Dear Mr. Editor,

  There is much that I would respect about Professor Jammeh's leadership, and their is certainly. much that I recognize. It is now some 2 years since I entered "Freedoms " door.....with the opening statement...." How many snowballs do you throw at a raging inferno to put out the fire". This statement recognized the clenched fist holding The Gambia by the throat without a cuss for the Constitution or the rule of Law. It was foreign to me but I recognized its origin and more lately its chameleon like change into the world of International marketing and what we British call "Spin". As someone who turned £1248 into half a million pounds in 5 years...perhaps you may care to listen a little further?

The nuts and bolts of capitalism revolves on a very simple theory that involves making sufficient profit to pay your expenses and be left with some coins at the end of the financial year. Any Bank worth its Government bail out will back this with an increasing amount of working capital. In my case I made so much money that I never borrowed other than for property which in itself at the time. was a safe investment. The worst decision I made was to lease cars and vans. However, at the end of the contract I bought the vehicles.....and then ran them into the ground for the next 3 years. Therefore I recouped the hurtful expenditure and reaped the benefit of regular maintenance of the rolling stock. Everything revolved around forward planning and long term security. If you have power and structure you can regain even the most cruel losses. To challenge Jammeh you must expect to be in for a long ride and be strong enough to overcome the downtime.

When I see statements online saying that President Jammeh is an ignoramus or someone who employs witches....I laugh !!! These people could not be further from reality.

Slowly but surely he has changed the people in key positions. He says he employs the yellow card and the red card system which clearly projects that their is method in his strategy. The employment of an ever increasing proportion of women in key positions is a move which has several positive features especially for The Gambia.  Women are the key to electoral success. Agriculture is by far the biggest employer so it is prudent and intelligent to back the largest body of workers in the country. Those who have power in the relevant portfolio's of Ministerial office are the Permanent Secretaries....not the Ministers. Consequently, he can change or remove Ministers without damage to the structure of his Government. I do not have sufficient information to calculate what The Presidents personal wealth would be...but if what I read is right....his personal acquisition of good farming land and the emergence of his Kanilai estate with all its trappings, must be very substantial and remarkable for a once former poor soldier. Again I make the comment....this is no ignoramus or some sub standard intelligence. This is the profile of a most remarkable and ruthless African leader that knows the art of control and long term security. Certainly, if islamic Law would allow a small transgression....if he were to visit Las Vegas. I would want to hold his "coat".

In 9 years of analysing his style of leadership have noticed the change and the struggle to gain absolute control over his and The Gambia's destiny. Speaking to his Ministers some years back, I was intrigued to here what they thought of Jammeh and how he runs "The Business". "He tells us what he wants but then he allows us to do it in our own way"..was a consistent comment and I believe....one that can be trusted.

Knowing what you want in business is vital to create the template for structure and control of any business.

Quite remarkably..when he took The Gambia to democracy amongst several others believed that this would be the end for him. But in fact Democracy underpinned by the strategies I have defined...  lead to an even stronger position as President of The Second Republic.

The backroom staff have served him well.Mousa Balla Gaye has the iconic background stretching back into The First Republic...what he doesn't know about The Gambia's economy

...just isn't worth knowing. Amadou Samba is the consumate fixer and entrepreneur that would grace the iconic rooms of Wall Street....He is certainly one of the most intelligent businessmen that I have met in my life and a real Gentleman and reliable friend. who does not waste your time. Put Neneh and one or two others into the mix and you have a very formidable team.

It comes as no surprise that The Gambia's opposition have wasted away under such incredible strength and control as demonstrated by President Jammeh.Of course his coming to power could be the subject of debate and controversy. Their are many whispers and denigrating rumours of the iron fist smashing mere mortals dissent or cry's for Human Rights. These are drowned by his acts of benevolence by pushing a free bus here or a million dalasis there.

The question remains....could Jammeh be defeated at a General Election and by who?

How many times have I heard on these pages that Jammeh can only be removed by a coup.?

Realistically......Jammeh can be removed by the electorate.....but not by any of those who are presently willing to try.

To defeat Jammeh at a General Election will require a force that sits well with the people and can galvanise the require momentum to challenge the very heart of President Jammeh's success.

I personally know some people who could do this...but they are presently members of the APRC and in Government. Neither would I think that life is that bad for them that they would want to try. So therefore the argument is academic.

I once heard Col. Gaddafi say that Africans have an inferiority complex.....I think at the time he was referring to Barack Obama.......Jammeh does not suffer from this and he certainly bucks the trend. Waa Juwarra says Jammeh is confident...and of course Waa just about stood alone against Jammeh for all of 13 years....But no one stood next to him for more than 5 minutes. Hardly surprising that Waa is now a new and reformed charecter..doing well for himself and at last he deserves to be a little selfish and robust. Shame on those who would criticize him now.

The Gambia awoke on July 22 nd 1994 to the announcement that Jammeh Rules. Though he has had some bad moments he has learned how to improve and be ruthless in business. He will probably be around for longer than Mugabe.In my opinion the only person who can defeat Jammeh is Jammeh himself. Unless of course someone of infinite wisdom and selfless courage could emerge with strength and most of all charisma. I suspect that he or she has not yet been born. Better export some more snow balls from Britain just now. their going cheap and  we would be happy to oblige. The amount of snowballs required to extinguish the Jammeh brand has not diminished. It would take all the snow from The Matterhorn and probably that on the North Face of The Eiger too.

                                                                                                  I remain Michael..U.K.