Time for Change

Coming into existence of the Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) is a welcome development in our country’s democratisation.

Many like me know Mr Fatty as intelligent, hard working and enthusiastic person. There is no doubt that he will give Jammeh and the APRC a good run for their money in the coming months and years. That is if he commits hundred and ten per cent effort.
All Gambians know that President Yahya Jammeh and his AFPRC/APRC government have failed the Gambian people woefully. Jammeh has brought nothing meaningful to the Gambia except retrogression, hardship, and endless sufferings epitomised by skyrocketing prices of basic commodities.

Despite being in power for more than 14 years, the regime is unable to provide a good standard of living for the average Gambian 59 per cent of whom continue to be born in poverty, grow up in poverty and disgracefully die in abject poverty.

Jammeh is a brutal dictator, who has no respect for rights and freedoms of the citizenry. Gross human rights violations are being committed left, right and centre by men in uniform with the blessings of the president against the civilian population they swore to protect. The Gambian people are today living in a state of fear resulting in a situation where they are afraid of their ruler instead of the leader serving them.

Gambian people are fed up with Jammeh. They are tired of waking up everyday and seeing their president getting fatter and fatter at their expense while they suffer with starvation and malnutrition. They are sick of being unable to meet the rising costs of living while the president and his associates divert public tax money for flamboyant life styles. They are tired of being held to ransom by a president who is being paid from their taxes. They are sick of seeing a president who does not have their interest at heart. They hate a president who wastes millions of Gambian Dalasi to feed exotic animals in his Kanilai zoo while the population cannot afford a decent three squared meals. They hate to see a president who treats them like kids and swears Billahi Wallahi Tallahi at them.

Gambian people are looking for change but for the past many years, they lack a real leader to lead them out of this political madness. Frustration and bitterness of the Gambian people towards the Jammeh regime can be felt and seen in our streets, work places, ghettos, everywhere- and anger is brewing just beneath the surface. They just need a capable leader to drill the brewing anger out through the polls.

Current opposition leadership in the country looks out of touch with the people and does not have an idea how to win an election. Politically, the opposition don't pose any threat to Jammeh.

Some opposition parties are all hiding in their shells and running their private businesses. They are not providing effective alternative to the people.

You log on your computer or open your newspaper everyday hoping to see them selling their party polices and programmes. You expect to see them speak against the thuggish regime of Yahya Jammeh, the sufferings and hardship of the people among other pertinent issues. Yet they are nowhere to be seen.

The more they remain silent about issues affecting the country, the more ordinary Gambians become frustrated. Of course the more Jammeh maintains a firm grip on the reins of power.

One of the greatest weapons Jammeh is using against Gambian people is FEAR. Knowing that we are peace loving people, he employs all sorts of scare mongering tactics to harass and intimidate us into believing that he is indeed the Chosen One. He portrays himself as the only one who can guarantee peace and stability in the country and that without him the Gambia will be engulfed in flames. Funnily, many people have bought that idea forgetting that the Gambia has been a very peaceful country even before Yahya Jammeh was born.

Inactiveness of the opposition has made many Gambians to lose confidence in democracy. Many believe is Jammeh can never be removed through the ballot box. The opposition is doing little or nothing to give Gambian people hope.

Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) can make a real difference if it chooses being a party that is truly committed in freeing enslaved Gambians. It should learn from past mistakes of other opposition parties. Instead of waiting until 2011, they should start a massive familiarisation tour and hold political rallies in every town and village in the country selling the idea of change to the grass-root.

They should start talking to anyone and everybody will listen about how Jammeh has been bad for the Gambia and bad for them. Gambian people are very aware of the hardships they are going through. A well coordinated political engineering will surely yield the much needed changes for our country.

Local organising committees should be established in all towns and divisions mandated with the responsibilities of conducting monthly meetings as well as delivering the message of change. This will give hope to people and to let them know they being opposition does not mean they hate the Gambia. They have to differentiate between Yahya Jammeh and the Gambia. The people need to be told that the country does not belong to Jammeh and that while Jammeh as and individual will be history, whether today, tomorrow or day after, the Gambia which as home to 1.5 million people will remain forever until the end of time.

This may seem very difficult because of the harassment of opposition supporters by the NIA and police. However a determined and strong body can make huge difference.

However, the GMC should also bear in mind that there is no easy walk to freedom and success. They will be folding the sleeves against a brutal dictator, who regards himself as god and wants everyone to worship him. Therefore, they should be prepared to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before they reach the mountain tops of their desires.

The GMC membership must also know that their struggle to salvage the Gambia will be a very bitter one. Some of them will be arrested and charged with sedition, arbitrarily detained, or killed. They will be terrorised by Jammeh's security officers in an effort to deter their progress. A possible good advice for them is that, they should never lose focus. The more determination and courage they display in their match, the more members they will have to flush Jammeh out. They should always remember that the labour power of the Gambian people is a force, which when fully tapped can bring about the much needed changes in our land of birth.

For comments, write to papak196@yahoo.co.uk or info@allgambian.net