JollofNews - Out of sheer resentment, understandably so, Gambians have always been inclined to blame Yahya Jammeh singly for

almost every problem that emerged between Senegal and Gambia.
The fact that we blame him is not the issue, far from it; the issue is that we always appear to neglect the bigger picture.
After over 15 years of rickety courtship, if anyone can claim firsthand knowledge of the operations of Yahya Jammeh as a president it is President Abdoulaye Wade. He has been at the head of Senegal for most of the time (over 10 years now) that Yahya Jammeh has been at the head of Gambia. However, recent developments can prove that this elderly, senile Senegalese leader is as much to blame for many of the wrongs the ordinary Senegalese and Gambians are facing as his Gambian counterpart.
This matter surrounding Iranian weapons intercepted in Nigeria, which have been linked to Yahya Jammeh, is supposed to be of utmost concern to every peace loving person in the world, especially us in this region. But it is amazing how incompetent President Wade has proven in his handling of it.
Wade may have been elected by Senegalese people and he might think he owe it to them and only them, but he has an obligation to the Gambian people, too, if not on the basis of international relations, on moral grounds.
You don’t have to come to Gambia and arrest Yahya Jammeh or elements of your rebels; all you need to do is engage the problem with honesty; simple!
First, Senegal frowned at Iran for not giving satisfactory explanation for weapons reportedly sold to a neighbor who has all these years proven to be the most unreliable of his peers. Even though Senegal never asked Gambia for any explanation, Yahya Jammeh mounted his most vindictive attack on the Senegalese people, not only accusing them of jealousy, but also playing the tribal card, something he had succeeded in doing at home in Gambia and hence alienated every opposition he faced (basically, if you are opposed to Yahya Jammeh you are either a tribalist, anti-Gambia or anti-development).
And what did Senegal do after that, it pretended that nothing was wrong. For the record, that couldn’t be characterized as an act of diplomacy; it was stupidity in its most blatant form on the part of the Senegalese government.
President Wade went on to stoop so low as sending his Foreign Affairs minister, Madicke Niang, to attend Yahya Jammeh’s ridiculous herbal treatment program anniversary celebration. Niang’s presence at that cerebration is not what should bother anyone, anyway; he made some irresponsible statement that resonate a rather callous side of politicians, no matter where they are on this planet.
This is how the Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) reported it: “……. In a slight political shift, the Senegalese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Madicke Nyang was received by the President on the platform. He was in the company of his Gambian counterpart, Dr. Mamadou Tangara who paid a much earlier visit to Senegal following the recent rift between the two countries… But the overall purpose of his visit was to extend the gratitude of President Wade to President Jammeh, signalling that there is absolutely no rift between the two heads of state or at least nothing beyond repair. He, however, shifted the blame on unscrupulous elements, who stop at nothing to undermine the existing peace and harmony between Dakar and Banjul and by extension between Presidents Jammeh and Wade. These people, the Senegalese Foreign Minister said, will fail….”
Existing peace between Presidents Jammeh and Wade?
Surely whoever the Senegalese minister referred to as “unscrupulous elements” responsible for the problems between the two governments and presidents did not fail; not when Senegal has finally decided, reluctantly, to surrender billions of CFA in development project by severing ties with Iran.
Or are we going to get more of those “diplomatic” nonsense from Dakar?
According to a report by the Pan-African newswire, Panapress, Wednesday, Senegalese Foreign Minister Madike Niang was again in Banjul last Monday - only that this time he could only meet with Gambia's Vice-President Isatou Njie-Saidy.
The question now is: was it a coincidence that just a day after this visit, Mr Niang’s ministry issued a statement severing ties with Iran over the same weapons that had wrecked relations among the three countries?
The Panapress report said the Senegalese Minister and his delegation were in Banjul to further cement the “good” bilateral relations between Gambia and Senegal; but also a special message was delivered from President Abdoulaye Wade for on-ward transmission to President Yahya Jammeh.
The Senegalese government statement issued in Dakar said: "report presented to the president of the Republic (Abdoulaye Wade) by the army chief of staff on recent developments in Casamance has shown that the Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC) was using sophisticated weapons which caused the death of Senegalese soldiers… Senegal is outraged to see that Iranian bullets caused the death of Senegalese soldiers."
Who is likely to have given the weapons to the MFDC rebels? It is certainly not the “unscrupulous elements” referred to by Madike Niang.
It is natural that giving this problem between Senegal and Iran, if Senegal is angered with Iran for weapons supposedly accessed by its Southern rebels, no amount of diplomatic tone can conceal the fact that it is even more upset with Gambia. At least, there has never been any known relationship between Iran and the MFDC, but there is a well established relation between Yahya Jammeh and Iran. And for all we know, there are two unaccounted for consignments of weapons in Banjul already.
Who is Abdoulaye Wade fooling around with then?

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