COMMENTARY
The Long Road to Freedom
By Mathew K. Jallow, Associate Editor
Recently, five of us Gambians were huddled together in the living room of my residence in Madison. We were engaged in animated discussion about; what else, but the state of affairs in The Gambia, and of course who will forget, Yahya Jammeh. Come to think of it, it was more like a shouting match than a civilized exchange of ideas. We will get to the substance of our contentious shout-fest later, but for now, the thing I took away from our rambunctious raucous and many before it, is that we Africans generally lack the patience to engage in normal discussions in which we allow other voices to be heard. We always tend to rudely relapse into annoying shouting contests, wrongly believing that facts and truths we wish to convey will hit their mark if we can only shout our protagonist’s voices. Wrong. Because we become too caught up in the effort to drown out other voices, we forget no one else is listening to us. Why? Well, everyone else will sooner or later be drawn into “let me shout louder” mindset, the results of which are the superimposition of gargled and meaningless noises that make no sense and which no one can hear anyway. Since everyone was talking at the same time, and no one had the fortitude to listen, our civic engagement turned out more or less to be a sheer waste of friendly time. If only we could take turns listening to each other perspectives, maybe we would each go away having learnt something about each other and about our country.
Anyway, the subject of my wrath during that shout-fest was this young lad from Kombo, Kartong, who also happens to be an out an out Yahya Jammeh apologist. As expected, in trying to defend Jammeh, he got on my bad side, but I still kept my cool. What he kept repeating was a familiar refrain, similar to one in the 1980s that I heard more times than I can care to remember. “Yahya Jammeh is not a bad person, it is the people around him who are the bad ones.” he kept on repeated, even though no one seemed to be listening. Yes, to me, the echoes of this apologist roared in my head like that ghostly refrain from the 80s, “Jawara is not corrupt, and it is the people around him who are responsible for all the corruption” came galloping into my mind once again. Even though, today, you cannot sell that posturing to a mad man, no matter how many murdered Gambians I was able to name, I could not get through the thick skull of this Kartong dude. So what ever happened to Harry Truman’s; “the buck stops here?” What else was Mathew to do? Just give up, I guess, and that was just what I did, and because I could not stand the sight of this young man in my face, I turned my back on him and walked away. It was rude one could say, and yes it was, but it was my best recourse at that moment, at that time. I have seen many fanatics in my life, but I can vouch for the fact that Ousama Bin Laden has nothing on this naïve and irksome young Kombonka.
That afternoon, before I had the time to brood over our unresolved shouting competition reality set when an unexpected phone call came in bearing news from ground zero; The Gambia. Batchi Samba Baldeh, my nephew who returned from home a few days ago, was on the other side of the line. At this point, I will first plead guilty, for I was one of those who asked Samba many questions about home, as he mentioned in his recently published eyewitness masterpiece narrative, which was carried in some of the online papers. Unlike some of us, Samba Baldeh does not hate Jammeh; I don’t think, or at least, not in the way that many others and I do, but he rightly questions Jammeh’s judgment and his fitness as a leader. Samba’s narrative makes for a compelling reading, for it characterizes all what is wrong with the corruption of the system Jammeh has nurtured for his own benefit. And for a man who does not hold animus towards our mad Professor, I believe in every word that Samba has written as gospel truth. So I say to the diehard Yahya Jammeh supporters and zealots out there; first try to read Bachi’s article, then get a handle on reality. Jammeh is a failure. He quietly evidently lacks the knowledge and the wisdom to be an effective leader. Ditto, I never call him the president of me, nor will I ever. He is by far and away the biggest mistake to have ever happened to our country, and that is saying it nicely. I cannot paint him in any nicer light.
Once again, another young innocent child’s life was lost to Yahya Jammeh’s motorcade. The last time a similar incident happened was about a year or so ago, around Serekunda market area, when another person was trampled to death when Yahya Jammeh created a panic by throwing biscuits, which the crowds mistook for money. At that time, Jammeh’s motorcade just continued driving away as if nothing had happened. This is how much value Jammeh has put on the lives of our people. A child is dead again, another family is nursing their deep sorrow and Yahya Jammeh has moved on as if nothing has happened. I cannot think of a worst way that Yahya Jammeh deserves to die at the hands of suffering Gambians. If any one can think of a real cruel way to kill this fellow after we overthrow him, please share with me.
Last month, when we were not looking, Swaebou Conateh got another award from Yahya Jammeh. In fact, it was at the height of journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh’s disappearance or murder case when Mr. Conateh accepted yet another feel good trophy from Jammeh. This time, the press looked the other way, because we can no longer accept Swaebou Conateh as a member of our fraternity and we did not care any longer what he did. And when truth is told, he has lost the respect and high regard all of us held him to, because he has failed in his role as our distinguished elder role model. Mr. Swaebou Conateh, be gone from our lives for giving Jammeh a platform and the semblance of acceptability. You don’t need to do it.
Like many people, I too have many questions relative to the recently concluded Ghanaian and U.N. investigation into the deaths of 50 Ghanaian, Togolese and Senegalese nationals in The Gambia back in 2005. To begin with, if it were not for The Gambian online media, the world would probably still not know about this very tragic incident. In an article back in 2006, I asked why former Ghanaian President John Kaffour had still not launched any investigation into the executions of his countrymen. I suggested then that Yahya Jammeh may have bribed him, because money is what Jammeh always uses to buy loyalty from Gambians and finance and economic investigators from The U.N system, The World Bank and I.M.F, but especially, those from Third World countries, who more likely than not come from poor, corrupt countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Like many other questioning minds out there, the conclusion of the report into the deaths of the ECOWAS nationals, was disheartening to say the least, but the best thing we in the press can do at this juncture, is to continue asking the probing questions, questioning the validity of the report and continue advocating for a report or a resolution that does not exonerate the criminal enterprise, which Yahya Jammeh is operating, under the flag of our country. Where the investigators bribed? If our soldiers executed the Ghanaians as the report indicated, then who gave them the order? After they were captured, why were they not before The Gambian press and exposed as mercenaries? What dissident Gambian group were the murdered ECOWAS nationals working for? Surely, if they were rebels, they must have had Gambian connections, because there is no way, no how that a group of unarmed hustling transients from Ghana can decide on a whim to come and overthrow a government in a country where they know no one. If they were rebels suspected of trying to overthrow Jammeh’s regime, surely then, logic dictates that they should also be armed. Do the investigators know that Gambian military don’t have the dare to carry out such a horrendous activity without the knowledge and orders coming from Yahya Jammeh? Who were the soldiers who took it to themselves to commit such mind numbing crimes? Where these soldiers identified to the investigators? Where they brought to justice to answer for their crimes? Who are these two characters, Lamine Tunkara and Captain Taylor that no Gambian knows anyway? Were they arrested and why were they not mistaken for rebels and butchered along with the others? Did the investigators speak to them? Certainly not because they are just made up names; they don’t exist. What boat was Taylor a captain of? A canoe I suppose? Gambia only has canoes, not boats that are capable of taking into the mighty Atlantic Ocean? Although, the report does not let the regime entirely off the hook, the demands they made were legitimate, but not nearly enough. In addition, Ghana must demand that murderers be brought to justice at the Sierra Leone or Abuja courts; which ever has the jurisdictional authority. Lamine Tunkara and Captain Taylor must also stand trial, but first we must know who they are, if they are? The investigative panel must have access to all the actors in this bizarre mass execution. The report is far from complete, the real story is far from being told, Yahya Jammeh is not off the hook yet, The Gambian regime still has a lot to answer for, and we in the media are not letting off until were are satisfied in the validity of the report, otherwise we will accuse the investigators and especially, the Ghanaian government of not caring about the welfare of their poor citizens. It ain’t over till it is over. For now, there still a long road to freedom.
Editor's Note: Some of the personal views expressed here are entirely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Gambia Echo.