YAHYA JAMMEH’S SECRET WEAPON: INTOLERANT GAMBIANS

BY THE WATCHMAN

 During the colonial days and even when the PPP was in power, Banjul was one of the most cosmopolitan cities, ethnically, in West Africa. There was not much in the way of infrastructure or glitz but this was compensated for by the sophisticated interactions between the various peoples that co-habited the island. Mandikas, Manjagos, Serahules, Peuhls, Wolofs, Jolas and Akus were so cohesive in their approach toward daily life that one couldn’t tell if they were Muslim or Christian or other; unless Tobaski came by and even then, one still had a hard time distinguishing who was what due to the all-inclusive nature of the celebrations. In my interactions on some Gambian forums, I came across a shocking display of religious intolerance from a fellow Muslim that shed light on why Yahya Jammeh’s hold on power has been so enduring.

Online forums are interesting places to frequent because the anonymity of the venue allows individuals to show their true colors. Within Gambian- issues related chat rooms and blogs, one sees a potent mixture of chauvinism, tribalism, religious rigidity and lots of common sense from ordinary, hard working Gambians. What I gleaned from my forays into these online niches is this: Yahya Jammeh is a brilliant (and bloodthirsty) strategist whose antics might seem idiotic to some but whose ultimate goal is exploiting the schisms that rear their ugly heads with a wicked frequency amongst us. There are 3 areas Yahya Jammeh has put his tactics to work: the tribal, the religious, and the material. Each has its share of gullible citizens that can be easily swayed by the theatrics of the head puppeteer of the APRC.

Let’s start with the tribal. Jammeh’s appeal to his kin is as primal as the need for human survival. The Bible and Holy Quran are filled with examples of kinsmen coming to the aid of one of their own. If there is a single, most powerful motivator of human action, it is looking out for our kind. The clan, the family unit, the homogeneous community are all semi-autonomous units within a larger society that can be friendly, hostile or neutral to their interests and hence determine the ensuing reactions. Yahya Jammeh has skillfully convinced his Jola kinsmen that Gambian society is/was against their right to privilege and elevated status.

He has triggered within them a manic desire to get even for all those years they were “marginalized” and “humiliated” by the elite. In doing so, he has ensured that if all hell breaks loose, at least a solid component of the population, with dangerous proxies from the Casamance region, will act as a check on an attack on his power base. It is an effective deterrent because it is a tropical version of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction), a stalemate stance between superpowers during the Cold War. His taunt is basically: Try me and I’ll make Rwanda look like child’s play.

Critics and opponents scoff at Yahya Jammeh’s new found religious attachment, his carrying around of holy Muslim scripture and his taste for white clothes. They fail to see that in portraying himself as devout follower of Islamic ideals, “Dr. Jammeh” is getting the most potent immunity and protection a despicable African state can ever ask for. This posture allows him to forge diplomatic links with the likes of Iran as a counterweight to American criticism and human rights demands. This tactic worked fruitfully for the ignoble Sudanese head of state Omar el-Bashir who was recently indicted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. Not only did secular African leaders mostly defend him for fear of also being in the same predicament in the future but fellow Muslims, especially in the Arab League, were the most vocal in their defense of a brother and believer. To them, it was a personal affront by infidels against a standard bearer of the faith regardless of the means and results this undertaking of preserving the faith yield.

One can see instances where even some of Yahya Jammeh’s potential critics back off from pointing out his many faults due to his claims to religious piety. The religious authorities in The Gambia, especially Imams etc, don’t care how many journalists have gone missing courtesy of the APRC so long as he pays their salaries and provides funds for mosque building or renovations. Ordinary Gambians, a minority, also rush to his aid whenever they assume his religious bona fides have been questioned. It can be hard to convince these diehards to vote for a fractured and petty opposition during Gambian elections.

The recent largess heaped on Gambia’s junior soccer champions by Yahya Jammeh is a fantastic public relations ploy. Who can criticize giving huge amounts of cash to heroes that have catapulted our nation to the heights of soccer’s global hierarchy? Maybe Gambians in the so-called Diaspora but not less sophisticated and generally poor Gambians at home, looking for something to be happy about after years of oppressive APRC rule. To these citizens, the reasoning is simple: yes the APRC might kill a few people here and there but boy do they know how to produce great football teams. Then there is the illusion of infrastructural development. A lot has been made about how the APRC has improved roads, added hospitals and built schools, to name a few. What has not been discussed is the comparative rank of Gambia’s development in contrast to other nations. The UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) for The Gambia is 0.502, which gives the country a rank of 155th out of 177 countries with the life expectancy at 58.8 years just behind Ghana (59.1) and Haiti (59.9).

The Daily Observer boasted that this position makes it one of the best out of Africa but developmental yardstick should not be regional based, as attempted by their propagandistic assertions (a trick they no doubt learned from that hack, Dida Halake). It should be based on global standards and the sad fact is The Gambia is very underdeveloped overall. Don’t tell this to the average APRC partisan or materially deprived Gambian standing in awe of the airport or the hallway of a luxury hotel. They’ll curse you for insulting Yahya Jammeh’s good deeds and then go to their village and make sure the votes are lined up for his next “electoral victory”. Don’t even bother telling it to those members of society that have benefited from his “generosity”. They’ll shout you down.

It’s easy to talk about the need to oust Jammeh from power from the vantage point of a computer or chat room or blog. It is even harder when one advocates doing so while simultaneously fighting the unproductive and unaccommodating views of one’s compatriots. We should all trudge on nevertheless. There is no other choice if we want to take our country back.

Gambiaswatchman@gmail.com