YAHYA JAMMEH SHOULD BE IMPEACHED

By Foday Darboe, Portland University Graduate School

Who is Yahya Jammeh? Perhaps the answer to this intriguing question is best described by his irrational actions. Many people may remember Jammeh for his claims that he can cure HIV/AIDS but, sadly, this assertion has no medical merit and only serves to make him a laughing stock across the world.

On a more serious note, Jammeh and his cronies brought an abrupt end to democracy in The Gambia on Friday, July 22, 1994, when they plunged our beloved
country into disaster. That was the day when the darkest chapters of Gambian politics began to be written. A change of government was highly anticipated during the Sir Dawda Jawara era, but not by means of a military coup or any other undemocratic method. Arguably, there are two important reasons why President Jammeh should be impeached before it is too late and these are economic decay and the gross human rights violations he is spearheading.

          Economic Decay
President Jammeh’s excuse for overthrowing the government of Sir Dawda Jawara was to bring transparency to government activities and improve economic and social developments. He bombarded Gambians with buzzwords like, “Accountability” and “Transparency” but today it is apparent that the driving force behind The Gambia’s economic failure is Jammeh himself. Both the micro and macro economic sectors are struggling under the weight of failure. Does Jammeh need an economist to explain the theory of sound economic policies, or even a book on a “schoolboy’s introduction to economics”?  Does anyone dare to tell President Jammeh that he has prostituted our already fragile economy? He is slowly but surely leading The Gambia’s ECONOMIC CHAOS.
Jammeh’s government can boast of very little, but some of the things they have “achieved” are a lack of fiscal discipline, numerous monetary slippages, high inflation, rapid depreciation, large increases of domestic debt, and food prices that are increasing faster than the overall price level.

 President Jammeh has a vested interest in his so-called infrastructural development, but if infrastructural development is to take place, it must bring with it the capacity for continuous change, especially with economic growth, the creation of jobs, and an increase of per capita income. No matter how many infrastructural developments there are, there can be no improvement if the economy remains stagnant. Jammeh’s government has failed miserably to create jobs, and most alarmingly, wages and salaries have remained the same, which will further degrade civil servants’ morale and performance.
The Jammeh Government is dependent on economic aid from the World Bank and other external institutions while fundamentally raising The Gambia’s external debt. The World Bank believes that through its International Development Association (IDA), it is helping The Gambia to establish a sound macro-economic environment conducive to economic growth, and to develop its economic and social infrastructure and human resources. The World Bank reports that, as of September 2007, the IDA had approved 31 projects for The Gambia worth about the equivalent of US$296 million. The current portfolio consists of five projects that total the equivalent of US$52.9 million. These are: Capacity Building for Economic Management, Gateway, Africa Emergency Locust, Third Education, Phase 2, and Community-Driven
Development. Additional financing for the Capacity Building for Economic Management is afoot.

Is Jammeh making rational economic decisions for Gambians? Whatever deal he makes with the World Bank has to be transparent and Gambians should be made aware of the conditions and consequences of that deal. The next administration will pick up the tab for all these disastrous economic decisions Jammeh is making and all Gambians will pay a heavy price. Whoever leads The Gambia after Jammeh should go after him and freeze all the stolen money and resources he has invested in Swiss Banks and other places, including his mansion in Kanilai. President Jammeh has done more harm to our economy than ever his predecessor did. He is long on promises but very short on delivery.

                    Human Rights Violations
The continuing clash between the forces of President Jammeh and the persistence of law-abiding citizens is a fundamental reality in The Gambia. In the midst of such incoherence, many Gambians hold a vision of an unknown but promising future whilst others close their eyes and refuse to acknowledge Jammeh’s economic and political failures. From Banjul to Basse Gambians find themselves confronted by the challenges of unprecedented scrutiny, intimidation, and oppression.

Today, The Gambia is the hub for intimidation against free speech. Under Jammeh, many journalists are at the receiving end of his oppressive policies. He has arrested and detained several journalists without concrete or legal grounds. He has adopted harsh measures to punish them if they speak out. His forces are responsible for death threats and arson attacks against several journalists and, even though there are no official suspects in the murder of Deyda Hydara, Jammeh’s actions against journalists may not have stopped at mere intimidation. His steadfast refusal to comply with the rule of law has made him a figure of evil in the eyes of many Gambians.

In the political arena, Jammeh blatantly violates the Constitution. Chapter IV of the Gambian Constitution guarantees “freedom of speech, conscience, assembly, association and movement; political rights; protection from inhuman treatment; and fundamental rights and freedoms” Yet increasingly, we have seen all these values violated. Jammeh has treated opposition parties inhumanely and for the past thirteen-years, he has imprisoned many opposition members and outspoken citizens, in direct violation of the Constitution.

Mr. President, bear in mind that we, the people, are the government not you, Yahya Jammeh, alone. I refer to DEMOCRACY, i.e. the government of the People, by the
People, for the People and not the government of Jammeh, by Jammeh, for Jammeh, as you seem to think.
-           How can you claim to be a champion of peace when you orchestrated the death of Ousman Koro Ceesay?

-           How can you be a man of peace when you masterminded the death of 13 innocent students while they were exercising their right to assemble?

-           How can you be a man of principle when you threaten journalists and imprison your opponents
-           How can you claim to promote peace, democracy, human rights in Sub-Saharan Africa when you don’t practice it at home?

-           How can you preach tolerance when you are not willing to recognize and respect differences of opinion?

How can you tell Gambians to abide by the rule of law when you blatantly violate the law? The list goes on.

 President Jammeh, you bring shame to The Gambia and to Africa. Without question, you have joined the ranks of Africa’s tyrants and unscrupulous leaders. Your compatriots are the likes of Idi Amin, Sani Abacha, Robert Mugabe, Mobutu Sese Seko and Charles Taylor.

Mr. President, this is a message for you and your NIA. Patriotic people are tired of being trampled on by the forces of oppression. The time has come when we are sick
of being pushed around and put in places where we experience despair and have no
hope. But we are determined like Nelson Mandela was during his fight against
Apartheid in South Africa. We are determined like Martin Luther King Jr. was in his fight against racial injustices in the American South. We are determined to fight against your evil government using all civilized means within our power. We will oppose you until justice engulfs every citizen inThe Gambia, until every journalist and media outlet can enjoy their inherent right to free speech and free press.

 Mr. President, it is morally and ethically wrong for individuals to forecast the downfall of another, but certainly many Gambians cannot wait to see you and your cronies in handcuffs awaiting trial for corruption and crimes against humanity. Your
ugly and pitiful records will be written in our history books, but history is on the side of the oppressed and you will have to answer one day for your actions to the One Great Power, which is Allah. President Jammeh, it is time for you to go.