Jammeh’s Legacy: Greed, Cruelty & Tribalism

By Mathew K. Jallow, Associate Editor

In his effort to be an apologist for Yahya Jammeh’s criminal tribal activities, and judging from the reading public’s reaction, Mr. P.K Jarju’s opinions have not sat well with a majority of Gambians who are watching Jammeh’s unfolding tribal drama play out from the distance. In his piece carried in the allgambian website defending Jammeh’s tribal politics, there were also insinuations alleging a sense of tribal superiority in reference to my piece. However, the ensuing beat downs of Mr. Jarju’s defense of Yahya Jammeh by Gambians from all walks of life in support of the Echo’s and Freedomnewspaper’s exposition of Jammeh’s naked tribalism has vindicated those who are engaged in educating and informing our people about Yahya Jammeh’s venture into the dangerous territory of tribal politics. Tribalism by its very nature is a divisive way of achieving social stability, since it is based on the concept of divide and rule through coercion. For more than a decade now, we have stood on the sidelines and watched Yahya Jammeh construct the most destabilizing form of social organization; tribalism, without ever challenging his short-sighted tribal preferences, but now the time is long overdue for us to bring all these issues affecting our country to the table. We cannot hope to solve these issues by running away from them, as P.K Jarju seems to want us to do; rather we must confront them head-on if we are ever going to find peaceful resolutions to these nagging problems. For far too long, we have acquiesced to Jammeh’s intimidation to the point that we have developed a collective moral paralysis, and in my book, this is unacceptable. It is a fact that tribalism at a scale never before seen is pervasive in The Gambia today, because Yahya Jammeh has planted and nurtured its existence there. Today, this is the greatest threat to our national security, and whether Jammeh can make the link between his established tribal politics and the likelihood of a deadly uprising against his tribal preferential policies, remains to be seen. To clue him to the dangers and deadliness of tribalism, he is advised to take stock of what happened in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, DRC, Kenya, Zimbabwe and many other places across Africa. If this does not wake him from his political slumber, then nothing will. For now, the more Yahya Jammeh thinks he is promoting the Jola’s social, economic and political dominance, by giving them a leg up at the expense of members of the other tribes; the more he is ultimately putting the Jolas in mortal danger from the grievances of other tribes. Some day, Jammeh himself might regret that he was ever born. This is not a threat, but a prediction that will sure materialize some day. Just watch.

Jammeh's recent tirades against homosexuals was more a way to draw attention to himself, but as a result of his ignorance, his total lack of understanding of this Internet age can hurt our country economically. With the country so dependent on tourism, Yahya Jammeh's irresponsible utterances against homosexuals could disrupt the entire tourism market for years to come. If there is the perception that homosexuals are not safe in The Gambia or that the government itself is prosecuting them, the international backlash could mean Western European countries warning their citizens against visiting The Gambia. To the rest of the world, it does not matter that Jammeh was just making empty threats, because unlike our African culture, western countries take such threats very seriously and act on them in very forceful ways. Because Jammeh opened his big, dirty mouth before thinking through the ramifications of his words, he has put our economy and the jobs of thousands of young Gambians on the line. This is totally irresponsible and besides, anyone could pick up what Jammeh is saying on a cell phone and it could end up in Myspace or on some other Internet site. This is the importance of thinking before saying anything that will put the livelihoods of thousands of Gambians and our economy in danger.

Jammeh's cowardly behavior towards his Cabinet as alleged in the Freedomnewspaper is just another example of his unfitness to run a boys club, much less a country. But, to look at it in from a different perspective, everyone in his Cabinet deserves the worst type of treatment that Jammeh can unleash on them. Time and again they have proven that they are worthy of the slave treatment, because they lack character, courage and honor, which are values so important in our lives. But more than that, Gambians generally have no sympathy for these characters who for reasons of greed and selfishness, surround Jammeh and slavishly bow to his demands, thus making a complete mockery of the democratic system of government that separates government powers. Jammeh's lack of respect for individuals and administrative governance is matched only by his arrogance of power, and as he continues to fortify the security around himself through the establishment of more formidable layers of security, the limits of what he can and will do in the future is still unimaginable. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and judging from available historical experiences, Yahya Jammeh’s dictatorship has only just begun. Perhaps very soon, Jammeh's cruel authoritarian rule will put The Gambia on the radar of many concerned world citizens and institutions. For us in The Gambia, the worst is yet to come. Sadly, we can never wish this away.

Yahya Jammeh a President or a rascal?