Gambia is facing a possible critical moment in the upcoming December 1st elections since its founding, one that threatens each and everyone’s future prosperity with – even more stringent regulations, put all our institutions in a shocking state of disrepair and threatened the integrity of all the pillars of our nationhood – beyond the blows to pillars of our judiciary by the mercenary judges. The Gambia has been in – to coin a phrase, secular, civil liberties and moral decline, since the regime took power. Yaya Jammeh has successfully toast the other side of Gambia we knew growing up yesterday and he is getting ready to bake what is left of our country. He is determined to chip away at the very essential values – that made us exceptional, as he continues– treasure hunting the best within our heritage. We are faced with these grim trends – that requires all of us to put our hands together and marching towards the beginning of the beginning – to coin a phrase from Halipha Sallah, walk in lockstep with a mind like Lawyer Darboe to claim back our country and take in charge of our future with the blessings of our coalition.
Quite frankly Our hearts are all emptied out –because Yaya Jammeh’s measure of excellence are the very things that embarrasses us. Over the past twenty years, the regime has increasingly centralized everything with power and all decisions of our country are on the hands of a vindictive Yaya Jammeh. A man who is short sighted by being extremely self-absorbed and materialistic obsession, to the point that he forcefully pulls out the little we have left on our hands. This has been a serious matter of concern because—he advocates policies that assure failure, swept in a culture of selfishness, reduced anyone he wishes to irrelevance by denying people a livelihood to survive, and uses —the intrinsic evil of government itself to harm its citizens. We have seen the best of the early generation and our generation —wronged, jailed and others exiled out of Gambia’s jurisdictions— leading to great suffering and early death for many.
Yaya Jammeh has become illustrious and aged to immaturity— despite reducing the living standards of Gambians. Lately, he has taken this attitude a step further, by claiming our country belongs to him. Some cannot event nobly live in poverty because the regime scavenger hunts everything. The little stake the farmers used to have from the harvest of their traditional economy – agribusiness, is now uncertain or nearly impossible because — Yaya Jammeh wants everything. In our cities, no one is allowed to even decry rising living standards for ordinary Gambians— because everyone knows the threat that meets them thereafter. The diasporian sons and daughter who attempt to drive poverty out of the native communities and buy medicines for community clinics, either get hijacked by those working for the state or to coin a respective phrase “fall off from the delivery truck” in the hands of your neighboring pharmacy.
We have long talked about our concerns for children dying in backway— because of hopelessness and the need to change the failed illustrious policies, but the regime advocates and prolong them with visions. Our citizens needs of clean water, electricity and safe neighborhood, seems to sail against their mind-set. This phenomenon can be seen in many communities across the country. The nation cannot be coping with many of the social predicaments, because the religious figures aren’t allowed to preach the truth. As a result, those who are left in the country without an adult figure in their house hold, are left coping with many of the social predicaments such – out-of-wedlock births, drug abuse, marginal employment. These are just the few examples that have long endured in our communities for twenty years. It is sad that some of our fellow brothers or sister’s social habitats, are strained by those limitations and left to face these grim trends.
Our hearts which we only had given pride of place of cleanliness is now eclipse with so many burdens, the regime wants us to retire in our own graves. Today some of the unwary among us, take the bad habits, discard the good values in their hearts, and applaud themselves as being loyal. The medicine to redeem such people without any side effects is voting for the coalition to relieve them out of this misery. Today, we are not well served by the insufferably smug of the regime – the like of their mayors, party elites and military leaders etc., who brag about how they purposely climb high up their ambition ladder —through incompetence but refuse to look down their noses to see the problems of the country. These were the people whom complained too much about the taxi Benz’s of today, which were the former government official vehicles. However today, they drive eschew cars and live in big homes on the nose bleeding sections of the hills tops (best neighborhoods). Oh well! Class seems to have won over piety.
Alas, our opposition parties have come together to meet these primary challenges in the most effective peaceful way and seeks to lead the effort to overturn these matters of concerns. They summon the high angles of citizens — to come together to the caravan of “Hope”, shift back towards our morals to meet some of societal challenges and to collectively solve our myriad problems —as one nation. Nearly all Gambians – from Farmers to civil servants and to ordinary parents are all unhappy with happenings and direction of our nation. Voting for the coalition is best way to keep the Gambia from being rapidly toasted by failed policies that haven’t worked for the last twenty years. The coalition provides that change in direction of the new beginning and empower individuals with the liberty to make their own decisions. Together, we shall all brainstorm to help with various ideas and approaches, in solving farming crises and give the citizens hopes they need to climb as high as their talent takes them on their ambitions ladder.
The system which is in place fails our nation to reach its potential heights because of authoritarian, corrupt, and a short-sighted regime falling to in meet the needs of its citizens. But for the most part, for how long can we let Gambia lost and barefooted, walking to a pretty dismal place of dictatorship without collecting any wining for our citizens except accumulating problems? The common wealth that use to nanny some of our state responsibilities, have their welcome mats removed —by a decision made in a heartbeat. It’s so sad that we have a first lady who now plunders the lunch boxes of our orphan children by using their plied as a Ponzi scheme. Hopefully, the other candidate walking slowing towards unity will come join in hands, to give us the necessary push to allow the country, all its citizens and its institutions —to survive— to the beginning of the new beginning in December 2nd. United we can!
By habib ( A Concerned Gambian)
