To Be Seen To Be Doing Something….

In the previous dispensation, there used to be aloof obliviousness from the ruling government so much so that people stopped expecting any form of explanations from the government. And then when an explanation comes, it will be full of loopholes and half-truths. They were almost always economical with the truth. This made people think that the government has no respect for them.

In your government however, we expected better, we deserve better. After enduring twenty-two years of dictatorship, and after fighting an enervating battle to defenestrate the dictator, Yahya Jammeh, and inatalling you, our Chief Servant Adama Barrow, we deserve better treatment. We need to hear from you, we need to see you, we need to know that you are doing something. We need to feel your presence.

There is a total disconnect between the government and the governed. We are groping in the dark. Take for instance, the current talk in town. There are different voices all talking about the Chinese Company, Golden Leaf Factory. Some information has it that what they do is to process rotten fish into fertilizer. Others say that they are engaged in fishing and exportation. I’m sure there are other versions; yet, your government is mute.

It is the responsibility of the government to assure its people that everything will be done to ensure their safety and security. Once some fear or doubt has been raised by a section of the society, the government should swiftly investigate the issue and come out and tell people what is exactly happening there.

Your government has to be proactive and be seen to be doing something. Engage the public more often and make your presence felt. You see, Mr President, the feeling of the presence of the government can be very beneficial particularly in the area of fighting corruption and malfeasance. You must work to ensure that your government will seem to be omnipresent.

Have a Good Day Mr President….

A Concerned Citizen

The Environment….

In my language, Fula, there is a saying, ‘Ñawndi wari'(Roughly: while trying to cure, you kill). Yesterday, I wrote to talk about diversification and how we should attract foreign companies in order to mitigate the issue of unemployment. This is certainly an important need of our country.

But, Mr president, asmuch as we want to attract investors we must also ensure that the ones we attract respect and protect our environment. We cannot – should not – allow foreign companies to come here and make money at the detriment of our environment, and by extension our health.

The issue of the Bakoteh Dumping Ground which is an eyesore in that community has not been fully resolved yet though efforts are being made, I guess. This is a cause for concern as it has serious health implications. As we are battling economic problems due to the horrible policies and the looting by the previous government, our economy cannot – should not – be made to bear the burden of massive health problems emanating from an avoidable problem caused by a dumping site.

Now, news has it that a Chinese Company, Golden Leaf Factory, is dumping dead fish in the coastline of Tanji. This has serious health hazards and should be checked immediately. You see, Mr President, for some reason, some of these foreign companies have no regard for Africans and what they dare not attempt in their home countries is done in ours. A few years ago, a European company dumped some toxic waste in Ivory Coast which caused health hazards to Ivorians and thus a raw ensued. They think that because we have weak governments, and a somewhat nonexistent civil society organisations, they can do whatever they please with impunity.

Well, Mr President, for us at least, we have now ushered in a new democratic dispensation when we elected you into office. We are confident that you will take the necessary steps to make sure that no company, be it the Chinese Company or any other, will take advantage of our kindness to wreck havoc on our environment.

Mr President, these people must be stopped. And now! Besides, we must ensure that any company that comes here satisfies certain regulations which will protect the interest of the country. I have observed something in some countries like Ghana and Senegal that any company that comes there has to have one of its natives as one of its top officials. I suggest that we have a law like that here as well. This will safeguard the interest of the nation at all times while the company works here. Let us work to promote our nation.

This is the only land we have. The only place we call home. The only place we can be proud of. As such, we should allow no one to destroy it for us!

Have a Good Day Mr President….

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

Munna tuma. I have had enough, Mr President. Ops, my bad. Bilai walai talai and for the sake of clarity, not in Goloh’s voice though, I actually meant to say any party leader who aspires to make inroads into Gambians political heartlands must abstain from referencing Goloh and his Abnormal People’s Repressor Cohorts to score a political goal. It appears Mama Kandeh is blindly travelling down the Gambian political highway in a dangerous speed risking to puncture his political bubble. True Goloh was an action-man while Barrow loves counting steps, Goloh enjoys flexing his muscles and Barrow remains cool and collective. Goloh killed, tortured, raped and banished whereas Barrow is pristine.

Condescendingly asserting despite his all, Goloh ranked above Barrow is malicious, disrespectful and insensitive especially to Goloh’s victims and their families. I parted ways with Kandeh when he chillingly walked away from that desperate call for him to join the coalition against Jammeh. In a letter I addressed to him, I warned that he who deserts his people during their time of need risk being lonely in their midst. Kandeh has unwittingly exchanged his political career with elusive statistical political poll. To rebuild a winning political career, he needs more than flaking banknotes on the needy.

 
The Barrow government is said to have not given the diaspora substance because we failed to harness our differences into one unified embodiment to converse for a common course. Isn’t this a case of the kitchen unfriending the pot for its blackness? The diaspora has always being what it is. Perhaps, we jointly supported the Coalition to oust Goloh but that was were the togetherness stopped. We are humans because we reason and make informed choices. Do I need a job in Banjul? Yes. Do I have to sniff a backside to get it? Absolutely no. My take home when I work less is equivalent to D91,200.00. Others earn more in the diaspora. What job will we get apart from the presidency that will give us a similar renumeration in Banjul? Most of us is neither the position nor the money that makes us want to serve our country but the love for it. So I don’t need to hassle the Barrow government to see me of Gambians. Many diaspora Gambians have knocked on their doors only to hear the vibration of their knocks. Apart from declaring Gambians are now free to come home, have they reached out to Gambians abroad? Serious leadership does serious things selflessly. But a leadership which believes it is self sustaining will not look beyond its nose. I will not pretend to hide my disgust and if anyone is expecting an apology happy days.

 
I had a dream last night. Myself, Barrow, Sarjo Sowe in the US from Jimara and a couple of others. I don’t know if I should share it with my readership or not. However, it was explicit and utterly Gambian fully and truly.

 
In all honesty, Barrow is a gentleman of all seasons inside out. My solace in him is rested on the conviction that he is sent to cool off the steam of dictatorship. He is everything that Goloh isn’t. Conversely, we part ways now and again but that only means we differ in opinions and approaches on that issue. Natural, isn’t it? He has registered successes but he has also failed to deliver on some expected change spurts which is breeding the frustration. To say because the constitution did not specifically states “when” a vice president should be appointed to justify its vacancy is equally dishonest and disrespectful. How about the declaration of assets by the leadership on assumption of duty? I guess the laws are not specific on it too. Saul Jeng stop picking on Barrow’s diminish prospects, talk about NAWEC, the ferries etc. You right. I just wonder who will make those departments relevant and productive if Barrow is out of the equation? Mr President, you now understand why I feel like giving up. But I am a winner and winners aren’t quitters.

 
The government can neither do it alone nor the people. Nation and state building is a collective responsibility. I am good at complaining, Bamba Sering Mass is excellent in speaking, Yanks Darboe is the best solicitor and Barrow to coordinate our varied skills to translate them into development drivers. No one should expect the other to do it all. Together we can take the Gambia to the promised land.

Sulayman Jeng
Birmingham, UK

My first blog, ever — Time for an Islamic, Cultural Renaissance in The Gambia? — asked a question that was, at that time, and still to date, a question that I think is worth revisiting. Howbeit, in the article, I reflected on my formative years, my surroundings, our understanding of Islam and its nexus to the Abrahamic faiths. How, as kids, even though, we lacked a comprehension of the Quran, we still tried to convert our Manjago friends; our condescension towards the Manjagoes, not only because they were considered inferior, but because they were Christians, who were en route to hell, if they did not convert to Islam. Mind you, we were acting as professional ticketmasters to heaven, but couldn’t point anywhere in the Quran where such was stated, or even had any serious understanding of Islam or the other faith we deemed out of line — Christianity. As I grew older, read the scriptures, I had no choice but to question my childhood biases. As a case in point, I cited “Surah Al-Ankabut” to highlight the nexus between the Abrahamic faiths and why, in The Gambia, an Islamic and epistemological renaissance beckons us.

A couple of weeks ago, a video of a Gambian ISIS member surfaced on the web – and, like always, many a conversations ensued. I spoke to a friend who was utterly shocked, stating that “Gambians don’t know radicalism”that “the video was probably doctored” or some such. I, on the other hand, was just listening to the friend, wondering what the hell he was talking about? Even if the video was doctored, is there anything extraordinarily exceptional about the Gambian blood that makes us incapable of joining ISIS? I think a country where 90% of the population are muslims, but a good many lack the basic understanding of what is written in the Quran, is arguably and contentiously – the perfect place to recruit desperate, poor, half-baked Muslims to fight for something “higher” than themselves.

Last fall, leaked documents of ISIS were published by the Associated Press. According to the documents, “70 per cent of recruits were listed as having just “basic” knowledge of Sharia — the lowest possible choice. Around 24 per cent were categorized as having an “intermediate” knowledge, with just five per cent considered advanced students of Islam. Five recruits were listed as having memorized the Quran.” If we are being honest – these stats mirror Gambia, where a good many of the people lack basic knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), Hadith, or the Quran, in general.

Moreover, it was reported that ISIS’s Libyan chapter is swelling its ranks by offering cash bounties of up to $1,000 to people from impoverished neighboring countries such as Chad, Mali and Sudan. In countries where many earn barely $1 a day, even a few hundred dollars is the equivalent of a year’s salary.” Imagine being promised such a hefty salary and potentially going to heaven for dying for your faith as a martyr, if things go awry? This model, I posit, would be a catastrophic success, if ever proposed in The Gambia, for they would have a readymade demographic, waiting in line.

To boot, religion, from the outback of the Antipodes to the shores of The Gambia, is a form of resilience against poverty and helplessness for many poor people. Granted, we have a change of government, but that is just the first step in recovering from 52 years of economic stagnation, for political change without economic and social change, usually tantamount to naught, because democracy does not guarantee economic development. Therefore, the elephant in the room — poverty — is always going to push people to search for outlets, and one of the most powerful outlets for human beings, is our willingness to seek help and protection from religion, which is in and of itself a form of resilience.

Hence, we have to come to the reckoning that poor communities steadfast belief in a particular religion is an inherent aspect of their resilience – on reducing vulnerabilities and increasing resilience as incorporating to aspects: adaptive capacity and adaptive responses. The former is about the information, knowledge, skills and conditions necessary for their response actions – so that spiritual belief is part of the former. Albeit, it is evident that social resilience is nothing but an intricate organic linkage between the economic base and political institutional framework, and thus with economic and other forms of resilience. The economic circumstances have a great influence on the socio-political manifestations, writ large.

Tangentially, as a teenager, I joined a puritanical religious center called “Markass” – because everyone around me was going there. My brother, cousins, friends, basically everyone around my neck of the woods my age or older, was visiting the “Markass” center. All of a sudden – Islam became the seminal point of my existence. Withal – their message was darn powerful: the idea of the selfless person, heaven and hell, how Islam and Muslims have lost their way to the “Western” way of life. All of a sudden, Islam became a thing of not only faith but culture, too, for the argument against “Western” way of life is not only religious, but a very cultural argument.

This is what drove the Egyptian Islamic theorist, Sayyid Qutb, to write his famous book, In the Shade of the Qur’an or Fi Zilal al-Qur’an, after spending a year of so, in The United States — the decadence of the “West” and how Muslims should reclaim their faith and drive the infidels out of their lands, establish an Islamic state, especially in his homeland of Egypt, where Western civilization was becoming a normal fixture. His Magnum Opus gave rise to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, thus becoming the intellectual brainchild behind Jihadi movements like Al-Qaeda.

I kid you not – for the few months I was visiting the “Markass” center – I could’ve done anything in defense of Islam, because I was a young, half-baked, daft, untutored Muslim. A caveat: I am not equating “Markass” to any terrorist organization – just simply pointing out how easy it was to turn a young, half-baked, daft Muslim like me, into a diehard religious person and how easy it would have been for me to do whatever that was to defend Islam, whatever that meant, though. In a country where women are made to believe that they should worship their husbands, because, for some reason, that is their way to heaven, it is not going to be hard to convince poor, marginalized youths to join a so called cause “higher” than themselves.

Also, this is not a singling out Gambian society as radical one or some such, just highlighting how susceptible we are, just like most societies, to exhibit certain traits. The “Markass”center was great for many Gambian youths, because many were able to get into Islam more, read scripture, and become better Muslims. Nonetheless, they were able to flourish because they offered an outlet to many religiously, economically frustrated youths in the country. I just hope ISIS does not spread its recruitment to our shores, because, if they do, only God can help us, because denial and othering, is seriously not going to cut it.

Saul Njie

Blacksburg, Virginia

05.16.2017

Diversification….

Many African governments fail in the area of employment and its opportunities because there is a concept people have – both the government and the governed – that the government has to provide employment for everyone. Obviously, this is a fallacy. It is practically impossible for the government to employ everyone. Of course, government is the largest employer in any country.

The private sector is the key to solving the problem of employment. When the government makes the market open and provides a conducive environment, the investors will come in from different parts of the world to do business. These will provide the jobs that the government cannot provide.

For this to happen though – and at the level that it will be beneficial for our current situation – there have to be some drastic measures. For instance, many companies in the developed world are looking to diversify their operations but in places where the taxes are business-friendly. There are countries who have made their taxes so business friendly that they have attracted many big companies and thus created a lot of employment for their youth. One example that comes to mind is Ireland. Ireland has almost solved their unemployment problem by offering a tax haven for businesses. Not that they don’t tax businesses, but at a far reduced rate. We can do the same.

Another area that big companies look at is security. Obviously, our country is enjoying a good level of security at the moment. So, all we need to do is to market our country by making our ssecurity haven status known all over the world and then invite investors.

Yet, another area that interests foreign big companies is expertise, particularly those that want to outsource labour. For instance, there are companies in England who outsource most of their labour to smaller companies in East Africa. This is the blessing of globalisation. Though it also comes with its disadvantages. When our people are trained and given the required expertise, foreign companies will come here and give employment to thousands of our young ones. Thus, our problem of unemployment can be reduced drastically.

This is where our education system comes into the equation. Mr President, we must put in place an education system which creates people who can create employment for themselves rather than wait for a government to employ them. If this happens, our young ones will have the expertise that will market them instead of them running around seeking employment. I have repeatedly written about this. We need to transform our education system so that our people will be needed.

Once, a friend gave me a piece of advice which I think our young ones need to hear and heed as well. He said: ‘Wherever you are, make yourself needed.’ He continued to admonish that if one makes oneself needed by proving to be useful, one will always get what one needs. This is what we need to inculcate in our young ones.

To our young ones, we should communicate that the world we live in is a competitive one. One must excel in whatever one does so one can stand out in everything. With this we will be identified in the world as a small country that has the expertise to serve everywhere in the world.

Mr President, it’s time to show the world that we are unique!

Have a Good Day Mr President….

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

Did you notice too? The reincarnation of psuedo and “undocumented” profiles on Gambian social media, Facebook. Lu nyoye nyot di say hat? Apart from the few self-anointed cyber Barrow ADCs who draw their double-edged daggers to slit the throats of your sceptics with repelling profanities, Gambians can now freely express their views without ducking behind flicking shadows. We must not recreate that climate of fear to hold our leaders accountable. Until we recognise that democracy is not superficial but driven by power vested on the people, we will continue to perceive our political leadership as demi gods. Our duty is to fortify participatory governance where both leaders and people see one another as partners in nation and state development. Here we are reminded by Myles Monroe, “People generally fall into one of three groups: The few who make things happen, the many who watch things happen and the overwhelming majority who have no notion of what happens. Every person is either a creator of facts or a creator of circumstance. He either puts colour into his environment or takes colour like a chameleon from his environment”. Each of us must be one of those who make things happen by adding colour to our society.

 
Underlining the Gunjur beach concerns, Mr President, Mr Madi Jobarteh warned, “A severe national security threat is unfolding in Gunjur, the hometown of the Majority Leader Kebba K Barrow. There is a Chinese company engaged in fishmeal production, which dumps its waste and dead fish along the coastline and neighboring communities. The factory releases intense bad odour making people sick as well as destroying our fish reserves and polluting the waters. This is a direct threat to the lives and livelihoods of the people of Gunjur, Kombo and the Gambia as a whole. Yet this company called Golden Leaf Factory continues to operate unchecked by the Government since last year until today, four months into the administration of Adama Barrow”. The pictures are disheartening. If the situation continues unbridled, the consequences will be far-reaching and profoundly costly not only to us Gambians but our sub-regional neighbours too. Corruption by some locals, government officials and the Chinese company is excusing the factory owners from upholding and respecting their corporate and social responsibilities of their contract at the expense of a collective nation. Mr President, be reminded one of the pledges of your government on its cabinet compact on delivering good governance and accountability is to “ensure effective land use planning and management”. Therefore, it is prudent to give the Gunjur beach concerns an utmost urgency.

 
Another equally disturbing concerns is “a notorious Gambian migrant-turned-militia has been accused of kidnapping his fellow Gambians and other African migrants and extorting money from them. The militia, one Sankung Janneh from Kanifing Estate, is believed to be working with several brutal Libyan militia groups in Ben Walid, a town 200 kilometres from the capital Tripoli. Janneh is allegedly jointly operating three prisons in Ben Walid where kidnapped compatriots undergo torture and some even die”, standard newspaper. Mr President, all what is required, according to the Gambian Association in Tripoli is an arrest warrant from Gambia government to nick this nefarious son of anarchy. Repeated efforts by the association to secure the arrest warrant has been met with chilling abdication of duty from concern government officials. Again greed and corruption are the stumbling blocks here.

 
What is happening with the anti-corruption body under your leadership? Yesterday I shared a Kenyan Anti-corruption video on my page on how they are curbing sickening corruption within their police and other government departments. Many Gambians identified the malaise in our own police and other government departments too. The reactions were daunting, Mr President. Albeit the approaches to salivating it varied, all agreed something must be urgently done to bin it soonest. Below are some of the reactions:

 
ABDOU JALLOW: “You will be surprise to know that bribery is openly taking place in The Gambia now. In the past, when Jammeh used to be there, many were afraid that he would fire them at best and lock them up at worst. That sense of fear prevented many from engaging in open bribery. Now that Jammeh is gone, it’s a carefree attitude to bribery particularly at the police. You see vehicle owners paying for dix without being issued receipts. Same goes for number plates and licenses. The future seems bleak in our country unless there are radical institutional reforms couple with a robust civic education drive”.

 
SIAKA SONKO: “Jeeeze a super sting operation..this nonsensical idea of owing the right to fleece the public rather than serve them is a craze..it should be eroded”.

 
LAMIN JATTA: “I think first and foremost, we have to pay them a decent salary that is sufficient to take care of their expenses, and then institute such anti corruption operations. Folks how do you pay a police officer less than D2000 in the backdrop of this crazy inflation and you expect that officer to pay for his commuting, food, rent as well as take care of his family. We have to look at this in a honest and comprehensive manner”.

 
DEMBA NGANGE NJIE: “To do this anti corruption practices, u must recruit new Young and fresh men and women with a leadership of a Foreign expert Police to lead them. Secondly, we must get rid of all top Guns in the police from IGP to low commnders”.
KEJAU TOURAY: “Then we will have to sack and lock all of them lol”.
There we go Mr President.

Sulayman Jeng
Birmingham, UK