The Ministry of Justice wishes to clarify inaccurate reports in the media that the GDC member for Jimara Constituency Honourable Alhaji Sowe was acquitted and discharged by the Basse magistrates court, thereby giving the impression that Honourable Sowe was being prosecuted by the State. This is inaccurate.

Following police investigations into the violence that erupted in Jimara constituency during the local government elections, the Ministry advised that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Honourable Sowe. Consequently, the charges against him were withdrawn by the Police and Honourable Sowe was accordingly discharged by the Court.

The Ministry assures the general public that the days of politically motivated prosecutions in The Gambia are now over and that the Government of His Excellency President Adama Barrow is committed to upholding the rule of law and the democratic and fundamental human rights of every Gambian irrespective of their political or other orientation.

Furthermore, the Ministry wishes to encourage media practitioners and commentators on judicial matters to take advantage of the Ministry’s open door policy to seek confirmation of their facts before publications or commentary.

Ministry of Justice

This man Magistrate Omar Jabang. God bless his cotton socks. Omar Jabang must be protected at all costs. Magistrate Jabang once fled the country in fear for his life after a controversial decision against the previous government. Omar Jabang’s court yesterday, acquitted and discharged opposition Gambia Democratic Congress party National Assembly member and other party members.

We are a country living in such a deep state of collective trauma and the pain of this trauma is beginning to surface through tribalism, misogyny, internalized self-hate, corruption, acceptance for mediocrity etc. We must name things as they are- and name the impact those things have had on us. We must refuse to glorify violence in whatever form it manifests itself. We must remember that those in political power rely on you being broken, fragmented, being traumatized and being completely disconnected from your humanity to help propagate their violent neoliberal agenda

 A man prepared to tell the political operatives who believe they own our predatory state “Put up or shut up”. Talk about telling the politicians “this is new Gambia”. If they don’t like the doctrine of an independent judiciary, tell the real owners of the country to abolish it. Stop intimidating the judiciary. “Recount the votes”! Do they realize that the law – their shield and defendant have the last laugh? A pertinent quote from Caroline Kennedy? “The bedrock of our democracy is the rule of law and that means we have to have an independent judiciary, judges who can make decisions independent of the political winds that are blowing. That is; unless you wish to emulate Teodoro Obiang Nuema Mbasogo the rogue of the Equatorial Guinea?

 Magistrate Jabang has acquitted and discharged the opposition GDC National Assembly member Alhagie Sowe with other members of the GDC party, who were charged for election related violence. Since the young magistrate was transferred to Basse Magistrate Court – people started stirring up hate against him questioned his impeccable honesty and integrity. He was accused of being a Mandinka and that’s why he is assigned to deal with the case. Magistrate Jabang proved all prophets of doom and shown judicial integrity not harming his judicial reputation.

During the previous government, Omar Jabang acquitted and discharged the former ombudsman, Alhagie Sowe who was falsely charged with theft, disobedience of statutory duty and neglecting official duty. And in 2016, Magistrate Jabang shocked everyone when he discharged another Gambian business man, one Yusupha Saidy, who was under the radar of former president Jammeh. He did not compromise his judicial independence under dictatorship.

What has happened yesterday following the ruling of the of the Basse magistrate court is bigger than any one man. What has happened yesterday was the biggest single decision of patriotism and justice that we have witnessed in 22 years of our existence during the second republic. It is a decision about respect for the rule of law, a decision about the intolerance of impunity, a decision about accountability of our institutions and the respect of our democracy.

Magistrate Omar Jabang must take his rightful place in the history of this country. Omar Jabang have to be recognized for his immeasurable contribution to saving this country from cannibalizing itself. His decisions and judgement has to be taught to every single Gambian child so that they learn the importance of the strict adherence to the rule of law and democratic accountability.

The decision yesterday is the beginning of the end for impunity and the “Sembocracy” culture. Now is not the time to celebrate and make merry. Now is the time to dig in and make sure that the politicians who believe they own the predatory state do not have a chance to fight back. We have to step on their necks with extreme prejudice while they’re down. We have to make sure that we kill and bury the demons of the hegemony, impunity and corruption that have plagued this country since independence.

Those demons have stolen the hopes and dreams, the aspirations and expectations of thousands of Gambians. Those demons have exploited the fears and insecurities of Gambians as a collective. We will never get another opportunity to crush these demons and start the process of building and shaping the Gambia to what we want it to be.

Magistrate Omar Jabang have done his job. It’s now up to us to do ours. It’s often said that politics has to be the second job of every single citizen. Yesterday’s decision will have sent shock waves within the political class. We need to use this as an opportunity to make sure these politicians know that this country has changed. That we will no longer be oppressed and abused by them. That we will no longer tolerate their impunity, theft of public resources, corruption, incompetence and malfeasance.

All of us, individually and collectively must take a concerted effort to ensure that the decisions politicians make, the decisions state and public officers make, the money that we entrust to them is used properly for the public good. They must be able to understand that they work for us and are not demi-gods. They must be able to understand that they’re public servants. We all must do our part to make them accountable.

We live in a country that has completely normalized dangerous levels of violence. From the way we do politics, to religion, to education, to healthcare, to public transport and even to our daily interaction online and offline- everything is wrapped in violence. Our tolerance for violence is so high that I doubt that there is a way out for our generation.

Yesterday was a good day for justice. God bless the Gambia, God bless the magistrate Omar Jabang of Basse Magistrate Court.

Less than two years ago, we had a common cause, almost all Gambians wanted one thin, and one thing only, to change our government and begin the arduous journey of (re)building and reforming our institutions and civil services. We came together, fought a bitter battle – in which some lost life and limb. Some lost everything they held dear just to ensure that we defenestrate that man who had hijacked our country for far too long.

While this struggle was going on, there was a section of the Gambian Society that was bent on frustrating our efforts. They wrote, spoke and met all in an effort to ensure that the status quo remained. They paraded themselves on television and radio to misinform the masses; to paint a picture that the Gambian electorate had been taken for a ride – that the result was actually cooked.

Some of these people went to the extent of declaring a state of emergency and extending their term of office, all this to find ways to subvert the will of the Gambian people. This was so intense and the fight so real that the fear of what could be, led more than a hundred thousand Gambians to be displaced and become refugees in the neighboring countries. All this has been documented in the past.

It is therefore strange to observe that some of those very people who went to these lengths to subvert our will are now hobnobbing with you. They kowtow to you and your government and want us to pretend that these things never happened. One wonders where is honour when you need it. Granted, we must reconcile as Gambians because we have one destiny; but, to see the architects of the impasse enjoying the warmth of our leaders – the stalwarts of the struggle – beats imagination.

Watching proceedings of the tour and some other forums and seeing former arch enemies of the Coalition heaping praises on Adama Barrow is indeed a wonderful Reality TV that makes most soap operas seem like jokes. How incredulous!

If we really want to reform our institutions and the civil service, we cannot – must not – cozy up to these people. Many of them have either been invited by the Janneh Commission or are accused of something or the other. If therefor they are within the system – with some level of power – isn’t it possible that they can work from within to thwart our efforts. Isn’t it possible that some of them are just presenting a red herring so they gain proximity to you and sabotage your efforts?

There is a proverb in the Fula Language ‘Mbo sobhaaki sobhtotaako’. (He who is not suspicious will not escape). You must therefor be very mindful of those people who would have loved to see you fail a year or two ago, and now proclaim to want you to succeed. I for one, I am wary of these ‘twofacers’.They present an enigma which should be studied cautiously before being dismissed as harmless.

These and some actions reminiscent of the dictatorship – the billboards, the religious rhetoric, the youth movements – send shiver my spine that perhaps we have lost track and are groping in limbo. Are we?

Have a Good Day Mr President…

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

The market women who transport vegetables daily from the villages to urban settlements, locally known as ‘Jehnda Jaii’ complained about the difficulties affecting their businesses.

Many of these women struggle daily for transport with heavy baskets or bags full of vegetables in the early hours of the morning to support their families. Some of them say they live from hand to mouth, feeding on their daily earnings.

Aja Sanneh, a vegetable seller told The Fatu Network that she travels from Manduar everyday to sell at the Brikama Market. She sells carrots, garden eggs and bitter tomatoes. She said she gets supplies from a local producer.

“Whether we sell the goods or not we have to pay the money,” Aja Sanneh said.

“Sometimes, the goods get spoilt due to lack of timely transportation,” she added.

Aja said a bucket of carrots and garden eggs each costs D1, 500 Dalasi. She also pays a daily fares of D20 to Brikama.

“I buy breakfast and pay duty to the Area Council everyday”

She talked about the congestion of the market while the local rate collectors keep harassing them even after buying tickets.

She added that is one of their biggest problems. She also spoke about the difficulties she encounters in the rainy season, saying when it rains she cannot sell.

Fatou Jatta also travels from Busumbala everyday to sell onions and tomatoes at the Brikama market. She complained about suppliers who double their prices in the rainy season.

“I have to pay suppliers if the onions are not sold or get spoilt,” Fatou Jatta lamented.

Fatou said she buys onions from a local supplier in the neighbouring Cassamance, southern Senegal.

Binta Bojang, another middle aged woman comes from Lamin Village daily to sell potatoes at the Brikama market. She explained a similar experienced.

Meanwhile, these poor hardworking women told The Fatu Network that they are looking for support to promote their businesses.

Alagi Yorro Jallow

Sidia Jatta: Happy birth day to you, today, we salute you at 70 years. Che Guevara teaches us: ‘for the revolution, passion and audacity are required in big doses’. Street protester, past convict of conscience, these assets you have in plenty – in the land of “plenty be found within it’s borders”. Your DNA? Contrite, contemplative, consociational; conscientious – a consistent fighter for democracy and constitutional reforms; never, afraid. Elder Paddy, the impunity of yesteryears is still as plenty. Comrade, Bob Marley is telling us: “Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight”: For all your sacrifices and struggles for the Gambian people.

Happy birthday to you;

Mamudu: Sidia Jatta is in a class of his own. A man with an urgent mission. He is different from the current crop of other Gambian politicians, whose only mission is speaking from the side of the mouth while thinking with the stomach.

Sidia Jatta is not one to take injustice lying down. He fought both President Dawda Kairaba Jawara and Yahya Jammeh when they were busy annexing and grabbing land, corruption and bad governance. He refused twice ministerial position. He challenged and criticized both administration’s legal, political and economic policies. Even though President Jawara was his fellow tribesman, he did not hesitate to lay the facts bare and fight for what he believed was right.

Mamudu: Many times, his voice was always in the minority. He was and still not mesmerized by “tyranny of numbers” but reason. Sidia Jatta is no “political Jaliba”. He is not a sycophant. In parliament he neither sleep nor  clap in parliament chambers. Sidia Jatta is not a political “hustler” for human rights and not a self-styled tribal kingpin who mortgages his people to the highest bidder to facilitate his own penchant for primitive accumulation.

Sidia Jatta is a gentleman. Class Act. He is no lousy politician, he is not the vocal politician pretending to fight corruption while at the same time using corrupt means to avoid the law by legal technicalities. He saw politics as a means of public service and not an opportunity to further raw nepotism.

He never sold his conscience for money. He knew money could buy material things but at the same time appreciated that it is never everything. Sidia is a solid man. He didn’t need some “tribal” awakening to do that which is right. In style and substance, his commitment to his people is exemplary.

African youth today issued their rallying call to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in a generation by sparking one million conversations that break the silence that allows the practice to prevail.

As the largest African generation ever, the young people from all over the world have been speaking out, pledging to make theirs the generation that ends FGM. As part of this, they are calling on their peers and parents as well as leaders from their communities, religion and politics to join them in talking about the issue.

Aware that issues that aren’t spoken about prevail the longest, the young activists hope to spark a million conversations on FGM, whether these be people speaking out against it or survivors sharing their experiences.

To achieve this, the young Africans are posting videos on social media to raise awareness of the issue and inspiring others to show their support by also making a pledge to end FGM. The videos, which are on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the hashtags #Ihavespoken and #EndFGM, seek to break the silence that surrounds the issue. “FGM ends with us”, the activists say.

In 2010, a UNICEF study found that speaking out in the media and discussions in the community and at home played an important role in moving towards the abandonment of FGM in five African countries.

Learning lessons from UNICEF’s study, the young campaigners have concluded that the culture of silence around FGM allows it to prevail and people’s reluctance to speak about the violent practice means that laws alone won’t end it. This campaign hopes to powerfully break the cycle of silence, encouraging everyone to play a part by speaking out and taking action.

The campaign is being supported by The Girl Generation, the world’s largest Africa-led global collective of partners brought together by a shared vision that FGM can – and must – end in this generation. The Girl Generation is proud to support the African youth achieve their aim by:

• Sparking conversations about FGM and breaking the silence which surrounds the issue
• Growing support for, and putting the spotlight on, the Africa-led movement to end FGM
• Unlocking further resource and policy commitments to end FGM

Dr Faith Mwangi-Powell, Global Director of The Girl Generation said:

“Today marks a momentous day in the global movement to end FGM. We’re so excited to watch this movement grow from the minds of young activists in Africa to a million voices all around the world.

“These young people are taking action by shattering the silence that surrounds FGM. By inviting and inspiring others to join the movement, they take a giant leap forward towards creating a world that is safer for our girls”.

Oumie Sissokho, End-FGM Youth Activist, The Gambia, said:

“I am a survivor of female genital mutilation and am a living testimony of the harm it causes.

“However, I am using my story in a positive a way. I have made a pledge to my daughter that I will protect her with my heart and my soul and I will extend the same protection to all the girls in my family and community.

“That’s why I am working endlessly, tirelessly, to ensure that the right people are speaking out against FGM, changing mindsets and attitudes so that we will be able to end it in a generation.”

Sise Sawaneh, Gambian activist and journalist said:

“Let’s teach our girls the good traditions without cutting them. The harm done is severe with lasting negative effects.

“This is why I use my voice and pen as a journalist to disseminate useful information on FGM.

“FGM indeed ends with me for I will not relent in my efforts to end it in my generation”

The importance of studying history is to learn from mistakes and not repeat them. In fact, the best history lesson is to learn not from your mistakes but from those of others before you. That is wisdom.

Yesterday, marked twenty-three years since that fateful day in 1994 when we lost our democracy and began the treacherous journey into dictatorship. We went through military rule for two years and then had a semblance of democracy for 22 years. This turned into an open dictatorship when we replaced the democratic  institutions with the ‘Individual’.

We danced to our tune and got a dose for our troubles. We resolved to change that and, on December 1 2016, Gambians – men and women, young and old – went out to vote for change; for freedom, for better governance. We broke the chanins, as it were, on that day.

We started the journey of reformation of our institutions though it is very slow. We envisaged a reformed constitution which would be inline with democratic practices. This would include cutting down the power of the executive and increasing the power of the masses. As I keep telling people, democracy is not about the president, the ministers or the national assembly members; rather, democracy is about the people, the masses of the people. We must give them their due.

In empowering the masses of the people, there are certain things which are inimical to progress. Any politician who fails to recognize those things is bound to fail and leave a bad legacy. One of those things is the promotion of cultism, cronyism, political patronage and lack of transparency. The forming of youth movements and Yaayi kompins is just another way of promoting the above.

The announcement that they will construct sixty mosques every year is another way of promoting misplacement of priorities. This is wrong on several fronts.

Firstly, our system of government is based on democracy and not religious. We have different religions in the country and the adherents thereto are all equally Gambians. So, the State promoting the construction of mosques is a form of marginalisation of the other religions.

Secondly, we have not been told where the funds are coming from which is not inline with transparency and accountability. Besides, we have pressing needs which must be fulfilled before anything else. There are enough mosques in this country already.

Thirdly, we have seen a proliferation of billboards with your picture spread in many parts of the country. Isn’t this one of the reasons we – including you – fought to end what uses to obtain here? This promotes loyalty to the president – one man – instead of the nation. People say that the Barrow Youth Movement is different because it focuses on development. Let me say to this that intentions are always good but translating them into tangible action is where the difficulties lie. That is why in a democracy there re checks and balances that are meant to curb the greed of man.

History is recording!

Have a Good Day Mr President…

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

“Am afraid of Americans” (its a theme song for some spy series)! Made me want to change the lyrics to “am afraid of Gambian be”! Lol. I have my reasons!

For starters, we want today and hate the next minute. Just like they say in Michigan, if you don’t like the weather, hang around for a few minutes, it will change! Yeah! That’s us. Didn’t we at one point cry about broken ferries, high bribery to cross Barra-Banjul, un safe ferry once called “floating coffin”?! See I remember!!!! SO! Am for a bridge! What am not for is Manasi personalizing it like it’s his personal funds building it! Dude couldn’t fly to Dakar via plane!!! What am against is the uncertainty of where the funds are coming from and whether it’s another loan or grant! Either way! What are the conditions???? We all know EU didn’t commit to pledge 1.45B Euros for Manasi to dish as he pleases. #50 mosques? Black man please!!!!! Smh. Hamat The clown is wrong in his utterances. What I AM against is, if built by Chinese, bringing their own laborers, materials and even the water they will drink to satisfy the thirst during the back breaking work!!!! Rather than smiling through those 52 teeth (one for every year we have been “Independent” from British rule) let’s ask more thought provoking Manasi geared questions for real “keeping them accountable”! Slow down on claps/cheering as well!

To that I say. Hire the locals! Create #employment!!!!! Have a voice for once and negotiate for them to bring much less of their own employees. We sure have laborers, and our local businesses can benefit from the Chinese spending some of their currency! See, 1 Chinese yuan is almost $7!!! That’s almost D300 for each yuan they spend with local businesses!!! Now that’s how our local Economy will benefit, not by misspelling promises on silly billboards!!! See we need to get away from Jamus thinking, “Economics dafa easy” yet we aren’t capitalizing on opportunities like these! Cape diem folks! It’s not only about creating opportunities, it’s also about seizing them from all fronts! If not we will be at perpetual diminishing returns! Heck you have enough financiers on the ground to help with this thought if you were not closeted with few “experienced” unclean hands to advise or “confused” by few technocrats! ?. Speaking of which!

Why on earth is Manasi opposed to new ideas? It seems he is super insecure about something! From Jamus’ watered down haftans to his cars, foundation frenzy, build board mania all the way to his Chief Protocol! That dude sure is a secret keeper and must have Major Marabouts from Mali! For some reasons, he is still eluding UDP Spin Doctors! Bravo, Ceesay. You are ONE “EXPERIENCED” indispensable dude!!!! Your amassed wealth is safe during this asset declaration as the two camps are jockeying for popularity! Plus Manasi has become so attached to you like a finger sucking, pacifier addicted baby! He will be fumbling left and right without you! Am NOT mad at you! Much respect for jockeying an Administration and a half so far! Respect ✊. Your voo members defo chose the right voo ?.

See! That’s EXACTLY the problem! We tend to be lost in the fluffy wonjo fooral and forget we are only drinking the wonjo for the juice itself! So much talk about why the bridge? Why all the other stuff! #DigGambiansDIG!!!! Get to the meat and potatoes not the appetizer (stealing from my dear Americans again?)! Put on the Derek hat (UK Derek) that is! Add magnifying glass and look like you would if he suspected bed bugs! Eww! I digress!

#Mamburay! Houston the problem has surfaced! Did I hear Manasi put you in charge to solve the SSHFC issue! NOW we have a problem! My crystal ball shows me #Manjang’s exit! You sir! #Mamburay that is haven’t paid SSHFC for your home they say!! How in the world are you going to be just to #Manjang who is doing his job to collect for pensioners?! SMDH. This is why I keep saying, Manasi didn’t “struggle” so he is unclear about some things! Sadly, corruption has become his kryptonite!!! You aren’t alone though. #Manasi look closely y and STOP politicking!!!!!!! SG isn’t alone in this mafia! Other famous last names too and it’s NOT who you think ?!!!!!!

Ah! Lest I forget! #Darboe Jula! You SIR CANNOT buy Manasi’s bluff!!! STICK with the UDP agenda and watch Manasi fumble a bit! See! We may not be card holding members of nor avid supporters of UDP but have watched our fathers make it be!!! Your 17% has increased and positioned you in a very sweet spot if Manasi acts up!!!! Be VP and let the party youths take it to new heights! My two cents! Manasi has learnt the art of political bluffing and you trained him. He cannot kataa you! Part of the reason UDP persevered is the #Loyalty!!! I am sure the VP office is as sweet as the juice served there, BUT you MUST resist!!!!!! Manasi has emancipated! Let him!!!!!

My new show without a platform yet:
#KeepingManasiHonest ??

Alagi Yorro Jallow

This write up is for those diaspora Gambian younger generation who were born after1994. Those who do not know what government legal and extra-legal repression of public criticism means.

Those that did not live “dictatorship” where owning a book, speaking against the ills of the state or even gossiping about the President in a bar was a sure way to the crime of sedition. The government of the day operated an uneducated intelligence agency in the name of “National Intelligence Agency,” which had fetish for crushed genitalia.

On many occasions, the NIA harass the opposition and journalists for supporting opposition politics. Many died in the hands of organized youth-based militia gangs, who had full support of Yahya’s government. Many were arrested, tortured and killed. Some went into exile to escape Yahya’s brutality.
Reflection on dictatorship:

Under the trance of fear, a nation hid from the world. Inside its doors hundreds of able-bodied citizens died in secret. Some were buried in prison sites, and others’ bones were dissolved in acid.

[We] knew,
[We] saw,
[We] did not speak. [We] hoped it would end soon.

Just like the others who had also seen, we told no one. A hundred, and then a hundred more, herded into holding houses. Picked up — taken from homes, offloaded from saloon cars, hustled from offices, stopped on their way to somewhere else—prosecuted, and judged at night. Guilty, they were loaded onto the backs of lorries. And afterward, lime-sprinkled corpses were heaped in large holes dug into the grounds of appropriated farms. Washed in acid, covered with soil that became even more crimson, upon which new forests were planted.

Folks, we must never lend support to ANY government, that seeks to subjugate sections of society, arbitrarily arrest its citizens, frame people for crimes they have not committed, or kill its ardent critics. If you do, the snake will come back to bite. The guns in Yundum today may be pointed in the direction of Sankwia someday.

I hope it doesn’t happen in my lifetime. This historical, constant and alternating vilification of one or another ethnic community, depending on who is in control of state power, will one day explode in ways in which we will be unable to control. President Adama Barrow does not know this pain. He comes from a background of comfort, and familiar privilege who never spent a day with the notorious National Intelligence Agency.

The Gambia National Bar Association (GNBA) is a newly registered legal practitioners association launched on Saturday, July 21 at the Baobab Holiday Resort in Bijilo.

The new bar association has an interim executive watched by Lawyers Lamin K Mboge, Assan Martin and Ibrahima Jallow with general membership of both public and private practitioners in the country.

“We have registered the association since 2011,” Lawyer LK Mboge said.

Lawyer Mboge who is the interim president of the association said notices were given to the General Legal Council, Judicial Service Commission, Chief Justice, Attorney General and The National Assembly amongst others.

“The General Legal Council asked us to send our membership within two weeks to table and see it,” he added.

The interim president said they have consulted all the relevant authorities regarding the association, saying the Legal Practitioners Act has not stopped anyone from joining legal associations. He backed himself with section 23 of the Legal Practitioners Act.

Lawyer Mboge explained that many of the country’s legal practitioners are interested in joining the new association but some are still sitting on the fence.

The GNBA Interim President expressed solidarity with the law graduates that are asked to spend 4 years pupilage under the mentorship of senior lawyers before going into practice.

Lawyer Assan Martin, the moderator also emphasized section 23 of the Legal Practitioners Act that opened doors for practitioners to join associations, saying the new bar association is not competing with the existing one.

“Everything that we do is geared toward the advancement of justice,” Lawyer Martin said.

He added that the registration of new bar association should not surprise anyone as Nigeria has almost 36 bar associations whilst the same exists in the United Kingdom amongst others.

Lawyer Ibrahim Jallow added his voice to call for equal opportunities for all legal practitioners in the country.

Some of the members raised concerns about the self regulatory and representation in the General Legal Council panel. The association intends to set up its own disciplinary committee to handle things internally before taking to the General Legal Council.

Meanwhile, the interim executive is very hopeful of having representation in the panel of the General Legal Council by 2019.

A hundred years from now, people still going to be talking about President Yahya Jammeh. He recognized that, as a poster child, he had become a symbol in which larger social, economic and political forces were condensed. As a person Yahya Jammeh lived in a way to anticipate his own commemoration.

In many ways referencing the past to bid for editorial prominences, using the past as a context to help explain a news event, and showing how people act in their everyday lives, sometimes very dramatic ways that incorporate a sense of past or future; journalism makes itself a vehicle or agent of political memory without the intention of commemorating. This article below was published eight years ago.

 My archives reflections on personal, social, and political themes that have as much relevance today as they did in the era of the Yahya Jammeh’s rule.

First Published 2010

 “Neither dictatorship nor democracy, paradise nor hell”

Alagi Yorro Jallow

Behind the tall white walls of the grandiose home belonging to the youngest-ruling president, ostriches, buffalo, camels and all kinds of livestock roam neatly landscaped lawns—part of a vast private complex said to include a crocodile wetland and lake topped with lotus flowers.

In a poverty-stricken shell of a city outside, where the poorest pick through garbage for scraps to eat, is a portrait of Shiekh Yahya Jammeh, in long robes, holding a copy of the holy Quran along with a sword and prayer beads. The image of a sultan, he is omnipresent—His Excellency Sheikh Professor Doctor Colonel Alhagie Yahya AJJ Jammeh). He gazes solemnly from public building facades, beams proudly from ubiquitous billboards, and is woven into the fabric of countless green shirts worn from the coast of Banjul to the farthest reaches of the forested interior. He is referred to locally as Jilinka or Babilimansa.

He might be young in age—only 44—but he is larger than life in The Gambia, the West African nation he has ruled for 15 years.

Jammeh will soon be joining the list of longest-ruling heads of state, not counting the monarchs of Britain and Thailand, after Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who served 49 years in power.

When he came into power, Yahya Jammeh became the youngest-ruling head of state. At age 29, he toppled the 30-year-long government of Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara’s People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government, and thereby ended one of Africa’s longest-standing multi-party democracies. The Gambia was viewed (along with Botswana and Mauritius) as an “exception” on an African continent where authoritarianism and military regimes have been the norm. Apart from the aborted coup of 1981, The Gambia had enjoyed relative peace and stability since it attained independence from Britain in 1965.

Before Jammeh’s rule, The Gambia was known as the “smiling coast,” a place of sunshine, welcome and real generosity by its people. It became the home of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and headquarters of the African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies. It was the bastion of democracy in a continent beset by military takeovers and despotic regimes.

Unfortunately, all of that changed in July 1994, after the coup led by Jammeh. Most Gambians genuinely fear the 44-year-old autocrat, and there is little opposition to him—many accept his rule because he has kept his country remarkably peaceful, though to do so he has governed with sustained brutality characteristic of many other dictators.

“Allah brought him to us, and only Allah can call him away,” said Taxi man Momodu Lamin. “For us, there is only Yahya. He is irreplaceable.”

Momodu Lamin lives in the president’s native Kanilai, a tiny village rising out of jungle greenery at the end of a freshly paved road complete with high-wattage, functioning light poles—luxuries rare in most of Gambia’s undeveloped interior.

Gambia is not the only country that has faced oppressive leadership. In its struggle to stabilize after becoming independent of colonial rule in the 1960s, Africa has suffered its share of “Big Men,” many of whom use fear, patronage and rigged elections to cling to power. A few are still around, chiefly in Africa, such as Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi and Zimbawe’s Robert Mugabe, as well as Equatorial Guinea’s Teodore Obiang and Angola’s Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

Like many of the continents’ “Big Men,” Jammeh has displayed plenty of dictatorial tendencies. His government has jailed journalists who dared criticize him personally and has cowed most of the rest into self-censorship. The Gambia’s prisons are filled with political prisoners, and rivals to the regime disappear or turn up mysteriously dead in the night.

Jammeh “attacks his opponents by bringing them into his fold, offering them top posts, giving them a piece of the pie,” said a political science professor at the Gambia University who asked to remain anonymous. “He’s like a boa constrictor. He suffocates his prey until it’s weak, then swallows it.”

A prime example of this phenomenon is found in Lamin Waa Juwara, Jammeh’s principal opponent in the last elections. He is now serving Jammeh as Governor in the Lower River Division. He is a member of Jammeh’s party, and Gambian journalists say he doesn’t speak out much anymore.

“It’s belly politics,” the professor said. “If you don’t go along, you don’t eat.”

Gambia is faced with many other challenges under the current rule. The country is ranked 168th place among countries in sub-Saharan Africa on the UN Human Development Index, which measures literacy, education and other markers of national well-being. It puts Gambia amongst the lowest on the socio-economic development index.

The most vocal critics today of the regime are from an Internet forum called The Gambia-L, as well as from several newspapers, including the Gambia Post, Freedom Newspaper, Gambia Journal, Senegambia, and Gainako—most of the critics of the Gambia-L and Post (there’s no sign of some of them).

Gambia today is “neither dictatorship nor democracy, neither paradise nor hell,” said Alhagie Jaye, an activist currently living in New York. “We are something in between.”

Jammeh turned civilian after two years of military rule, and polls since then have been marred by allegations of election rigging and corruption. In addition, Parliament—dominated by his supporters—removed presidential term limits from the constitution.

Gambia is considered one of the smallest nations in sub-Saharan Africa, and Jammeh has built a vast system of patronage, doling out money generously in part through salaries and benefits that come with Cabinet posts. Unlike other West African countries, Gambia has always managed to pay its civil servants and has provided for its government officials every young Gambian’s dream—to be driving a Mercedes Benz or an SUV 4X4 or the American-made Hummer, to be a bureaucrat in a suit, walking air-conditioned halls insulated from the heat and poverty found just outside.

Ebrima Cham, a pro-Jammeh politician, acknowledged that “Gambia has its problems. There are poor roads, not enough schools, too much unemployment, but we have to fix things on our own time, in our own way—peacefully—not through war.”

“At least I can go to sleep without fearing my life,” he said. “In this part of Africa, there’s something to be said for that.”

Jammeh is regarded by some Gambians as “the devil they know.” While many would like to see change, they ‘re also afraid things could get a lot worst if he goes.

“There could be a catastrophic struggle for power—everybody fears that,” said journalist Yorro Jallow of the banned Independent newspaper, who was detained for days in 2003 after publishing an editorial titled “Who Owns Account No. 010010873901.” Another editorial that got the same journalist in trouble was entitled “Jammeh Pressed Over Missing Oil,” an article about the discovery of a secret supply of crude oil sent to The Gambia from Nigeria on concessionary terms where the proceeds of which were not reflected in the national budget.

At the main garbage dump in Bakoteh not far away from Banjul, some scavengers assaulted a pile of fresh trash. A man in a torn black kaftan plucked a tub of curdled apricot yogurt from the rubbish and gulped it down. A 34-year-old father found a broken clock he hoped to sell to help put his daughter through primary school.

Jammeh, by contrast, has amassed a fortune that makes him one of Africa’s richest men—nobody really knows how much he is worth, but there have been some indications of his vast wealth. Media reports have declared that he owns abundant real estate in Morocco and that he owned many businesses in The Gambia. He has also been accused of having opened several Swiss bank accounts, according to his former spokesperson, Ebou Jallow.

That Jammeh is likely to remain in power for the foreseeable future seems to be accepted by a population that regards him as the ultimate village chief. “Gambian culture dictates that you respect your elders,” said Jaye. “You can’t say ‘no’ to somebody who is your leader.”

Jammeh is our leader, “so most people just suffer in silence. ‘Gambia? No problem,’” he said. “The problem is Gambians don’t dream anymore, and when you don’t dream, your country is in trouble.”

The people of Kantora have lamented drug shortage at the Fatoto Health Centre. The drugs shortage, according to residents force patients to resort to pharmacies where they pay high cost for drugs.

Speaking at a meeting in Fatoto as part of President Barrow’s tour, locals also complained the lack of water, electricity and good roads in Kantora.

Having accessible health facilities is one thing, but getting quality health service delivery remain a concern for Gambians. Lack of drugs in the health facilities in addition to high drugs cost in pharmacies is not new to Gambians.
But the people who suffer most are the less privileged and poor rural dwellers.

Hawli Baldeh, women representative decry the poor road network between Basse and Koina. The women of Kantora, she said also need a garden and farming equipment.

She appealed for a Borehole to ease the burden on the women. Fatoto Alkalo Abdourahman Baldeh expressed concern the lack of fence for the health centre and the lack of drugs.

Here, the locals also used the meeting to bring to Barrow’s attention other pressing issues.

Hon Bilay Tunkara, National Assembly of Kantora, called for the timely supply of fertilizer, not only to Basse but across the whole of URR.

Hon. Tunkara wants the revival of the mix farming Centre in Kantora.

Sainey Sanyang, youth representative appealed for a Skills Centre for the youth of the area. Staff quarters for teachers in the area, he also informed Barrow, is a necessity to better motivate the teachers.

Electricity, he said, is something the people of Kantora want to see in the area.

The roads problem in the area, he told Barrow is not only limited to Basse-Koina but also other feeder roads leading to the border.

Dr Isatou Touray, Minister of Health and Social Welfare said health is key in everything, adding that the concerns raise are well noted. The women, she said, are the most effect by the health challenges. She assured that the health concern raised relating to the Fatoto Health Centre are the true state of the health facility.

“The water and drugs shortage at the health facility will be solved as soon as possible,” Minister Touray told the people of Fatoto.

The Fatoto Health Centre receive patience from all the villages within Kantora district.

“We will work on upgrading the Fatoto Health Centre. There will be a holistic approach in upgrading the health facility,” she told the meeting.

Speaking at the meeting, Barrow said the construction of the road is a forgone conclusion as the project will kick off soon.
He added that he is concern by the plight of the people of area, who he said, were abandoned by the previous two governments.

The Basse-Fatoto Road, he recalled has been the same since the 1970s when he used to visit Fatoto to play football as a School going boy in Basse.

He assured that the road problem will be history soon.

Alagi Yorro Jallow

“Build a dam to take away water AWAY from 40 million people. Build a dam to pretend to BRING water to 40 million people. Who are these gods that govern us? Is there no limit to their powers?” – Arundhati Roy (The Cost of Living).

Fatoumatta: How and when did President Adama Barrow succeeded to convince members of the National Assembly approved a multibillion dollar mega projects bridge construction between Banjul and Barra?  President Adama Barrow cannot be asking donors for money and fail to sensitize electorates but forgetting that citizens are getting to know faster than his political empowerment positioning can help us. So, President Barrow should be creating linkages and spaces more than coming with already-made agendas and saying that we are sensitized.

Fatoumatta: President Barrow and government institutions need adjust to current times. The days you could make decisions and not expect a public discussion, or not expect the news to spread, are long gone. People need to adjust to these new realities. Our constitution entrenches public participation in government policy decisions.

Fatoumatta:  You can’t even build a $1.5 billion bridge – I’m still scratching my head as to how a bridge costs $1.5 billion – Fatoumatta: You have no business promising the marble-mouthed developments from the National Development Plan blueprint 2018-2021. An incumbent government has no business promising new things when they can’t even show you HOW and WHERE they delivered what they promised in the last two years. Mr. President you promised before – ‘that no Gambian will ever die of hunger or famine again’.  Mr. President, you should have added – if we can’t get you bread, we’ll give you cake.

Fatoumatta:  If you can’t even afford 24 hours electricity and water supply that costs 1.2 billion, how many more dodgy projects are out there waiting to collapse?  Even if you must put a monetary value to navigation of the terrain during construction – building of bridges, environmental considerations, etc. – there’s still enough left for a proper heist. You know what they say, a billion here, a billion there and soon you start talking about real money.

Fatoumatta: At the heart of the persistence of mass poverty in the country, despite low rates of economic growth, there is the misconception of the political elite that development is synonymous with western lifestyles and physical infrastructure, as opposed to solving the everyday problems that improve the lives of ordinary people — for example, building 60 mosques and mega-projects instead of sewers and shallow wells, unless and until the big stink wafts into the National Assembly.

Fatoumatta: The reality is that as Gambians we’ve been conditioned in certain ways. We’ve accepted mediocrity and incompetence from constitutional duty bearers as a way of life. We believe that we are not capable of finding solutions ourselves and we need interventions from foreign powers and benevolent people to survive in life. We prefer to entertain thieves and call them heroes and entrepreneurs. We don’t want to fight for what is rightfully our birth right. We want to get into quick fixes and a thuggish deal culture designed for that “get rich quick” mentality. It’s a man eat dog society where we don’t give a damn or respect the value of community wealth and health and the conventional wisdom that if the community around you is prospering, then it works out that you will also prosper.

Fatoumatta: Gambians want saviors to come from abroad but refuse to take individual and collective responsibility to shape our well-being as a community. We need a paradigm shift in how we think about development and our individual and collective roles in them. If I was to give advice to Adama Barrow, I’d tell him to take the time to understand what the people he’s trying to help need, what is important for them. Don’t assume you know and laud it over people as if you were the god of development and have all the answers. Development is not a linear process that has a theoretical answer that can be imposed on a community. There are complex multi-dimensional reasons why we’re in the situation we’re in, and proclamations before the world media of what you will and will not do are unhelpful.

Fatoumatta: President Barrow’s electoral victory horse power will for sure bring the millions of dollars and euros from around the world, but those millions will never facilitate sustainable change if you don’t’ engage and involve the stakeholders you purport to support. The most important thing you can do in that process is to stop believing you have all the answers even before talking to the electorates.

Fatoumatta: The misguided self-righteousness of development in deciding our destiny to build mega projects was and still is palpable. You get to experience the sheer level of the ignorance when you’re in executive management and you realize the development industry has only one purpose. To perpetuate a self-fulfilling prophecy to guarantee that poverty will continue to exist. People in the industry have mortgages to pay, kids to take to private school, lifestyles to maintain, fat SUVs to drive. There is an arrogance when you consider that there is a white privileged elite enabled by local wanna be yes people believing that 1.9 million people in the Gambia cannot figure out what’s good for them and it is only they who can save the Gambia.

Fatoumatta: Government and other institutional heads should know that blasting public voices by calling them “activists” doesn’t work anymore. If you are a leader in an institution and you don’t anticipate being held by the public to account for your decisions, or if you expect no one to publicize what you’re doing, you should not be in that position in the first place. Telling people that they shouldn’t ask questions or report what is happening belongs to the Yahya’s era.

Fatoumatta:  Social media and internet makes news travel fast, so people can question decisions in real time before they are implemented. Information is also easily available, and people can google to research the strength of your decisions, and they can find out where else in the world similar decisions have worked or not worked.  At independence, the number of educated people within institutions was more than the number of educated people outside them. So, you could decide, and the public doesn’t question them. But now, the educated citizens outnumber the educated employees. So, the days when your decisions were not subjected to informed scrutiny are long gone.

The ongoing resistance to the painful but absolutely required change at the social security and housing finance corporation is partially attributable to the new MD’s lack of vision or inadequate communication of the thereof.

I have a keen interest in this institution because am using it as a test case in our transition to a “new Gambia”. The impulsive aggression, driven by prejudice and resentment for the staff is definitely not the best start in motivating and gaining their support in pushing the change agenda.

The corruption and nonchalant norm of the institution was due to the then favourable environment characterised by a notion of a blind leading the blind. Thus, MD Manjang must start in creating a picture of where the institution ought to be in the future, how to get there and why. I could not find this anywhere.

The rule of thumb is – in any credible transformation – if a leader cannot communicate a description of vision driving change agenda in five minute or less and get reaction that signifies both understanding and interest, such leader is in for trouble.

Human being are generally selfish despite the scientific finding of altruism to be more evolutionary ancient in the human brain and costs brain less energy in comparison to selfishness. Creating an attainable vision, road map with short term wins, recognition of staff and consolidating these short term wins in pursuit of the bigger picture, staff are more likely to comply and make that extra essential effort and sacrifices.

Consider these three scenarios:. Three groups of ten individuals are in a park at lunchtime with a rainstorm threatening.

In group 1, someone says: “Get up and follow me.” When he starts walking and only a few others join in, he yells to those still seated: “Up, I said, and now!” This is authoritarian Jammeh.

In group 2, someone says: “We’re going to have to move. Here’s the plan. Each of us stands up and marches in the direction of the mango tree. Please stay at least two feet away from other group members and do not run. Do not leave any personal belongings on the ground here and be sure to stop at the base of the tree, When we are all there . .

.” This is MD Manjang micromanaging. In group 3, someone tells the others: “It’s going to rain in a few minutes. Why don’t we go over there and sit under that huge mango tree. We’ll stay dry, and we can have fresh mangoes for lunch.” This is what Yunus wants

Research have shown scenario Group 1 and 2 to always fail due to employee reluctance and subversive effort in the change process. Even if successful, it is painstakingly slow in getting rid of all resistance. MD Manjang must endeavour to listen and work with his staff. He should consider their welfare and be encouraging. He must create that fresh page free from prejudice and public opinion. Create vision and lead the walk to achieve this.