The Verdict
By Adama Hawa
President Jammeh’s speech during the courtesy call on him at State House on Koriteh day by the Banjul Muslim elders was no doubt another glaring example of his hypocrisy. We all heard him castigate the West and its war on terror, which he said was only targeting Muslims as terrorists.
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Is Yahya Jamus Jammeh really a good muslim?
However, he did not tell us that in 2003, he arrested some Iraqis on suspicion of being terrorists, who were in The Gambia for a business trip, and he invited the United States FBI to come here and interrogate them as terror suspects. Two of those people were later transferred to the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, and we understand that they are now still being detained at the Guantanamo Concentration Camp in Cuba, thanks to Yahya’s own contribution to the war on terror against his fellow Muslims.
Therefore, it is quite hypocritical for him to now turn around and accuse the West of targeting Muslims as if he did not arrest Muslims and handed them over to the Americans. We can also recall when about the same time, he signed a secret agreement with the US government to exempt Americans soldiers from being referred to the International Criminal Court by The Gambia without going through the National Assembly, thus giving them the licence to commit any crime in their war on terror without being accounted for it.
We all know that Yahya did all those things because it was all part of his frantic efforts to get the administration of George W. Bush to recognise and accept his regime as a legitimate government to do business with. However, now that despite all those efforts, he is still not only being snubbed by the Americans, but he was also recently denied access to the Millennium Challenge Account because of his poor record in governance and human rights. He now wants to use every available opportunity to castigate the Americans and the West because he feels humiliated by them.
President Jammeh also used the occasion to incite Muslims against Christians by labelling Christianity as being anti-Islamic. He went on to accuse African Christians as abandoning their names and culture in order to follow the West. He however did not also say how we the Muslims have also lost our names and culture in order to follow the Arabs.
We should thank God that most people now have no regard and respect for whatever Yahya Jammeh tells them as they see him as a lunatic, otherwise, such inciting remarks could have some negative repercussions on the relationship between Muslims and Christians in The Gambia.
It is hard to see how this “Jalang- (oracle) worshipping heathen”, who was brought up and educated by Christians, can now turn round to castigate Christianity for being against African values.
Another aspect of his speech was the pronouncements he made against a form of worship using drums, which he said would not be tolerated in The Gambia. One would wonder what right he has to prevent anyone from practising his or her religion the way they choose, as long as they have not trespassed on the rights of other people. It appears that he has forgotten the constitutional guarantees for all Gambians the freedom of religion and worship.
During the discussions with the Banjul Muslim elders, we once again heard how our Imams and religious leaders had been praise singing and thanking Yahya for the sugar and rice crumbs he had been giving them, with some of them even going as far as equating him with the Prophets. However, not a single one of them seem to have been concerned about where Yahya gets the money that he buys the sugar and rice that he dishes out to them. As far as they are concerned, he is the best Muslim in the country and they do not seem to care about how or where he gets his wealth or even how he treats the people, as long as he frequently gives them money, motorcars and other material benefits.
It now appears that most of our religious leaders have lost all respect and credibility amongst the people because of their blind subservience to Yahya Jammeh’s material politics. For instance, we heard the President of the Supreme Islamic Council, Banding Drammeh tell us with pride how he and Imam Abdoulie Fatty were assigned to go and campaign for President Jammeh and the APRC during the last presidential elections, as if that was part of his duties as head of the Supreme Islamic Council.
We also hear the Imam Ratib of Banjul describe Yahya as the best leader this country ever had and calling on everyone to support him. Almost all those who spoke also highlighted Yahya’s virtues as a good leader because of the sugar and rice and other gifts he dishes out to them.