YAHYA JAMMEH'S WORLD
In Yahya Jammeh's brave world, nothing seems to matter except what he thinks, says and does. By emasculating our country's menfolk, Jammeh is succeeding in turning The Gambia into one of the most docile countries on the African continent. But, he is doing so at a great price.Today,Jammeh's world revolves around his paranoia.
He is an island in the midst of an ocean of discontent, creating enemies who figuratively smell blood; his blood. If the recently ended electoral process taught us anything about Jammeh, it is that he has become too arrogant and callous for a person whose job rests on the will of the people who voted for him. The more one looks closely at Jammeh's behavior and modus operandi, the more the ghosts of Sekou Toure or Mobutu seem to manifest themselves. It is evident that Yahya Jammeh is following the tried and tested script written and perfected by a succession of failed African leaders, but like the rest of his predecesors, he is doomed to fail as a political leader. No political leader has ever succeeded in establishing peace and prosperity in any country while humiliating the people they govern. But, our harsh experiences go way beyond mere humiliation; we have a continuing string of tortures and deaths, and besides, there are young men dead long ago who are yet to be accounted for. There are also too many unanswered questions that no one dares to ask, too many bodies to recover, and too many of our young dead to return to their loved ones for decent burials. When the dust settles and Jammeh is long gone, he only has to look across the horizen towards Guinea Conakry and Zaire to have an idea what kind of legacy awaits him. Both Sekou Toure and Mobutu are villians and rather than being celebrated and honored, they are scorned and their memories are vilified. Their legacies is also Jammeh's sad legacy.
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NO ATTORNEY GENERAL YET?
Months after the presidential elections, Jammeh has still not completed forming his cabinet. That is not surprising. What is surprising is having heard ex-Attorney General Tijan Hydara lie through his teeth when he told an international conference that The Gambia is not incarcerating any political prisoners, the slavish fool has been shown the door for the second time. The position of Attorney General is in limbo, and perhaps, just perhaps Jammeh is looking to hire another slavish character for the judiciary position. In Jammeh's mind the only people fit to hold our senior administrative posts are those who will crawl and humiliate themselves before him. To be hired to any office in Jammeh's Gambia, one has to align his obedience barometer with Jammeh's wishes and desires. It is no longer called public service, rather, the whole system or what is left of it is functioning to advance Jammeh's agenda of perpetuating himself in power indefinately. Judging from the way and manner Jammeh has managed our institutions, it is clear that he is engaged in very serious abuse of authority and no one is stopping him. Since the power grab twelve years ago, the Justice Department has had as many Attorney Generals, or one for every 1.1 years as follows:
Fafa Mbye
Mustapha Marong
Musa Bittaye
Hawa Sisa-Sabally
Fatou Bom Bensouda
Pap Chey Yassin Secka
Joseph Henry Joof
Raymond Sock
Atty. General Hydara the last to be sacked.
Given a turnover history like this in such a short time period, there is no doubt that potential candidates would be apprehensive and perhaps unwilling to serve. But, looking at the bigger picture, it is clear beyond doubt that Jammeh's abuse of his authority and power is costing our country dearly in economic terms. To get a true picture of the extent of these abuses, one just has to look at the rate and number of hirings and firings in government and all the other cabinet positions since 1994. The number and frequency of hiring and firing by Jammeh is mind-numbing, unexplicable and inexcusible.
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AMBASSADOR JAGNE'S DELUSION
Finally, Dodou Bammy Jagne, Gambia's ambassador to the U.S. is on record trying to establish some form of relationship with officials of Transparency International (TI), the anti-corruption organization that is combatting government corruption around the world. Ambassador Jagne's letter to TI was both embarassing and inapprooriate. 
Evidently, Jagne still has the typical African mind-set, and as he projects authority in his letter, it is easy to sense a tinge of repulsion at TI for exposing corruption in The Gambia. Who in the world does not know that The Gambia is at the bottom of the heap in all the studies that have been conducted by various organizations over the past several years? From civil and human rights, to corruption, lack of care for the population, and abuse of power, The Gambia has consistently scored near last in every index over the past years. Now, all Dodou Bammy Jagne and his boss Yahya Jammeh fear is the prospects of losing grants and other aid by Transparency International's exposition of endemic corruption in our country. Is Mr. Jagne's efforts designed to preempt any negative report by influencing and perhaps having TI records altered to suit his and his master's purposes? It is a disgrace that TI is receiving such an uncalled for letter from Ambassador Jagne, and I don't expect they will give weight to his letter by even acknowledging it. If Mr. Jagne is concerned about the image of The Gambia abroad, which he rightly ought to be, the right thing to do is to stand up and fight to eradicate the endemic corruption that has gripped The Gambia, that escalated to an unbelievable depth and height since this government seized power in 1994.