Editorial

By Mathew K. Jallow, Associate Editor

If Yahya Jammeh is not removed by our military before the next elections, the results of the 2006 Presidential elections tell a story, and make a clear statement that reflects what Gambians think of him. Apart from the constituency of Kombo East, and four of the five Foni area constituencies, where his fellow Jola tribesmen form the majority, Jammeh lost the majority vote in each of the remaining forty-three constituencies in the country, and it includes Foni Jarrol, a majority Jola constituency. There is no reason to believe anything has changed since the last elections; that for some unknown reason, people will vote for Jammeh this time round. On the contrary, since the elections of 2006, Jammeh has done a lot more evil; enough to drive voters away from him and his criminal APRC party. The murders of more than one hundred thirty Gambians and non-Gambians, the witch hunting that made international news, the mass arrest of military and security personnel, Ebrima Manneh’s possible murder, Kaniba Kanyi’s disappearances and his possible murder, and the unresolved disappearances of thirty Gambians who went missing since their arrest and detention by the National Intelligence Agents back in 2005. The election results are a useful resource for opposition political parties in their electioneering efforts in canvassing for votes from a thoroughly disgruntled and disillusioned public. The results contain an encyclopedia of information, which can help the opposition to effectively articulate points of view in planning effective campaign strategies. Additionally, the 2006 results indicate that the entire country is a battle-ground for the opposition, if they are willing to seize the opportunity of Jammeh being weakened by the onslaught of Gambia's online media, and by the efforts of regional and international rights organizations such as Media Foundation for West Africa, Amnesty International, and Committee to Protect Journalists among others. But, we will succeed only if the opposition works together to defeat Jammeh and his criminal drug dealing cartel. Now, the Femi Peters trial and incarceration, and the international outcry it has generated, has given us the momentum, and the opposition parties ought to run away with this opportunity by nominating Mr. Ousainou Darboe and Omar Jallow on a ticket to contest elections as representative of the opposition. In the same vein, Halifa Sallah ought to put aside his grand theories and never-ending philosophical postulations such as Agenda 2011, get into campaign mode, and join Ousainaou and O.J. on the road. We need to deal with real problems and challenges, and not distracted by empty rhetoric. Our over-riding responsibility is to dislodge Jammeh from State House. Rivisionist historians will worry later whether Gambia was colonized 100, 300, or a thousand years; as if it will have any relevance in our people's struggle to eke out a living from our bankrupted economy. Working to get rid of Jammeh is not complicated science, and it certainly does not require long thesis that make no sense, or ideas that have no clarity, and solutions with no practical application other than miring the opposition parties into another round of blame game, and acrimonious accusations and counter-accusations. In addition, the superfluous and grandiose political manifestos of the 1970s are outdated for this time, and every political party should be able to sufficiently articulate their platform and vision on a single 6 x 4 inches note-paper. Anything more than that will be useless rambling that will count as immaterial and irrelevant bluster. This is the era of sound bites; not the long winding narratives that no one reads. The socialist words and jargons, in popular use back in the 1970’s political lexicon, are no longer in use in today’s language. Moreover, these old socialist jargons make for boring reading. Some of the words and phrases still pervasive in PDOIS’s political lexicon include; social contract, sovereignty, masses, self determination, and destiny, among many others; words that are repeated with maddening frequency in Halifa and PDOIS writings. The English language is fluid, and it is constantly evolving, but for some reason, Halifa and PDOIS have not yet caught up with the times, and they seem stuck in their 1970s mindset and the political lexicon of that long gone era. This potentially reflects poorly on both Halifa and PDOIS, as the pervasive feeling even among Gambia's educated elites is to fault Halifa and PDOIS for remaining stubbornly glued to the idea of socialism, and appear unbending, rigid, and incapable of accommodating change. Now is the time for our political parties to get out, knock on doors and hold meetings all around the country. Our people must be given a reason to vote for the opposition, and frankly, there are million. Opposition parties need only to tell Yahya Jammeh’s true story over the past 15 years; the murders, executions, the dozens of citizens' disappearances, the witch hunting and the pathetic state of our economy. Gambians will vote for a monkey if it is what it takes to get rid of Jammeh. And I think we ought to give U.D.P and Ousainou Darboe one more chance in the effort to tackle the monster, Yahya Jammeh. While none of the politicians we have are preferred choices for many of us, we have to start with the ones we have now. And in my judgement, between Darboe and Sallah, Mr. Darboe is by far the lesser evil. Darboe, who I know personally, is a good and decent man, with no tribal biases, and I wish others knew him the way I do. Mr. Darboe may have joined politics initially with the backing of people like Boro Suso and Malamin Sonko among others, as "the great Mandinka hope," but that battlecry alone will never bring him even close to occupying State House.  It has not work for the past decade and half, and it will never work. It is time for Darboe to rethink a new strategy; a new concept; a new battle cry if you will, of motivating people of all tribes to his side. Darboe first has to find a way to convince and be accepted by the Fulas and Wollof/Sereres before he can even dream of getting votes from Serahules, Jolas, Manjakos, Akus, the Christian Community and the rest of the tribes. So Mr. Darboe has his work cut out for him, but having a person like O.J. as running mate, will solve half of that bottlenect. But, in addition, Mr. Darboe must show passion and convince himself to treat Jammeh's removal as almost like a divine cause; a cause to free The Gambia from tyranny, and not the battlecry of taking back "Mankinkolu la banko"; a figment of the imagination of some dillusional Mandinkas. He must also develop some charisma in his comportment, but above all, learn to overcome his evident timidity and mortifying fear of Yahya Jammeh. He must also show fire in the belly, and showcase the characteristics of real leadership, which he has so far woefully failed to demonstrate. For now, the past decade and half has hopefully taught us all a lesson that all of Gambia’s tribes own our country; and each one, is king of the small patch of land they call home. We have to share our country or else we will again see the rebirth of another Jammeh-like monster in our midst. For between the Jawara and Jammeh eras, we cannot afford to repeat our tribalist past. And luckily, for us, we now have a highly enlightened citizenry who are committed to end the abominable aspects of the past forty five years of independence. This will be the  saving grace for our country moving forward into the uncertain future.