Chei aduna kumba njie! One minute he rants like a gallant soldier ready to mash up his entire enemy force and its arsenal. The next he begs like a subdued truant soliciting to be spared the rod. I told you so Gambians, I told you so time and again that Jammeh is a toothless bull dog. Billaahi ma warou. Ah, few days ago, Jammeh was bragging and daring ECOWAS to come for him; swearing that he will deal with them and emerge victorious only for him to call the ECOWAS chair begging. What baffled me most was his tedious search of a befitting adjective to address the Liberian President less he unruffled her feathers. His demeanour was so pathetic and submissive. Yen warou wulen nam? Waye Jammeh gorr kadom, hana. I thought you had chosen to die standing but all of a sudden you want to live on your knees. Oh hell no, it is not happening. You made up your bed, so lie on it.
Jammeh’s pathetic phone conversation with Johnson Sirleaf, the Liberian President and ECOWAS chair revealed Jammeh true character: selfish, greedy, indiscipline and disregard for constitutional rule. You think I am not spot on? Be my guess. Well for a start, if he truly respects and is committed in defending the Gambian constitution up to planet Mars, what is barring him from upholding the clause with instructs the outgoing president handling over power to the president-elect when his term expires? Oh, I forgot he referred to it as “In our constitution, the so-called deadline of 19th January 2017 is not cast in stone and all shall await the outcome of the decision of the Supreme Court”. What a disrespectful way of upholding a constitution, Monster Jammeh? To shamelessly manifest his selfishness, he owlishly told her, “I want to confirm to you that I have filed an application for an injunction to restrain Mr Adama Barrow from being sworn in as well as restrain the Chief Justice and any other party from swearing in Mr Adama Barrow until the application is decided by the Supreme Court of the Gambia and until then the status quo remain”. Jammeh has no mandate after 18th January 2017 as a legitimate president of the republic of the Gambia. Since he wants to take the legal route, he must then abide by the constitution. Barrow and the coalition has assured him that he can pursue his petition as a former head of state. Furthermore, his constitutional rights will be protected under an independent and impartial judiciary.
Who is Jammeh to brush aside the will of the Gambian people coupled the whole world and expects his personal objective be upheld? Atay kela! If ECOWAS backtrack their promise of using force to dislodge Jammeh, we will come and fight him from street to street. We don’t want you and you insist that we must want you by force. How different are you from the colonial masters and slave drivers? Come 19th January 2017, Adama barrow will be inaugurated in shaa Allah and your smelly backside will be sweating in mile 2, oh sorry I meant to say bamba dinka. You think ECOWAS is as gullible as you. Think again Mr Yaya Jammeh. Remember 18th January 2017 midnight you become a rebel leader if you refuse to hand over power and you know what that means. Smoking your backside out.
If ECOWAS makes the mistake of allowing Jammeh’s so-called injunction to go through, the Gambia will turn into an open mass grave. Jammeh has no regards for anything but himself. The constitution is very clear on election, its declaration, handing over power, swearing in a president-elect and the process of an election petitioning. Yet Jammeh is hell bent in stay in power at all cost. It will not happen. Gambians have decided and that decision stays.
For the security services, it is your choice to die for Jammeh or die defencing the Gambia. It is Gambia versus Jammeh. Choose which side you want and be prepared to bear the cross of your choice. Nin buwaalu mann Allah domo, Thursday tay bayila. The whole world cannot be wrong and only Jammeh is right. You have 48 hours to decide: Jammeh or Gambia.
The televised telephone conversation breached all diplomatic protocols and a last minute propaganda to win hearts and minds of Gambians. He wants us to believe he is in control and ECOWAS is on his side. He is cornered and is scouting for anything that will give him an extended lease of life. He is a thwart who blew up all his chances.
To the National assembly Members Kemo Conteh admonished you in his Facebook wall as thus:
“As Malcolm Turnbull, prime minister of Australia said about Australian politics, Gambian politics is not about personalities, it’s about two million Gambians. “It’s about their dreams, their aspirations, their families, their sense of dignity and security, their anxieties about the future, about government services, whether they can keep their job, whether they will get a better job in a stable and predictable economy, and so forth.” Your majority APRC party in the national assembly is facing the biggest disillusionment if not embarrassment with the Gambian public today more than any other time in all of its years in Gambian politics. As Turnbull said further, in elections people vote for the party they hope will win or in some cases, against the party they hope will lose. APRC need to listen very carefully to the concerns of the majority of Gambians as they have expressed in their votes through this election. The message the electorate sent out to you is that for 22 years we’ve been ruled, not led by your party. You need to reflect and think very deeply at how you will address these concerns.”
We have a constitutional democracy in the Gambia but driven by a presidential dictatorship. In this contradiction in the science of government, a presidential dictatorship can have a parliamentary executive, thereby setting up the ruling party freely and easily. With increased plurality in our multi-party constitutional democracy however, setting up the ruling party is against the rule and it will increase militancy and consciousness of the people. Under the 1997 constitution of the republic, you are not a parliament but a national assembly. You do not have any power anywhere within the text to extend the term of an out-going president by one day beyond his/her mandated term of 5 years, in the present political circumstances and climate of the republic and under the entrenched clauses of the constitution, you can do this only with the endorsement of a national referendum”.
Sulayman Jeng
Birmingham, UK
