I welcome Mama Kandeh for reiterating that his party continues to stand by the election result and GDC position would not change. He recognized the fact that Yaya Jammeh has no power to call for a new election, and asked him to step down. It is also a welcome move on his part to call on all Gambians to peacefully resolve the crisis we have. And it is good GDC wants to have Kandeh, Barrow and Jammeh sit down to negotiate.
But what worries me about this press conference is the way and manner Mama Kandeh approached issues and therefore what he did not say. I expected his narrative to be unequivocal, clear and direct from the beginning to the end, consistently and constantly. What I have heard him say tells me Mama is pursuing an on-the-fence approach, which could instead prove more challenging for us than helping us.
I heard Mama Kandeh say that he did not hear Yaya Jammeh claim that he would not step down. Is Mama Kandeh telling us that he did not listen to Yaya Jammeh’s televised address to the nation on December 9 when he categorically stated that he had rejected and annulled the results? He went further to say that he would constitute a ‘God-fearing’ IEC to conduct another poll. Thus to hear Mama Kandeh now claim that he did not hear Yaya Jammeh say he would not step down is a major cause for concern about the intentions and approach of Mama Kandeh.
Secondly, whatever negotiation Mama intends to initiate, it is important for him to be clear when he said Yaya Jammeh lost the election and should therefore step down. He needs to agree with himself that the handing over of power on January 19 is non-negotiable. Furthermore, Mama needs to understand that any negotiation he wants to lead, the issue of accountability and justice for crimes and corruption committed since 1994 cannot be forgiven. Thus I do not fully understand when he said we should forgive each other and turn a new page. He did not elaborate. I just wish he did not mean we should ignore the crimes and atrocities perpetrated by the State under Yaya Jammeh in the interest of reconciliation. There cannot be any meaningful reconciliation and durable peace in the absence of truth and justice.
Mama further said he would not comment on the petition because that is illegal. Does this mean Mama Kandeh believes that Yaya Jammeh’s petition is legal and legitimate? If that is the case, then either Mama is not fully informed of the meaning of the right to petition and the nature of this particular petition, or he has just chosen to ignore the facts. When it comes to mattes of law and constitution in any country, there is no better-qualified and more authoritative body than the bar association. This is the body in any society, especially in such common law jurisdictions like ours, which is purposely dedicated to promoting and protecting access to justice and the independence of the judiciary within the broader objective of promoting democracy and the rule of law. We recall in 2007 when in Pakistan the military dictator Pervez Musharraf sacked the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry. Immediately the bar association of that country launched series of protests, backed by the population that led to the ousting of the dictator.
when the Gambia Bar Association spoke on matters of law and constitution, anyone who objects to them must provide sound and solid reasons otherwise all decent citizens are supposed to rally behind them in that domain. On December 12, the Gambia Bar Association issued a statement to condemn the statement of Yaya Jammeh, which they described as treasonable. They went to state that while the right to petition exists, yet the circumstances in the Gambia at the moment cannot enable Yaya Jammeh to petition simply because there is no Supreme Court since May 2015. They noted that if he goes ahead to empanel the Supreme Court that would constitute a violation of the principles of natural justice. Thus while Kandeh refused to speak about this petition, but he knew that Yaya Jammeh had already spoken about the outcome of his petition when he said he would annul the election. This is prejudging the court hence that in itself renders his petition illegitimate because he has spoken about the case which Kandeh said is illegal for him to do. I am sure Kandeh knows how Yaya Jammeh has personalized the court system in the Gambia hence when he speaks about cases in which he is interested, it effectively tantamount to determining the outcome in his favour. Does Kandeh have a problem with that? I do.
Again, Mama said that both parties, i.e. Yaya Jammeh and Adama Barrow are respecting the rule of law since Jammeh went to court and Barrow did not declare himself president. Here again Mama is clouding the issue, which can be dangerous. The fact is Adama Barrow and the Coalition and Mama Kandeh himself are the ones respecting the rule of law. But Yaya Jammeh is not doing so since December 9. At this moment, Yaya Jammeh has suspended the transition process on his end. It is clear that even if the petition goes ahead, this should not stop the inauguration process and the eventual installation of Pres. Adama Barrow on January 19. Thus the fact that Yaya Jammeh has suspended this process clearly indicates that he is not respecting the rule of law, to which Mama did not speak.
Mama also spoke of violence in a manner as if everyone is pursuing the path to violence. This is a misinterpretation of the facts. Again, what Mama should have said is the fact that the GDC and the Coalition and all Gambians wish for peace and are on the path of peace. The only person opposed to peace is Yaya Jammeh and Mama Kandeh must call that out. I am sure Kandeh is aware that citizens were arrested for putting on #GambiaHasDecided T-shirts, while many radio stations have already been closed down. This does not tell anyone that indeed Yaya Jammeh is on a peace mission.
My Advice to Mama Kandeh
Thus in his statement, I am more concerned about what Mama Kandeh did not say. What he said is ambiguous at best and condescending at worst. Mama needs to get his narrative clear, simple and unambiguous. As he said, we conduct presidential election every five years. On that basis, we had elections on 1st December 2016 that went free and fair and the people spoke. Yet Yaya Jammeh refused to accept the result and sought to use unconstitutional means through an illegitimate petition to subvert the will of the people. In the meantime, he has blocked all avenues for a transition process while clamping down on citizens for defending the vote. This is the foundation of all things that Mama or anyone indeed should say or should not say.
My advice to Mama Kandeh therefore is for him to personally reach out to Yaya Jammeh to talk to him in no uncertain terms to realize that he has lost the election and he cannot and must not subvert the will of the people. Let him tell Yaya Jammeh to realize that his refusal to step down would lead to either a civil war in the country or a foreign military intervention sooner or later. In either case, Yaya Jammeh will cause severe destruction of life and property, but the life of Yaya Jammeh itself will not survive such mayhem. This is what I expect Mama Kandeh to do in a very strong and categorical manner.
Let Mama Kandeh and all Gambians stop rationalizing the situation in the Gambia as if everyone is responsible for the current crisis. No. We are all not responsible. The only person responsible for this situation is Mr. Yaya Jammeh and aided and abetted by his cabinet ministers, APRC parliamentarians and few other Gambians standing on the sideline or supporting him. Hence it is vital that we all stand on the path of truth and justice to speak unequivocally and clearly. Just as Mama Kandeh accepted the result and his defeat, GDC must equally call on Yaya Jammeh and APRC to equally accept their defeat in the election. That responsibility squarely lies on Yaya Jammeh, and therefore we must not address the matter as if everyone is responsible for this crisis. If anything, the Coalition and all Gambians as well as GDC are the ones pursuing the path of peace and the rule of law.
On the issue of people buying cutlasses, it is urgent that Mama Kandeh once again call on Yaya Jammeh to stop fomenting tribalism and pre-empting genocide. Let us recall that in the run-up to the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, the ruling Hutu-led government procured thousands of machetes, which were distributed to its youth groups and tribesmen across the country. This was why it was possible for 800 thousand people could be butchered to death within just three months! Hence if the buying of cutlasses is true, it means Yaya Jammeh and the APRC are planning genocide just as the Hutus did in Rwanda. Hence Mama has a responsibility to expose it and to make a special call on Yaya Jammeh to withdraw. He must be told not to burn the Gambia for his own selfish interests.
Finally, I call on Mama Kandeh to meet Adama Barrow and together they convene a national conference of all stakeholders to call on Yaya Jammeh to step down. This conference should be public and all Gambian CSOs, businesses, trade unions, academic institutions, community-based organizations, media organizations and traditional and religious leaders as well as chiefs and alkalolu must be invited. Members of the diplomatic corps and international stakeholders should also be invited. The conference should issue a resolution to demand Yaya Jammeh hand over power on January 19, peacefully. Furthermore, I want to ask Mama Kandeh to stand with and support the #GambiaHasDecided movement. I call on him and all his party members to put on #GambiaHasDecided t-shirts and encourage all Gambians to stand with the spirit and demand of #GambiaHasDecided.
This is what Mama Kandeh should have said, clearly, unequivocally and directly.
