By Abdoukarim Sanneh
The Gambia- a looming failed state
In
recent years to through careful and diligent studies, many independent
Non government organisations using all types indicators have clearly
categorise Gambia
has among failed states. To be realistic most of these studies are a
searing account of the Gambian experience of graphically an
unforgettable descriptions of social injustice, squalor, hunger, human
rights abuses, corruption, and growing unemployment under Yaya Jammeh
and his APRC Government, all of which is written with unblinking
honest, fury and great humanity.
The
recent study by International Labour Organisation has documented a
massive increase in the trend of both rural and urban poverty since
after its 1992 survey. It will not be a surprise in few years to time
to see our citizens scavenging for food like animals because of
increasing condition of economic hardship. Lack of food, malnutrition
and hunger is visible in todays Gambia as most households cannot afford three quarter mills a day.
Gambians are living on the edge confronted with all types of development crisis.
The
development problems confronting our country range from food poverty,
income poverty, illiteracy poverty, poor health and sanitation, lack of
safe drinking water, environment degradation, unemployment, human right
violations and lack of democracy, population growth etc. There is no
fix solution to development but the despotic regime in power, failed to
realise that any development for Gambia
should be base on the solution of democracy as a formula to the
conditionality to foreign or international aid. With failing
agriculture and poor agricultural marketing cause by 12 years misrule
under Yaya Jammeh and his APRC Government has resulted to increasing
condition of hopelessness and despair in rural Gambia.
The recent realities in the Gambia are almost similar to descriptive account of George Orwells road to Wigan.
The Gambian society is towards sloppiness and all the indications are
decadency, redundancy and appalling conditions of dehumanisation
inflicted our people by the criminal regime. Every sector of Gambian
life is further deteriorating. From the economy, infrastructure,
health, education, environment etc. With stagnation of salaries,
effective and efficient public service becomes a thing of the past,
while corruption and bribery syndrome becomes a hierarchy in the
officialdom.
The
1994 take over of Government is a cataclysmic shock for everyone who
was aware of the 30 year of rule of law and democracy that was
nurtured. With 12 years of political deficiency and social
degeneration, every Gambian should nourish the fact that the regime
back home is too dangerous to be left to containment and our mandated
policy should be regime change through the ballot box. The year 2006 is
the last chance for Gambia and our liberation from the yoke of Yaya Jammehs dehumanisation will be welcomed with rose petals.
Failure
to effect change can lead to more fragility, which can have both a
serious political and economic impact on our nation and the people.
Failed states are a magnet for political turmoil especially if there is
a deep rooted antagonism within the security forces and a fragile
geopolitical environment. The recent conflict in Casamance was very
close to home and nobody can rule it out, has it can be just like a
wild fire spreading into the Gambia.
The conflict in Casamance have a serious impact on the geo-political
realities of our sub-region and at the moment the hard-line rebel
faction which is not prepared for ceasefire is now concentrated along
the porous border between Gambia and the region. The MFDC rebels have
officially use our country has a rear base, collaborating with the
criminal regime of Yaya Jammeh in fostering all types of tyranny and
crimes against humanity on peaceful and hardworking people of that
region.
Productive and effective public service is a determinant to measure the progress of a nation. Gambia
under Yaya Jammehs APRC regime, productive work ethics in the civil
service is been sacrificed for sycophancy and showing loyalty to the
President. In todays Gambian for fear of loosening your job, marabou
culture and juju mentality becomes embedded in the cranium of the
president and almost all the civil servants. President Yaya Jammeh
always manifests this cult following mentality as all his appears and
dresses are covered with jujus and always boost about his spiritual
powers. Lately, he was promoting Kanillai medicine and some few weeks
ago according to sources, the President sent a mysterious Juju man to
most of the villages in Foni to fight so-called witchcraft. These are
all the indications of the trend of psychological sickness, paranoid
and madness of Yaya Jammeh which our people are engulfed into in
todays Gambia.
Our fellow countrymen think that stealing our nations coffers or
alliance to one marabou et al is what will give you promotion or keep
in government office. It is disheartening but these are the realities
of illusion and social sickness in our society.
The deterioration of quality of life in todays rural Gambia
is beyond imagination. I was privilege to work as a rural development
agent after completing a Higher Diploma from Gambia College, which gave
me the opportunity to either work or trek all the divisions in that
country. I know how much farming means for the communities from Kartong
to Koina. My interaction with many farmer communities, help to know how
innovative and determine many of these people are ready to adopted all
types of technologies and taking all types of risks under adverse
climatic condition in order to increase their productivity year in year
out. It is agriculture which is the major employer and source of income
for our people.
The coming of Yaya Jammeh into power in 1994
has destroyed Gambian Agriculture and the glorious days of trading season in rural Gambia.
The Gambia Government cannot pay farmers for their groundnut for three
year now. Sometimes, I wander what is all the hallucination from this
chick brain about back to land policy. The only back to land policy
means going back to Kanillai and farm for Yaya Jammeh. Ministers,
Directors and Senior Government officials leave their urgent official
duties to show their loyal as the sycophancy culture which embraces
Gambian public life.
There is no fix solution to development but for agrarian economy like the Gambia,
banning or dissolving institution such as the Gambia Cooperative Union
which is the nerve centre for farming is one of the narrow minded
policies of the criminal regime. The Gambia Cooperative Union and its
member cooperative societies were not only the marketing outlet for
agricultural produces but the main source for the provision
agricultural inputs and implements to the farming communities.
The
illegal accusation of ALIMENTO for money laundering and court case
which the criminal regime lost costing Gambian tax payers millions of
dalasi, after falsely accusing a company with a good track record in
the global agribusiness consortium has further contribute to the
present dilemma of our farming communities. Political manipulations of
the agricultural sub-sector and looming instability have reduced
investors confidence to venture into such a viable sector of the
economy that needs to be diversified.
Over fishing off the Atlantic Coast of the Gambia
is a major environmental and economic issue. Corruption and lack proper
regulation of the fishing industry is really undermining such an
increasingly important export market. The policing of Gambias
territorial water are under the command of the Gambia National Army.
There have been report of illegal issuing of license to many fishing
vessels without passing through a regulate body by the President and
some senior army officials who are cohort in the fishing business.
Frequency of fishing vessels in Gambian water have recently exceed
quotas or fishing without any license. It is sad such a vital source of
income for the country is use by few to enrich themselves. With well
documented cases of Yaya Jammehs criminalisation now, what is required
at this moment in time is to cut shackle of chains to liberate the
Gambian from this dictatorship and restore Gambia to its democratic credentials.