Sections
DONATE
SUPPORT WWW.JOLLOFNEWS.COM
Account Login
Gambia is Still Under Military Rule Despite Elections
Wednesday, 21 September 2011 10:00
Missing steps along the journey towards restoration of democracy; special focus on the reality of military character in Gambian politics since 22 July
1994 coupBy Sarjo Bayang
(Opinion) - Media, civil society, and opposition politicians in Gambia are missing out on some crucial matter of political reality needing attention. Everyone is made to believe that the country has returned to civilian democracy after two years transition ruling by the army that forcefully seized power on 22 July 1994 in a coup. Now more than 17 years nothing suggests a miracle transformation will render Gambia true democracy any sooner.
Although elections have been held in successive terms of five years since 1996, the instruments of governance in Gambia remain largely militaristic. What makes the situation so misleading is that opposition political parties expect normal healthy competition where public resources are shared and freedom of speech is assured. Private media in Gambia also got carried along as though free and fair reporting are normal duties to carry. The two interest camps have set on missing steps. Opposition politics amounts to crime in Gambia. Reporting free and fair information also attracts criminal charges including the possibility of serving long jail terms.
Journalists in Gambia risk persecution or even to get killed for reporting the truth. With all that happening, Gambian society is still misled into playing politics in a country where stakeholders are not protected. One-party state is the best fitting description. Entire political environment of Gambia operates on very high alert of danger and really unsuitable. It is risky and totally unsafe. The country is military dictatorship and nothing near free, fair, democracy with citizens protected by rule of law. Winning elections is no indication of popular participation by free will of the citizenry. The atmosphere is too hostile. Recent training of Gambian army on war tactics is nothing less than an intimidation scheme. How could a country be going to polls in one month time and the army of that country gets trained on war tactics? This is no complex mathematics or rocket science.
Out of army dress codes, still ruling by gun power
Nothing has changed with political reality since the coup in Gambia on 22 July 1994 that catapulted unknown junior soldier YayaJammeh from being commanded to protect the nation to commander of national destruction. All the time Gambian people have been pretending to cope with the drastic condition in political relations between the army and civil society. There is no moment that army leader YayaJammeh ever wanted to surrender the weapons that put him in power to rule willy-nilly. The truth is that in the absence of guns, there is no way Gambians will accept being ruled by a person who never asked for proper political mandate through the cleanest avenue of party formation and vote seeking. Now after more than 17 years it is clear that YayaJammeh has no intention of peaceful exit from political power in the most desirable accord. This is quite worrying.
Jammeh insists he has done so much in terms of physical infrastructure development over the 17 years since he seized power by force of arms. Political tradition in Gambia requires orderly ascent to power by the ballot like in many parts of the civilised world. This tradition was broken by Jammeh without compensating the damage. Bad enough as it stands further attempts or alleged coups by others wanting to dislodge the Jammeh administration have been greeted with the most hostile reaction. Jail terms, severe harmful encounters and even deaths have resulted from attempts to use the very means that brough about the pseudo civilian government of Gambia under YayaJammeh being their own bedrock. Journalists have disappeared and others killed for reporting the truth.
Since 22 July 1994 coup more power and national resources have been allocated to military welfare than with any other sector. New army barracks have been created where none existed before. The count is unknown. There are so many army check points where it is not needed. Gambia’s civilian population is kept in perpetual state of fear. Worst of it is that use of arms as tool of political control is not limited to commissioned military personnel. The July 22 coup gave birth to gangs of youths identifying with the regime who are known to be loyalists of the coup leader YayaJammeh in defence of what they refer to as the revolution.
Bad relations with Senegal: Military claims and counter claims
Most troubling about the military ways and manners of the Jammeh regime is that people are left in the dark about the truth. The regime utilises civilian instruments and processes of which election is one most known. People of Gambia take elections as voting in a civilian president for a term of office. The person of YayaJammeh does not believe in elections though he relies on it to mask up his true military character. He has more confidence in power of the bullet than mandate of the ballot. Knowing that international development partners will accept dealing with a civilian rule than military leadership, it is by convenience of development partnership that the military ruler YayaJammeh whom many now refer to as dictator still prefers to be called president.
There is no civilian presidential character in Jammeh’s rule. It is typically military. Gambia’s name is dirtied about drugs dealing and trade in military wares, two evils of inseparable peril. Relation between Gambia and Senegal gets increasingly bitter in recent years as the rebel war in Northern Senegalese region of Cassamance fuels up through which many believe with arms supplies facilitated by YayaJammeh.
Beyond the show of diplomatic protocols it is clear to everyone that Gambia and Senegal are not in good terms. Not only are the two leaders Wade and Jammeh playing hide and seek in a jungle parade, the suspicion between them has now reached poisonous levels. So much wild current runs under the seemingly steady waters. Talks have been sweet but never straight to the point. Senegal is severely constraint by rules of international protocols. By the time serious decisions are taken, the damage would have gone beyond repairs. Perhaps Senegal advances on higher grounds of political correctness sooner or later. What will still remain as hot melting iron fencing pole is the reality of armed power stocked by Gambia over the years of good relations between rebels in the Northern Senegal region of Cassamance and a kinsman of the rebel leaders, Gambian president Jammeh.
Gambians think it is civilian democracy but the regime relies on military power
Current leader of Gambia government president Jammeh refused to come plain about his true intentions for seizing power. To be seen as civilian, soon after the 1994 coup he quickly came up with the tricky move of undressing himself from military uniform in the claim of retiring from the army. What Mr Jammeh has not done is to surrender the weapons that he used in seizing power and to keep the position of president in truly civilian form. Instead, even the State House has been transformed into a military base. Apart from keeping stock pile of weapons at the presidential office premises where civil servants also work, guns are distributed and kept at many unknown locations all around the country. What is being revealed in Libya is what holds in Gambia. President Jammeh has turned Gambia into a war zone in anticipation that someday his regime will be attacked. Military power is given the highest priority. Let nobody make any mistake about it. Gambia is an established military regime. President Jammeh simply uses elections to cover up.
Opposition parties continue playing a game the rules of which they may not know too well or simply choose to ignore. At intervals of every five years, they are called upon to reinforce Jammeh’s pseudo multiparty elections. In the 17 years since seizing power through coup, Jammeh has prepared for war more than he takes any elections serious. Evidently, Gambia is sitting on huge reserve of dangerous weapons and people trained through the army or by secret providers. In the event of disputed elections, it is these weapons and the people trained to use them that the regime will employ to control or command the population.
Quite amazingly majority of Gambians have been misled to accept that the country returned to civilian rule after the transition period under the name Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council A(F)PRC. In fact, the ruling force in power APRC is not a political party. It is still the armed forces coming together to defend the coup that created it.
Capping it up, Election Decree 89 is the instrument that Gambia’s Electoral Commission relies on to conduct all elections. That military decree is bad enough to remain part of Gambian laws, especially to use it for national elections. We cannot call it return to civilian rule when everything around from promotion of military culture to laws remains largely influenced by military values.
Gambia media and political parties are misled
To baffle the nation further, Jammeh and his armed forces will not stop calling for elections. That is what the protocol of civil democracy demands. Where everything goes so bad enough is how it has been made possible that two key stakeholders are carried away. Gambian opposition parties and independent media have been bundled together in the belief that it is politics and media work as usual. Before anyone knows it is something different, you are already caught in the trap. Politicians have been tormented and faced harder times. People in the media too have taken freedom of expression for granted until it turns otherwise.
One thing is now certain, after seizing power by coup Jammeh has amply demonstrated his trust more in military might than confidence in votes. It is up to opposing players in the game to face the truth. The regime in Gambia is set for war against anyone thinking of replacing it by any means. Will the opposition permit itself to stay on challenging a military ruler who only calls elections for formalities? Will Gambia media keep filling up all the time and space addressing political issues when the biggest trial is more of military self-perpetuation? Gambia’s greatest loss is that the regime is getting everyone waste time and resources keeping empty boxes of hopeless treasure. President Jammeh is using gun power to control people and resources. Rest of the people are taking a direction that leads nowhere. In short, Gambians are talking politics when the president is banking on weapon power. The president is also talking about development when he alone possesses and the whole population is left to fight for crumbs.
However election time seems like people are blinded to the truth. How could one person take the whole nation’s resources and use it to buy weapons for defending his massive possession, then twists the head of everyone to watch a different picture on the big screen. Let Jammeh tell the nation where he gets all the money from. Let him declare how much weapons we have at various unknown locations. Let politicians seek to know answers to important questions. Let the media address pertinent issues. The game that president Jammeh is playing is far different from the game Gambians are made to watch. In the absence of guns, will it be possible for a single individual to keep misruling so long? We have already seen good examples around the world. Gambians don’t have to wait till matters get out of hand. Society expects much from politicians and the media. It is everyone’s business to recover from this quagmire. The use of gun power to gain monopoly of public resources by a self-perpetuating political leader is no move towards sustainable national development.
Those who admitted that coming November 2011 election is already a forgone conclusion in favour of the incumbent have to look the other direction. It is totally improper for military dictator Jammeh to cling on power and using elections as instrument of self perpetuation. People of Gambia have seen more than enough of one person painting the same board with assorted colours. There is no magical twist that the Jammeh regime is able to make anything different from what has been the landmark of 17 years dictatorship and gross mismanagement of state resources. Global financial and economic trends indicate complex challenges. Gambia with no special bargaining power is exposed to shocks that can prove costly. It is unwise and very much unsustainable for a nation to be placed at the hands of someone with no direction and intention of doing good. When everything finally collapses, those who currently enjoy the situation as it stands will no doubt have some regrets too.
Jollofnews Poll
Who do you think should be the next President of The Gambia?
Follow us on Twitter
-
Teenager drowns in River ThamesA teenage boy dies after getting into difficulty in the River Thames at Oxford.
-
Muslim Brotherhood seeks unity ahead of Egypt runoffCAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood is reaching out to rivals including politicians knocked out...
-
Bristol Rovers Speed Merchant Could Be Racing To Posh(GamSports) – Peterborough United are thought to be one of a number of Championship sides...
Comments
My market research was probably the most extensive ever carried out in The Gambia
during the last ten years.
.....assisted by The APRC...and £89,000 of my own money.
I recall...one experiment.
I gave a selection of ten Gambian's three state of the art, boxed mobile phones each.
I explained that I would return 25% of the overall profit{600x3 = 1800 dalasis} back to them...and when they had sold the phones..to come back for more...
They never came...back and I lost 30 mobile phones worth 25,000 dalasis.
RKK's explanation...of the sale of boats and then off to greener pastures...is a credible and experienced answer.
If what you said about the youths of Banjul is true,and knowing how Jammeh operates,he would called a group of Banjul Youths to State House,lectured them about self sufficiency,bla h,blah and handed the boats over. No training,no support,no supervision.
Likely outcome ? DISASTER.
That's reminds me of the first batch of tractors handed to July 22nd Movement. What was the outcome ? TOTAL DISASTER.
Imagine if these tractors were handed over to the Dept. of State for Agric. Jammeh could have directed for a special unit to be created within that Dept. to oversee the use and maintenance of the tractors.
Can anyone doubt that the outcome would have been different,based on the experience of that Dept. in dealing with farmers and their knowledge of various agricultural issues in the country ?
But,typical Jammeh,interest ed more in the image, than the outcome.
We achieved more than infrastrucral development, we also had Poverty elevation program, and the Gambians standard of living is better than before, especially human development.
let me make it short, since am traveling to NEW YORK. talk to you later, peace.
Fishing on an industrial scale requires TRAINING & CAPITAL as well as a good knowledge of the market.
Those youths need training;they need fishing gear & boat; they need a market;they need storage facilities;they need transport to distribute their produce,etc.
You don't just get a fishing net,jump into a boat and head out to sea to catch fish,which Jammeh seems to be suggesting.
So actions must match words if they are not to be seen as mare cheap propaganda and political 'sound bites'.
As for 'working with Jammeh to change things or contribute to development',I think you have exposed the differences between our approaches.
You don't have to be APRC to contribute to national development.
The(PDOIS)teach er;the(UDP)wome n gardeners;the(N RP)cattle herdsman; the non political farmer,all contribute,in their own ways.
Obviously,your party is achieving INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT,for which it claims all credit,despite the funds paying for these projects coming from ALL OF US: APRC,UDP,PDOIS, NRP supporters & other persons,living & paying taxes in The Gambia.
As you know,a party in government's success should not be determined by just infrastructural developments,bu t a host of many other factors needed to be taken into account.
Perhaps,the most relevant one is the impact of your policies on the lives of ordinary people. (e.g) Increasing poverty means failure of policies.
The other day,I listened to Jammeh castigating the youths for being unproductive and saying that the River is rich in fish but that the sector is dominated by foreigners,whic h is TRUE.
The fishing sector has been dominated by Senegalese well before Jammeh came on the scene.
Bax,think about it and let me know. If we dont put up with the challegest, we'll not achieve nothing, we should be determine enough to work with those who against us, and produce results to proved that we're able to deliver, regardless of the obstacle, Gambia is beling to all of us, i seen Jammeh as a visionary and hard working, he has what it take to lead our country,he care for us, especially women, security and agriculture, more importantly health and development, above all education and democracy that fit the Gambia the home of human rights charter. Bax, think about it.
I don't think you will get me because I don't agree with the way your party is allowing its leader to govern the country.
Your party is a ONE MAN SHOW,and without him,I am not sure if you can survive.
Also,I don't like the way your party leader govern my country.
Too much corruption at the Office Of the President : How could he and his family be so rich ?
Too many people in prison;too many being sacked,hired,sa cked again;too many dying or disappearing;to o many fleeing for fear of their lives,etc.
If he changes and stop all these bad/evil things,then I may consider your offer. But for now,its a BIG NO,THANK YOU.
I don't get it when people say the country is still under a military dictatorship because Jammeh has a military background. For any leader to preside over a reign of terror,they must rely on the security forces,whether they were military or not.
We are not a MILITARY DICTATORSHIP even if the president has a military background.We are a DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY,where power is concentrated in the president who abuses with without any checks whatsoever.
As for Jammeh's statements about winning whether he is voted for or not,only those who forget yesterday will take seriously.Didn't Jammeh say he will not contest elections? Or the many other absurdities he claims.
RSS feed for comments to this post.