I remember meeting a few individuals that were high up in the Yaya Jammeh evil machinery they called a government.
In hushed tones, they tried to convince me that while they were working within the evil machinery, they did everything they could to lessen the evil in various ways.
One went on recounting how many people’s jobs he was able to save and how many people he helped avoid going to prison. Another indicated how they tried to keep Yaya Jammeh busy so as to distract him from meddling in certain affairs.
Another in the security services claimed that he wasn’t actually liked by Yaya because he usually told him the bitter truth. I guess freedom fighters come in all shapes and shades. But the common denominators with all of these folks was that they knew Yaya Jammeh was corrupt; they knew Yaya Jammeh killed their Gambians; they knew of his excesses. They simply never cared enough to walk away from the evil because being close to power comes with a lot of privileges that Gambians would do anything for.
Call it the trappings of inverted power. Inverted power because the power does not belong to the people in The Gambia; it belongs to those that work for the people. But hardly, if ever, would you meet anyone that will confess to love for power and fame. We all claim or portray a disposition of humility and temperance because we know that very few people like arrogant and greedy people.
If you talk to some people that claim to know me, one of the many foibles they will tell you about me is my cynicism when it comes to my fellow Gambians in powerful positions and their motivations. But since it is Ramadan and I call myself a Muslim, and especially since I am on a perpetual journey to be a better person, I am trying not to be as cynical. I am working on having more faith in those in power.
My little faith is however hobbled by the fact that out of all the issues in the Constitution, the first complaint to emerge borders on a desire for more time in power. More time to enjoy. Is that the most important issue to the Cabinet?
When the draft Constitution was presented, journalists focused on the portion about media freedom, finance people skipped to the finance section, those concerned with security (including yours truly) skipped to the section about security, our learned (rolls eyes) ones skipped to things that concern the learned and so on and so forth.
What I am trying to say is that a lot of us that took time to read the draft Constitution probably skimmed through majority of it but paid particular attention on what interests us the most.
Someone wake me up from this slumber but my new found faith in the people in power tells me that our wonderfully chosen Cabinet certainly did not focus on how much time they can remain in power for. Or did they?
This Constitution is definitely not perfect as I still have my reservations on a number of issues even where some of these issues do not affect me personally per se. It boggles the mind that the first issue highlighted by the Cabinet has to do with how much longer they can stay in power. Surely that is not all that matters to Cabinet.
Surely our people in the Cabinet are not power-hungry for too much hunger for power is greed and the religions we profess to be adherents to all frown on greed! Surely our people in Cabinet are not that greedy.
I am a recovering cynic and I am looking for that proverbial straw to save me from drowning in a river of cynicism. Is there anyone in the Cabinet that is willing to save me? Is there anyone in the Cabinet that does not agree with the subtle attempt to remain in their position for another decade? Is there anyone in Cabinet that does not agree with their peers? If there are, they have a responsibility to speak out.
To stand out. To rise. History is watching. The cynicism left in me is still alive and it is whispering to me that spinelessness is running amok in the Cabinet. It is telling me that the people in the Cabinet love their inverted power as much as anyone close to the tip of power and will cling on for dear life.
The cynicism left in me is whispering and making fun of my new-found faith in those in power. It is telling me that those in Cabinet don’t think they will remain in Cabinet should power ever change hands and because they don’t know what the future holds, they must do everything to ensure power remains where it currently resides: In their hands! You know a lot of us believe in God; we just don’t trust Him as much!
I don’t want my cynicism to win against my faith in our people. Let the men and women of conscience stand up and speak out if they are not in line with the Cabinet’s position.
Doing so behind the scenes or confiding in friends about how you disagree with this or that without speaking to the people that you actually claim to work for is sheer hypocrisy and spinelessness. And this time, we cannot blame satan for our hypocrisy or spinelessness because it’s Ramadan and we claim to be Muslims. Don’t wait until things change or go bad and you try to tell people how you did not agree with this or that.
Resignation is always a choice and it does not kill any one. This Cabinet position is only the beginning of the serpentine maneuverings to elongate Barrow’s presidency and continued fringe benefits it accrues those around him. The omega of these serpentine maneuverings will be the blatant attempt to actually change any part of the draft at any point in order to get more for a few. Yaya Jammeh’s evil would not have survived long had he not had a steady supply of men and women to help promote it!
Surely not everyone in the Cabinet wants more. Or is my new-found little faith in our people too steeped in naivety?
