Devils Dreams in the Gambia- The Gambia’s long Nightmare?

A bad man doing bad things

By Alagi Yorro Jallow, Contributing Writer

Behind the tall white walls of the grandiose home of the president, ostriches, buffalo, camels and other exotic livestock roam neatly landscaped lawns—part of a vast private complex said to include a crocodile wetland and a lake topped with lotus flowers.

In the poverty-stricken shell of a city outside the poorest pick through garbage for edible scraps. All around them are portraits of Sheikh Yahya Jammeh, in long robes, holding a copy of the holy Quran along with a sword and prayer beads. His Excellency Sheikh Professor Doctor Colonel Alhagie Yahya AJJ Jammeh is omnipresent, gazing solemnly from public building facades and beaming proudly from ubiquitous billboards. His image is even woven into the fabric of countless green shirts worn from the coast of Banjul to the farthest reaches of the forested interior. He is referred to locally as (Jilinka or Babilimansa) meaning in Mandingo “bridge builder”.

He might be young for a head of state—only 44—but he is larger than life in The Gambia, the West African nation he has ruled for 16 years.

Jammeh will soon be joining the list of longest-ruling heads of state, not counting the monarchs of Britain and Thailand, after Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who served 49 years in power.

When he came into power, Yahya Jammeh became the youngest head of state ever to rule The Gambia. At age 29, he toppled the 30-year-long government of Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara’s People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government, and thereby ended one of Africa’s longest-standing multi-party democracies. The Gambia was viewed (along with Botswana and Mauritius) as an “exception” on a continent where authoritarianism and military regimes have been the norm since colonies gained independence. Apart from an aborted coup in 1981, The Gambia had enjoyed relative peace and stability since it attained independence from Britain in 1965.

Before Jammeh’s rule, The Gambia was known as the “smiling coast,” a place of sunshine, welcome and real generosity by its people. It became the home of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and headquarters of the African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies. It was the bastion of democracy in a continent beset by military takeovers and despotic regimes.

Unfortunately, all of that changed in July 1994, after the coup led by Jammeh. Most Gambians genuinely fear the 44-year-old autocrat, and there is little opposition to him—many accept his rule because he has kept his country remarkably peaceful, though to do so he has governed with sustained brutality characteristic of many other dictators.

“Allah brought him to us, and only Allah can call him away,” said taxi driver Jalamang Nyassi. “For us, there is only Yahya. He is irreplaceable.”

Jalamang  lives in the president’s native Kanilai, a tiny village rising out of jungle greenery at the end of a freshly paved road complete with high-wattage, functioning light poles—luxuries rare in most of Gambia’s undeveloped interior.

Gambia is not the only country that has faced oppressive leadership. In its struggle to stabilize after becoming independent of colonial rule in the 1960s, Africa has suffered its share of “Big Men,” many of whom use fear, patronage and rigged elections to cling to power. A few are still around, chiefly in West and East Africa, such as Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi and Zimbawe’s Robert Mugabe, as well as Equatorial Guinea’s Teodore Obiang and Angola’s Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

Like many of the continents’ “Big Men,” Jammeh has displayed plenty of dictatorial tendencies. Jammeh seems determined to drag one of Africa’s smallest countries into instability. His least threatening statements might seem absurd outside The Gambia’s borders, but his claim that herbal paste and bananas are a miracle cure for HIV/AIDS has caused Gambian patients to stop taking antiretroviral drugs. Jammeh’s more directly threatening statements—such as his boasts of persecuteing political opponents—are also deadly serious. His government has jailed journalists who dared criticize him personally and has cowed most of the rest into self-censorship. The Gambia’s prisons are filled with political prisoners, and rivals to the regime disappear or turn up mysteriously dead in the night. As if this were insufficient, Jammeh has now announced intent to get truly murderous.

Jammeh “attacks his opponents by bringing them into his fold, offering them top posts, giving them a piece of the pie,” said a political science professor at the Gambia University who asked to remain anonymous. “He’s like a boa constrictor. He suffocates his prey until it’s weak, and then swallows it.”

A prime example of this phenomenon is found in Lamin Waa Juwara, leader of the Opposition NDAM, Jammeh’s principal opponent in the last elections. He is now serving Jammeh as Governor in the Lower River Division. He is a member of Jammeh’s party, and Gambian journalists say he doesn’t speak out much anymore.

“It’s belly politics,” the professor said. “If you don’t go along, you don’t eat.”

Gambia is faced with many other challenges under the current rule. The country is ranked 168th among countries in sub-Saharan Africa on the UN Human Development Index, which measures literacy, education and other markers of national well-being. It puts Gambia amongst the lowest on the socio-economic development index.

The most vocal critics today of the regime speak out through an Internet forum called The Gambia-L, as well as in several newspapers, including the Gambia Post, Freedom Newspaper, Gambia Echo, Gambia Journal, Senegambia,Allgambian.net and Gainako—most of the critics of the Gambia-L and Post (there’s no sign of some of them).

Gambia today is “neither dictatorship nor democracy, neither paradise nor hell,” said Alhagie Jaye, an activist currently living in New York. “We are something in between.”He said in a meeting at the Gambia Society Hall in New York.

Jammeh turned civilian after two years of military rule, and polls since then have been marred by allegations of election rigging and corruption. In addition, Parliament—dominated by his supporters—removed presidential term limits from the constitution.

During the 64^th session of the UN general assembly in New York, Jammeh explicitly threatened to kill human rights workers in his country, including those visiting from elsewhere and people who co-operate with them. In a televised address, he stated:

“I will kill anyone who wants to destabilize this country. If you think that you can collaborate with so-called human rights defenders, and yet get away with it, you must be living in a dream world. I will kill you, and nothing will come out of it. We are not going to condone people posing as human rights defenders to the detriment of the country. If you are affiliated with any human rights group, rest assured that your security and personal safety would not be guaranteed by my government. We are ready to kill saboteurs.”

The Gambia has recognized the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is a member of the African Union, whose charter adopts universally accepted human rights, including the rights to life and personal integrity, and freedom from cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

The African Union created the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, with headquarters in Banjul, as the institution to promote and protect the human rights of individual and collective rights of peoples throughout Africa.

Though Gambia is one of the smallest nations in sub-Saharan Africa, Jammeh’s system of patronage is vast. He doles out money generously in part through salaries and benefits that come with Cabinet posts. Unlike other West African countries, Gambia has always managed to pay its civil servants and has provided for its government officials every young Gambian’s dream—to drive a Mercedes Benz or an American-made Hummer, to be a bureaucrat in a suit, walking air-conditioned halls insulated from the heat and poverty found just outside.

Alhagie Jaye, a pro-Jammeh politician, acknowledged that “Gambia has its problems. There are poor roads, not enough schools, too much unemployment, but we have to fix things on our own time, in our own way—peacefully—not through war.”

“At least I can go to sleep without fearing my life,” he said. “In this part of Africa, there’s something to be said for that.” While many Gambians would like to see change, they‘re also afraid things could get a lot worse if Jammeh goes. Jammeh is “the devil they know.”

“There could be a catastrophic struggle for power—everybody fears that,” said one editor of the banned Independent newspaper, who was detained for days in 2003 after publishing an editorial titled “Who Owns Account No. 010010873901.” Another editorial that got the same journalist in trouble was entitled “Jammeh Pressed Over Missing Oil,” an article about the discovery of a secret supply of crude oil sent to The Gambia from Nigeria on concessionary terms, the proceeds of which were not reflected in the national budget.

At the main garbage dump in Bakoteh not far away from Banjul, half dozen scavengers assaulted a pile of fresh trash. A man in a torn black kaftan plucked a tub of curdled apricot yogurt from the rubbish and gulped it down. A 34-year-old father found a broken clock he hoped to sell to help put his daughter through primary school.

Jammeh, by contrast, has amassed a fortune that makes him one of Africa’s richest men—nobody really knows how much he is worth, but there have been some indications of his vast wealth. Media reports have declared that he owns abundant real estate in Morocco and that he owned many businesses in The Gambia. He has also been accused of having opened several Swiss bank accounts, according to his former spokesperson, Ebou Jallow interviewed on BBC focus on Africa.

That Jammeh is likely to remain in power for the foreseeable future seems to be accepted by a population that regards him as the ultimate village chief. “Gambian culture dictates that you respect your elders,” said Jaye. “You can’t say ‘no’ to somebody who is your leader.”

Jammeh is our leader, “so most people just suffer in silence. ‘Gambia? No problem,’” he said. “The problem is Gambians don’t dream anymore, and when you don’t dream, your country is in trouble.”

Editors Disclaimer:  The views expressed in this write up does not necessarily represent the position of the Freedom Newspaper. This paper will not take liability for the author’s opinions.  Thanks for your attention.