My Fellow Gambians, Please let us not allow anyone to fool us that this type of government-enabled migration is no different to people voluntarily migrating to another country for greener pastures. Let’s not listen to those self-serving individuals in the Barrow government who will not send their own sons and daughters or those of their family members to work as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia, under very inhumane conditions.
If the notion that it is impossible to get something for nothing is true, why does President Barrow or his government readily accept “gifts”? Could there be any correlation between President Barrow or his government’s love for free lunch, e.g. the so-called anonymous donation of money by a Saudi Philanthropist to Gambian pilgrims and the proposed Gambian government-enabled migration of our youthful population to Saudi Arabia to supposedly work in their hotel industry? I know of no responsible government that promotes the migration of her people to another country the way this government proposes to do it. If Saudi Arabia needs “our expertise”– whatever that means- to work in its tourism sector, they should openly advertise such posts so that suitably qualified individuals can compete for them.
Do we not need the input of our youthful population to help address the long list of priorities or dreams in the National Development Plan 2018-2021? Perhaps the NDP is all part of the Barrow government’s game of telling us what they think we want to hear, but that they have no workable formula to solve any of the issues in the NDP in the specified 3 years. These politicians have not mastered anything when it comes to public service, but have mastered – even before assuming office, the art of telling us what they think we would like to hear. They know/believe that telling us what they think we want to hear shoots down, without effort, all of our problems. If the Barrow government’s aim is to promote the migration of our youthful population to Saudi Arabia, you have to wonder who will be left at home to work on the projects in the NDP. I think the few who have not forgotten about the promises within the NDP may soon come to the realisation that the Consultants that put it together may be the winners, not the Gambian people.
The Tourism and Culture Minister, Mr. Hamat Bah embarked on an aimless trip to Saudi Arabia of no benefit to The Gambia, but of much benefit to himself through per diem payments. Honestly, I do not think Mr. Hamat Bah could tell the difference between an agent looking for domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and a government minister acting on behalf of Saudi Arabia wishing to establish bilateral partnership with The Gambia. It appears that Mr. Bah has foolishly risen to the bait during his trip to Saudi Arabia which no serious and experienced diplomat will consider touching. Does Mr. Bah not know that we have lost enough lives and talent through the back way due to the terrible policies and brutality during the Jammeh years? If nothing else, we should by now know, through the images and stories of the back way travellers, that some of our youthful and exceedingly desperate men and women would jump, even in the face of grave danger, at any perceived promise of a better future. And who can blame them? It should be clear us now that we elected a clueless government that is more preoccupied with feathering their own nests and overstaying than providing opportunities (jobs, good healthcare, education, security, infrastructural development and so on) and hope for the people.
It is totally irresponsible for this government to talk about such targeted migration to any country, especially to Saudi Arabia. It is my view that Mr. Bah deserves to be sacked and crowned the most gullible African Minister for he appears to be behind theproposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Saudi Arabia and The Gambia. If Mr. Bah is behind the MOU, then he is clearly very poorly informed; the appalling human rights track record of Saudi Arabia, including the rights abuses of foreign workers, especially of women is well-known. All of what Mr.Bah said when he supposedly cleared the air (- listen to the audio), is much of the dumb things he/they think we want to hear. If we fail to speak against these sorts of rubbish, it may be too late for some of our many desperate folks.
The proposed MOU will never receive the scrutiny it deserves in the National Assembly because I do not think there is sufficient expertise within the Assembly to do that. The only party (PDOIS, the idealistic dreamers) members that – some of the time – talk some sense, which no one seems to either listen to, understand or both, does not have the numbers to make any impact on any government policies.
The proposed MOU will address nothing of significance, but targeted migration, heartache and pain as if we have an insatiable appetite for pain and suffering. We have definitely endured enough suffering; we need visionary and innovative leadership, jobs, good healthcare, good education and much more. If this MOU leads to our youthful population leavingfor Saudi Arabia, there may be a commission of inquiry– someday- to investigate the rights abuses of Gambians in Saudi Arabia. But then we must ask ourselves what such an exercise would yield.
Do we not know enough about the rights abuses of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia to warn us not to encourage our own people to go there as domestic servants? Why do we have to allow the same abuses to happen to our people before we learn lessons? Have any of the countries whose citizens were abusedand continue to be abused in Saudi been able to do anything? And have the international community and the negative publicity done anything to help regularise the attitude of Saudis towards migrant workers? Is it clearly not the case that Saudi Arabia is not ready to enhance its labour reforms sufficiently enough to make it a safe place for domestic workers, especially for women? Even if they did, it would be wrong for our government to promote the target and organised migration of our youths when our own country needs them to help fix the widespread decay all over the country. We must also come to the realisation that this clueless government does not have what it would take to influence anything should our people encounter problems in Saudi Arabia.
It is the responsibility of the government to create jobs and provide enabling conditions for public-private partnerships, and private sector investments, but our own is passing the responsibility to Saudi Arabia, a country with repulsive human rights record. If our youths are so uninformed that they do not know that it is the government’s responsibility to find jobs for them in The Gambia, then we have more work in our hands than we realise. Why should it be rocket science to deal with the unemployment problems of a small country like The Gambia to warrant sending the unemployed to another country? Many sectors remain untapped and unregularised which if competently done could be a major coup in solving the unemployment problems in the country.
Now that the government half-heartedly joined the community of nations to condemn the brutal killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi which may have been ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, perhaps it will go much further to change its attitude to the proposed migration of Gambian youths to Saudi Arabia. If Mr. Bah and the Barrow government would wish to provide employment opportunities for the youths, e.g. in the country’s tourism sector – which has huge potential, they have had enough time to put in place noticeable strategies aimed at developing our tourism industry so that the workforce they intend to send to Saudi Arabia can be gainfully employed at home. It should be clear to us by now that this government has no clue and vision about doing anything – they are the “talk much do nothing” lot.
And to make matters worse, the man at the wheel confuses money in the bank with a pledge; he is as dumb as they come; he does not think before he opens his mouth; and he is increasingly losing his mind: He recently said that he is more powerful than Former President, Yahya Jammeh because he (President Barrow) has the police, the army, SIS, and the ECOMIG forces. Is this his way of saying to us that we must be even more afraid of him than we were of Jammeh? Perhaps he is too drunk on power to recall that it is the same Gambian people with the help of the International Community and ECOMIG forces that helped remove Jammeh and sent him on a lonely holiday.
Instead of promoting tourism, they intend to levy $40 on international passengers from January 15, 2019 to supposedly help fund the immigration security and E-visa management services at Banjul International Airport. To plan to introduce such a poorly thought through hiked up levy after the announcement by a German tour operator, FTI to cancel its winter flights for 2018-2019 to The Gambia seems very daft.
Even if the news of this cancellation by FTI is incorrect, any sensible government may consider delaying the introduction of such a levy until the sector, which was badly impacted in the Jammeh, is fully on its feet. It is highly unlikely that this government will work to create enabling environments for tourists and tour operators which will result in increased weekly flights to The Gambia. It is my view that this government may be inadvertently killing the tourism industry, through its clumsy policy decisions, rather than reviving it. And it seems to me that to make up for their very poor policy decisions, they are working up this dodgy deal of proposing to send our innocent youths to Saudi Arabia to work in the tourism sector, but if it goes ahead, they will be working as domestic slaves.
If they are serious about modernising the the security and border control systems at the Airport, they must radically sacrifice on the excessive glitzy travels, introduce some common sense into the per diem payments; stop some Commissions and use the money to care for the victims who sacrificed so much for our liberty; rethink the utility of our army; and stop many other wasteful practices. Such prudent fiscal policies WILL result in real terms savings which can pay for the planned airport upgrade and much, much more – but only under the stewardship of a competent and visionary leader, not Adama Barrow. He does not have what it would take to transform The Gambia.
Only a government that is clueless, irresponsible and without vision would actively seek to send her citizens to help drive the economy of another country when it has supposedly identified a bunch of priority areas (refer to the glossy NDP) needing development. Surely, the actualisation of such development planswould need a vibrant labour force on home soil. As long as I am fit and healthy, I shall not compromise on my principles just because I am poor, hungry and in need of free lunch. Will you?
……The only party (PDOIS, the idealistic dreamers) members that – some of the time – talk some sense, which no one seems to either listen to, understand or both, does not have the numbers to make any impact on any government policies.
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The above statement is either a slip of the tongue from Dr. Omar or he gets carried away with emotions in his passion to emphasize his dislike of the regime of Adama. PDOIS is a political party that has time and again proven its consistency on how to liberate The Gambia and Afrikka from the yokes of neocolonial rule in all its forms. This is not only enshrined in the party manifesto of PDOIS and other party policy medium, it is practice and amplified by the party leadership and those associated with all the other party structures and organs.
Having said that, I won’t like to put the horse before the cart. I hereby ask Dr. Omar Janneh to give us evidence that PDOIS is idealistic in any ways, shape or form.
I don’t know what you intend to put across with the word “dreamers”, so I would like to leave it out for now. But, suffice it to say dreamers are born of visionaries and therefore nothing wrong with dreaming. In order words, dreaming is a by product of visualizing a better tomorrow.
As to your numbers claim, PDOIS have consistently drummed into the ears of people like you, that quantity without quality in politics is a trick mastered by Afrikkan politicians to fool the masses that only those in the “majority ” can impact meaningful change in a society. You know this is the fallacy of the century. Dawda Jawara used to rule by majority vote and Yaya Jammeh claimed he was ruling on a majority mandate. Yet, these two are a dismal success in the development of the country and the upliftment of the socioeconomic welfare standards of the Gambian populace. Falsehood should not be spread by people like you and all of us who claim to love our people. That will be disingenuous of a person of your standings.
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I would like to challenge the economic model you proposed that is suppose to bring about robust development and institutional accountability in The Gambia. But first, I will be patiently expecting your response on the idealistic characteristics of the People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism.
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Yours in the service of The Gambia and Afrikka, I remain.
Perhaps Dr Janneh would come back with another long piece to explain why he described PDOIS as idealistic dreamers.
In a way I want to agree with him and here are my reasons in brief: when you’ve been preaching the same message for some time and you’ve no followers or not winning seats, I think you’ve got to either change 1) the message, 2) the messenger or all 3. Oops! I hope I’ve not touched a raw nerve. I don’t want to give my age away, but my grandma told me that pdois has been at it before I was born. Should they not be experts at the game now? They have great ideas, but they are not winning for some reason. And if they are serious about wanting to become a serious opposition party and win the presidency, I think their message needs to get to the electorate; perhaps they should start now. Having done wonders during the impasse, one would have thought that pdois would register good gains in the NA elections. What did their soul-searching tell them? I think their supporters need to know. I have a feeling that Dr Janneh probably supports pdois. Dr Omar can you come out and clear the air?
In politics you cannot bring change, if you are NOT sitting at the table.
To sit at the table you follow certain rules:
1. Understand you are NOT the smartest person at the table and if you are, be gracious enough to act like you are not.
2. Politics is a game of compromise, you win some and you loose some. If your attitude is “my way or the highway”- you loose all the time.
3. Understand that FOOD is primal. It is more important than ideas sometimes.
4. Understand that you can’t tell people they are dumb or stupid because they vote for your opponent. Embrace them, find out what they need, what they want, and give them lots of it. Praising is an excellent food for the mind.
5. Understand your electorate better than your textbook of ideology.
6. A healthy dose of humility always wins. You cant tell people they are intellectually inferior to you, then turn around and ask them to support you.
7. Be honest with yourself, if the people are not ready for your message, change the message, change your delivery or reinvent yourself.
8. Idealism is not politicking ever. Pragmatism is.
I think it is obvious in our present day Gambia, with our cultural tendencies and beliefs that PDOIS is an outlier, a political oddity that will live a lonely unproductive life in national polity or die a premature death.
In a nation building anything is possible. Can you imagine a group that wants to do the right things for the nation, has the right ideas and the sagacity to do it, merging with a dynamic entrenched political machine like UDP. What a great story that will be.
God Bless The Gambia.
“In politics you cannot bring change, if you are NOT sitting at the table.”
Observation: Won’t that depend on the RULES OF THE TABLE? How could you bring change, if the man who sits at the head/top of the table has the unquestioned power to kick you out, if he feels so? That’s what you need to think about. OJ and Mai were at the table, weren’t they? What happened to them?
The rest of your views, which your subsequent post has shown to be a veiled jibe at PDOIS, are just your biased opinion which are in no way attributable to PDOIS. As Mwalimu stated, PDOIS is the most respected party in The Gambia, even if it doesn’t get the most votes…..and we know the reasons for that.
You have inadvertently pointed it out yourself, when you described UDP as a “dynamic, entrenched political machine”: a machine that is adept at catching votes by any means possible, except the power of its policies, if I may add.
PDOIS is a political party that wants to capture votes by the sheer power of the superiority of its policies; it’s not a political machine that just wants to capture votes and get into power. You guys need to understand the difference and respect the right of PDOIS to pursue the path it chartered for itself.
Gambians should know by now that PDOIS is NOT desperate for power. Denying PDOIS the mandate to govern our country could only be our lose, as 30 years of Jawara, 22years of Jammeh and 2 years of Barrow and Darboe have clearly shown. The choice is ours to make. If we are serious about national development, the answer is there for all to see.
oops…”lose” should read “LOSS”
Chei Kambiya! The moment you think the decay couldn’t get worse, comes the whole house tumbling down.
The syndromes of no or little learning manifest themselves across the spectrum of age, class, ethnicity, gender or religion. And I don’t mean sitting in one form of classroom or the other.
I mean the quest for knowledge, understanding and wisdom; these three require lifelong learning. No better person is in a better position to engage in that quest than the youth.
Previous Gambia governments have done no justice to our youth by educating them less than the world average, but inspiring all of us not to aspire for knowledge and consciousness. Tell the Gambian youth to name you premier league players or players of la Liga and you will be fascinated with their memory and analytical capabilities. Ask the same youth why some humans have dark complexions and others not. Or better still, who is paying the president and the ministers their monthly salaries. You will be lucky if among the answers you find “the paymaster”.
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We can consume everything foreign, from sports apparel to fashion trends. Adorn the newest designer T-shirt in the market combined with the latest watches from Dolce and Gabbana, all to show off our worth. But still not be able to know why we pay fees for services or the taxes we pay just buying a box of matches.
That’s what makes our situation precarious. The living blood needed for prosperity is running in the veins of weaklings we created. That’s apocalyptic!
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Let me get down to the point. Sandi has raised some very important issues. Unfortunately, the answers should have been obvious to him. As he might know independent Gambia is fifty three years old. How often has there been a change of administration through the ballot box? Once.
How many political parties exist during this period but never came to power? I could count at least eleven. And only two has ever been at the helm of executive power. What does this tell you?
Should they also change the messages and the messengers?
And last but not least, you said you think we have to bring the message to the electorate. Do you think the message did not get to the electorate and that’s the reason they didn’t vote for PDOIS?
This party is the most respected political party on the political landscape of The Gambia. Ask anyone and they will tell you the democratic nature of PDOIS and the level of honesty Gambians associate with it. I will be glad to know from you what the party should start now that it has not been doing before.
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Yours in the service of The Gambia and Afrikka, I remain.
Mwalimu,
Unfortunately you have totally lost me in your arguments about D&G, sports, etc. to the subject matter.
Anyhow I think one might argue that the reason why no opposition party won against Jawara or Yaya was because Gambian politics seems to be about a leadership that never changes – the same flag bearer per election cycle. When the leader dies, the party dies with the leader. is this not gerenally true? Besides, none of them have been able to organise themselves sufficiently enough – they do not have a shadow cabinet in waiting; the leader cannot be replaced or expelled. I think this is important. I think it is fair to say that if one’s plan is to lead people – basis for being in politics-, it is important for the people to understand what you are offering them. If you want to educate them, then you should become a teacher. Perhaps Dr janneh should stop all of this academic writing and help pdois leadership set up a school to help enlighten the Gambian electorate. What do you think, Mwalimu?
I agree with all of Isatou’s points. Her 8th point seems to agree with Dr Janneh’s views in that idealism is insufficient in politics. I wonder if pdois would consider not making Halifa the flag bearer in the next elections – I think they have far greater chance of increasing their gains under a different leadership. Any thoughts, Mwalimu?
Overall, what are your views on the other issues raised in Dr jennah’s piece?
My views on the issues raised by Dr. Janneh are very simple. Regarding the presidency of Adama, I have on many occasions said we should make the presidential seat very uncomfortable for him should he fail to step down after his mandate of three years expires. I urged all Gambians at home and abroad to organize peaceful demonstrations like they did before the 2016 elections to galvanize support against self perpetuation by political leaders. Not only that, to set up an example by prosecuting Adama for corruption and nepotism. There is enough evidence to build a case against him and get him jailed.
It is indeed very sad to note how inept and clueless Adama as a leader is. Not only that, he is surrounded by political whores who are equally ineffectual as him. If not more so. All these people continue to milk our country dry whilst the poor constantly die from preventable and curable ailments day in day out at our hospitals.
So I very much see what Dr. Omar is talking about. We might however slightly differ on how we think those problems can be ameliorated.
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I won’t like to be going in circles with you Sandi and that’s exactly what we seem to be doing.
I said Gambian youths and by extension youths of Afrikka, have abandoned the quest for knowledge and consciousness. We are only busy consuming sports, fashion, movies, music , food, etc all from the Europe, Amerikkka and Asia. That’s the chronic sickness that has created the lost of identity in us. Including you and me.
The evidence lies in some of the questions you ask and some of your utterances.
Let me give you an example. You said those who are interested in educating and enlightening our people, like Halifa Sallah, should rather become teachers.
My interpretation of that will be this: your insinuation is that political leaders, parties and entities should not educate voters on their policies and programs. The people should just blindly follow and decide to vote on non-issue basis. That’s what has been happening in Afrikka for more than seventy years. The result is underdevelopment and in extreme cases war, famine and destruction. I hope you are with with me this time around.
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You also said Dr. Janneh should stop all of this academic writing and help PDOIS leadership set up a school to enlighten the Gambian electorate.
Sandi, that statement is a classical example of “talking before thinking”.
1) Dr. Omar has a right, just like you and me, to express his thoughts and opinions without anyone telling him how, when and where to do that.
2) Dr. Omars opinion piece is well structured and argued but it’s not an academic paper. Remember there is a difference.
3) If PDOIS wants to set up a school, it would have done that a long time ago without seeking help from anyone.
4) Schools are for education not political enlightenment activities of the electorate. Educating the electorate is the purview of civic education bodies and political parties not schools.
5) This is why I said the mind of our youth is laid to waste with consumption and pleasure, not serious thinking.
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Whether Halifa becomes the flag bearer of PDOIS or not, is left to those members attending the congress. Halifa, like any other member of that party has the right to elect or be elected to hold party positions.
And in case you didn’t know, PDOIS has a near flat hierarchy when it comes to leadership and decision making unlike many political parties in The Gambia that revolve around a single individual.
Shadow cabin opposition models could be a good idea in our situations, but I’ll ask why you highlighted that?
Yours in the service of The Gambia and Afrikka, I remain.
Mwalimu,
I think a lot of people probably acquire their political enlightenment from college and other sources. For me, I am learning a lot from this conversation and I am grateful to you and Dr Isatou Sarr for being so generous with your time in these exchanges.
I hope you do not take this short message to heart because I think you are a pdois supporter and that you see that they can do no wrong. I think my own views about Gambian poloitics leans more towards pdois too, but I want them to be in power and for them to do that, I think the leadership must take a hard look at themselves and changes lot of things: leadership, message, and not leave politicking to a seasonal affair and in between selling news papers that only reaches a selected few. I can see why they are doing that: they want to appear honest on the one hand, but we all need to live, so they have to sell their papers. But you see, some of them have insight into the workings of the government – by virtue of being NAMs, so they are not playing fair game with the other print media in the Gambia. This is just a view, by I am happy change my views on it should you/Dr Touray put forward a convincing case. By the way, I think Dr Touray is UDP-leaning (laughs). I liked it when she said something like ‘to make change, you have to be at the table’.
You see I find opposition politics quite strange in the Gambia in that – for a small part- apart from these last 2 years, opposition parties come to life only during campaign seasons – they are almost dead. Granted, Pdois is certainly different. As I said, while on the one hand they will claim to be very clean and want to educate the people as you said, but if they are doing so, they are only reaching a selected few who can afford to buy their papers. So all their talk of socialism makes me even more confused. Why do they not write and distribute the papers for free, but no they have to make a living.
Shadow cabint position may be a good idea because it means that instead of sitting in the wilderness for about 5 years, each pillar of the opposition will come out and challenge each of the pillars of the rulling party’s policies: energy, infrastructure, finance, etc., etc. You may have observed that we have recently seen the Gdc leader attack Barrow’s statement on being more powerful than Jammeh. My assessment is that every time the opposition has issues with the ruling government’s policy proposals or gaffes, it is often the leader of the party who makes the statement -he (and so far, it is predominantly a he. That must change – Dr Isatou Touray has led the way; would be great to see more female aspirants). Anyhow, so far I have not read or heard anything from Halifa or Sedia or the party’s other NAMs? on Barrow’s – I suppose I might call it – gaffe; perhaps because they still feel that they are part? of the ‘coalition’ so they mustn’t criticise Barrow. If that is the case, then I have to make pose the question: why should they feel that they cannot voice their concerns against Barrow? As you alluded to in your message, I agree with you in that we have to make things very comfortable indeed for Barrow because of his tendencies. As Dr Jennah has alluded to, I think Barrow is a weak leader and he is moving the country into a dark place which we must all resist. Barrow has all broken the Coalition agreement – he is politicking instead of creating a level playing field – in the 3 years – for a new administration. The sooner pdois, the party that tells it like it is, comes out and voices their concerns about this government, the better for the Gambia. We can get rid of the Barrow administration and set Gambia on a path to recovery and transformative change. I think if we give pdois a chance, they are likely to move the country forward. But the wierd thing though is that, we listen to pdois, but we do not vote for them. My naïve view is that they have to change. Until they accept that and act on it soonest, my naive head tells me that the hand of death will snatch t he party like those before it. I do not trust that any of the parties that formed the coalition have the morality to talk against Barrow. They are all having a good time and have no appetite to develop the country.
Overall though, I think we have some way to go to change attitudes to politics. If D&G, football, etc offers people more joy, etc. then they will go for it. I think it is probably true that people feel that their vote does not make any difference. We must work to change that mindset. I that regards, I guess I have been too hard on Dr Jennah to call his writing academic. I did so because he appears to go to length to cite his sources. For me, that makes his work a worthy read. I do not always agree with him, but as you said, he has a right to his views and should be free to express them. We all have a right to express our views. I hope I have done it here in a manner that keeps this conversation alive -offers a bit of something here and there worthy to think about – without degenerating into anything uncivil.
With a good bunch of appreciation for your time!
Many of us are here because we have recognized that democracy and history have something in common, namely-they don’t happen in a void-and they need participants and participation. To be a positive part of these two beautiful phenomena, we teach and we learn. Yes!!
Sandi, the legacy of PDOIS is already firmly planted. The party has already accomplished a lot and there is still a lot of work to be done. Death cannot snatch a legacy of righteousness and selfless service.
Name me one single political party that will canvass for votes in The Gambia without inducing or intimidating the voters. Name me one political party that will not retort to ethnolinguistic sentiments and the privilege of incumbency to mobilize supporters and alike. Give me the name of one political party that will not make promises of projects it will not be able to fulfill to coerce the people into voting for it. I believe the answer is very obvious.
Of course I can see wrong from anywhere. However it will be foolhardy to go wrong hunting, where there is no wrong to be found.
That’s why, one vote for PDOIS might be equal to thousands of votes for other parties. That’s quality riding high over quantity.
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Adama saying he is much more powerful than Yaya, and that he will be ready to unleash that brutal force once again on a traumatized people, is barbaric. That’s no gaffe.
Before asking PDOIS to come out and condemn the dictatorial utterances made by this buffoon of a president, we should all be asking ourselves why the police, military and SIS high commands did not come out to at least distance themselves from that statement. It means they are ready to be ordered by Adama to get into rampant human rights abuses and killings as they did under Yaya the butcher. That’s why I said parliament should nullify the act that created the NIA (now shamelessly called the SIS) and turn the Army into a civil engineering corps to build roads, bridges, ferries, fishing trawlers and engage in the mining of natural resources both in The Gambia and in the sub region.
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If you are living in The Gambia, please come to the Peoples’s Center for party literature. If you are abroad, there exist PDOIS branches in nearly all European countries and in the United States. The party manifesto is also in electronic form, meaning you can easily download it on your phone, tablet or PDF reader. It will benefit you immensely. You can also join the many Whatsapp groups where members, militants and party supporters mobilize and educate.
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I believe we have to give up hope that Dr. Omar will turn up to answer my questions.
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I commend you for recognizing the need for maturity in the exchange of ideas. That’s why human beings can rule over other animals of burden because we are able to form social bonds for our common good without resorting to violence in deeds or utterances.
Yours in the service of The Gambia and Afrikka, I remain.
“Russia President, Vladimir Putin has declared that Africa is a cemetery for Africans and here are his reasons.
He said:
“When an African becomes rich, his bank accounts are in Switzerland. He travels to France for Medical treatment.
He invests in Germany. He buys from Dubai. He consumes Chinese. He prays in Rome or Mecca. His children study in Europe. He travels to Canada, USA, Europe for tourism.
If he die, he will be buried in his native country of Africa.
Africa is just a cemetery for Africans. How could a cemetery be developed?”
~Putin Asks!”
What is your take on this, Mwalimu?
Mwalimu, It sounds like your are inviting me to PDOIS. I will look into attending their meeting or joining their WhatzApp chats. I hope they will welcome me – laughs. Thank you kindly!
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Hello Jack, I think the statement “In politics, you CANNOT bring change when you are not sitting at the table” means that to be part of the change, one has to take part in the negotiations/discussions. I like Pdois, but the fact that they refused/where not offered a post in the Coalition government suggests to me that the party leadership cannot do very much to influence change- they are not at the cabinet meetings, so they are not at the table. In the NA meetings, they form a small number. So as Dr Omar said in his piece, their views can be easily diluted.
PDOIS all of us should be making noise and bring about a change in government. This Barrow government does not have what it would take to develop Gambia.
In a country of less than 2M, do you ever wonder why we cannot build a strong and vibrant nation with all hands on deck. Why we spend so much time and energy talking party lines, tribes, religion etc. Everything that divide us, and nothing that unite us.
If you read my post 2 years ago after the fall of YJ, I said ALL politicians are crooks, they insert themselves into our lives, to steal our future and the legacy of our children. I remember some attacked me then and ask for proof. Hate to say I told you so.
Back to politics, service is a privilege, an honor. It is not a right, it is not because one has all the answers, it is simply an opportunity to lead with the right intention, hoping for a a bettter life for those you serve.
The problem with PDOIS can be summoned up like this.
1. We know what you need more than you do.
2. We know how and what you think better than you.
3. We know how to improve your life, you don’t.
4. We and only we HAVE monopoly on knowledge.
For Gambia to thrive we must all understand the core principles of collective responsibility.
For Leaders.
1. Honesty
2. Humility and
3. Mindfulness
For Followers.
1. Vigilance.
2. Patience.
3. Discernment.
There are too many divisive characters in PDOIS, Gambia needs those that will unite us, not point out our differences and not remind us daily they are the only one with solutions and salvation. Leaders must understand those they want to lead.
I did not bother to talk about the other parties, not that they are better. There is no need to point out their failures. It is here for all to see. I simply address PDOIS for one reason only. The party ideology is sound and may help develop us as a nation, if they can find a way and the right group of humble and dedicated leaders and followers. The party may mean well, but they must learn how to be Gambians. It means, openness, love, humility and understanding.
God Bless The Gambia.
Dr Sarr, For me, you are totally on point. I would like a kind of politics where all can have a say in it – a party whose leadership understands those that they lead.
I will scout for your piece and read it.
Thank you for coming back, I am sure we all appreciate it. I wish the kind of discussion here can be replicated all over. It good and enlightening for me.
Service in its true form is both a right, an honor and a privilege. Selfless service, first to family and community, is what every member and supporter of PDOIS should epitomize and spread in a spirit of good faith and wisdom. This is the idea that brought the peoples center into existence, where thousands of Gambians flock every year to be listened to and helped where that is possible.
PDOIS is not a party of:
1) We know it all.
2) We say it all.
3) We are the most capable.
4) We are the chosen and the rest the rotten.
5) We are the custodians of knowledge in any of its forms.
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I believe the formation of the coalition is evidence that PDOIS have gone beyond party ideological lines to INITIATE communication amongst political parties, a process that eventually gave birth to a solid foundation that at least usher in a new down of freedoms and hope. Financially, PDOIS put more money on the table than any other political party, which was three million Dalasi.
But how quickly we forget.
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I do agree that the party needs more leaders who exemplify high leadership qualities. Like any organization that wants to guarantee its future, it has to mold promising talent continuously. But that’s exactly what the next phase of the party’s expansion strategy is going to focus on immediately after the congress that is slated to take place from 28th-29th December 2018.
This does not in anyway mean that there is a shortage of qualified individuals to run the show for the party apart from those most visible to the public. Far from it. It just means more energy and time will be dedicated to this effort because the political climate calls for such a move. Now that the situation is more reminiscent of the politically lame Jawara era, it’s incumbent upon us all to prevent the country and the state from slipping down some dangerous and well known routes, i.e dissatisfaction leading to violence or the usurpation of political power through undemocratic means.
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Yours in the service of The Gambia and Afrikka, I remain.
Mwalimu,
Thank you for the offerings here; between what you’ve written and Dr Sarr missive’s, I see some progressive politics for the smiling coast. If what you’ve said pans out well, I am now optimistic about the future for PDOIS. I shall pray for that for we need a new dawn. Let’s now hope that the older hands do not put themselves forward for the more senior leadership posts – they have laid the foundation, but have not taken the party to the promised land. I think it’s time that they nurture some fresh blood, the likes of you and others to take on the challenge.
You’re right, pdois played a huge role in the Coalition – I saw a lot of that during the impasse, but my observation is that they appeared to have retreated to the back seat. I would like to see them come out and talk against Barrow’s plans to overstay beyond the agreed 3 years. They were at the negotiations, so let them spill the beans for al of us to know. But, I think they are too civilised to do that or the reason for their silence could be on the basis of principles: they will wait for the last hour, last minute, last second and even last microsecond before they start to denounce Barrow’s intention to overstay. But by then, it may be too late – he would have laid sufficient grounds. Note: I am just a distant observer with little knowledge of pdois’ internal machinery or how the leadership thinks.
It seems you have a lot of great insight into they way they function, which a lay person like me most likely take for granted. I salute you here for the information.
Thank you and have a blessed Sunday.
When you don’t understand what the president is saying, better ask people who understood the statement he made comparing himself to jammeh.why ate most of you do desperate and hypocritical. Barrow did not say anything fearing,when you hate somebody please hate him or her with truth. Hypocrisy will never take us anywhere
I mean why are most of you so desperate and full of hatred? Sorry for type errors
Baba, do not attempt to defend the indefensible or justify the unjustifiable. Rather than berate people as haters, I think you should also be concerned about President Barrow’s choice of analogy and his allusion to the possession of more powers than a man who has terrorised our people for decades. What are we to make of such utterances, regardless of how they were made?
Baba, thanks for joining the conversation. Could you please explain to us what you think the president is saying? Better still, could you persuade the president to come out and try to clear the air? To be fair, until you or the President can tell us what he said or meant to say, we are free to make up our own minds about what he said, just like you are also free to decide or make up your mind (about us?) that the President is hated – I don’t know by whom. It looks like you have taken a huge leap in the dark or that you’re trying to interpret people’s reactions to the president’s utterances as hate. After what Gambians have been through, do you now see any justification for people to be concerned? Why would you want to brush aside people’s expression of concern or dismay, disgust or take it as hate? Do we wait for him to kill us before we can say anything? I am totally baffled!
Please help me, Baba. We are doing so well here until you came (laughs).
I would also like to add my voice to that of Sandi and Bax. If Adama wants, he has more than one channel to come out and clarify what Baba alleged to be a misinterpretation.
I personally have no reason to hate or love Adama. The moment he swore to defend the constitution and other laws of The Gambia, he has opened himself to all the good and the bad that seat comes with.
Hate has nothing to do with. We have a contract with him and we have a duty to be forever vigilant to better our lot.
Adama has proven himself to be completely out of touch with our reality. He exemplifies everything hundreds of Gambians died fighting against. I feel ashamed that I can’t point to a single tangible achievement of Adama since he came to power two years ago. What a catastrophe for our country.
Baba
I will double down on what i said about President Barrow and if that makes me a hater and a hypocrite, then i will happily wear that as a badge of honor. My loyalty lies with the Gambian nation not President Barrow as a person. I praised him when merited and will damn him when also merited. This is what i wrote last week about him and am proud of it. If that make me a hypocrite….so be it.
”Is President Barrow turning into Yahya Jammeh? thinking that he hold the absolute power in over all inThe Gambia, blinded by those hangers on, so called aides, who only tell him what he want to hear to keep the gravy train going.. .. Yahya Jammeh was a very sensible clever operator who dazzled our citizenry with promises of better days, accountability, transparency and probity. The nation dazzled behind him with affection. The nation feted him, exalted his greatness and many brainwashed by his many theatrics, gave him the nod to do anything he asked for, legal or illegal. He became the law, the guardian of lives and deaths of our citizenry. He became a Sheikh, a professor, a doctor, an aids curer. He controlled the army, the police, the paramilitaries, the NIA and we died in masses, in detention centres, in interrogation rooms, in desolate forests. So our President Barrow now claimed, he is even more powerful than Yahya Jammeh. A sad day for our nation. Our goodwill towards our political leaders are being short changed. We can’t allow another Yahya Jammeh scenario to take root in our homeland again. Lets make our political leaders understand that only WE THE PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER, not the political leaders. Lets remind President Barrow that Gambians have a great expectations in the potential of this new Gambia. Old politics of fear is gone with the wind.
@Bax:
Thank you for asking.
We have to put this utterance attributed to Vlamir Putin, the president of Russia, into its proper context. In studying racist and anti black literature, it helps first to classify the genre and discuss how it is positioned. This space unfortunately cannot be utilized for a full blown analysis of this text. I will give snippets of the most important parameters worth dissecting.
First, such short or medium sized texts lay dormant in social media sites for months or years , intermittently resurfacing now and then before they go back to sleep. Their authorship most often cannnot be verified, however, they are easily traceable to white supremacist social media spaces where racists best congregate to spew hate and plan harming blakk people and POC. The harm that emanates from such groupings does not necessarily have to be physical in nature. The effect is then micro and macro violence in the real world.
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From the above you can notice my deliberate use of the word blakk instead of Afrikka. The reason is that Afrikka is historically synonymous to blakk for me. People who want to hide their racism and savagery use the term Africa to fool us that they are referencing a geographical territory and not a people. Second, they claim Afrikka is not a home to only blakk people, but whites and Arabs.
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I suppose you are more interested in my take on the content of the text and I shall not be found wanting.
Generally speaking, I strongly believe white people regardless of their intention should stay out of our problems. That includes keeping their opinions to themselves and above all keeping their feet out of our territories. Why? White people paying you a visit can never go smoothly and at the end, they enslave you and plunder your resources. They will form their opinion about you based on their depraved psychology and they will infect you with the same fetish depravity about yourself.
Dr. John Henrik Clarke use to say we blakk people have committed only one grave mistake in history. He said “we should have slaughtered them on sight”. But we unfortunately trusted the Arabs who sold us to the whites in betrayal of a long standing “friendship” that was in fact, all the time, one sided.
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Yes there are corrupt Afrikkan leaders whose throat I believe we should just slit. They rule over us, not for our benefit but for their slave masters to live a standard of living neither earned no deserved. Again, don’t forget they were created in the first place to serve exactly that purpose. No surprises there.
On the other hand, white colonization of our homeland for more that five hundred years coupled with the loss of two hundred million human souls and bodies has left our continent economically, politically and psychologically emaciated.
Just imagine the beasts losing the amount of people today and now. Remember, that’s the total population of England, the US, France and Germany. They will never fucking recover for the rest of their natural existence on earth. Excuse the vulgar language. Yes am angry and of course rightly so. If I have my fingers on the button of a nuclear bomb, it will take a lot of convincing not to detonate it right now.
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I have been calling for the GBB since my childhood. Afrikka cannot and should not delay getting The Government, The Bank and The Bomb (GBB) as quickly as possible. Failure to do so has only bred disrect, dishonor and a series of catastrophes for us, including the utterances allegedly emanating from the filthy mouth of Putin.
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Yours in the service of Afrikka and the blakk nation, I remain.
@Bax:
Let me clarify that the census figures I used for England, the US and France are from the 16th to the 18th century.
Ok Mwalimu, calm down a bit, sir. I can understand your reaction to the alleged comments of President Putin, given your view on “Whites” and how they relate to us “Blakks” (if I may borrow your term), but I believe you know my position on generalisations. I just CANNOT blame every “White” person for the crimes of some “White” People, though the perpetrators and most beneficiaries of these crimes are from “White” societies. Nonetheless, privileged oppressors and the deprived oppressed can be found in every society and nation, regardless of skin colour, gender, religion or geographic location.
And Putin, Trump, Barrow, Sall et Al, happen to be in the group of the privileged oppressors, whilst many across the world (Europe, USA, China, India, Arabia) happen to be in the group of the deprived and oppressed. Colour and location doesn’t matter to me. There are “White”Britons and New Yorkers sleeping on the streets of London and New York or relying on food banks to eat, just as there are hungry “Blacks” in Johannesburg depending on food aid to survive. This, to me, is the reality of the world we live in today.
I do agree that Mr Putin’s alleged comments may be influenced by his supremacist (not necessarily “White”) views on the Blakk or African Peoples and continent, but I also think that it may just be an expression of his frustration with the African Leadership and elites, who sheepishly cow-tow Western lines, despite the huge damage this has done to our countries.
And given the current strained relationship between Russia and the West, and the geo-political maneaverings of each side to maximise advantages to pursue their interests, I think the latter (Putin’s frustration with African Leaders) is more probable than the former.
Continue next post….
Mwalimu in conversation with Vladmir:
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Vladimir: Africa is a cemetery for Africans and here are my reasons.
Mwalimu: You made it so and still you continue to rob the graves.
Vladmir: When an African becomes rich, his bank accounts are in Switzerland. He travels to France for Medical treatment.
He invests in Germany. He buys from Dubai. He consumes Chinese. He prays in Rome or Mecca. His children study in Europe. He travels to Canada, USA, Europe for tourism.
Mwalimu: You created Afrikkans engaged in the practice of looting Afrikkan resource so you can claim innocence because you are not present to do the physical stealing. You used the gun to force us to learn your languages so that we will never master our rich languages to gain and transport knowledge. We emigrate to your countries because you used our wealth to build them. You were first in Afrikka thats why we are paying you the visit back. Mass consumption and uncontrolled desire, we learned from y‘all. Why complain Vladmir? The concept of a supreme being and creator existed first in Afrikka when you savages were canibalizing each other. We are only taking our religions back. Our work now is to purify them of your corrupt ways to be in their original and most clean forms devoid of elements of your White and Arab cultures.
Vladmir: If he die, he will be buried in his native country of Africa.
Mwalimu: Afrikka is not a country, you stupid white moron!
You see, even in death, we yearn for our homeland and longed to join our ancestors unlike you bunch of heathens.
Vladmir: Africa is just a cemetery for Africans. How could a cemetery be developed?
Mwalimu: A cemetery does not have to be developed, it has to be protected from white savage grave robbers like Russia, the EU, China, Amerikkka, Japan, India, Pakistan and the Golf camel f*****s.
Bax, I don’t like to be called sir for the simple reason that it creates distinctions and hierarchies that are inimical to my cultural heritage. How about Mboka or Mbaading or Suuma nitki or Nna moo etc.
I am not loosing my composure, so I don’t think any of us has to calm down here. We became too complecent after independence and the abolition of lynchings in the US and when in Europe we were no more put in zoos for public amusement.
We were calming down as the savages went to work on refining their strategies to keep us in perpetual enslavement. Only after I die will I calm down. I call it a rest.
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Class economics is a product of capitalism. Capitalism is a product of slavery. Slavery is a product of white racial categorization. Why do white people have a need to classify human beings into different categories? The answer is enough to fill a volume of books.
I do understand that you take the Marxist approach to questions of power and wealth distribution vis-a-vis the control of capital. All blakk intellectuals have agreed that Karl Marx and his analysis of power and wealth dynamics is flawed in essence. W. E Dubois has said race is the mother of all subjects. Garvey concurred by saying Afrikka has to go back and reinvent itself to be able to move forward.
Class dynamics don’t cause genocide and mass cultural displacements. Only racism, black enslavement and colonialism has achieved that feat.
Yet, I have no choice but to respect your angle of perception, even though it’s blatantly clear as noon day light that Karl Marx wasn’t thinking about Afrikka and blakk people when he developed his theories.
Mwalimu, my apologies for addressing you as “Sir”. Obviously, it has different connotations to it for you and I, but since its addressed to you, I will withdraw it and say, sorry.
Here’s a point of observation: I have not, for once, mentioned Max or even indicated that I’ve read him. I am not proposing Maxian Theory here because I am not equipped with that knowledge.
Historically, Capitalism may be the product of slavery and slavery the product of race categorization, but today Capitalism is a Global Instrument of Economics or Economic Management System that is studied in different institutions of higher education across the world, and whoever acquires the knowledge becomes the owner and MUST take personal responsibility for its effects and impacts on the lives of societies where they implement Capitalist ideas or mode of production, distribution and consumption.
The Gambian Capitalists, for example, who may have studied the Capitalist System in London, Paris or New York and acquired the knowledge, must take personal responsibilities for the effects of the Capitalist System they are implementing in The Gambia. I don’t see why some European Capitalist and “White” supremacist should be blamed for our choices, since we claim to be in charge of our own affairs now.
The truth about the disparity of wealth between the privileged ruling class and the deprived masses is obvious for all to see. The reasons, I believe, are also well known; not because Max said it, but because it is vividly obvious to any keen observers.
Like you said, respect to divergence in viewpoints, but on the same side, without a doubt.
Why do I think so? Well, to start with, Putin is a product of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union was the greatest ally and supporter of the independence movements and struggles across the African continent. It had offered scholarships to many Africans to study in different fields in the USSR during that period.
Mr Putin, himself, was in the KGB (Soviet intelligence) where he is said to have risen to the rank of Colonel, before he became the leader of the Russian Federation. It is unquestionable that he would have interacted with Africans during this period and have a good knowledge of Africans and Africa, as part of his KGB training, line of work or experience.
Unless otherwise proved with evidence, I cannot believe that a man with such knowledge and personal experience of Africans, can hold racist views. Racism, generally, is the result of ignorance and no one can seriously accuse Mr Putin of being ignorant about Africa and Africans.
Furthermore, Mr Putin, as President of the Russian Federation, is not unaware of the fact that over 99% of Africans living on the continent cannot even afford 3 square meals a day, never mind save money in Switzerland, seek treatment in Paris or holiday in Canada.
The question, therefore, is why did he use the generalised term, “Africans”, rather than “African Leaders & elites” specifically? I think it’s an expression of his frustration and the fact that, being a calculating person, he probably wants to stir up the masses against their leaders. His references to holidays, Chinese, Swiss Bank accounts and the mention of developing a cemetery (“how can you develop a cemetery?) may be suggestive of who his real targets are: leaders and elites, as these are the ones who can afford what’s been mentioned and must lead development efforts.
Viewed from that perspective, I think the comment is good in that it should provoke in us (Africans), the type of outrage and anger you have shown here against “Whites”, towards our own leaders whose behaviour and failures continue to reduce us as the laughing stock of the world.
President Putin, insulting as he may sound, is only saying it as it is, if I have managed to convince you: that Africans (leaders and elites) invest their entire future in the West but want be laid to rest on the continent, when the end comes. In other words, the continent is only fit for their resting place, which is indeed, just a cemetery.
@ Bax:
Absolutely no need to apologize. I just intended to put a point across, which is my total acceptance of my-self (unapologetically blakk and highly loving of my PEOPLE without reservations (no ifs and or buts) no matter what and who they are) without having the need for whitened thinking.
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You might not be intentionally putting forward the Marxist theory of class relationships, but the analysis has every feature of that world view. Perhaps you should consider exploring your perspectives further that will distance yours from that of Karl Marx. I will be the first to buy that piece of work.
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I know Vladmir is a fervent believer in restroring the lost super power status of Russia. But I don’t want to read the intentions behind the utterance associated with him. That will be too naive of me, after knowing what I know.
The USSR was doing Afrikka no favor by offering scholarships here and there. Or helping Afrikkan nations gain independence. It was all done for selfish gains, not out of altruistic considerations.
By the way, have seen the minister of fisheries defending the EU-Gambia fishing deal? I can’t take it no more from Adama and his boys.
It’s sad, isn’t it? He said it’s the best deal we ever got from the EU, but we can’t even generate a million Euros annually from the deal. According to jim, we’ll get €550,000 from the EU and €360,000 from ship owners, a miserly total of €910,000.
And then, to rub salt into our wounds, he quips about raising D15million annually to engage the youths, women, artisanal fisheries and aquaculture.
D15 million to address these important areas!!!! That’s how serious these people are. You just have to shake your head in disbelief.
Hello Fellows, It seems that Dr Jennah has some insight into something. His piece, Free lunch seems so on the money.
As we know the EU did give some money to Gambia, so would it not be appropriate for them to get some of it back?
In 3 years, they can save at least D15M if they didn’t reward themselves money they have no right to award themselves – in salary increases. These people are thieves – in broad daylight.
No such thing as free lunch. Thanks Dr Janneh. When is the next piece coming out?
Putin is only repeating what people like Patrice Lumumba, Dr James Small and other Afrikns have been trying to drill into our heads.
Now that a white man has said the same thing, I’m sure a lot of Afrikns will believe.
And yes, putin is a great political chess player, he is the grand master, he has his reasons for saying what he has said, I suppose some sort of tactical maneuver.