EDITORIAL: THE USELESS JAMMEH INAUGURATION IS TODAY!

Today is the useless “Presidential” inauguration in the Gambia. Another five years of retrogression, gross rights abuses, and economic nightmares for the impoverished West African country.  It came at a time when the Gambian dictator Yaya Jammeh is facing a legitimacy test.

The African bloc ECOWAS refuses to recognize Jammeh’s reelection—citing electoral fraud and lack of level playing field that will guarantee a free, fair and credible elections in the Gambia.

ECOWAS boycotted the Gambian polls in the eve of the elections—sparking an outcry among Jammeh’s dictatorial regime; including his own handpicked Electoral Chairman Mustapha Carroyol, who accuses the regional body of trying to incite political unrest in the country. Mr. Carroyal said the boycott could as well be a recipe for instability—stating that some disgruntled opposition elements might side with ECOWAS to cause trouble in the country.

Far from the truth. Gambians voted in a peaceful atmosphere—free of violence, even though there were few incidents of intimidation meted out to the opposition supporters by ruling APRC militants.

ECOWAS is not the only organization doubting the legitimacy of Jammeh’s reelection. The main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) and its opposition partner; the Gambia Moral Party rejected the election results.

Opposition leader Ousainu Numukunda Darboe said the results do not reflect the wishes of the Gambian people and he therefore categorically announced his party’s rejection of dictator Jammeh’s reelection.  The UDP leader said the polls were characterized by massive electoral fraud—citing the Electoral Commission’s failure to serve as a neutral referee.

The UDP/GMC alliance also lament about the Government’s monopoly of the state media, voter intimidation, the active participation of members of the security forces into Jammeh’s reelection, the Commission’s failure to stop non Gambians from voting.

Electoral Chairman Mustapha Carroyol responded to Darboe’s charges shortly declaring incumbent President Yahya Jammeh as the winner of the polls.  Mr. Carryol told a Senegalese television crew on visit to the Gambia that the UDP leader is not a patriotic Gambian and that his actions were geared towards plunging the country into a political turmoil.

Carroyol said a patriotic party leader who loves his country  should not have doubted the wishes of the Gambian people. He said Jammeh was voted into office by the Gambian electorate and that any patriotic citizen should embrace the dictator’s electoral victory.

But opposition leader Ousainu Darboe disagrees. He instead accuses Carroyol of being a stooge for the dictator.  Mr. Darboe said he is more patriotic than Mustapha Carroyol, who he accused of presiding over a dubious Electoral Commission. The UDP leader questions Carroyol’s impartiality as an Electoral Chairman.

Also to join the world in rejecting dictator Jammeh’s reelection was the opposition United Front led by the National Reconciliation Party leader Hamat Bah. The United Front said it will not accept the election results until dictator Jammeh retracts his pre-election statement suggesting that “ no coup, or elections can remove him from power.”  

The leadership of the opposition United  Front is consist of three opposition parties and its leaders said Jammeh’s statement would cast a doubt on the credibility of the elections.  They demanded an unconditional retraction from the dictator.

The United Front also cites some grey areas that needs improvement in Gambia’s electoral system. For example, the incumbent’s abuse of the state machinery.  They said the  dictator has hijacked the public media throughout the campaigning period. The public media also grossly censored statements made by opposition leaders critical of the dictator.

The United Front also lamented about the 11 days campaign period allocated to political parties by the IEC. They want to see a more level playing field in future elections.

Increasingly worried about the sub-regional isolation, or snub if you like, dictator Jammeh dispatches his Ministers to tour the world by extending invitations to leaders from Sierra Leone, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Cuba, and elsewhere around the world to attend his illegitimate swearing in ceremony.

It has been estimated that close to $10 million United States dollars has been allocated to fund the Kanilai monster’s inauguration jamboree. 

Western powers are cautiously silent over Jammeh’s reelection. There is no  serious country so far that extended a congratulatory message to the dictator.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) Gambia’s main donor partner has slammed an economic sanctions against the regime. The sanctions came into effect this past April, according to the British Minister for Africa and United Nations.

The British Government said the sanctions will not be lifted unless the authorities in Banjul are ready to conform to democratic  and good Governance standards. 

Banjul reacted by assuring its British partners that it’s vigorously working towards improving its governance and human rights record. It also agreed to set up a Commission of Inquiry to probe into the murder of journalist Deyda  Hydara. The UN Secretary General is expected to officiate the Commission, said our source.

The Gambian leader is a man of controversy. He is running a narcotic state. Prior to the one billion dollar cocaine catch, Jammeh told the former US Ambassador to the Gambia that he has been approached by drug cartels to allow South American planes to drop off cocaine into the country after been promised with a monthly wages of $3 million dollars. 

One year down the road, a cocaine haul worth $1 billion was found in the village of Bonto.  Venezuelan, Columbian, Dutch and African nationals were among those arrested in connection with the seized drugs.

The court sentenced the accused persons  to death, but there was no serious move taken by the Jammeh administration to burn the confiscated drugs.

The US Ambassador to the Gambia Pamela Ann White last week paid a visit to the National Drug Enforcement Agency drug store  to see for herself how drug exhibits are being stored. The NDEA spokesman Abdoulie Ceesay quoted the Ambassador of having said that she was impressed by the NDEA’S  drugs inventory storage facility.

Besides drug trafficking, Mr. Jammeh has also been accused of smuggling arms from Iran—in violation of United Nations arms Embargo Treaty. Some of the imported Iranian arms landed into the hands of the MFDC rebels fighting for independence in the Southern Province of Casamance.

The Gambian dictator was also supplying arms to his dictator brother deposed Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, through the MFDC leader Salifu Sarjo.

Jammeh is also a strong ally of the Lebanese businessmen linked to supporting the terrorist group Hezbollah. He refused to expel the Tajideen brothers indicted by the US Treasury Department for financing terrorism.  The dictator is acting in concert with the Lebanese Hezbollah supporters to use Banjul as a ground for money laundering.

As Jammeh assumes another five year mandate today, he is battling with poor health, and strong opposition overseas.  A good number of Gambians are making calls  for his regime to be deposed by any means necessary.  Many are of the ardent belief that Jammeh can only be deposed through an arms struggle and efforts underway in that direction to free Gambians from the dictator’s misrule, said an exiled Gambian dissident.