As the border closure continues to pinch harder and harder, The Gambia’s delusional dictator, Yahya Jammeh in his usual tirade to look for relevance has told his mouthpiece television, The State TV that the Guinean President, Professor Alpha Conteh has after all literally begged him to open the borders between The Gambia and Senegal closed for the past several months.
Indeed, Professor Condeh was on a diplomatic shuttle to The Gambia on Saturday where he was expected to resolve the border crisis between The Gambia and Senegal. The Guinean President was earlier in The Senegalese capital, Dakar for a similar issue but was said to have been bluntly told by The Senegalese President, Macky Sall that The Gambia knowing what their responsibility is should commit to the binding regional mechanisms signed between The Gambia and Senegal which include the free movement of people and goods between the two countries as well as prior discussions on any tariff increase at The Gambia’s ferry crossing terminals. Unless such is done according to The Senegalese President, it will be difficult to agree on anything with The Gambia
However, dictator Yahya Jammeh in his usual attention seeking schemes, have told the state media that in fact it is President Condeh who has come all the way from Guinea to plead with him to open the borders, because according to the dictator, many people in Senegal are suffering as a result of the border closure.
The statement which was widely broadcast on the state media on both saturday and sunday is largely seen as a propaganda ploy to deliberately misinform and to divert attention on what is seen as both an embarrassing and a delicate diplomatic nightmare for the dictator.
Just a few weeks ago, officials of The Gambia Ports Authority responsible for revenue collection at the ferry services have lamented severe revenue shortage attributed to the ongoing border crisis which they say if unresolved could lead to catastrophic economic problems for The Gambia. The officials further warned that currently The Gambia Ports Authority is overwhelmed with containers and goods destined for other countries but could not move from the port premises because of the border impasse.
Although The Gambia Ports Authority could not give the exact amount of loses it is incurring as a result of this issue, the officials who appeared before the public accounts committee of The National said the GPA is losing more than half a million dollars a month, therefore it is unimaginable to assume that The Gambia that is losing so much money will not do everything within its power to see that the borders are open.
It is interesting that The Gambia that initiated a court action against Senegal at The ECOWAS court and one which has been dismissed for lack of merit is now pretending that after all it is Senegal that is feeling the pinch, thus Professor Condeh’s visit to the country to beg dictator Jammeh to open the borders.
Meanwhile, in the same video broadcast, the dictator contradicted himself when he said that since The Gambia has not closed its borders, it is still prepared to discuss the opening of the borders over what he referred to ‘as acting in the interest of the two peoples.’
The dictator said he was informed by The Guinean President that it is the Senegalese people who are most affected by the border closure and therefore he being a ‘PanAfricanist’ is prepared to act in the best interest of the two people to discuss the issue.
For further details we attach the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myD_ubdctkA
