gambia belongs to all Gambians. Whether he does or not is for each Gambian to decide for himself or herself but, in my opinion, the position of the third group is guided by ignorance because, for it to be considered plausible, one must first ask whether, when the President does something good, he does it for the common good, i.e. for all Gambians or only for himself. If he acts for the common good of all Gambians then he deserves credit. On the other hand, if he acts only to promote himself, but gives Gambians the impression that he is acting on their behalf, then he deserves no credit whatsoever. It should not be difficult for Gambians to figure out the motives of the President. After all, they have had thirteen years to see a pattern either way.

The Ignorance:  The President is called by many names, including dictator, tyrant, mental retard, stupid, murderer, womanizer, tribalist, lunatic, etc.  However, all these names can be reduced to either one of these two: dictator or tyrant and the reason for using the other names is that the majority of Gambians, especially those who use the Internet, are clueless. Most think that, just because they talk and write about the President, they know what they are talking about while the truth is that these talkers give their readers the impression that they know what they are talking about when they don’t have a clue. I will admit that, once in a while, they stumble on some truth about the President but this happens by chance and not by knowledge. It is easy enough to write about what the President did or didn’t do, or how bad he is etc. but what about the elephant in the room that seems to be ignored? Why does the Gambian President act the way he does?

If Gambians do not know why the President behaves as he does, how do they expect to respond appropriately to his actions, or better yet, get him out? Finger pointing will get us nowhere. Know what you are dealing with first, and then you are better able to handle it and, to understand the behavior of the President, his character must be known and to know this, one must know the nature of the soul. It is true that the President is a sick creature, but his sickness is not the kind that most Gambians are aware of or can understand. President Jammeh’s sickness is not physical or mental, but is a sickness of the soul, which is the most horrible kind of sickness.

I am not sure if there is a Mandingo or Wollof word that truly captures the meaning of the soul, but here is a brief description of it.

The soul is spiritual and is present in all living things.  The presence of the soul makes the difference between animate and inanimate objects, and the soul’s presence in an object means the presence of life. The absence of the soul from an object means the absence of life.

The soul is divided into three faculties: the appetitive or nutritive faculty, the sensitive faculty, and the rational faculty. All living things have the appetitive or nutritive faculty in common and, yes, plants have souls too. All animals (including humans) have the sensitive faculty. Plants do not, which is why cannot feel. Only human beings and angels have the rational faculty, which is why the other animals cannot think.

Please do not confuse memory with thinking. They are different. The President is not crazy. His sickness is the abuse of the rational faculty of his soul. When humans act in ways lower than their exalted nature, i.e. they don’t use their reasoning in the right way, they are worse off than the lower animals. Love has an order and it is this:

• There is something that is to be loved above all else, which is God
• There are things that are to be loved equally, which are other humans
•  There are things that are to be loved less, which is ourselves and our own interests

The President’s order of love is out of order. He loves himself more than the thing he is supposed to love more than anything else and, as he loves lower things (things below humans) more than human beings. For example, President Jammeh spends millions of dalasis on his zoo and other toys, while Gambians are struggling to make ends meet. Worse, how many Gambians have lost their lives since he came to power?

Those who think that the President will change one day are dreaming. Those who think that, if they write an open letter to him, he will heed their advice are living in a fantasyland. Those who think that elections can get him out of office are building castles in the air. Those who think that he will step down if asked to should wake up from their slumber.

A Dictator or a Tyrant?  There are a few significant differences between a tyrant and a dictator. All tyrants are dictators but not all dictators are tyrants. The primary concern of a dictator is to control some things but not all and, as long as he or she is in control, a dictator is all right. Tyrants, too, want to be in control, but of everything. …and then some. Fidel Castro is a dictator and so is Robert Mugabe. A dictator who raises him or herself above everybody else immediately becomes a tyrant who cannot stand to see the success of any of his or her own citizens.

 In his seminal paper on Ethics, Aristotle, argues that, “there are three kinds of constitutions, and an equal number of deviation-forms or perversions.”  The three Constitutions are Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Timocracy. The three matching deviations are tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy. Here the focus is on the deviation of monarchy, which is tyranny.

Tyrants can come from either a well-off background or a poor one. In the case of a person who comes from a well-off background and develops into a tyrant, he or she is usually not as bad, wicked and insane as the tyrant who comes from a poor background. The one from a well-off background is already used to the attention that comes with a high position by virtue of the fact that he or she comes from a higher position in society in the first place. In others words, he or she is not completely consumed with the fear of losing the honors and advantages that come with his or her new position. On the other hand, the tyrant who comes from a poor background is the very opposite.  The first thing such a person does is try to immediately establish himself or herself in the new found power, which, more often than not, he or she has got by accident or through treachery.  The issue is, to what degree such a person is willing to go to establish himself or herself in his or her newfound power? Here are a few observations:

Tyrants are vicious and wicked people who wish to dominate others by force. They are never benevolent. Tyrants rule according to their own fancies with a view to their own advantage, not that of their subjects. Tyrants always claim to have superhuman powers and this is because they think such claims raise them above everyone else and, at the same time, make them feared and respected. They exalt themselves instead of humbling themselves and this is their greatest vice. They build gigantic statues and portraits of themselves and have them displayed everywhere in their countries to show their citizens who is in charge. They are arrogant because they try to raise themselves above those who are better than them or know more than they do. Tyrants are always envious and tormented by the fame of others, especially their own citizens. Tyrants cannot bear hearing praise directed to others, because they think it should all be directed at them. When they are present while others are being praised, it eats at their insides. Tyrants take great delight in the downfall of others since they think that they alone should be at the top.

Because tyrants are continuously tormented by uneasiness, troubles, and suspicions, they seek respite from their morose moods in entertainment. Tyrants always need lots of money to maintain themselves in their positions and to satisfy their love of entertainment since entertainment is a therapy to relieve their anxieties. Because tyrants always need money, they do not care where it comes from. This is one reason why tyrants are always robbers and covetous. When tyrants rob, they take from public coffers and private individuals, citizens or foreigners. They confiscate other people’s properties and give them to their followers so that they can be loved. Tyrants always try to buy love because they do not know that it cannot be bought. 

Tyrants do not want anyone to do anything of importance on their own. If someone is to be successful, it has to be through them, so that they can pull the plug at anytime they want to, especially when that person is becoming famous.  The success of a private citizen on his or her own is a threat to tyrants because that person may take a share of the spotlight which he believes belongs only to him or her.

Tyrants select judges who will do their will. They use the judiciary to favor some and degrade others. Tyrants pump lots of money into the military to keep them on their side, and support male and female singers so that their reputations may reflect on them too. Tyrants marry persons from both well-off and poor families. By marrying into well-off families, they think they will be seen as worthy and, by marrying into poor families, they do so to gain recognition from the poor.

Tyrants pretend to love religious persons, not because they are religious, but because they crave the recognition that religious persons enjoy. The above observations are not limited to a particular individual but are applicable to all tyrants universally. 

There are two kinds of truth: subjective truth and objective truth, and the above observations are objective truths, i.e. what is written above is not true merely because I said so, but because it is true that all tyrants behave like this and cannot help it. Such is their sickness of soul.

May God bless you all during this Easter season.

** Charreh holds multiple degrees in the social sciences and is a doctoral candidate in contemporary political philosophy.