(JollofNews) – President Jammeh’s recent gracing the US-Africa Summit has sparked unprecedented and widely publicized protests against the Jammeh regime
by Gambian dissenters in America. On the one hand, President Jammeh was holed and shamed by the demonstrators who barricaded in his hotel for several hours, as he was marred from attending the most crucial conferences of the Summit. A further blow from the Obama regime left an unrepairable dent on Jammeh’s already punctured pride. On the other hand, the dissenters also did not leave their demonstration ground without a scare inflicted on them by some of Jammeh’s henchmen. Jammeh’s arch rival, dream girl and former Press Secretary, Fatou Camara, was assaulted by one of Jammeh’s Security Attaché at the Gambian Embassy in DC. Pierre Minteh’s unjustifiable assault on an unsuspecting female journalist triggered international headlines and raised many questions on the Vienna Convention which protects diplomats around the globe as the outside world witnessed the menacing reality of Gambia’s brutal regime.
Owning up to one’s mistake and drawing lessons from it to better oneself surfaced its ugly head on both camps repeatedly as each busied itself with scoring points against the other. Actually,victory rested itself among the Gambian demonstrators and dissenters. Oh no…no…no I am not taking any side here.I will cite irrefutable evidence to qualify my premise. Primarily, President Jammeh was prevented by the Gambian protesters from attending both Joy Biden and Obama’s opening conferences. Thus, he lost opportunities of fulfilling the purpose of his trip. Unlike the other African heads of states and governments, he had to be smuggled by America’s Secret Service to attend the spousal dinner hosted by Mitchell Obama.
Furthermore, the Gambian nonconformists successfully show case and proved to their sceptics that President is a monster who derives pleasure in inflicting horrific pain on his vulnerable citizens. They were also able to demonstrate abundantly that President Jammeh will go to any extent to achieve his personal goal. Coming back to owning up to one’s shortfalls and strength, both the Jammeh and nonconformists camps were found wanton.
For instance, each strove to shift and dish blame on the other. A fitting example is manifested by each blaming the other for assaulting a supporter. It would have been appropriate for the Jammeh regime to come out clean an apologize to all those who were assaulted and bodily harmed by its henchmen. In addition, were apt, compensate victim as deemed fit. Similarly, the protesters who assaulted some of Jammeh supporters are equally obliged to do the same. We must appreciate that a wrong can never be right with another wrong.
White washing realityis another factor both parties have employed to gain an upper hand over the other. The most embarrassing of all is assailant Pierre Minteh saga. Here, I must admit I am equally guilty as charged. I had very high regard for my informant and never attempted to verify whether Pierre was actually declared persona non grata before publishing the story. As a result, I am profoundly apologizing to my readers and followers for that human err on my part. There is still no official statement to either confirm or discredit it but nonetheless, I should have done my home work properly. The issue has raised and questioned the credibility of both sides. To err is human, to admit ones erring is manly and to forgive is Godly. Since our objective is to combat injustice, corruption, spreading of false information, intolerance and inequality, we must do our utmost not to be guilty of any of them. The Jammeh government survives on white washing reality to champion its agenda and gain acceptance.
Most importantly, a significant lesson taught by the recently concluded demonstration is the need for unity and a single platform for delegitimizing the Jammeh regime. The success story of this recent protest as contrasted with previous demonstrations squarely rested on the bedrock of unity and a single platform. Gambians from across America who are members of different political groups and organizations came under a single banner to sell their agenda against the dictatorial Jammeh regime. It is understood that with such magnificent unity and strength, we will continue to register more momentums against Jammeh. The opposition parties in the Gambia should also draw lessons from the demonstration to successfully defeat Jammeh in an election.
Furthermore, playing down and giving relevance to insignificant narratives derails the struggle from its track. The focus and attention of the moment should be strengthening the achievements of the demonstration and improving on its shortcomings in the future instead of heaping blame on people who commit their whole existence to the struggle. This brings to light a despicable and unprofessional competition among the diaspora media houses. What significance is it if Kibaaro registers more readers than Freedom or Freedom has more followers than Gainako? Personally I don’t see any significance in it.
To sponge Pa Nderry M’Bai: “No one can remote control the struggle and/or claim single-handed gain in the struggle”. All the media houses are set up to inform, educate, entertain and protect the rights and liberties of their readers and followers. Consequently, we should work closely together by sharing information and supporting one another to achieve our desired goals. However, what we often see is when one media house publishes a story another hastens to discredit it. I cannot agree more with Mr M’Bai that the Gambians are no longer gullible. So for us to be worthy of our while we must mature from this unethical and unprofessional comfort. I work with Kibaaro but I send my articles to all the other media houses and I also call and contribute in most of the other media houses live talk shows. How many of the others do likewise?
