(JollofNews) – Following widespread reports and unsubstantiated claims that President Adama Barrow gave D11, 250,000 (Eleven Million, Two Hundred & Fifty Thousand Dalasis) to Gambian pilgrims on Hajj in Saudi Arabia, The Gambia Government wishes to clarify the nature and circumstances of the said story as it is now trending on social media for all the wrong reasons.
It can be recalled that in June this year, President Barrow accompanied by a high-powered delegation, visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to renew his government’s excellent bilateral cooperation and the Saudi and Gambian peoples’ long-standing historic ties. During that memorable visit, some generous and anonymous Saudi philanthropists promised the Gambian President that they were going to generously consider their Gambian Muslim brethren during this year’s pilgrimage.
Consistent with the spirit of the Hajj and the Muslim feast of Id al Adha, and aware of the associated expenses, a member of those anonymous benefactors, generously fulfilled the promised package to President Barrow and presented to The Gambia’s Saudi ambassador, His Excellency Omar Gibril Sallah, the sum of D11, 250,000 for onward transmission to the Gambian Head of State.
Once President Barrow received news of the good gesture, he immediately instructed Ambassador Sallah to work with members of The Gambia Hajj Commission and the President’s Religious Adviser, Hon. Dembo Bojang, to fairly disburse the entire funds among all Gambian pilgrims without delay.
Acting on the President’s directives, Ambassador Sallah and designated officials rationed the entire gift package among the various airlines involved in the transportation of Gambian pilgrims to the Saudi Kingdom who then shared the charity among the intended beneficiaries.
Once news of the pleasant surprise reached the Gambian pilgrims, they unanimously expressed their profound appreciations to President Barrow and his anonymous benefactor for the charity given at the most arduous hour of their spiritual journey. Pilgrim after pilgrim commended both the President and benefactor for the generosity, foresight and understanding. Pilgrims also and prayed that the Almighty Allah continues to shepherd and protect him, President Barrow, the First Family, members of his government and the Gambian people.
In a conversation with our correspondent, The Gambian Head of State returned thanks to Allah and thanked the people and Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their benevolence and unwavering commitment to fulfill Allah’s wish especially, during such auspicious occasions as the Hajj and the upcoming feast of Eid Al-Adha. The President specifically prays for the anonymous Saudi benefactor to enjoy continuous good health, longevity and Allah’s wisdom to continue to be at the service of God and humanity.
Accordingly, Gambians are reminded that despite claims to the contrary, President Barrow does not have the luxury of giving out presidential largesse as was customary in the past. Evidently, President Adama Barrow stands out as a committed democratic reformer who wants to leave a legacy anchored in international norms and values of transparency, accountability and constitutional due process where all citizens are treated as equals.
There is therefore, neither moral nor ethical equivalence between President Adama Barrow and his predecessor who looted millions while the Gambian people lived in abject poverty and misery.
Recently, because of the worrisome revelations by the Janneh Commission on the scale of gross financial impropriety at The Central Bank of The Gambia, the Barrow Government working in solidarity with the National Assembly, enacted a new landmark legislation that will end fiscal indiscipline, deter corruption and reckless spending by corrupt government officials and their surrogates.
Okay this is very simple, and why couldn’t he say this from the beginning. An anonymous Saudi Philanthropist gave the ministry of Hajj this amount for Gambian pilgrims . there would not been all these wild speculation. I think Adama is his own enemy and he surrounded himself with poor quality people calling themselves media specialists. Individual Saudi help to (miskin) countries is unlimited. Though they worry about their government accusing them of terrorists funding hence making it look like it’s from the president. They can’t comprehend that president of a country can’t come with such an amount
At anytime a government involved any major or minor spending, they should be accountable for everything they do. A government is not a private institutions, this is where some people make a mistake. If you are not ready for the job don’t take it
Though I support him, am beginning to believe so. just too many self inflicted wounds. It’s a shame that no competent Gambian, and there are many, put themselves forward. I have always believed this job of transition president should have been given to an expatriate Gambian who does not belong any of the parties. All the party bosses are just power .
1. If you claim to inherit a bankrupt system and empty coffers, you shouldn’t be spending unnecessarily. The office of “Government Spokesman” is unnecessary and a complete waste of resources, if it is a salaried office in the Civil Service, with aligned benefits. Anyone of the Cabinet Ministers, especially Information & Communication, can do the job or the Press Sec at OP.
2. Pilgrimage is a religious duty whose fulfilment is conditional to affordability. Perform it, if you can afford it. Don’t worry if you can’t. Distributing huge sums of free monies to pilgrims (D11 million+ to a few thousands is quite a lot for each) is sending the wrong message and utterly immoral, given the state of our main EFS Teaching Hospital and the recently reported shortage of blood bags.
3. The Gambia is a country that should have priorities and make it so VERY CLEAR to all who want to help that we MUST decide where we invest the monies we are given as help. Let people keep their monies, if they want to tell us how to use it. Receiving and distributing D11+ million to pilgrims, when we are facing crisis of funding in other critical sectors is WRONG and IMMORAL.
4. President Barrow should refrain from attempting to deceive the nation by claiming to be the source of gifts received on our behalf. They should clearly state that the gifts are only channelled through the presidency because the person(s) wish to remain anonymous. Why should the impression be given that these gifts are from President Barrow? We have seen how people, like Hamat Bah, are using these gifts to present President Barrow as a benevolent president.
Gambians should wake up and keep an eye on these people. We are traveling down the same old path and it can lead to only ONE destination, unless we resist it.
As these practices (and organisations, like the Barrow Youth Movement/Foundation, etc) are mostly designed to circumvent the law which requires ALL monies to be paid into the CONSOLIDATED REVENUE FUND, a precursor to their eventual theft, I hope someone in the National Assembly will ask to know how many pilgrims received this gift and how much each received. We can then determine whether every single butut was disbursed to beneficiaries, as claimed.
Frank Stenner
The whole affair stinks of illegitimacy. These questions urgently have to be answered:
1) How did the money get into The Gambia? Which bank accounts were being used?
2) Who decided which persons
benefitted from the gift? And who are these persons?
3) Who is responsible for the correct accounting of the 11 millions? And were are the
files?
Besides the question of whether metal cash disbursement lacking governance ethics …, The arithmetic calculation of D11,000 000÷ ?pilgrims=??????, is another underlying question! Pilgrims should help in this probe; as to how much an individual pilgrim received, and the airlines/agents, with the precise number of Gambian pilgrims this year.
I think the government spokesman should be a bit more serious and precises in his elaborations.
Why do Gambians, especially public figures, love dashing out money to the poor but are incapable of finding solutions to the poor’s self reliance?
I have always believed we as Gambians love to be seen as- individual one and only bread winners and son of sons, thus content with the idea of others remaining poor beggars and a few acting as saviours. I remain adamant to the above belief and hope someone can convince me otherwise. As Gambians, we dream a lot more being the particularly Well Fed, Well Sheltered and Well Clothed figure among a predominantly malnourished, badly sheltered, bareback citizenry and dirty environment than having the urge to understanding what “common prosperity of citizens and development of their habitat” means. Could the culture of praising singing be the cause of this kind of a serious mental disorder affecting large parts of cross sections of our society? Maybe if we were educated in our “local languages”, a few among pilgrims would have had no desire for the money and would have instead given president Barrow and ambassador Sallah a much better advice on such monies given to heads of states for whatever motives.
Great question Jack,
“Why do Gambians, especially public figures, love dashing out money to the poor but are incapable of finding solutions to the poor’s self reliance”?
You see Jack Gambians are just not so good at charitable giving, working to leave a legacy or creating sustainable solutions.
They’ll first of all say, NDEYSAAN, before they do anything meaningful for anybody and even then it’ll be mostly for show purposes plus what’s in it for them!
Turo Darboe may be one of a kind but we’ll live to see what comes off of his largesse.
We must all be reminded that building mosques and churches in dirt poor communities isn’t gonna lift anyone out of poverty albeit that there’ll be an ample pool of hope and belonging to draw from!
When I look at Gambians, I see generations of people that want to stand out in the midst of the poor to bask in newfound glee in a culture where sorry songs of praise abound!
Mwalimu, here’s a major conundrum in our blackness in Africa and the USA.
“Mwalimu, here’s a major conundrum in our blackness in Africa and the USA.” Says Andy.
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Mwalimu says:
the condrum Andy described does not have its roots in black culture, black history and not in blackness.
Manipulation of power to suit an individual(istic) need for recognition, prestige and privileges is a product of white contamination of the awareness of the Afrikan the moment the savages set foot on our continent.
Now one might be tempted to say “but they are not anymore in our continent to enslave and perpetuate colonial rule”. That will be a manifestation of ignorance about the extend to which our cultures were damaged by the marauding beasts (Arabs and Whites). The legacy of slavery and colonialism lives on through the educated, political and business class. Combine these three, you have the petit burgeoise. The aspiration of this class is to attain whiteness through insatiable consumption and unnatural levels of desire. Even the peasants to some extent are not spared, even though I would say they are the last giants fighting to the bitter end.
So whiteness (cultural, political, psychological and religious) has become the default barometer through which black people measure their humanity. I hope you (the reader) are following. Call it the anti-blackness in black people. The solution to that malady is to educate our people about themselves, their TRUE HISTORY (not one written and taught by the savages), their environment (Afrikka) and engage them positively for the future, for only Afrikkans can build Afrikka for themselves; foreign investment will not do it, tourism will not do it, it’s only through inter-Afrikkan trade and cultural evolution we will earn our rightful place in the world.
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Through no fault of our own we have been invaded by a primitive and barbaric people who took advantage of our kindness to strangers to destroy everything we hold dear. That’s the bigger picture you need to see in your minds eye and understand.
You can see I have deliberately left out mentioning Gambia. That’s because in dealing with phenomena that are observable in all Afrikkan countries, the nation plays a very limited role in the analysis of cultural characteristics because the Afrikkan nation state is a very young historical event in our existence. In 1889, Afrikka was partitioned in Berlin, Germany, by the devil in human flesh (white people) for their economic and political interests, thereby sealing our fate in division and rancor with each other for eternity, except we rise and decide otherwise.
_______________________
Yours in the service of The Gambia and the Black Nation, I remain.
Mwalimu,
I won’t forgive neither forget how colonisation and slavery have devastated me and my continent, neither would I go about my life like my neck is girdled in a shackle with my hands and feet in chains. Your kind of wailing The Freedom Fighter’s Jargons only causes frustration and depression to the younger generations’ minds, a kind of approach that also sums up to the dire situation where many Afrikan or Afrikkan countries cannot even discover techniques (implements) to boost food production. Come on.., stop making the Blackman looking inferior. A lot of the continent’s resources are up to now being exploited at the expense of the African man in the mines, horrible circumstances that should be able attract the attention of those powerful voices levelled at getting for Afrika it’s “fair share” of it’s resource. Good God, they are doing it not to prove to be brave ones or haters, but as human beings with superior consciences higher that that of slave masters and their slave overseers. The said high level of conscience can be proved more in us if we want to accept and be responsible of our own wrongs and mistakes of present times. Bro, let’s focus our beautiful powerful literature on our leaders and that’s not to say that I’m feeling shackled and chained up by your right to freedom of expression.
Simply stated, Governments including the Gambian government should not be in the business of accepting Anonymous and or Unidentified “Gifts” of Money or In-kind gifts. The nature of the Anonymous “Gifts”, Aides and Abetts Corrupt and Corruptive Practices endemic at the highest and lowest levels of most African governments including sadly this current Gambian government. The “Anonymity” by and in itself is the Corrupting and Virulent practices that is both Legally, Ethically and Morally Wrong. How can anyone be held accountable and Due diligence applied, when the source of the Money or In-kind gifts are “Anonymous”? The “Anonymity” births and nutures more babies of Corruption, Deflection, Deception and Greed among those entrusted to safeguard the National Pie and Economic Welfare. It encourages the practice of “Kickbacks” or “Manda”, steering of Contracts to the “Anonymous” Gift-givers at generous and bargain basement terms. Terms that are neither in the interest of the Gambians nor Gambia’s development. Democracy and Democratic Dispensation is not merely the ability to Vote Freely for whom one wants to Vote for. It assumes the presence of Mechanisms both Legal, Legislative and in Common Law that would prevent Unilateral, Unrestrained and Unchecked Executive Power over all other Branches of Government. The Mechanisms should be readily available to the average citizen of the Land without any hindrance or undue burden and road blocks placed before them by the “Gate-keepers” of the Regime in Power. Robust and transparent Public Investigations should be undertaken by the relevant Independent Offices. Such Investigations should start forthwith with the “Dozens of Cars *Gifted” by President Adama Barrow to the Members of the Gambia’s National Assembly, the “FABB” aka the First Lady’s Foundation and the alleged more then 33 million dalasis that somehow found itself from an Account in Hong Kong to the First Lady’s Foundation Account in London as well as the most recent case of the alleged “Anonymous” Saudi Philanthropist who is said to be the source of Millions of dalasis supossedly for the Gambian Pilgrims to Mecca this year, 2018. Gambia and Gambians deserve better. Gambia is too small to Fail.
The government spokesperson is doing a very poor job of being the mouthpiece of the regime. He does not seem to understand new spaces of human contact and interaction that are created by social media. Any government that’s worth its salt will quickly embrace this phenomenon to inform, educate, disseminate their plans and engage the citizenry in productive communication.
Accusing users of computer mediated communication spaces of spreading false news without putting out the true news for reasons of wanting to run the affairs of the country secretively is symbolic of a repressive and corrupt regime.
Now let’s get to the gist of the matter.
Some arab philanthropist wanted to donate money to Gambian pilgrims through Adama/the government. Why? Because:
1) Adama has lobbied among his Saudi friends on behalf of the pilgrims.
2) The Saudi Philanthropist would like to safe a few black people from hell so he contributed to their journey to cleanse themselves of sins.
3) A jolly good fellow wanted to do some good but he can’t put this money into our hospitals to acquire blood bags and other medication. And he can’t even pay for the school fees of half of all Gambian high school students for a year. No! This money is only good to help these Afrikkans on there way to paradise so that Allah will reward him too.
________________________________________________
Two and three are more plausible to me. But everyone can make there own inferences from the above possible scenarios.
An example of the Arab (Kafirrs) mindset is that the black man should be saved from hellfire through their intervention. I have never seen any scholarship holder flying to an arab country to study medicine, maths, engineering, agriculture or any other decipline but sharia, quaran or Sunnah. When these students flock back to our country, you can automatically see them spreading the Wahhabism dominant in many gulf states through their preachings. They come back to condemn anyone who disagrees with their violent and arab ideology.
So am saying instead of giving D11 000 000 to pilgrims to share, there are far more urgent areas that require our immediate attention than spreading money as if………..
But will the Sulaa/Narr philanthropist accept that?
Over to E. Sankareh.
I thank Jack for his brilliant analysis of the Gambian psyche when it comes to the primitive and unenlightened ways we as Gambians use with a view to standing out as “the best son/daughter of so and so”. I am sure I am not the only one whose observations in this regard have tallied with yours. Empirical evidence for its existence is out there for all – who wish – to see.
You are right it is our general lack of education that is the driving force in this regard – not the language in which one is educated in. Hence unless we take the mass illiteracy in our country seriously, we shall keep on sacrificing national interest for personal gain.
Visitors in the country, however, look at the living conditions of the man in the streets and his level of education before awarding/withholding their respect for the leadership and people of the nation concerned.
Remember “yellow Japanese” were transformed into whites by way of apartheid legislation!
Mwalimu, I will take it that you’ve been constantly working to find your blackness if indeed you wouldn’t claim to have found your blackness as opposed to some of us that may be perceived as haplessly groping about in the dark trying to “shed the white man/Arab/Roman shackles” in the effort to find “our” blackness!
You’ll also agree that there’re a whole lot of mwalimus in Africa and the diaspora that are more than able to articulate the subject of blackness.
I consider myself Africanist through and through and I don’t subscribe to the Pan Africanist mantra in the core belief that we must all work to find our places within context in Africa and the world at large. I don’t take it kindly either when one attempts to attach a label of “Africans enshackled by the man-from -distant-land’s ideals” to those with differing views.
I will add that the PDOIS-esque mantra of employing sheer verbosity, lengthy and convoluted narratives to wear down debaters doesn’t engender healthy and educative exchanges.
At least not with this Andy that’s quite tolerant of dissent.
Here lies part of the problem with PDOIS’s messaging.
All in kind humor. Smile!
Order! Order! Order!
It’s Mwalimu’s views and style; NOT PDOIS’.
lol Andy,
ok, I’ll learn to keep whatever I want to say, short.
Everyone has the right to determine their own blackness. I am not here to prescribe anything to anyone. Yes there are a lot of Mwalimus far more capable of articulating blackness than my humble self. That’s a blessing and I hope we can tap more into it.
Leave PDOIS alone. They have been vindicated beyond doubt.
Andy Pjalo and Saikou M.D Manneh, you guys deserve the Thanks for writing it up in manner that is much more See Through. I can’t agree more with both of you.
Some of our established unscrupulous attitudes, culturally/traditionally accepted as chivalry at best, remains a misery for me to unravel. This kind of mindset of ours keeps me fixedly contemplating on if the #GambiaHasDecided will be towards a more meaningful direction, rather than be a mere logo of a # on a designer’s T-shirt.
Bourne good to have you back. Smiles
It’s not my intention to depress the younger generation with my analysis of race in a post colonial context. My aim is to educate them and make them understand the true history of Africa and the world at large. I can only go so far on this space here.
You are not trying to stifle my freedom of speech but at the same time you policing what I should and should not talk about. How is that for censuring black discourse?
Bourne, am used to black people getting upset whenever I talk about race. And I understand why. Pain! But that’s something we have to deal with in our entire existence. Black suffering is what gave rise to the world today as we know it.
So will I stop talking about race? No I will never. Furthermore, I will never apologize to anybody for knowing what I know and saying it as it is. Silencing black voices should not be the duty of people who claim to be black revolutionaries themselves. Taming black rage should not be the business of any black person.
Of course I do comment on Gambian politics and will all my energy to see a better Gambia emerge from the current transitional phase. I am focusing a giant share of my writings criticizing both present and pass leaders. Am not only criticizing, I also offer alternative ways and ideas of going about the issue of governing the country. What more could I ask of myself? Or Is it just that you would like me to stop voicing my opinions on this platform?
Nay Mwalimu! I have absolutely no intentions muchless powers to stop you from voicing your opinions on this platform. Isn’t it a privilege and honor to my anonymous self too, to be given space on this platform? Moreover, I’m not trying to shut off your burning energy of black pride, but just trying to draw your attention to the risk of stooping low to the oppressor’s standards, with regards to the brute, thoughtless and inhumane nature of the very oppressors who look down low upon fellow human beings and have a desire to suppress, dehumanise and enslave fellow human beings. In other words Mwalimu, I’m a proud Blackman with a well stretched neck who loves to be distinguished from slave masters, supremacist and racists by not thinking, saying or doing like them. Honesty, hard work and love amongst black people home and abroad, are the only means to emancipate ourselves from racial prejudice and mental slavery. I wouldn’t be in a clinch with you in this one. Our strive to resolve the African and blackman’s problem are on different paths. On my path of the struggle, white people too have fallen in the same cause.
“white people too have fallen in the same cause.”
Interesting observation Bourne!
I would like you to tell me how many white people are in the bottom of the Atlantic ocean because of slavery?
OK Bax. I hear you. My apologies.
Kofia Iko Chini (Kiswahili).
Hat Dey Na Gron (Krio)
Naafo Beh Duuma (Manding)
Couldn’t help myself, my son would say.
Welcome back Bourne after the hiatus. Smile.
Thanks Andy but same way, I’ve been keenly following you and many others.
Hey, it’s evident, you ain’t raise no fools. How old is your son? Smile!!!
Bourne, I retract my statement, I think I see what angle your coming from, meaning yes, there are some genuine white people that are fighting the cause for black people. My apologies.
Tilli Bo my brother in arms,
I would like you to tell me who these few genuine white people who are fighting the cause for black people are. Names will also be very helpful.
You see in the black struggle for freedom and liberation white people mostly join us for five reasons:
1) To sabotage
2) To claim the narrative and the space
3) To cleanse their conscience
4) For voyeurism
5) For money and name
The exceptions to these are statistically not worth mentioning in the grand scale of things.
If any social and political black mobilizer is reading this, hear me out. DO NOT involve white people in your black organizations. It will not end well if your agenda is to empower black people. Multi culturalism is only meant to drown out our black voices and our images from the centre of any economic and political discourse. Do it at your peril.
Yes we need white allies too. How we deploy them is left to each and every individual, organization or institution. Do not make them the focus of your work. A word for a wise……………
Mwalimu, Lol,
I’m going by the laws of probability! But saying that still, if his back was against the wall, I’m sure it would be a different matter,
But what your saying is also correct, Black Lives Matter, is a typical example of hijacking a black agenda, the man whose funding that project his name is George Soros, people who are not familiar with that name should research/Google him.
George Soros is also the man behind OSI (open society institute) which is funding ECOWAS, and of course ECOMIG know in some circles as George Soros “private army” (it was George Soros that really moved Yayah out for what it’s worth, Yayah was a thorn in his side) in west Africa, the list goes on
West Africa is full of minerals(oil), do you really believe anyone is going to invest billions for African people? If they had their own way, they would clear the face of Africa, but no, the black man he’s hard to kill off, he’s like the cockroaches, when it comes to survival.
One thing for sure though the more illiterate/religious Africans are, is the easier George Soros and his mercenaries have control.
“Come on.., stop making the Blackman looking inferior”.
@Bourne: How on earth did I make the Blackman look inferior? Pull anything from my writing where you are slightly convinced I denigrate my people.
Or what specifically is in my comments that should make young black people look low upon themselves?
It’s true the facts I talk about are grim. They are not watered down to whitewash black history to satisfy a white readership. My focus is on the Afrikkan consumer.Unapologetically.
Your status as a proud Blackman is not in question.
Your problem seem to the language I use in my comments.
E.g…………”but just trying to draw your attention to the risk of stooping low to the oppressor’s standards, with regards to the brute, thoughtless and inhumane nature of the very oppressors who look down low upon fellow human beings and have a desire to suppress, dehumanise and enslave fellow human beings”.
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@Bourne: there evidently lies the problem. You have interpreted my language to be crude, dehumanizing, condescing, below standard and so on and so forth.
But here is my question to you:
1) How would you describe the brutal enslavement of two hundred million black people for five two thousand years and still counting?
2) Have you ever done anything against that apart from carrying your pride in your head.
3) How far are you willing to go for black people?
_____________________
In simple terms, white people, their whiteness (cultural and political connotation) and white supremacy are the criminals NOT ME.
4) Why won’t you say that instead of policing my black revolution ideas and radical thoughts but not saying a word against the devilish perpetrators?
If you think slavery and colonialism are in the past, please answer Tilli Bos’ question along.
I believe strongly you might have unconscious biases against blacks which is most often the case with black people amongst us who can speak and write in European languages. The antidote is to UNLEARN long held notions by paying attention to oneself carefully in behavior and utterances.
I feel uncomfortable in black spaces where black people want to silence each other through subtle policing. It’s counter revolutionary and destructive to our liberation.
Yours in the service The Gambia and black nation, I remain.
If I may, I beg to differ with Saikou M.D. Manneh on his take on what he called the “Gambian psyche”, which is a product of “primitive and unenlightened ways we Gambians use with a view to standing out………
Or the latter being the product of the former.
I ask Saikou is there a Nigerian, Senegalese, Ghanaian etc psyche? What is responsible for this negativity about self?
Yes to be self critical can be a good trait, yes to be self reflective as a people too is a positive undertaking. But does your accentuations equate to self critique and self reflection or self deprecation and self devaluation?
Please do me a favor and point me to the empirical evidence for the harmful practice of a culture or of cultures that has made us primitive and unenlightened.
Still in pursuit of the truth, I will like to ask the following questions:
1)The people who are often dishing out the publics money are to a large extent the educated fellows, why is a lack of education generally the problem?
2) Which visitors specifically are you alluding to? And finally
3) How do we gain the mighty elusive mass literacy in The Gambia?
Thank you in advance for your time.
I thank Mwalimu (the teacher) for the questions posed above.
Having said that, I must to begin with take exception to your claims as to self negativity. I am perhaps one of the proudest to be both black and African (Gambian) – thanks to my passion for history. I have over the years defended both the African and Africa in the face of attacks from my former teachers, lecturers and professors to mention but a few whenever the battered continent or her peoples come under unfair attacks from non-Africans. The weapons used to this end primarily being mere historical facts and current affairs. Unlike many Africans/Gambians, self-hate and lack of self-confidence are non-existent words in my dictionary. That was the strength I in due course had to have recourse to with a view to breaking educational barriers that were so to speak “ten times” higher than the ones Gambians who studied in Commonwealth countries have had to contend with.
Indeed, those responsible for much of problem in this regard regard themselves as educated, and are viewed as such by society. However, to my mind, there is a wide difference between being a so-called educated person and being an enlightened person. That latter are the ones I personally define as educated in the real sense of the term: I.e. the ones who use their technical know-how in a reflective and questioning manner. E.g. continuously questioning the sustainable of our current ways of doing things vis-a-vis alternative approaches.
As to question number two: The global visitors that you see on our streets every day – including our fellow Africans.
Finally, eradicating mass illiteracy in the country is indeed a huge challenge that must be addressed stage-wise. The first should be by convincing the population that Islamic schooling and secular education are not mutually exclusive. Hence the need to teach secular subjects in Islamic schools; and this must be done sooner rather than later. Otherwise, “noise” shall persist in the communication process between the elite and the man in the streets. Having done that, the next challenge should be to defeat the many “informal” “experts” on education” out there who are pouring a lot of propaganda in support of their case that “education does not matter”. In the sense that you can accumulate wealth without it.
This instrumental interpretation of the functions of education by such “experts” are the ones competing with the education authorities’ definition of education and its role in society. Unless the latter takes this challenge head-on in the streets, schoolyards, churches, mosques, “bantabas” etc., the average Gambian shall falsely keep on believing that education only serves materialistic goals – and not creative, reflective, patriotic and spiritual goals.
Saikou, your answers are appreciated and I retract the words you take exception to.
I would however like to be brutally honest with you here. The difference between your first post and this one I’m quoting could be likened to the difference between night and day, in tone, language and position. Your second post is a great phenomenal shift from labeling our cultures in an undesirable fashion to taking a manifest stance for yourself (as a black man), your people and your race.
On to the miseducated (you call them “so-called educated”). In my mind, these are both perpetrators of a crime and the same time victims of the same crime. I can’t go deep into the why and how at the moment. But you sure are more than capable of deciphering what I will get at.
My solution to the problem of education is three dimensional. Accessible, free and compulsory. Between the angles of the model will be various factors like inclusiveness, decentralization, indigenous involvement (in curricular and administrative affairs) etc.
Job well done for doing what you have to do, to get to where you want to be, even under some very hash conditions.
I thank THE TEACHER for the comments above.
As to the contrast between the tones of the above two pieces of mine, all I have to say is the simple fact that harsh self-criticism is at time legitimate. Not least, in circumstances as the one at hand: where those who persist in the unenlightened behaviour are the same people who claim to be “educated”.
The strange mindset that perpetuates mass poverty in the country by turning the wealth of the nation into the preserve of a few unenlightened, unethical and corrupt elite in the midst of large-scale poverty is indeed primitive.
Let us just call a spade a spade!
Mwalimu, superior human beings, unlike racists, supremacist and slavemasters, have an ability to manage the bile secreted in them.
To give you names of white people who had fallen in the black/African cause may count up to nothing within your black people defender’s scope but nonetheless, i would like to make mention of Heather Heyer of Charlottesville protest.
Bro, my freedom depends on what I can do for the future generations in order for them to be innovative, inventive and self reliant. The Blackman’s horrendous past, crimes authored by white supremacists of the likes of those at the Berlin conference, of course needs to be taught to our children to help them to be prudent future generations but not necessarily that, the posthumous tears for our ancestors that should never run dry, will put the food on the future generations’ table. Once more, amongst ourselves, I think we should be honest, hard working, loving, caring and sharing without traditional and cultural praising singings be our sources inspirations.
I heard a harp praise singer on the history of an aspiring king/ruler of the subregion, perhaps in the 18th century, who went to a marabout to help him quickly realise his dream. The marabout told him leadership (Mansayaa) is nothing for him because his day will be abruptly shortened. The aspiring king asked the marabout, ‘how short’? ‘Nine month!’, said the marabout. “Oh please, oh please … pray to God to make it happen even for nine days”. 9 days?? Was it his mission to oust the colonial masters and uplift the lives of his people, or was it to have a praise song cut for his gallantry, still remains a mystery to me. Anyway, I have seen present generation Gambians raising hairs of excitement to such folklore.
I don’t know in what context you use the phrase “superior human beings”, nonetheless, remaining silent and suppressing black rage and anger (managing the bile; your term) does not make you morally or ethically superior. It means that is the only avenue left as a survival mechanism not to incur the wrath of white people, white institutions and their moles.
What anyone does with their “freedom” is a matter of choice for individuals. Yours is indeed a noble one as you mentioned above. No qualms about that.
Bourne, but what happens to the questions I asked you? Can’t you just answer them or you don’t want to answer them. They are important questions to me in my engagement with you, in dialogue. If you choose not to answer them, questions that are very easy and straight forward, I will take that action of yours to be a maneuvering tactic to escape responsibility for your own utterances.
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If I get you right, Ansumasing asking the marabout to pray for him to be Mansa for nine days is a sign of showmanship or showwomanship in our cultures. You see that’s why I said you might be a proud black person, yet go on in the world putting on white lenses through which you perceive the world around you.
You have to understand our cultures first before you can appreciate what the decision of Amsumasing implies both explicitly and implicitly. He has set himself a goal to achieve before his day comes. Remember we have talked about freedom and choice. Second, the value of bravery, courage, honor and social distinction in that era was not only a necessity but traits that guarantee a better hierarchical position for ones offsprings even if one is no more alive.
White people will interpret that as suicidal, primitive etc. Why should I help the white man in his ignorance of and about me. My focus, A-Z is black, which explains my presence on this platform. That’s not open to discussions and as already witnessed, no amount of abuse or bullying can cower me into silence or betraying the cause of black liberation. A liberation long over due, delayed constantly by internal forces.
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You mentioned Heather Heyer (may her soul rest in peace) as one example of a white person who looses her life in fighting for the truth.
Bourne am disappointed. I will leave it at that. For now.
Certainly learned behavior can be unlearned Mwalimu and every human being is capable of doing that if one would just draw upon that innate strength from within. Strength that Mwalimu seems to have no shortage of either.
I will borrow your style here by asking the following:
Why do you believe in taking the debate/fight to the other persons doorstep?
Is that a winning strategy?
Why do you embrace your style of discourse?
Why are you so keen on describing those with dissenting views as un-Afrikkan folks that “hold unconscious biases”?
Do I read, “black people amongst us who can speak and write in European languages”?
Well how about our own Mwalimu?
Don’t folks have a right to their own thought processes?
Aren’t you starting to sound like the evangelist/Islamic sermoner that offers a prescription that says take it or burn in hell?
Remember your black brother that wrote, “you make your own heaven and hell right here on earth”?
That’s a style that’s not gonna help you in winning more converts to your cause Mwalimu.
In my book Mwalimu, blackness doesn’t exist but humanity.
Doesn’t the skin color speak for itself?
After all, show me a colorblind person (as in race) and I’d show you a Saint.
There’s no shortage of folks on this medium that are capable of deciphering a puzzle from afar.
Thanks to street savvy!
“The other person”, I take to personify white people, Andy. So I will answer your first question from that perspective.
Africa has since time immemorial been under constant onslaught from everyone else and not the other way round. I am not taking the fight/debate to anyone’s doorstep. They have brought genocide to our doorsteps for two thousand years and still counting. Why would you like to make the victims of such a crime the perpetrators?
If on the other hand you mean am engaging others on this platform in a “fighting manner”, I am only saying things as they are. Not a word more , not a word less.
My discursive style is informed by Afrikkan history, Afrikkan culture, the black unconscious mind and of course the teachings of Afrikkan philosophies by our great ancestors. Also the living contemporary black scholars and their phenomenal works. In a nutshell, my mind and the products of that mind have been influence by Afrikka and many Afrikkans. I hope that has answered your second question. If not, you know how to reach me with your telephone.
As to whether my strategy is a winning one or not is a question I cannot answer, at least not on this platform. It’s hard to say because I can’t gauge how the general readership is consuming and digesting my little comments here. But does it matter? No, for even if I succeeded in making one single person aware through my presence here, that’s enough of a reward for a true revolutionary.
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Having a dissenting view could be positive in any conversation. Different views opportune a people to choose from an array of available options for their needs and development.
Anti-black views and intrinsic borrowed racist views are a different ball game entirely. Am not keen on labeling anyone as such until they express such views. My intention in those moments also, is however not to disparage anyone but to put those views into context. And that’s far from prohibiting/denying anyone their legitimate rights to thought and expression.
Yes Andy I speak and write a little English. If you check that sentence again, you will see I included myself in the group of people who are potentially weaponized against themselves and their ownpeople. The exceptions will be those who unlearn the unconscious biases they pick up from the racist education systems and the lies we all have been feed with. I hope am not going to get crucified again for writing a long text in a comvoluted style. In good humor Andy.
______________________ that’s the first part of my response. Just trying to keep it short.
Continuation………
Andy says: “In my book Mwalimu, blackness doesn’t exist but humanity.”
Who is Mwalimu to question what exists or does not exist in Andy’s book? I can only say this: you consider everyone to be part of one big human family regardless of race and creed. Wonderful. Please do me a favor and tell me how are you considered human by that same human family. If you can, evidence (even if circumstantial) will be very essential in helping me learn a new thing.
The “color” of a skin is not a determiner of ones race. Racial categorization is a political and cultural instrument created by whiteness to subjugate, exploit and enslave black people. This is what is at the core of the discourse of race. There is no true biology in race.
Again, I hope I could answer you without exceeding the number of permitted words. lol
By the way, the foregoing commentary represents a digression from the real subject of the Spin master at the President’s Office. I will come back to the subject in due course.
“…This kind of mindset of ours keeps me fixedly contemplating on if the #GambiaHasDecided will be towards a more meaningful direction, rather than be a mere logo of a # on a designer’s T-shirt.”
#Spot on Jack; ‘…where there’s will, there’s way(s)…’, ; (that) pends on how much commitment is exerted into turning the Transition meaningful for the quicker realisation to the community progression….
This is multifaceted & tasking, with; among the players in coordination(s); with the political players (politicians & supporters) (who are) the key ingredients to effect the faster realisable of the (expectant) Edge-turn around, we are envisaged with/at the beginning of the change; but, alas, many, if not most of us are in unrealistic expectations (utopian); rather than actual consumptions (& digestion/understanding) of the current Gambian mases awareness level status; & the current cream of “our politicians” in play on the political stage….¿
The Coalition politicians, for example, have (more than) ample proof of the ‘3 years transition agreement’; Mr Dembo Bojang (Byforce) the UDP National President & Madame Fatoumata Tambajang former vice-President & several witnesses aplenty to testify, if the politicians have the guts to go down the route; additionally, Constitutions, in effect, are guidelines sets, that aren’t exhaustive but are prone to inculcations for the greater benefits of the community at any materialistic times, as to this particular Coalition Agreement at the time…
The politicians have their other options & cards to play too; such as in alliance/s & other arrangements etc, to solicit for votes to effect political changes by the ballot box; the current infirm stance & crying out the “sympathetic victim” card-play of breach of the Agreement won’t work for the politicians….
For apolitical Gambians (such as Bajaw), the wait will be worthwhile; while the Gambia toddles back with political evolving maturity gradually; the politicians, the supporters & the individual & cooperate(s) players will always think, (plan) play & deliberate in selfishness (which is cancelled politics) in much of cases; that’s why we have donors & business & individuals, to some extent, in some cases determine & influence policies with some negative & / detrimental consequences to state & communities; the politicians being mandated to judicious oversee of the community’s affair are failing the Gambia currently; with misplaced priorities amongst others….
The peasantry Gambian voters, need to digest/read & understand the acts & collusion of politicians & actors; to be able to make the mattered informed choices at the ballot box at election cycles….
The current breed of politicians needs to reset the tac & tics; if the (our Gambia) engine of development is to roar….
Rectification please – (which is cancelled politics) should read (which is called politics)… Thank you…
Bajaw, the word “honesty” has probably been mentioned more than two million times just in less than two years of post dictatorship on this online medium alone but, the people the meaning of the word should matter to the most, seem to be taking no notice of the word or its meaning. This present administration should really reflect on the costly price incurred by Gambians in their efforts to oust a beastly rule of despotism. Gambia seems not decided if the Barrow administration continues to be that kind of a clique of diehard treacherous and unscrupulous politicians and public office holders. I am not a politician either but a concern private citizen who wants to be proud of his country for good reasons. The MOU at one point had given hope to many Gambians to get them thinking; yes indeed we have a brighter future. Shamelessly enough, after the ousting of that horrible status quo that caused sorrow and pain in many Gambians lives, by a coalition that everyone knew was bound by a MOU, now here comes the dispute by some, that, indeed there was no signed MOU to rely on to proceed with a transition government of three years mandate. Seven(7) political parties in the Gambia verbally formed a coalition that was able to vote a dictator out!! Isn’t it what is implied in the argument of those who refute the existence of a MOU? Shamelessly too, they are hooked on the unconstitutionality of that MOU. One like me thought, was Yaya Jammeh’s prostituting the constitution constitutional after all? I’m no constitutional expert for the fact that I know not a section of the constitution but I am fully aware that, all that is constitutional does not necessarily have to be read in a specific chapter and section of a written constitution. Bajaw, generally speaking, we Gambians need to be honest peoples in our individual capacities to make a better Gambia for ourselves and the generations to come. Corruption and deceit by the leaders, public office holders and the citizens, is a gunky recipe for dusty/muddy roads, poorly built shelters, waste littered habitats, hunger and a stenching atmosphere.
“…aware that, all that is constitutional does not necessarily have to be read in a specific chapter and section of a written constitution…”
#Jack this is relevantly true; for every Constitution; written & otherwise; but since the game is (called) politics, it’s effectively the Politicians & active supporters & the “players-within” who possess much influence to effecting the physical Change; the apolitical citizenry can contribute our constitutional quotas (critique & criticisms) to some extent but limited; truth is, no matter how divinely presented in any form/shapes clandestinely, politics is purely “selfish-partisan” affairs principally; (always superceded) above common communal (community) endeavours by the politicians in most cases; but Gambia politicians on the whole can do (far) better; especially after the banishment of the EVIL kanilai Murderdom Devil; the public in return expect, & relevantly deserve goods & services in return for value of the public purse expenditures as required; & nothing short/less of that;this is in contrast to what obtains currently….
But how realistically ready are we; for the progressive change for real; if elections are to come for the ‘3 year transition period’ as agreed upon…?
Except for an UDP extension, with Adama Barrow swapping places to serving from somewhere else in the executive probably, what real chances (stands/expect) are there realistically on the ground, for different political players in their current performance & state/formations, to be mandated by the public peasantry voters except for the same UDP who are effectively in charge currently…?
Bajaw, I disagree that; “the apolitical citizenry can contribute our constitutional quotas (critique and criticism) to some extent but limited” for the unshakable fact that politicians are compelled under a formidable oath to represent the ordinary citizens voices, including the apolitical. Majority of course, by common say, carries the vote but the minority should be able to serve as a check to possible abuses of the majority vote by those game playing politicians. That is how every single vote counts in a true democracy. Parties that are not in power shouldn’t be considered losers
because if we do, means ordinary citizens including the apolitical are losers for the superficial reason that those politicians they vote for are not in power. If politics is a selfish partisan affair, why then be horrified by those who grab power to turn into murderers? I suppose citizens’ (the electorate) opinions may differ with regards to what they think is the public’s (the population) best interest and therefore selfishness driving such opinions, in my opinion, is acutely tyrannical. Politics as a game should be played to build roads, create employment, improve education, improve health services, boost trade and industries, improve sports so that the country can be represented in important international sports events, electrify the country, provide running water in the kitchen and bathrooms, housing and pension schemes, pave the towns and villages, where there are no pavement be made green lawns, build sports facilities, parks, modernise agriculture, just to mention a few … “Selfish partisan affair” rings to me stinkingly corrupt and egregious at its worst.
@Andy et Bourne: I will respond to the questions and shed light on some more points. I find Andys questions very stimulating and positively poking. Me and Bourne will be taking each other to task for some time to come, because of his adamance that he is proud to be black, yet observing the world through the whitemans lenses.
What I mean by “the apolitical citizenry can contribute our constitutional quotas (critique and criticism) to some extent but limited” is that the political players (politicians & supporters) in their partisan formations & otherwise have the greater share of physical influences to contest & win elections; for effecting the necessary changes in governance & directions for better progression from what obtains at the moment….
Yes, it’s everybody’s responsibility differently for concern on how the community’s affairs are handled & run; that’s why we saw the Gambia community closed ranks in the last Coalition formation; & mobilised & used our votes to end the murderous bloodbaths in the EVIL kanilai Killerdom span; but the politicians & the inter-players themselves mainly will have to continue to fight their own political battles to win elections; in that, apolitical (aware/informed) citizenry can only vote for the party with best ideas for governance & possibly donate to the funds but nothing more; but again, what options are there left with, except for repetitive exercise for voting them out at the ballot box at election cycles when the politicians chose to advance selfish agendas above communal progressions….?
The difference between an educated person becoming a president and an educated fool becoming a president.
Educated fool – Gets a 10 million donation to build roads.
Educated – Gets also a 10 million donation to build roads.
Educated fool – Spends all the 10 million to build all the roads.
Educated – Spends 2/3 to build the amount of roads that it could build, the other 1/3 is spend to build an infrastructure to manage such roads – repairs, road toll, and so on.
Educated fool – after 10 yrs when all the roads need repairs – looks for more donations.
Educated – keeps a constant repairs on the roads, keeps individuals employed in that sector, collect toll on the roads, is able to build more roads and keep maintaining them and never have the need for donations.
Please let someone tell me that this is not how everything works in the Gambia.
God help us! every infrastructure in the Gambia is either outdated, dilapidated, or about to crumble. Every management structure (maybe i should use the word most) makes you wonder if we really have people that are really educated or just going by. This is what i mean – you get your Bachelors or Master, return to the Gambia, and becomes an engineer, but has a boss that knows absolutely nothing about “mechanical engineering”, wants you to follow and not Change the guidelines that were set decades ago, because it has a track record of working just fine. Working just fine – is how Gambia functions, no innovation, exploration (i do not think this word even exist in their “management manifesto”).
This is trend is in everywhere – construction, you tell your contractor to use designs of a house that were designed by a very reputable architect somewhere around the world, guess what you contractor will geniusly offer you a better solution to your design, because This Is How It Is Done in the Gambia. At time they will change your design without even your knowledge, because This Is How It Is Done in the Gambia. I want it painted using a water base paint, they will use an oil base paint, because This Is How It Is Done in the Gambia.
I could keep going on, but am just tired of the instinctive ignorance in our government. Barrow gets a gift from another government, (Do you think it belongs to him or the country? Educated fool’s answer is HIM, while an Educated individual will answer COUNTRY). I hope you not an educated fool.
Mwalimu, Andy seems to have worn the living daylight out of you. I doubt I can help in your maintenance but I will try my best anyhow.
After all, does it really matter when I say all races are equal? Black pride for sure didn’t start at the first tick of your Colour Black Consciousness Clock. Mwalimu, i am seeing the world through a Whiteman’s lens for that is how I’m able to see you writing through their medium smeared in soot, playing black. I think Andrew Pjalo asked you a tonne of gold question when he said “why do you believe in taking the debate/fight to other persons doorstep?”
Mwalimu, I have closely placed you under my Whiteman’s lens for quite some time now and all I have seen is a raging White educate African who thinks he speaks and writes a better English than everybody else, but have now regretted learning English so wish we start learning in Fula, Mandinka, Saranhule, Jola, Karoninka, Bainunka, Njago, Serer, Wollof etc etc. You wish we write to educate ourselves with characters of the Latin alphabet. Mwalimu, I don’t need lenses to put your writings under cross examination, just one will serve the purpose. I don’t need a super good English like Eric Blair anyway because perhaps my interests are very much focused on bringing geniuses together to gather ideas as to how to improvise a motor for the horse or donkey powered farm implements just to relieve animals in the 21 century. I don’t care what language can guide me to achieve that goal. I don’t care I call the Saapumaan ‘exhaust’. I don’t care calling the Braekkoo “Brakes” or Assleroo “Accelerator”. I don’t care Mwalimu in what language but just make farming for an example, easier for Gambians.
You colour black issue however, is a very big distraction away from the topic here. Let not forge taking this debate president’s spin doctor’s doorstep. I think, if language has any influence on “conscience”, then ours(languages) should be held responsible for embracing “the wrongs” over “the rights” of the word. Your blackness in my view suffers inferiority complex because you tend to dump the blames of your African president’s and politician’s corrupt attitudes and malpractices at other persons doorsteps. I think you write a much brilliant Whiteman language than you reason. Just keep judging others and see how they too will put you under just one powerful Whiteman’s lens.
“…… Let’s not forget taking this debate to the …..”
@ Bourne: I was going to answer the questions Andy asked when I saw your post. A post that still deviates from what you and I are having a conversation about. If you want to stay on the topic of this thread, nobody is stopping you from doing that. smiles. It’s about rights and choices.
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Andy has asked very good questions. I don’t perceive those questions as threatening in anyway.
You run the living day out of opponents, competitors and enemies in one form of contestation or the other. In my view, we are collaborators here until other manifested.
The issue of language was for me not part of the exchanges here. But I guess I can deduce why you bring it up. More on that another time.
Bourne, I wonder what makes you say I think I can speak and write in English better than anyone else. I have never said such anywhere in my life. Furthermore, I have never made fluency in English a measure of anything being it cognitive characteristics or other abilities. Not here, not anywhere else. I think your that characterization of my person is very unfair and unhealthy for genuine interactions.
My blackness (just saying it illuminates the heart with joy) is not up for discussions. You can criticize it, hate it, belittle it, hurl insults at it, but you can’t take the levity out of it.
What more do you have in store to come after me?
Mwalimu, No, I can’t take the levity out of your blackness. You surely can take it out of mine.
What do you imply when you said , “…….just because the speak and write English”
I’ve read your response to the story brave actor I highlighted and I know that you consider that kind of brave actors drama to be reflection of my culture. Man, we speak different languages so we have different cultures and beliefs. Come on, you better try and get the meaning of what you write yourself before judging and categorising others blackness and their views of life ..
What do you imply when you said , “…….just because the speak and write English”. Bourne, I don’t understand this question. Could you please elaborate. I went back to my own post but I couldn’t find it.
Am not here to judge and categorize your views about life or your blackness. You’ve being very unfair to me now.
You probably have to engage more intensely with the topic at hand.
To be continued………
Sorry I quoted you wrong.
I wanted to quote you like:
What do you imply when you said, “black people among us who can read and write in European language” I am bringing your attention to such a statement because you have evidently proven yourself to have excelled in one of the most influential European language; English. I was only amazed that, it seems to matter to you that another black person speaks and writeswrites a European language. 1.Mwalimu, where are the the source of your black history?
2.And, did it ever occur to you that some of us are going to the wrong museums and libraries?
3. Where are you living right now or where were you living in the past ten years?
Furthermore, why do you think I should answer your questions that are sufficiently provided answers in my expressed opinions and views? Maybe you feel bored or a bit lazy to attentively read through my posts. I said, the crimes authored by whites against my forefathers should be mourned and tears never to run dry but at the same time aware of the fact that these tears will not put the food on my African/Blackman table. But indeed, honesty, handwork, caring and sharing inside the African/Blackman kitchen will put the food on their table. This is not an exact copy of my previous assertion but they carry exactly the same sense. Believe it or not, I’m not that an organized comments maker for I don’t keep files of my posts!
Mwalimu, are you really serious when you say that you are not here to judge and categorize my views about life and blackness?? Man there is a terribly shocking brand new slang in town I’m sure you heard about; “truth” is no more the “truth”. I hope you don’t buy into such slang.
Bourne,
Yes I can speak and write (a little) English. Whether I have excelled in it or it has contributed to my psychological and cultural enslavement and colonization is a matter of perspective. One undeniable fact though is, that it’s not my natural language. It was forced down my throat violently by white institutions and the black people “educated“ for that specific task. That is the truth about the education we receive here in Afrikka. That’s what happened not only to me and to you but hundreds of millions of Afrikkans not only in Afrikka but Afrikkans all over the world.
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The three questions you asked, in my opinion, are unnecessary because they have no relevance to the topic we are discussing. No offense intended.
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You are perhaps right that you have already answered SOME of my questions without me been able to filter the specifics from your sentences and paragraphs. I blame that on the limitations of written communication and not out of laziness or boredom.
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I have expressed opinions on many articles and comments here. But that’s as far as it goes. Some of those opinions and analysis might be interpreted by different people differently. Passing judgement will be very foolhardy and counter productive in spaces where we try to cajole and convince each other to see the world through our personal and sometimes subjective lenses. So I make a conscious effort to desist from judging. If you feel personally judged by some of my views, bring them to my attention from now on. I will apologize without reservations.
james smithe you’re darn right! Seeing the condition of what one may call infrastructure, in the Gambia, tend to give one a heart attack. The bosses in the Gambia don’t even know they should be listening to the guys under their administrations. It is common that the bosses come home, eat tomato-paste-red-oily-rice-beef, drink chilled water and get one of their “boy boys” to brew china green tea for them. They are laid back in their beloved sofas and caressing their ice-watered popping bellies and throwing out common serious Gambian jokes like, “Gambia is a big fish country”. James you have a very clear idea how things are done in that country. The most less creative people yet stubbornly arrogant people on earth live there. When you, an expert in solar systems for example, helped install a solar system for a neighbour while he watches, for free or less than half the price, the next time another neighbour wants to install one, he says, “it is simple, I also know now how to install one”. Your car starts to go through its first nightmares when you take it to the mechanic under the mango tree to change its oil. Why would people without certificates and licences still be doing such jobs in the Gambia? No one under the age of 30 years from now on should be recognised as a mechanic or electrician if he/she is not certified and licensed for instance, will urge young people to go to the appropriate institutes to learn the trade for their life’s carrier.
Educated fools are everywhere in the government whose arrogance have suppressed others with exemplary talents and ideas simply because that is how it functions in the Gambia. People working in public places and government institutions look so lazy and corrupt, that he, the guy out there, wants to tamper with mechanism and go home because the guys with private means, who will help commuters reach the other bank for the rest of the day will have to pay him fat quotas for tampering with the mechanisms of the public facility. Lots among us are corrupt like rats and we tend to believe we are blessed for securing a job where we can be corrupt. The lazy looking sister with a stub of stick in her mouth, behind the desk with computers, pretends not seeing me or hearing me say, Good Morning, because I look too serious for business and therefore needs me to put a smile on her face before she can let me in to her boss. Our T-shirts are more decided than Gambia and our attitudes. A long time ago I have worked parttime in a very important museum in the Whiteman’s country. This is a museum that displays the evolution of the four wheel motor engines, jets engines and nauticals. I didn’t know who the boss is for many months because, gee! I saw himself a lots around those historical facts cleaning and shining them. He does that because. My job however was to trash away the bins around the cafeteria and reception but despite me doing the lowest of jobs in the museum, I have had a very cordial working relationship with this boss well before knowing he is the boss of this famous big museum that can house the people of 10 villages in the Gambia, and being a museum that has visitors from everywhere in the world on a daily basis.
“…historical artifacts…”
Great exchanges. Very interesting to follow, indeed. Difficult to add any value to an already, richly loaded conversation, but old Bax will try his best.
I will start from history; our African/ “Black” History.
For me, history is just a medium into the past; a medium that opens for us, a window into a world we would, otherwise, NEVER have known. History is the knowledge of the past, but like every knowledge, it can be a dead, heavy, cumbersome burden on the shoulders of those who carry it, if they don’t utilise it in the right manner, for the right purposes, to achieve positive results.
In other words, how possessors of the knowledge of history react to, and interact with it, is far more important than possession of the knowledge itself. The question therefore, in my view, is this:
“How do Africans interact with the knowledge of our history?” For me, the answer is simple: painful and destructive to us as our history was and still is, we must not allow it to create fillings of anger, bitterness and self pity in us, as this can feelings generate endlesdly chronic feelingd of negativity, which is incompatible with progress.
Continued next post….
Oops…excuse the typos & misplaced word(s).
● (Post 2)…Negativity, undoubtedly, is incompatible with progress; for progress is all about positivity: Positively interacting with all the contributory factors of progress at your disposal, whether that’s knowledge, skills or resources, to achieve desired effects or maximum results.
Our history and experience should not only provide a positive motivation for success, but it should also stand us in a very good stead to shape the future of our continent and people, by relying on it as a Guidance to influence or govern the way we interact with others, including the culprits, real or imagined, of the suffering of the African Peoples. There is no other way, as we live in a world that is increasingly interdependent and interconnected in a variety of ways essential for our progress and developmental efforts, for the culprits may possess a thing or two that we can’t do without and vice viser. Our history must serve as a motivation and not a shackle.
● Colour (of the skin), unfortunately, is sadly a factor of consideration in many ways/things in the world we live in today, and as a general, unwritten but widely practiced rule, it can be observed that the darker ones skin, the more disadvantaged one becomes. And whilst it may be true that colour was the basis used to deprive masses of societies of equal share of their nations’ wealth in the past, today that deprivation transcends colour. The struggle of the masses today is not about colour. It’s about RIGHTS; Birth and Constitutionally Guaranteed Rights to the FULL enjoyment of our legitimate share of the wealth that we create and/or are endowed with by mother nature. Colour, race, tribe, religion, sex, are merely “TOOLS” in the “Tool Kits” of those who benefit from this perverted and manipulated global system. And you find them in all colours, faiths and locations.
● President Barrow, the MOU and 2nd Term Aspiration is a discussion for another day, but the revelation does put Mr Ousainou Darboe’s presidential ambition in jeopardy, even if his supporters pretend otherwise. (End)
Bax, your balance is well calibrated though the price of goods on it maybe a bit dear.
I think the Roberts and Muammars would have done much better than they did if they had demonstrated a bit of self composure. Even the former slave masters have exercised it when they felt it necessary. That’s to say when they run the diplomacy to trick our ancestors.
My question to you is: what do you make of someone who aspires to be a ruler just for nine days instead of nine months? I guess the specific oral history ridden on harp tunes, rings well in your memory..
It does ring a bell, Borne, and the saddest thing is that the story is told as a very popular folklore in our traditions. What the moral of such a story is really beats me, but there you are. I guess our love of such stories is what makes us UNIQUE.
That’s what is called “seeking power for its sake” and that’s been the problem of the African People since the emergence of the modern nation states. There are just too many clueless people seeking power and getting into high public office. The chronic problems identified by james smithe, to which you added a bit, tells how utterly hopeless our public servants have been since independence.
As you have pointed out, the fact that anyone can set up shop under a mango tree and dabble with or “finger” cars, which would then be put on public roads, or install electrical appliances in homes, without any controls or enforced regulations for half a century, exposes the seriousness of the problem.
The curious thing, though, is that our voters, who have the power to elect the right people into office, seem to have an affinity with the clueless politicians that is hard to comprehend and often vote these into office.
Come on Bax, the bit added to James smithe’s I remember is Jack. He is my client that’s why we hardly disagree.
Oh, sorry Bourne. My apologies to Jack.
Bax for president of The Gambia, you will also have to drain the swamp, The Gambian political swamp.
If you need a marketing firm, I’m available.
No win no fee!
You know what Bax would say to that? Halifa for President. That would be the best for The Gambia and Africa.
Bax,
History is a living organism, so to speak. Knowledge of history is not confined to the past. It’s in the present and the future.
Am neither frustrated nor bitter about Afrikkan history. I have also surpassed the stage of anger. The only thing left is energy to bring about change and passion and love for this continent and its people (black people) without exception. Nationalities and ethnicities are of no consideration in my view of Afrikka.
The painful part of this history can be and should be turned into fuel for mobilization and organization. That’s the only way we could at least console the souls that put their lives and properties on the line for us to live in relative freedom today.
Quote@Mwalimu: “Am neither frustrated nor bitter about Afrikkan history. I have also surpassed the stage of anger.”
Reaction: I believe you, but my problem is that this is not always reflected in your choice of words.
I sense a degree of anger and bitterness when you call a whole group, without distinction, “savages”, as you sometimes refer to “White People.” May be, I’m wrong but that’s how I perceive your mood sometimes.
Quote: “The only thing left is energy to bring about change and passion and love for this continent and its people (black people) without exception.”
Reaction: Absolutely agreed, but I will add this, though: that this energy and passion must be transmitted to our people in ways that promote positive actions and terminogies which command the respect of all, and I’m not sure your choice of words sometimes is any help in that regard. Just my view. Lots of respect for you always.
Bax,
Thank you very much for bringing my choice of words and the tone of my discourse to my attention for clarification.
First and foremost, I choose my words deliberately and with very deep convictions that I dare do that. And remember this Bax for next time, I owe no one, especially whites, no explanation for calling white people any name in the book.
So, the generic term race does not exist at all in any language before the 12th century. After the creation of this term the reasons of which are not for this space, we were first called bush people, then savages, hotten tottens, then negroes, then niggers and then black people. Some names I left out to respect the sentivity of some of the people (black people) who might be reading this. Variances of the aforementioned words have been used in many European languages and dialects. ALL those terminologies have been consciously chosen to degrade, denigrate, insult and position us as sub-human just to fulfill the depraved fantasies white people have about us. Bax, nobody ever asked white people to justify and or clarify their use of those terms. NEVER! So it’s vexing for anyone to ask me to justify or clarify mine or just plain police my language. And believe me, am not revenging. I call them savages because that’s what they are. The few exceptions will not make the rule for me.
Apropos, find out the names for blacks in Arabic. One not better than the other; the arab and the white man.
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With regards to my tone or undertones, I have the following to say:
The tone and the undertones are not a (by)product of anger, bitterness, rage or any other negative emotions. It’s as a result of my firm conviction that I am brave enough to face white people and their minions and say uncomfortable truths to them with the expectation that I could be liquidated physically or get bread pulled off the table for me. And this is where I need my fellow black people. Unfortunate, their backing never comes or comes always too late. Even in this forum. That’s the only thing that feels my heart with sorrow and many times bring tears to my eyes when I reflect on our condition. Just as it’s happening as I compose this response.
I understand your concern that my strong language could alienate some potential allies, both black and white. But soft language, like those of Madiba Mandela and Barrack Obama has never and will never deliver us the desired results. Why do you think Mandela was released and made president of S:A? Because he agreed to dance to their tunes. Read that history and you will find out why that is as relevant today as it will be relevant tomorrow.
_______________________________________________
Finally, as I said to Andy, am not going to change my ways. No I will not. I can’t betray the cause, I will not. Tears Bax………..tears…………
And much respect back to you as always.
Mwalimu, thanks for the response. I think we have to agree to disagree on how we approach the question of African liberation. Be rest assured that my aim is not to police, censore or ask you to justify yourself. On the contrary, it is my belief that our cause can best be served, not by antagonizing others, through actions or words, but by reassuring all that we seek a world that treats all fairly and equally, regardless of colour, sex or religion. Any other approach will be counterproductive, ill advised and probably ineffective.
Nelson Mandela’s rise to power can, no doubt, be seen by many from that perspective you presented, but many will see his release and rise to power, as the result of the hope they (the people of S/Africa) saw in him for a free and fair South Africa, and the assurance of the White minority, who fear Black rule, that they can trust him.
The White minority saw in Mandela a man they can trust, but that trust was built overtime. Who knows what the situation might have been today. We only have to look at the plight of the Palestinian People to have an idea.
I believe Mandela did his best by delivering a United South Africa to his successors, from the divided, fractious, fragile and deeply suspicious one he took over.
Obviously, not much has changed since, but it will be unfair to place the blame for that on the shoulders of an old, fragile, tired and unhealthy man, who spent the best part of his life in one of the worst prisons the world has known.
Barack is a different case and anyone who anticipated much from him doesn’t really understand the USA system.
So Bax,
This land grab as the white people are calling the “land reforms” ( I wonder what they called it, the white people, (there’s no discrepancy about the colour) when they were stealing the land from the Afrikkans in the first place)
Do you believe president Cyril Ramaphosa is wrong in what he is doing, or he should have just given the people more hope to appease others? Meaning doing nothing.
Both you and I have once agreed that even the strongest in our struggle could turn to become what we are fighting against. A classical case is Madiba. So am not blaming him. He just sold out under pressure. Look, his name has become a money making jargon in multiculturalism where as people who were the true soldiers of the revolution are left to fend for crumbs. Still.
Madibas book and film deals has raked in millions for him and his family. All fair, but that money flows back into a system of economic apartheid, that to a larger extent goes to benefit only whites. Whites still control an impropotion ate amount of economic wealth (est. at 70-80%) in S/A, even though they are said to be 14% or less of the population. Did Madiba contributed to that after he became president? Yes, by allowing the status quo to continue to be deeply rooted. Indeed, he won the trust of white people to become president, yet he betrayed the trust of blacks and the colored.
___________________
In this age and time, German shepherd dogs are still unleashed on black South Afrikkans to instill fear into black people.
In the eyes of many whiteness, even black people, black suffering is the norm. So am not surprise to encounter resistance to these unpalatable truths in my own quarters. And I agree to disagree but I’ll forever continue persuading my people to look inwards.
Bax,
History is a living organism, so to speak. Knowledge of history is not confined to the past. It’s in the present and the future.
Am neither frustrated nor bitter about Afrikkan history. I have also surpassed the stage of anger. The only thing left is energy to bring about change and passion and love for this continent and its people (black people) without exception. Nationalities and ethnicities are of no consideration in my view of Afrikka.
The painful part of this history can be and should be turned into fuel for mobilization and organization. That’s the only way we could at least console the souls that put their lives and properties on the line for us to live in relative freedom today.
I’d urge readers to go back to old Bax’s segment on history. Very poignant and loaded with savvy I believe.
Mwalimu wrote, “Please do me a favor and tell me how are you considered human by that same human family. If you can, evidence (even if circumstantial) will be very essential in helping me learn a new thing“.
For the sake of brevity Mwalimu, I will state that your question doesn’t clarify the context in which it is posed.
Do you prefer answers bearing on the scientific/biological, evolutionary, socio-cultural, Africanist, Gambianist or pragmatist perspectives of the narrative?
See where I’m going with this subject that would lead to a whole new scholarly pursuit that may not serve much purpose for the larger readership on this medium.
My approach to commentary on this medium is not to offer red meat as a teaser but to place a bone, that could use a lot more meat, in the proper context. Conversely, meat may also offered that could be fleshed out to get to the gist of things. Said in Wolof as, Tojal Yahh Wi.
Bourne, Bax, Jack, TILLY, Bajaw, Saikou and the brotherhood, we could take Mwalimu up on a novel idea on the translocation and transformation the age old Universities of Timbuktu (Mali) and Umdurman (Sudan) to Saanementereng- DembaDuu or Kinteh Kunda-Marong Kunda for the object of offering a pristine, non-formal and unadulterated AFIRIKAAN grounding to our teeming youth population.
I may add that the wayward and corrupted adults can also be conscripted into a mandatory refresher on norm, tradition and mindset!
All in kind humor folks!
May very well be a doable concept Mwalimu?
Bax,
One of the reasons I would nominate you for president, is for your balanced thinking, just incase you thought I was being sarcastic.
Thanks for the sentiments Tilly Bo. Much appreciated, but like I said, the best that can happen to Gambia, right now, is Halifa Sallah as President. My energy is directed towards that end in 2021. I invite you and the forum members to join that effort, in anyway one can.
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The simple straight forward answer to your question is that indigenous Africans have a right to take back their lands where ever they have been dispossessed. Whether its South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, etc, it is their RIGHT that they repossess their lands. I don’t think many will dispute against that claim.
The devil, though, as the saying may go, is in the details: the “HOW” and the “WHEN”. Like I always say, Africa is not existing as an island by itself. It is part of a global community that is structured in a certain way, has been so for a very long time, and operates in ways that can either advance or hinder progress, peace, security, stability and the very existence of societies, depending on a number of factors.
Look at our dear Libya, for example: is that a country anymore? Or Zimbabwe, where the legacy of a great African Leader was destroyed overnight; humiliated by his own people: the people he has fought for all his life. Could his fate/treatment by separated from his land repossession policy? You be the judge.
Africa must first create its own independent economic and financial institutions and payment systems before it can take on the might of the capitalist west, because make no mistake about it, anytime an individual African country pursues policies that are seen to contradict the interest of the Capitalist West, the might of the entire system will be deployed against it. This may take the form of sanctions, information war, poor credit ratings, suspension of cooperation agreements, denial to access funds, freezing of assets, meddling or direct/indirect military actions.
South Africa, you may know, is the most industrialised country/nation on the continent of Africa, with agriculture and manufacturing, undoubtedly, providing the basis for this success, but the ownership and relations of production and manufacturing within the South African economic system, its contribution to the success of the South African economy and the consequences of any unplanned and unmitigated disruption to this equation, should not be ignored if we don’t want to see another failed state on the continent.
The South African Economy, like the rest of African Economies, is linked to the global economy of the Capitalist System, where the terms for meaningful trade and access to credit and finance, necessities for sustained economic growth, is set by others, whose first priority may not be Africa. So land repossession is a MUST, but “how” and “when” it takes place is FUNDAMENTAL to the outcomes of the decision and I don’t think it is in anyone’s interest to take actions that may destroy the very people you want to help.
To end, I will say this: The reaction of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, through twitter, to the announcement of the policy of the Ramaphosa Government to legislate for land seizures, should be a serious cause of concern, if not send shivers down the spine of every South African. Be prepared South Africa, because the dogs of war have got you in their sights, and like a pack of wild hunting dogs, once the hunt begins, they are RELENTLESS until they “devour” you. God Save You South Africa.
Excellent reply Bax, very comprehensive, I do agree with most of your opinions,
South Africa should be ok, I thought I heard on the BBC news that the British government (Teresa May) does agree with the land reforms.
Anyways we have our little friend George Soros, in action in south Africa, paying black people $50usd to take over farms and murder the white farmers.
https://theyig.ning.com/front-page-news/soros-south-africa-land-grab-and-playing-the-usual-dirty-games
This is the link with references
Follow the sources while you can.
I see your getting resistance for your man already.
Clarification,
ALLEGEDLY
George Soros, is in action in south Africa, paying black people $50usd to take over farms and murder the white farmers.
https://youtu.be/ABRYkfk0od8
Mwalimu, I have not suffered any negative corollaries from speaking and writing a couple of languages apart from my native languages. You evidently do.
Brother man, if you view other’s questions as unnecessary and irrelevant to the point of discussion, why feel that yours are not answered to more so feel disappointed about that?
In general, I’ve noticed that a lack of self confidence in views and opinions with regards to colonisation, Afrikkanism, Blackism and Gambism, in contrast to my wish that black people are able to take off independently, with science and technology; research, innovation, invention and mass employment regardless of the types of language shoved down their throats. Creativity is a locomotive of what I consider to be human evolution unless I think otherwise that, going back to the stone age will help cool the globe for me and those who are warming it.
While your ambitions maybe genuine in every sense, your approach pulls the wool over the eyes in a style reminiscent of Napoleon, Snowball and Squealers founding of the Animal Farm. Judge not cause you shall be judged! Therefore, these are just perspectives.
….. I’ve noticed a lack of self confidence…
@Andy: all of those will do or anyone of them for the sake of brevity. Choose yours.
For our education to serve us and our needs, you don’t need Mwalimu in the classroom. What you need is an OVERHAUL of the curriculum from nursery school to university post graduate studies. You can leave Mwalimu on basketball court side to coach adolescence some dribbling, passing and shooting techniques.
@Bourne: I did not refuse to answer your question out of malice. Where I am domiciled and what the sources of my black/African history are, will not add any new dimensions to our exchange here. That’s the only reason I said they are not relevant at this moment.
There is only one thing left to say with regards to this topic. It’s grinding to its logical break, because the issues raised, discussed and analyzed are becoming repetitive.
@Mwalimu, “because the issues raised, discussed and analyzed are becoming repetitive“.
I’d add verbose and onerous too!
Smile.
Left to me alone, you can have the last word on it, Andy.
With a smile.
Mwalimu, I’m glad to note that you viewed earnings of the Madiba family from his name and image, as FAIR. I agree, because his family life should be his family life and how they use his name, image and legacy is entirely up to them.
You referred to Madiba as a “sell out.” (Quote: “he just SOLD OUT under pressure.”) A “sell out” politically, is not an endearing term that is befitting to describe one of Africa’s lustrous sons. It saddens me that you, of all people, would refer to one of modern Africa’s greatest and most respected leader, as a “SELL OUT.”
I have seen places where great Africans like Nkrumah, Saikou Touray, Lumumba, Cabral, etc, were referred to as “dictators” or “communists”, ALL derogatory terms and (I believe) part of the anti-African/”Black” Agenda to ridicule and dismiss the achievements of any African/”Black” Leaders. That’s why I’m shocked to see you use the term.
These were not perfect individuals, as no man is perfect, and certain aspects of their rules could have been better, but they should never be ridiculed by us. We should celebrate our great leaders, like others celebrate their leaders, even when they are known to have done terrible things or held obnoxious views.
The George Washingtons, Abraham Lincolns, General de Gaulles, Winston Churchills, Lenins, Chairman Maos, etc are viewed by their nations as great leaders, and taught to us as such, but God knows they each have skeletons in very dark cupboards.
Let’s acknowledge the human imperfections of our great leaders, but celebrate their legacies, nonetheless.
Dear Bax,
I have all the respect for the following qualities of Madiba, as follows:
1) Steadfastness
2) Determination
3) Mobilization and organization skills
4) Persistence and perseverance
5) Endurance in the face of death
And many more.
_____________________
Madiba is a gigantic role model for us all. No doubts about that. Yet, Madiba failed the black cause by allowing the hype to center around the fallacy of a rainbow nation at the expense of black people, the rightful owners and occupiers of that land. These are the people who were tortured, killed, imprisoned, deprived of peace, starved to death, raped, slaughtered, dishonored, enslaved etc.
Madiba’s first task should have been land redistribution and the entrenchment of a black economic agenda (not affirmative action JOKE). That was the original aim leading to the formation of the ANC.
The question become: why did Madiba deviate from that agenda?
Very simple. Convenience, Bax! It was politically expedient during the transition negotiations to concede to the oppressors that no radical changes will occur during the presidency of Madiba. So unity became the slogan instead of justice and equality. If you read Madibas “Long Walk To Freedom”, you will realize all of my assertions to be open secrets. That’s where Madiba sold out. Now, let me tell you why I think it’s vital to call out that action for what it is. There is a burgeoning new generation of black revolutionaries and freedom activist across Afrikka and the black world who need to know the importance of standing up for our people to the bitter end and not to cede to the oppressors, especially at crucial moments.
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The Georges and Lenins and Abrahams, I personally will never quote them in any political, cultural or historic context to manifest their “greatness”, for that would be self defeating for me and what I represent. George was a slave holder just as Anraham. In my vocabulary, they are the evilest of men, no matter what they represent in the US political history. Winston oversaw the forced participation and slaughter of Afrikkan colonies in the White War (they call it world war). It’s a falsification of our history to even attempt to make these men come close to being central figures in our history. Yes, white people can claim them to be their gods. I will say no matter what they do, let us educate our people to be able to distinguish the lies of white people and our true history.
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Your approach to our problems as being a case of class struggle, that all oppressed people around the world goes through needs serious revision. I am in fact willing to debate you on any platform that in the annals of cultural history, race is an overriding category over class. But you my good fellow revolutionary, overlooks that over and over and focuses primarily on class and sometimes gender.
The Marxist approach to the question of resource control, capital, labor and other means of production is not befitting to our realities.
NB: thanks for the wonderful piece on KN (where Dida is now holding out). Timely and an upright message to those sycophants.
_____________________
In anticipation of your cordial response, I remain.
Yours in the service of The Gambia and the Black Nation.
Bax, you’re pertinent and well profound in your views about Madiba’s legacy. I once critiqued his oversight of the deplorable conditions of the ghettos of Soweto but overall he’s undeniably an outstandingly great African man if not the greatest of them.
Africans today, need a good team spirit and also need to do away with hatred amongst themselves if they want to win this All Stars. I mean, most important above all, including coaches with different approaches.
Did you say Mr. Sallah for president? I fear extreme austerity measures. No investments, no profitable outcomes, a worsening unemployment rate and more rats. In such a circumstance that I foresee, imagine for and example a police force whose personnel are fond of putting checkpoints at the junction leading to the three farming communities to get a check on faulty bicycles. Then they would have all the saintly reasons to be corrupt on the double because MDs SGs will be like cows. How about a worst situation of “Ye Nyinsoo Siti Daameng Aka Baluu Woleto”? Bax, I don’t trust these kaftan politicians anymore. Lately, one very very high public figure I likened to a change maker was claimed to be dancing a depraving contemporary Mbalag dance. You know, I never feel a bit of remorse to say I’m not proud of the Gambia and I have very good reasons not to. This doesn’t mean I’m not proud of the beautiful river and vegetations on its flanks! I have never seen a people as hardened as us Gambians when it comes to calls to change our underdeveloped manners. A Gambian would be highly educated but you’ll be glad you haven’t gone to school at all when you see them actuating by their dumbness. We need a leader that’s perhaps in the making. Corruption has to be curbed and real progress to be realised.
Quote: ” I fear extreme austerity measures. No investments, no profitable outcomes, a worsening unemployment rate and more rats.”
I’m curious to know why you have these fears, Bourne?
Bax, I have those fears because nothing never seems to be changing. In other words, I am hopeless when it comes to leadership in the Gambia. All that impress me about them cannot be anything more than their well pressed kaftans. Man, our little swathe of land of the continent could have been made a paradise on earth.
.……………….…….…………………………
What do you think Mr. will do to buck the political administrative trend?
Bourne,
Your scepticism about politicians is well founded, and we in The Gambia have experienced enough of the “Kaftan”, “benachin” “sabar/Sewruba”, money and “badingyaa” politics to understand what you mean.
But we still have the task of electing politicians to run the country and whilst I agree, to a certain degree, that the younger generation should take over, I hope you will also agree that we can’t afford to fold our hands and wait for them to stand up and be counted.
Until then, we got to do what we got to do, because we have a country to run.
And I have absolutely no doubt, that amongst the choices we have for this job, Mr Halifa Sallah (PDOIS) stand head and shoulders above the rest.
Of course, that’s what everyone will say about their leader or party of choice, but (as the saying goes) “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
The thing about PDOIS is that they know what they want to do, are open about it and are FULLY prepared to get started, once entrusted with our mandate. People may disagree with their ideas, policies and programmes, but they cannot be accused of lacking in these.
I’m not sure the same can be said about the rest. When President Barrow, presumably on the advice of Lawyer Darboe, decided to abandon the Coalition Agenda and pursue, what is clearly a UDP Agenda, it took them a very, very long time to produce a development plan.
This is a party that has been in existence and the main opposition party for TWO DECADES (23yrs to be precise) and they don’t even know what they want to do, and had to take almost a year, to tell the nation what they want to do.
And even then, the similarities between their National Development Plan and APRC’s Vision 2020 is inescapable. Burama Sanneh did a good job of exposing this in a series he did for the online papers.
Turning an economy in difficulty around, never mind a bankrupt one, for ordinary people to feel it’s impact on their livelihoods is not an easy task, hence I will not be among those critics who bash the Barrow Admin for not lifting the people’s standard of living so soon.
However, I doubt very much if they will be able to do it in the next twenty years, unless we strike gold and become an oil exporting country. There is simply no indication, under current circumstances, that this government can achieve any significant improvement in the living standards of the people.
In fact, if we take away the impunity of the Jammeh Admin, there will be NO noticeable differences between the two admins (Jammeh & Barrow). Absolutely nothing. Jammeh repeated what Jawara did and Barrow is repeating the same thing.
Jawara didn’t achieve the “Singhapore dream”; Jammeh didn’t achieve “Vision 2020” and anyone who thinks Barrow and Darboe will accomplish the “National Development Plan” is a day dreamer.
They may build a few shiny roads, bridges, hospitals, hotels, office blocks, etc, ALL from loans, grants or aids but the economic power of the common man won’t change, nor will our books be balanced. On the contrary, we may be forced into austerity because we wouldn’t be able to meet our obligations and the shiny new projects would eventually be dilapidated beyond recognition.
That’s the history of our country and for us to think that we will produce a different result today, whilst doing things in the same old ways, is foolhardy at best.
A government that cannot meet the needs and aspirations of its people has loose the mandate to rule. It was no secret that the economy of The Gambia under Yaya was dead, leading to the flight of our youthful population in the hope of achieving a better life abroad. Adama knew this before he agreed to become the head of a coalition alliance. Now, after two years of doing everything the wrong way in the book, and turning bad enough situations to worse, Adama and his political grand daddy has the guts to tell us to be patient. To be patient for another five years of curruption and nepotism and more of corruption and nepotism all whilst the ordinary Gambian continues to pray to Suñu borom/Mmario for deliverance from hunger, disease and chronic poverty.
Many expected the “coalition government” to deliver reforms within a reasonable period of time but above all, to make the prices of basic goods and services affordable for the ordinary woman and man. Bax, if they (the UDP government in power) can’t make their impact felt in the pockets of Gambians, they should just admit that and vacate.
Will they? Hell no! Ousainou would rather walk over human carcasses than admit to this monumental failure.
But obviously, we all know there is trouble brewing resulting from Adama making subtle but serious innuendoes that he isn’t stepping down after three years. The Gambians of yester years are no more. They have metamorphosed into a people relatively conscious of their rights and the temerity to exercise those rights is in no short supply.
I foresee the loss of life again through incompetent leadership from Adama and his chief handler, Ousainou Numukunda Darboe. This pains my heart to utter, yet it will be naive not to admit the tale-tale signs that are indicative of this happening.
Bax, I couldn’t agree more with the statement, “This is a party that has been in existence and the main opposition party for TWO DECADES (23yrs to be precise) and they don’t even know what they want to do, and had to take almost a year, to tell the nation what they want to do”.
Everything that’s unfolding right in our eyes is at best disheartening/sickening and I am particularly worried about the embellished figures being churned out by our Central Bank, all over again, on the state of the Gambian economy. I also keep asking myself where the metrics employed to arrive at the numbers are derived.
On the subject at hand, to think that the same Ebrima Sankareh, formerly of Raleigh, North Carolina, that pitched himself as the aspiring PhD candidate, the Editor in Chief of The Gambia Echo, a fighter against corruption and mediocre governance plus the whole gamut will take on the job of spin master/adviser for all the wrong reasons beats the imagination. The same Ebrima Sankareh that was slated to be the spokesperson for Cherno Njai and the failed putsch is now willingly putting his own integrity or what’s left of it up for sale to the highest bidder or for crumbs falling off of the “Mansa” table. Tells us that a certain segment of Gambians will gladly wallow in scum in order to get rich quick with little or no regard for decorum or good and old fashion hard work.
So how on earth can folks of that ilk earn any respect or win the trust of Gambian youth now or in the future? Unless it is the case that Gambians have a very short memory span.
Eh Gambia, it looks to me all over again!