.        Commentary

We are

losing jobs, as tourism  declines by 

30% over the past decade

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By Mathew K Jallow, Associate Editor

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A story about a Serahule businessman whose property was demolished by the regime two weeks ago, inspired last week’s article on The Gambia’s economy. But this week, it is the PDOIS unveiling of Agenda 2011, and the disclosure relating to our children’s education. Calm down. It is not what anyone thinks. And no, I am not about to jump onto the PDOIS bandwagon any time soon, but I was, however, stunned by the school admission numbers that Halifa Salleh put out; the pointed rhetorical question he asked about the employment prospects for our children, and the fact that we apparently do not have any answer for the question. In case you are wandering, I don’t care one darn bit for Agenda 2011; matter of fact; the sooner I stop hearing and reading about it, the sooner it ceases to fray my nerves and task my patience. Yep, I understand where this outlier party is coming from with its mountain of paper documents; fat dossier for every little thing that appears between the crevasses. The burdensomeness of PDOIS’s bureaucracy is the typifying characteristic of the socialist bureaucratic tradition. The compulsion to produce fat dossiers of official documentation for even the innocuous and insignificant, is a defining characteristic of socialist system’s slow grinding machinery of government. And studies show that socialists' excessive obsession with stratification and officialdom is a leading cause of its inefficiencies. Beyond that, PDOIS has never been able to sell itself in any meaningful way to The Gambian electorate; and a quarter century has elapsed since the party hit the ground running; but still to no effect. It is doubtful PDOIS can sell Agenda 2011 to anyone other than Halifa Sallah’s Talibans, and I believe, rather, I hope, that UDP, NRP, and what is left of the PPP, will reject any effort to coerce them into agreeing to a political arrangement dictated by the least among philosophical equals. It would be different, of course, if the outcomes of elections fail to yield a majority party, and a coalition is required to secure the majority needed to form a government. PDOIS’s relentless attempts at dictating the terms of forging a coalition in a pre-election scenario are unprecedented in electoral politics. But by taking the initiative and leading in this effort, PDOIS hopes a failure to coral other parties into its grant agenda can translate into sympathy for it, and a public outcry against the UDP party in particular. Personally, I don’t see that happening except, of course, in PDOIS’s dreams. It is farfetched to think that PDOIS can peel off from UDP or NRP support nests on the basis of failure to compromise or better still, succumb to PDOIS Agenda 2011 dictation. Yet somehow, Halifa Sallah is latching onto this belief, but realistically, it ain’t happening. Much of the brouhaha about forming an opposition coalition is confined to the talking heads in the Diaspora, and has its origin from the ill-fated push by STGDP to crown Halifa Sallah and Omar Jallow heads of a united opposition. This backfired beyond their wildest dreams, nonetheless, that closed chapter is still being used by PDOIS to hammer at the other parties. I don't know about anyone else but I am sick and tired of hearing about the demise of NADD and the blame game that knows no end. Frankly, I think Halifa Sallah should just shut up for a little while and go campaigning with Ousainou Darboe. But to hold a primary to choose a leader of a united opposition? Come on! If that is not obvious, then I don't know what Halifa is smoking. That is the dumbest thing to come out of Halifa Sallah's head. It is easy to see why PDOIS is so persistent in these kinds of efforts. The party stands to gain the most from a united opposition, on the other hand, I don't see what UDP can benefit from a union with PDOIS. PDOIS’s initiatives have been effective in portraying a sense of what that party is not; an illusion of grandeur that does not match its standing and significance in Gambia's political landscape.  

But what specifically drew my attention to the launching of PDOIS’s Agenda 2011, was Halifa Sallah’s disclosure that we now have 180,000 students in the lower basics, 60,000 students in our upper basic schools, still 28,000 students in the senior secondary schools, plus a much more in our tertiary institutions. Just where are we going to find employment for this horde of young men and women? Good question. Easy answer! The military and security forces of course. Since Yahya Jammeh is on a mission to militarize The Gambia, given the rate at which he is expanding our army and other security branches, which speak to his determination to turn the country into another North Korea. There will enough room to accommodate more young people into the services. Rather than invest in our children’s education, a significant part of our budget being wasted on expanding the military and the security apparatus, institutions that serve only one individual and one purpose; Jammeh’s protection and the effort to entrench his regime. Whenever, I see our military in formation in their crappy uniforms and worn-out shoe soles, all I see is computer wiz-kids, doctors, tomorrow’s political leaders, lawyers and scientists; but the only opportunities open to them now are steering them to a different direction; towards intellectual limitation, and to life on the periphery of society. This reminds me of an instance at a management meeting at Action Aid The Gambia. I had recently replaced my friend Stuart Rutherford as Team Leader, which made me the first Gambian to head a program there. Action Aid was created to train our children in the non-formal skills area; making baskets, weaving, cooking, embroidery as well as other tradecrafts. I had an issue with the mission objective and very premise of the entire Action Aid program from the beginning, and at a management meeting, I finally told my five other colleagues, all of them British, that the non-formal education program was unacceptable; that I don't support a program that will limit the future development of Gambian children; our doctors, scientists, academics and who knows what else. Not long after that meeting my friend Sajo Jallow, now Jammeh's Ambassador to AU in Addis Ababa, joined Action Aid as Team Leader. Together we raised the issue with late Mr. Anthony Blain, the former Director of Education, and within a few months of negotiations, all thirty or so schools built by the Action Aid program were converted to formal primary education institutions, and taken over by our government. The rest is history. I make this comparison to underscore how Yahya Jammeh inclination to militarize our country, is creating limits to the future prospects of our children and young men and women. Yahya Jammeh’s preoccupation is how to remain in power, and what he needs to do to actualize that ambition. He talks about creating opportunities for Gambians, but is yet to make good on that rhetoric. As of now, we are losing jobs, as tourism has declined by 30% over the past decade. Jammeh has no idea about how to manage, much less a government, and until we have leaders who are creative, and who can think beyond their self-interest, we will never advance beyond the best that mediocrity can offer. And that is not good enough for our country. We deserve better.

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