The Verdict
The Looming Dangers of Tribalism In The Gambia
By Adama Hawa
Like everyone else, I enjoy Mathew Jallow's erudite pieces, particularly his scathing criticisms of the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship, but his anti-Mandinka sentiments seem to play right into the hands of the Jammeh oligarchy.
With the recent appointment of Benedict Jammeh, another Jola, who has told us in his maiden press conference that he comes from Kanilai, no one can now deny that Yahya Jammeh is playing naked tribalism and nepotism. Therefore, by Mathew continuing to harp on the issue of Mandinka hegemony during the first Republic, then he is giving Yahya Jammeh and his continuous Jolanisation of our society the ammunition he needs to justify his unjustifiable ethnocentricity.
While there is no doubt that tribalism was rive during the first Republic, it is wrong to blame it on the Mandinkas alone. All those who occupied senior positions were involved in the game one way or the other. In fact, the 'Banjul Mafia' were the worst culprits as far as playing nepotism was concerned. It was however quite obvious to everyone that Sir Dawda Jawara as a Head of State was well above tribalism. He was by all accounts a detribalised Gambian who treated all Gambians as equals. Of course, among some members of his administration, the story was different. There were people who were playing nepotism at the highest level.
However, compared to the level of tribalism that goes on in The Gambia today, one would agree that what happened during the PPP regime was child's play. Virtually every sector of Gambian society is now riddled with tribalism, with the Jolas assuming the dominant positions. Almost all the senior positions in the security forces in particular are now virtually occupied by Jolas. With the removal of Musa Mboob as Inspector General of Police, it now means that only the NIA and the Immigration Department are still headed by non-Jolas. However, even in those places, the second in command is a Jola, and he usually wields more power than the head of the institution. Indeed, it is quite obvious that they are being groomed to eventually take over pretty soon.
A good case in point is the appointment of Benedict Jammeh as IGP, when we are told that he has just returned from overseas studies, and prior to that he was a teacher. It is hard to imagine any justification why Yahya Jammeh would leave all the experienced police officers and appoint someone who hardly has any police experience to such an important position. The answer, quite obviously is that his most important qualification is because he is a Jola.
Therefore, in Jammeh's regime, it is not one's knowledge or experience that seems to matter, but being Jola is the most important qualification for anyone to stand the chance of being appointed to a senior position, particularly when it has anything to do with security. There is quite an obvious attempt by the regime to ensure that the Jolas occupy most of the important positions in the public services. While they are less than 10 per cent of the population, yet they now occupy more than 60 per cent of the senior positions in the public services. How can anyone justify that?
All genuine Gambians are indeed quite worried about the possible repercussions of this trend. While no one dares to raise a finger against this imposition of the Jolas on the society, there is no doubt that many Gambians resent it and as a result they hold grudges against the Jolas. This is despite the fact that a vast majority of the Jolas are quite innocent and they have absolutely nothing to do with this Jammeh hegemony.
Someone likened the Jolas to the Rwandan Tutsis before the 1994 genocide, who even though were the minority, yet they controlled the trappings of power, which made the majority Hutus resent them, which eventually resulted in the carnage in that country.
It was also a similar situation in Iraq during the time of Saddam Hussein when the minority Sunnis controlled power and suppressed the majority Shiites. Now we have seen what is happening in that country.
Therefore, while we do not ever pray for any ethnic clashes in our dear country, there is absolutely no doubt that many people are getting quite restless about this naked nepotism in favour of one ethic group, and anything can happen when there is a sudden change of regime, which is certainly inevitable in the not too distant future.