Jammeh: What to do with his Rogue Regime?

By Mathew K Jallow, Associate Editor

Zimbabweans are experiencing the worst crisis of their post-independence history, and the volatility of the political situation there is threatening to tear that country apart. President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for almost three decades, has refused to step down after losing the presidential election held two months ago. But, Mr. Mugabe is going against the grain, because unlike the past few decades, much of Africa’s political leadership is no longer in the mood of tolerating or rewarding failure and the kind of bad behavior being exhibited by him. In just the three short decades since that country declared independence, Mr. Mugabe has successfully turned it from a regional exporter of food, to a starving population whose people are migrating to the neighboring countries by the millions. Zimbabwe’s political instability and economic collapse are compelling reasons for the mass migration from that country.

The invocation of the current affairs of Zimbabwe and Mr. Mugabe’s name is designed to draw parallels to The Gambia’s experience. It is now clear beyond all reasonable doubt that everything Jammeh is doing is purposefully designed to prolong and perpetuate his rule. His rogue regime is decidedly determined to limit the opposition’s participation and involvement in the political process, and the spate of murders, tortures and intimidation of military, security and civil service officials are meant to achieve that purpose through intimidation. Our crumbling economy is a sign of things to come as agricultural sector production has declined substantially in every region of the country with imported rice replacing locally produced varieties. This is also what happened in Zimbabwe, and for us, it is a far cry from the time a few short years ago when nearly seventy-five percent of the rice consumed in The Gambia was locally produced. 

A thing that can be said of Yahya Jammeh is that for better or for worse, he has succeeded in outsmarting his fellow coup-makers, effectively turning them into his mortal enemies.  Jammeh has also recast himself into an authoritarian ruler, usurping powers beyond what is allowed by our Constitution or permitted by our laws. As he follows the beaten path taken by Africa’s worst past and present rulers, he is unrestrained by a sense of common human decency from restoring to the vicious and cruel Machiavellian ways of gaining public compliance. Today, Yahya Jammeh has decided that he will remain in power as long as it is possible, and unfazed by any moral calculation, he will continue to use every method of oppression to achieve his objective. Like Robert Mugabe, he will continue to kill, torture, and force into exile those perceived to stand in his way. In short, Jammeh’s hunger for power is far greater than his emotional intelligence.

Now, the political reality is such that as long as Jammeh remains in power, we can never hope to oust him by the electoral ballot box. Paradoxically, it is well known that Jammeh was elected by less than a third of the eligible votes in the last election, because more than two-thirds of the electorate did not bother to cast their votes, as a way to protest the regime’s existence. In sum therefore, from a democratic perspective, it is safe to say that Jammeh’s regime is illegitimate, as his hated APRC is governing without the consent of the governed majority. To reverse this flawed democratic process, we must resort to uncommon means that time and again have proven to work effectively.  To first bring all our people together politically, it is necessary to first tear us apart socially and culturally. Consequently, the formation of political parties based on tribal affiliation, will peel away from Jammeh’s support leaving him with a tiny Jola minority.

Fulas, Mandinkas, Wollofs, Sereres, Sarahules, Manjagoes and other non-Jola tribes in our country must come to the realization that Yahya Jammeh will continue to use them to kill, oppress, suppress, torture, incarcerate and exile members of their own tribes, and any support of Jammeh's tribal policies will only further his objective of total Jola control of the power and resources of our country at the total exclusion of all other tribes. Tribe based political parties are premised on the assumption that Wollofs, Mandinkas, Fulas or any of the other tribal groups will under normal circumstances not vote for a Jola if they have their own tribal candidate to represent their interests. The fact that members of these tribes have voted for Jammeh in the past is a phenomenon that is determined more by the level of control Yahya Jammeh has exercised over the machinery of government, and consequently, over their own lives.

While the above proposal is an extreme measure suggested out of desperation, the most likely and realistic scenarios are a fed up population of Fulas, Mandinkas, Wollof, Sereres, Serahules, and Manjagos rising up simultaneously to protest Yahya Jammeh's tribalism, which is denying them their rights as citizens and reducing them to second class citizens whose rights are less than those of the Jolas from Casamance. If Yahya Jammeh can give himself the luxury of governing from a pure Jola point, then what will everyone else from the unrestrained use of tribe to further our own tribal objectives? The second and perhaps most viable scenario is for every military, security and police personnel from the Mandinka, Fula, Wollof, Serahule, Manjago and Serere tribes to rise up to overthrow and end the tribalism they themselves are humiliatingly subjected to. We must bring an end to Jammeh's rule and begin rebuilding our country.

Lieutenant Binneh Minteh’s (Rtd) reconciliation idea makes for an interesting reading, but it is a bad idea. Understandably, Mr. Minteh like every one of the hundreds of Gambians in exile abroad is dying to go home, but we have come too far now to just stop pulling and let Jammeh have the country to himself. To begin with, Jammeh cannot be trusted, and any idea to the contrary will tantamount to naivety. Moreover, reconciliation in Gambia’s instance ought to be reserved for disagreements and crimes that are driven by ideological differences, rather than common crimes. The crimes that Jammeh is responsible for have nothing to do with political ideology; rather he is overseeing a regime that systematically commits crimes of murder, torture, and incarceration against our people. So far, we have not had the luck and the benefit of responding in-kind to his cruelty against our people. Moreover, the concept of reconciliation must necessarily take into account two or more warring parties. In our case, we are the victims of Jammeh’s brutality, and as far as we know, we have done nothing wrong for which we should be forgiven. Yahya Jammeh and his band of thugs are the ones who need reconciliation and forgiveness, and it is uncertain whether the Gambian people are in the mood to forgive them. While we are all affected by what Jammeh’s regime has done over the past fourteen years, there are people whose loss of loved ones are greater than the rest of us. These victims and the judicial system should determine what must happen to this thugs led regime of Yahya Jammeh. Alternatively, a referendum to decide Jammeh and his regime’s fate can be entertained, but it is bound to fail once the true extent of the atrocities committed by Jammeh and his thugs comes to light around the country. Certainly, there are people right now who given the opportunity will chop Jammeh’s limbs from his body one at a time to see him die as cruel a death as he has allowed to others die. The hundreds of Gambians exiles who are living around West Africa, Europe and America cannot wait to set their feet on our beloved Gambian soil, but we cannot sacrifice our nation’s integrity to accommodate criminals like Yahya Jammeh and his tight band of thugs.

The one piece of legislature that made sense and quietly passed by the docile Jammeh National Assembly was the one supposedly restricting foreigner access to our lands. The Kombos have become land scavengers paradise and anyone from the sub-region from Senegal to the jungles of the Congo can obtain land there more easily than most illiterate provincial Gambians can. In early 1994, curious and concerned about land grabbing by so-called senior civil servants and businessmen, I spent two weeks visiting with and interviewing all the three Kombo Chiefs, most village Alkalolu and of course ordinary land owners who engage in subsistence farming. My findings and the extent of the abuse of power to which villagers across the region were subjected were mind numbing. Larger tracks of land fenced off by land grabbers were everywhere from the shores of Brufut to Gunjur and Kartong. In many instances lands obtained under questionable circumstances were larger than lands belonging to every farmer in the village. In Gunjur, my former schoolmate Chief Lamin Darboe, whose father was also a Chief, informed me that the poor farmers are victims of poverty. And because of that wealthy people come to them and promise them large amounts of money and immediately they lose their senses and make decisions based not on the interest of their children, but on impulse. They forget that the lands they are selling will produce for them forever, but the monies they receive, often deceptively, can only take them to a limited point in time. Large tracks of land that were originally communal property for the villagers to feed their livestock, start garden projects or utilize the resources therein for other purposes, were coercively transferred to government bureaucrats and their wealthy appendages often with very little money. Many years ago, after my tour of the Kombos, I wrote an article advocating that no Gambian should be allowed to own more than one property. In the same vein, no one should buy and transfer a third, fourth etc property to their children, because this will put children of the poor at a disadvantage. The Gambia is in need of a serious land reform, which MUST involve the return of all land taken from the people of the Kombos from Bakau and Brufut to Gunjur and Kartong. In places where structures have been built such as SSHFC Kanifing Estate and Burusibi, or gardens started such as Radville Farms, there should be a hundred year lease payable to the village or villager. For now, the land grabbing of the last thirty years must be reversed and victim farmers adequately compensated.

“Mr. Dinga Halaku” formerly of the Daily Observer has come face to face with the demons of Yahya Jammeh. Now what has he got to say and how does it feel to be a victim? Well? He has tried to demonize Ndey Tapha Sosseh of The Gambia Press Union to make her look bad in order to be in the good books of Yahya Jammeh, unfortunately it did not work. Guess who will blink twice if he and Ms. Sosseh meet somewhere? I bet it would not be Ms. Sosseh for sure. But, worst than that, perhaps the entire journalism fraternity in The Gambia, except for a few at The Observer, will ostracize him now for his vengeful disposition in the name of staying in Yahya Jammeh’s good books.