By Bubacarr B.Sankanu, Berlin Germany

Women voted for Jammeh largely for his appointment of Africa’s first ceremonial woman vice President. He has also decorated his administration with good-looking big girls to at least calm short-skirt emancipation terrorists. Of all the opposition parties, only the PDOIS has an elegant weapon in the person of Amie Sillah. She should however remain in the wings for now as there are hungry political wolves around.

It is still embarrassing that despite the number of women pen pushers at our disposal, our government is afraid of putting an end to barbaric traditions like female genital mutilation (commonly called female circumcision). I read the Holy Quran countless times in Arabic and in my native alphabet. The al-Muwatta’ (The Approved) of Imam Mali Ibn Anas, I studied all the other Hadith (saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, PBUH). I could lay my hands on and browsed through all the recommend books my late grandfather Dr. Alhagi “Sirakolly” Touray (founder of the defunct Pan-African Islamic Society for Agro-Cultural development, (PAISACO) brought along from the Al-Azhar University in Cairo. In all these works of Islamic philosophy & jurisprudence, I did not see a single sentence, which says the sexual freedom of women, must be hijacked at knifepoint!

Out of journalistic curiosity, I once sneaked into a female circumcision ceremony and the callous mutilations I observed with my naked eyes left a traumatic impact on my own sexual feelings. I am still awaiting therapy! It is totally unfair that men can freely enjoy their sexual desires to the fullest while women are butchered, suppressed as domestic slaves and reduced to baby-producing machines. Women who dare question are either threatened with “hellfire”, “divorce”, “co-wives” or stigmatisation of a prostitute! I support gender balance but in a realistic manner so men can love their women and, women respect and stand by their considerate husbands. There are misconceptions about women empowerment that I believe need clarifications here.

First of all, women should not be presented as permanent victims especially of this thing call “rape.” I oppose sexual harassment and I believe any one who picks or tries to pick a woman’s forbidden fruits without invitation should be punished! It is however becoming a fashion since Bill Clinton and Monika Lewinsky, for people to use sex as weapon of damaging their opponents. This insults and degrades our women to “sex toys”. I believe, two mature people with no records of mental problems, are very well aware of the undertones of a romantic setting be it a candle light dinner, bed room, nice car, beautiful office, etc. The world “NO” exists in every culture and with mobile phones now affordable like candies, sending a “HELP” text to the police is not a problem.

You may agree with me that sugar daddy-ism and sugar mammy-ism is like sports in our societies. My dear boys and girls of politics, those in glasshouses should not throw stones and the cases of Basigny in Uganda and Zuma in South Africa should not be replicated elsewhere in Africa for mere political or prestigious employment reasons.

Secondly, women empowerment a lá Europe and America is not the right recipe for our African women. The women in the West are increasingly suffering from “civilization sickness” and “emancipation trap”. In sum, these women find it difficult to balance family and career and are becoming lonely, depressed,single and socially desperate.

We do no need to import these deficiencies to Africa in the name of equal opportunities. The film “The Devil Wears Pravda” by David Frankel and the book “The Eve’s Principle” by a German female TV anchor Eva Herrmann are sending Save Our Soul (SOS) signals.

Thirdly, women too can become dictators. Margaret Thatcher was a British dictator of the first order. Her “Iron Lady” image reminds me of the house hand who irons my clothes. Evita Perón of Argentina with all her wonderful social achievements ended up as a populist bully of the “Descamisados” cloth less working class. Benazir Bhutto with all her strong academic background did nothing for the downtrodden Pakistani women. She is enjoying in Dubai like a queen while many women in Pakistan are committing suicide out of destitution. Look at Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of The Philippines. She is diminutive and so sweet, I feel like kissing her till the doctor comes! Unfortunately, she calls her government a “kitchen” she controls and is now stepping into the dictatorial shoes of Amanda Marcos with more executive powers.

We all cheered the election of Word Bank veteran Mama Ellen Johnson-Shirleaf as Liberia’s new President. Now that the inaugural party is over we should be serious. Women authority is nothing new in indigenous Africa as exemplified by Yaa Asantewaa of Ghana and Amina of Zaria, Nigeria! A colleague of the authoritative New African Magazine(March2006) reminded us that the World Bank and the International Money Fund (IMF) contributed to Africa’s problems with their Margaret Thatcher-modelled privatisation-by-force dictatorship. Mama Ellen should please understand that most the young Liberians who voted her in the second round saw a substitute mother in her because Charles Taylor and Foday Sankoh took them from their biological parents and gave them guns and drugs to play with. If Mama Ellen should majestically walks around like a World Bank or Harvard aristocrat, she will fail like a flat tire since the former war combatants and villagers will not understand her. Same advice goes to the Zimbabwean rocket scientist who is dreaming of taking Robert Mugabe’s job. The Zimbabweans badly need to first know how to become self sufficient on this planet Earth before romanticizing about multimillion dollar trips into space.

I wonder why people are going for prestigious courses that strengthen white-collar dictatorships and provide no true solutions to Africa’s problems. I am no fan of prestige but appropriate modest resolutions. Late Mobutu of ex-Zaire built an ultra-modern earth station at his village of Gbandolite, which is now corroding away. Mobile technology is successful in our continent for it suits into our African setting and responds to the “stay in touch” needs of everyone, from the colourful “Afrocrats” of the African Union to the humble nomadic San hunters of the Kalahari region.

Whatever, I personally see no much difference between a “big girl” and an “old boy” government. Only that our women executives catwalk around like fashion models provoking the hormones of male onlookers! I spoke with my many officials who became conference tourists and the only thing they keep reporting about is “there were a lot of beautiful and well-dressed women!” A female colleague at the Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) once lamented, “you men are lucky…we women spend our money on clothes and cosmetics… and it is a burden…” I responded that we men have our own burden of trying to look at every tantalizing woman who crosses our view and if I were in President Jammeh’s position, I would have banned polygamy.

Editor's Note:These are the exclusive views of Bubacarr Sankanu and do not in any fashion reflect the editorial opinion of The Gambia Echo.