This write-up was published last February and is most relevant in our conversations today since the British Prime Minister Theresa May reiterated the position of the EU and United States saying criminalizing homosexual behavior and same sex marriages was wrong then and it’s still wrong now and called President Adama Barrow to repeal one of Africa’s most aggravated and draconian LGBT law at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings in London.
Contradictions: “President Adama Barrow said homosexuality is not an issue in the Gambia, an act that can send one in the country to prison for life”. Foreign Minister “Darboe confirmed that the UDP will also support the repealing of the law”. Minister of Tourism Hamat Bah “homosexuality will never be allowed in The Gambia.”
New York Letter With Alagi Yorro Jallow: What’s The Status Of Gays In Gambia?
The homophobic strand that is currently woven throughout Africa reveals a certain level of contradiction and hypocrisy on the part of our political leaders who state that they are trying to uphold African values and cultures by criminalizing alternative sexualities. But at the same time, LGBT rights in the Gambia and Western development aid has further replete it with layers of contradictions and potential hypocrisy.
It is worth noting firstly that neither the Western leaders nor the African leaders are cogently consistent on their stated viewpoints regarding homosexuality. Since Western development aid is important for the African continent, it should in no way be used as a tool to dictate policy and legislative processes in Africa.
Whether the government of President Adama Barrow’s administration will repeal the aggravated homosexuality law or not remains unknown but there are pledges to repeal many of the draconian laws passed by Jammeh during his 22-year rule.
Gambian law, policies, and practices violate the internationally protected rights of LGBT people. Last year, Political leaders in The Gambia have expressed interest in repealing the horrific anti-LGBT legislation that was signed into law by former President Yahya Jammeh in 2014. The current law allows life sentences for “repeat offenders” or individuals found guilty of “aggravated homosexuality.”
Gambia’s foreign secretary, Ousainou Darboe, explained to local journalists that “Homosexuality was perhaps something Yahya Jammeh imagined bamboozling the clerics that were surrounding him…He used gay as a propaganda tool for him to continue to repress people.”
He went on to say that “aggravated homosexuality was a distraction and it should be taken out of the laws.”
Lawyer Darboe is the party leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP), which is a political group and an active opposition party under the rule of Jammeh. Darboe confirmed that the UDP will also support the repealing of the law.
President Adama Barrow said homosexuality is not an issue in the Gambia, an act that can send one in the country to prison for life. Among those who could be charged with “aggravated homosexuality” are “serial offenders” and people living with HIV who are deemed to be LGBT or lesbian.
President Adama Barrow said: “homosexuality has never been an issue in this country” and that there are economic and other social issues that are more of a priority.
Homosexuality is not a popular political issue and Barrow’s Minister of Tourism Hamat Bah said last year that “homosexuality will never be allowed in The Gambia.”
Gambia’s former President Yahya Jammeh said homosexuality is anti-god, anti-human, and anti-civilization. He called homosexuals vermins and threatened to slit their throat.
Recently Amnesty International, United Kingdom based human rights organization in its annual report released last week raised concern on gay rights in the Gambia “Same-sex relations remained criminalized. A law approved in October 2014, for example, imposed sentences of up to life imprisonment for “aggravated homosexuality” offences. LGBT people continued to suffer discrimination and threats from non-state actors “the report noted.
The reaction of Western governments and donor organizations gives the strong impression that the respect of human rights, especially gay rights, is a prerequisite for any possible development aid to Africa. Nor is this kind of reaction solely restricted to the Gambian situation. The legislation of anti-homosexual laws in the Gambia has already sparked off the reaction of Western governments, donors and human rights organizations.
Western donors have used aid to directly persuade African countries to respect human rights, particularly about the decriminalization of homosexuality. The United States government alluded to this connection by stating that American aid is closely linked to “the protection of fundamental freedoms and universal human rights”. They use their financial prowess to set conditions for any aid that they are giving to Africa.
President Adama Barrow’s claims to promote diversity in the Gambia ring hollow when he still delays for repeal of law against the gay community and actions against gay people are a glaring contradiction to his self-proclaimed profile as a ‘global moderate’ leader.”
The government should also act to “repeal laws criminalizing homosexual relations between consenting adults and replace the provision on non-consensual relations with a gender-neutral rape law” said by one human rights Activist. Repealing gay rights would free the Gambia’s legal system from a colonial past and historical prejudices.
The government’s view on the rights of the gay community are indicative of a broader disregard for the universality and indivisibility of international human rights. As a member of the United Nations, the Gambia is obligated to uphold the principles set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including that, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
A November 2014 report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which specifically addressed violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, made recommendations that have specific relevance to the Gambia.
President Barrow should make a commitment to repeal all laws and policies that discriminate against gay people. He should end projects aimed at the conversion, marginalization, or stigmatization of gay people, and initiate a public awareness campaign aimed at ending hostility toward gay people. By doing so, the Gambia would take a giant step toward becoming a rights-respecting “modern democracy,” a goal President Barrow has repeatedly endorsed.
The United States condemned the passage of the anti-gay legislation in 2014 and called on the U.S. government to conduct a full diplomatic review of the U.S. relationship with The Gambia. Later that year, the U.S. government revoked Gambia’s eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which gives preferential trade treatment to products from certain African nations.
The European Union withheld more than €33 million in aid to the Gambia over the deteriorating human rights conditions and concerns over the targeting of the gay community under the previous government.
“These draconian laws have no place in the 21st century, and the United States must send a clear message that the Gambian government cannot trample on the rights of its LGBT citizens,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “We call on the U.S to conduct a full diplomatic review of the United States’ relationship with The Gambia.”
Prior to his defeat, President Jammeh had been one of the most aggressive opponents to gay rights equality, going so far as to say that he would “slit the throats” of men who wanted to marry other men in his country.President Barrow, has stated that “homosexuality has never been an issue” in his country, but it remains unclear as to whether he has plans to repeal the draconian anti-gay law passed by Jammeh.
Advancing gay rights in the Gambia will only be achieved through engagement of civil society and education on the sacrosanct nature of human rights. Withdrawal and cutting of development aid to the Gambia by Western governments and donor organizations is not only unsustainable, but hypocritical when those donor governments lack a clean record with gay rights in their own countries.
There are no ambiguity here. We have an unrepentant homophobic society. Mr Barrow need to stand up as the first citizen and boldly proclaim that all Gambian lives are precious and thus we are all entitled to same protection by his government regardless of race/tribe, sexual orientation or religion. The current homosexuality law is an insult on our collective aspiration for a fair and just nation. The fact that Mr Barrow is paying lip service to this most important issue is call for concern. Mr President STOP saying it’s not an issue. What does that mean. Take a stand like a MAN and call for the repeal of this law.
Protecting fundamental Human Rights is a MUST for any government and no self respecting government will wait for threats of aid cuts to honour its commitments to respect the rights of its citizens. The difficult question, for me, is whether the practice of homosexuality is a human right, never mind, a universal one.
Once we answer this question and establish beyond all doubts that it is a human right, then our next task is to decide whether to protect or restrict its practice; for rights can be restricted if their practice threaten national security or undermine the wellbeing of society.
An example of the restriction of a fundamental human right in the very countries that are pushing the homosexual agenda on desperately needy countries, is the Muslim form of worship in these countries. Whilst church bells can be heard ringing on Sunday mornings, the Islamic call to prayer (adhan) is restricted in most Western countries and even the erection of Minarets on mosques is forbidden in some countries. Many countries are also calling for a ban on headcovering in public places, a religious practice of Muslim, and some, like France, have already started restricting it in public places. So, rights can be restricted.
I think we can all agree (except Babu Soli perhaps) that Yaya Jammeh was not an individual capable of engaging in a mature, sensible and rational discussion and thus, handled the homosexual issue very, very badly. Our shame, as a nation, for allowing such a buffoonery figure to occupy the highest office in our land.
Equally shameful is the election of buffoons into our National Assembly, where laws were passed that seek/sought to incarcerate people for life for indulging in acts or practices that never even threaten life, never mind take one. We should be ashamed of ourselves and say “Never Again” to such buffoonery in public office.
There is, however, no doubt in my mind that his refusal to bow down to foreign interference to direct and determine our internal, domestic policy was the right one, and difficult as it may be for me, I will give the devil its due and praise Jammeh for his refusal to be bullied into subservience.
Human Rights should not be a cover to push practices onto us thst do not necessarily contribute either towards enhancing the wellbeing of the individuals involved or society at large, and in that regard, whilst I seek to be excused for my ignorance, I struggle to see what the practice of homosexuality would add to the wellbeing of individuals involved and/or society at large.
And just in case somebody has this idea of defending the rights of consenting adults to sexual freedom, I would like them to tell me whether this right can be guaranteed to consenting adult siblings to engage in incestuous relations. If No, why the discrimination? Aren’t siblings entitled to the same protection to sexual orientation like the LGBT?
Oops…meant to write: “…rights of consenting adults to consensual sex and sexual freedom….”
Islamophobia is wrong and those western countries that encourage it are backward thinking and have no understanding of Islam. It’s the same countries that will discriminate against anyone they perceive to be different or weaker than they are. No one is advocating or advancing a chosen lifestyle, the real issue is gay Gambians are Gambians and should have the full protection of the State, same as rest of us.
Bax, my in-law, greetings!
Questions for Bro. Yorro Jallow:
1. Are you working for the US Govt’s NED (National Endowment for Democracy) in Thailand?
2. Are you building up a portfolio of write-ups on The Gambia with a view to establishing an NED Gambia Office?
3. Are your write-ups infact already funded by the NED – as their Gambia-Project?
I ask these questions because transparency is important.
I also agree with Presidents Barrow and Sall that “homosexuality is not an issue” within our communities where people are overwhelming religious and believe in the fundamental belief that marriage/family is based on the union of man and woman. Marriage and family is a simple universal concept. Homosexuality is not, except in the Anglo-Saxon Western Communities. Gambian and African societies have always been tolerant societies and continue to be so. It is not necessary to make homosexuality an issue just because it is dear to the Western donors’ hearts. Jammeh’s anti-gay laws need not be repealed … just don’t enforce them and let them die a natural death. Repealing the laws would give an impression of what Yorro Jallow calls “advancing gay rights in the Gambia”. Gambia and Africa have more pressing developmental needs than waste time on “advancing gay rights” – a “non-issue”. So-called “Gay Activists”, mainly Western funded groups, operating in Gambia, Senegal and many African countries would cause serious social tension and can be dealt with under the general policing laws that require all citizens to keep the peace. Thus your “Gay-Activist” T-Shirt displayed in Serrekunda Market is liable to provoke and breach the peace and should be taken away by the police … just as the police might interfere if a husband/wife and/or boy/girl are kissing in public! The culture of Gambian/African socities is different and should be respect … just as we respect the nudist and gay culture of the west.
I suspect one of the reasons why the government wishes to take a holistic view to a New Constitution for New Gambia is to simply allow these non-issues to die a natural death with Jammeh’s Constitution. All the New Constitution needs to say is that “All discriminatory laws are incompatible with this Constitution” and leave it at that since the courts will not enforce anti-gay laws in that regard.
And once we have in the New Constitution the statement that “All discriminatory laws are incompatible with this Constitution”, that will be enough for doners and development partners. That will certainly be enough for China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia, etc.
Bax, Dr Isatou Sarr,
I’ve been reading/listening to a lot of LIES, doble standard opinions on the issues of Lesbianism and Homosexuality.
Double standards, Hypocrisy, neo-colonial and reactionary statements, of course. Why do we have to dance to the tune of the Western world on matters that jeopardize our very existence as human beings?
The West have talked a lot about allowing our women to prostitute. But who wants a daughter/sister/aunty/cousin/niece/mother prostitute? The game is simple. Let prostitutes come from other families but not mine. Will Theresa May, Trump and those Western leaders allow their daughters to prostitute? Come on. These laws are made to destroy the UNFAVOURABLE, the POOR, the DESTITUTE!
If you want your son/nephew to become a homosexual, so be it. If you want your daughter/niece to become a lesbian, so be it. Don’t favour these abominable behaviours when in your most-innate-thought you would NEVER pray for any of your own family member to become one?
-Would you sit in your living room anywhere in the world, let’s say in the Gambia, and see your son entering your house with another man, go into a room and hear him groaning/sobbing because this man is pushing his PENIS into his ANUS?
-Would you sit in your living room anywhere in the world, let’s say in the Gambia, and see your daughter entering your house with another woman, go into a room and hear her groaning/sobbing because this woman is licking/playing with her C……..? BABU SOLI WILL NEVER ACCEPT THAT!
Come on. Just analyse your side of the story and come to a factual conclusion not on the dictamen of Theresa May or the Western Kafirr leaders and hypocrites.
Human rights protect human beings and all that surround them. But ALL RIGHTS are limited as well! There is NO absolute right. If we do have absolute rights we will live a savage and barbaric life.
There is nowhere in the Muslim or Christian doctrines where homosexuality and lesbianism are pronounced. And we are either Muslims or Christians in The Gambia.
This is not a matter of sexual orientation, it is just the western mundane mindset to gain pleasure without productivity and nothing else. But remember that it has its negative consequences. What are the negative consequences? I would ask our learned Dr Isatou to make a statement here and STOP paying lip service as her president Barrow, to such an abominable issue, though important.
When a man continues to offer his ANUS to another man to penetrate his PENIS and slot sperm, after a long time the veins of the ANUS loosen and do not control the SHIT that forms within the intestines. He must resort to using PAMPERS as a little child. Not only that, he has to visit healthcentres quite often. This is a health hazard and a social problem. Here in Hollland the social security services which we all contribute to, look after their treatment. But can we afford such expenditures with our meagre resources, knowing that our government goes at length to cover treatment expenditures with very little costs from patients.
That’s why Islam and Christianity forbid these heinous activities!
Women who practise lesbianism are no less excluded from the same hazards and fate. I reserve my comments for mutual respect!
Well, if the present VERY BAD administration in The Gambia couldn’t make an explicit pronouncement on the issue, it will be obliged to do so in the near future. I’m sure about that. When foreign GAY and LESBIAN visitors invade our country to look for cheap homosexual and lesbian relations, when these urges surge, there will be public outcry. Then they will be harassed, beaten up, insulted and excluded from all forms of social life. Then, this BAD administration will come out from its somber sleep to take steps.
The President Jammeh laws bannng this malfeasant practice should be re-enforced and NEVER REPEALED. Repealing it would only tantamount to manifesting our servitude to the dictamens of the former colonial powers who ABUSED us in all forms.
I left the Dutch leftish party in disagreement with the laws allowing these abominable activities and EUTHANASIA. They are immoral, inhumane. If you exclude morality from human behaviour, try the USA Presidential candidacy and see. Let’s not FOOL ourselves. The world needs MORALITY to improve on economics, politics and social activities/lives.
Babu what you wrote is hate.
One thing I know about Gambians is that in spite of our differences we come together and stand as one with a big smile and a heart full of LOVE, you my friend you have been away from home too long and it seems you lost a bit of your Gambian soul. Come back Home please.
Dr Sarr,
I admit Babu’s language is intemperate; but he has a point in that because of “professional ethics” and “political correctness” we do not state facts as they are – we don’t call a spade a spade. I’ll give examples:-
1. As a teacher, I know that my pupil will fail in her exams because of the parent’s destructive life-style. But “professional ethics” and “political correctness” will not allow me to state that fact.
2. As a doctor, you know for a fact that the huge rise in cervical cancer from which so many women die is directly due to “sexual freedom” where a 20-year old woman boasts of 20 lovers in a span of five years (may be 100 lovers by the time she is 30!). But your professional ethics, and political correctness, would not allow you to tell the woman that she risks early death because of her life-style (women have also overtaken men in alcohol comsuption and therefore will die early of liver/kidney failure as men do).
3. You know much of the diabetes you treat is due to food-greed, but again your professional ethics do not allow you to say that.
4. As a teacher I know that a major reason for educational failure is the “social media” and television-addiction life-style of the young learner, but we don’t say that.
Actually, I am not completely correct. We as professionals DO SAY all the above to OUR OWN children and family – and safeguard their future. But we don’t say it openly out there because we risk a “professional correctness” back-lash and losing our jobs.
I think for all the above reasons, while I would not myself use the intemperate language that Babu uses, Babu is entitled to express what he feels and thinks in his own way. Who is to say that our professional silence and politically correct ettiquet is not more “hateful” and damaging than Babu’s intemperate language?
OF COURSE, I NOTE THAT YOU HAVE NOT ADDRESSED THE MEDICAL ISSUES BABU OUTLINED. YOU KNOW AS A DOCTOR THAT HIV AMONGST OTHER DISEASES RAVAGES THE GAY COMMUNITY, AND YES, BABU IS RIGHT IN THAT THE LINING OF OUR RECTUM IS FAR WEAKER THAN THE VAGINAL PASSAGE – AND GAY SEXUAL ACTIVITY WILL RIP THE BACK PASSAGE.
The vampire West at it again. How many black people have died through dangerous migration routes (created by them) in the last few decades? Tens of thousands, of course. How many have been harmed because of “homophobia” in Africa? Pls answer that question for me Dr. Sarr.
You see, the educated, privileged African is very easy to weaponize against his/her own Black Heritage and Black People.
Why won’t they (White barbaric Savages) make homosexuality a conditionality on doing business with Saudi Arabia and other Golf Nations? We all know the answer to that.
African intellectuals are an animal species onto their own. They always cozying up to a white agenda to escape their blackness (cultural and political connotation; non-biological). Their highest aspiration is to attain a semblance of whiteness. This is being proven to be a subconscious behavior. They fulfill this subconscious need through consumption and practicing or intensive engagement with white culture(s).
I have said this many times and I will continue to say it till the day I take my last breath on earth, that African countries and the black race have no chance of survival so long they all remain these economically and politically unviable states. The solution lies in fast tracking UNIFICATION and building a nitrogen bomb for defense and deterrence.
I know cynics will come with all kinds of excuse on why that will not work. But I take comfort in the fact that Nkrumah has faced the same cynics in 1964 in Addis Ababa and history has vindicated him.
Europe and America can keep their “charities” and just pay what they owe us. We will be fine. They can keep their homosexuality and all these lectures about human rights that in their filthy minds applies only to white people. If that won’t be the case, why are black people statistically more likely to die from white institutional and institutionally sanctioned violence? Rise from your drowsiness my people.
Yours in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.
For lack of space, I couldn’t delve into the historical background of a “non-gendered” Africa that is envisaged by the Caucasian thieves and vandals. Nonetheless, their primary goal since they came into contact with us remains the same. Our total annihilation. And they are doing a very good damn job of it by constantly recruiting the supposedly bright-mind-elite in our midst to carry out their genocidal racial extermination agenda.
WHY should we copy life from these aliens when we know, in their track record, there was never a moment when they have our interest at the core of any of their agendas? It’s truly astounding that a person like Yorro Jallow will become an advocate for……you fill in the space.
But all that is secondary to the fact that Africa has been plundered of resources and humans and continued to be plundered culturally, economically, politically and socially, despite that been glaringly clear our leaders continue to prostitute us as the king pimps. Therein lies the biggest problem. And we the people remain docile in the face of our continuous subjugation and slaughter from outside and from within.
Rise Africans, rise! Liberation will come but at a price. Freedom from slave hustlers and colonial vampires will also come. But it will not be given. It has to be taken! Emancipation will come. But without consciousness it will be in vain. Ignorance will be replaced with knowledge and wisdom. But we have to cultivate it into the souls of every man and woman and every child. That’s the way to go, and not the ill conceived western prescribed routes.
I’ll be back.
Yours in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.
Wow Lamin! I couldn’t have put it any better!
Your two key questions are really for Dr YORRO JALLOW:
1. “How many black people have died through dangerous migration routes (created by them) in the last few decades? Tens of thousands, of course. How many have been harmed because of “homophobia” in Africa? ”
2. “Why won’t they make homosexuality rights a conditionality on doing business with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Nations? (AND DEATH PENALTY TOO – Saudi’s have BEHEADED more people than ISIS).”
But of course Lamin, I do not expect Dr Yorro Jallow nor Dr Sarr to give THE straight answer to your simple questions. Yours is a postcolonial criticism of existing factual reality, but academia has taught our educated Africans to flee to the metaphysical realm when faced with hard facts – such as today’s headline on JollofNews that “268000 Gambians are in food crisis” (and of course “non-issue” gay rights are more pressing than that).
It is a hard, lonely, intellectual road you travel Lamin, but full respect.
Thank you very much Koto Dida. Dr. Sarr and Dr. Jallow have a moral obligation to answer the questions I asked and to answer with simple straight forward answers that we average Gambians can understand.
If not, I will be tempted to accuse them of blatant intellectual dishonesty, for misleading their own people with fiction.
My journey, Koto Dida, is not only a lonely one but also a dangerous one. But the existential question for me is: will I like to switch from my journey to another one for reasons of comfort and privilege? The answer is a NO. Point of correction though, my journey is not an intellectual one. It’s a journey to liberate our people from the imperialist colonizers.
Am glad you bring the term post colonial criticism into the discussion. Mine however, is not a criticism in the classical sense. Am only trying to bring to light the truth about our relationship with the white world. A relationship defined by exploitation and subjugation in all their subtle and nuance forms.
If you (talking to every black person and white ally) can’t go all the way, join us in raising your voice in condemning the barbaric destruction of the fabrics of our society, cultures and humanity by Europe and America.
Yours in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.
There are several issues raised by Alagi. What is germane for me is “ the universal freedom and equal protection of ALL Gambians. Who they are, what they do, that is between them and Allah. ( I am sure some here have children that you may be disappointed or disgusted with who they are and what they do, you still love and protect them as parents, don’t you? ). As a parent you’re humbled and can only resort to prayers.
“ E pluribus unum “ . I did not defend Western conduct or acceptance of homosexuality or linking its acceptance to aide. Having said that, let me tell you a story. I asked my gate man in Gambia why he always looks down when I give him something, he replied, those that receive don’t look up…”
agree or disagree, one thing is clear, Africans, “all” of us, because of our greed and irresponsible conduct of malignant corruption is to blame for most of the reasons why we keep going to BEG and keeping our heads down.
The Giver is the Decider in Chief.
This is a topic for another day.
To my Brother, physician are required to speak the brutal truth.
Cervical cancer – You tell the patient the risk factors and detail lifestyle modification. “ Don’t sleep around “.
Type 2 DM – “ Stop eating so much rice and fufu, get off your fat a… and exercise “.
I have been to several PTA meeting and what I can’t stand is some patronizing BS. I want teachers to be honest and tell me what I and other parents need to do to make our children successful. That how we operate in my neck of the woods.
Deprivation of your freedom is what kills. Not homophobia. Migration routes were not created by them. Our “ dictator “ thieving ways is responsible for most of that. The Caucasian only stole your future because we invite them to come and steal, actually we help them steal. Stop your righteous indignation. Stand for what is right.
Freedom for ALL. Repeal laws that deprive us of this Freedom.
Accountability. Stop stealing from your Children account.
Probity
Preach the real truth. In the words of a progressive, incorruptible African President. “ We the Leaders are the Enemy “
God Bless The Gambia.
Cervical cancer – There is an HPV vaccine to protect our children if they are exposed to the causative virus that is responsible for this cancer. This is highly recommend for Boys and Girls.
Appreciate the time and response Dr.
I refused HPV vacine for my daughter for now because:-
One, it is like giving her a condom at 14, and
Two, a 17yr old in UK died as a reaction to the HPV (Google story).
Three, other side effects are not clear.
Dida if they tell you there is a vaccine to prevent DM, Breast cancer or HIV will you refuse it. That does not mean you are going to encourage conduct that will put you at risk for these conditions. We as parents are hopefully going to make decision that is in the best interest of our children, to accept a vaccine that will prevent cancer is not saying “ daughter you are now permitted to be sexually active “ In my case I accepted the vaccine for my daughters, I requested the vaccine for my sons before it was approved for boys, I knew it was the safe and right thing to do. I speak to my children daily about safe, acceptable and appropriate conduct within our cultural and religious norms. I tell my sons that if I find out that they touch someone daughter outside of the context of marriage, they will not have to worry about the girl’s father because I will personally cut off their joystick myself before her father gets to them. Point I am making is our teachings and conduct shown and said is the important factor.
All mediation have side effects or possible allergic reactions, some have idiosyncratic reaction in some patients.We way risk and benefits, then we hope for the best.
Thank you for proving Koto Dida right. One cannot get a one word straight answer from you. Every explanation is mired in sentiments leading nowhere.
Hence the topic is for another day, I’ll be patiently waiting for it.
NB: your mindset is typical of a white supremacist who believe Africans were not and are not victims of slavery and colonialism but equally complicit in that barbaric genocide. That’s why I said you are a highly weaponized rep of everything “white”. I thing you should spare us that contaminating venom. It does not help our course.
Yours in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.
I’ve again gone through the poisonous part of Dr. Sarr’s post. Here it follows, followed by the what the true historical facts are.
Deprivation of your freedom is what kills. Not homophobia. Migration routes were not created by them. Our “ dictator “ thieving ways is responsible for most of that. The Caucasian only stole your future because we invite them to come and steal, actually we help them steal. Stop your righteous indignation.
Dear learned Doctor, the first laws in The Gambia (and in all British colonies) against sodomy were not legislated in The Gambia but in Britain and exported to our lands. The lesson here is that we never had a problem with sexual orientations and gender identities until YOUR MASTERS showed up. No one was depriving anybody of anything until YOUR FRIENDS came knocking. I can’t put it in any simpler terms. So your Caucasian vampires are the ones who are suppressing freedoms and liberties not us. Yaya just perfected their art and took it to another level.
You said the migration routes are not created by the Savage plunderers and criminal vandals but by African dictators. Doc, I truly believe you should prefer to be silent about things you have very little knowledge about. Why? Because you have the status and capability to do (maybe, unintentional) irreparable damage by virtue of miseducating people who use this medium to learn and gain knowledge in many areas.
There are push and pull factors to migration both internally and externally. The push factors in many African countries are mostly poverty and war. Am sure you don’t need lessons in how those two are aggravated by your Masters since the first day they stepped on our lands. Or should I help you to understand that history too? Go read for yourself.
The pull factors, dear Doctor Sarr, are job opportunities, better living conditions and standards, security of life, freedoms and individual liberties just to name but a few. The genesis of the pull factors in Europe and America, however, have their roots in Africa, because we won’t be talking prosperity and technological advancements in those two geographies without the exploitive transatlantic slave trade. If you don’t know that too, I shall produce an article on that and send it to Jollof News for immediate publication.
You said we invited the Causacians and help them steal our future. Dear Doc hence you are not adept at answering simple question, I’ll not take the trouble to ask you any. I’ll turn to the general readership to help tell me how did we invite the thieves into our backyard and how did we help them ruin us.
For your advice to stop “my righteous indignation”, I’ll take that as a joke and honor it with a smile.
Yours in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.
History is replete with information on slavery, colonization and the consequences in African society. That was then, this is now. We need to establish and study the genesis of our dire economic situation today. To effect a lasting change and improvements, we must accept certain rules of engagement, take personal responsibility and corrective action. To that end, I ask these questions:
1. What action was taken by “us” in the last 25 years to
a. Diversify our economy
b. Reduce our debt burden
c. Attract and sustain investors
d. Strengthen our institutions
e. Ensure food security
f. Support agriculture
g. Improve education standard and prepare our children for the future
h. Wage a real war on corruption
i. Protect human rights
2. Our debt burden is in excess of 123% GDP. Exposure of local banks is close to 40%. What specific short term plan are in place to improve these figures. What long term exit plans are in place to render our country solvent once more.
3. Subsistence Agriculture is under significant pressure for the 2018 planting season. What plans are in place to improve production and mitigate against unfavorable environmental factors to ensure that farmers survive to feed their families and have crops for the market.
4. Agriculture accounts for 74% of our labor force. What plans do we have to
a. Retrain and retain
b. Improve the ability to get tools and fertilizer
c. Provide necessary concessions and support crop price
d. Facilitate diversification to processing and exporting.
5. Fishing stands at a dismissal 2% of GDP. Do we have plans to increase this number and encourage our citizens to go into commercial fishing with a dynamic and attractive program.
I can go on, but will stop here. If one were to claim they serve our country, perhaps they will help us answer some of my questions, they are not questions of an expert, just a simple concerned Gambian woman whose motivation is to pray and hope that my children will one day walk freely and play on the beautiful beaches of their motherland.
A word of caution. Jollof news is not your classroom and I am not your teacher. Don’t ask white people for answer, it is not their problem and finally, please please please DONT ask them for a HANDOUT.
Am exceedingly glad that this dialogue is being sustained to this level.Your position on the contemporary challenges facing Africa Doc, is however a neoliberal postulation. Still, to satisfy you, I’ll refer you to the government of Adama for their answers to the questions you are asking. I can write you a pamphlet on all what the government of The Gambia is doing wrong. Or better still that we should skin African heads of state who are in broad daylight stealing public funds and overstaying their welcome in power.
But that is not the essence of our discourse. And you are deliberately trying to redirect the conversation here. Why? Because the moment one talks about white people, be sure that they have coons like you in our midst who will hold sway for them till the last drop of their blood. They won’t even mind walking over black dead bodies to satisfy their white lords. It was like that even in the maroon colonies. But I neither fear neither your MASTERS nor their underlings like you.
That history is replete with information about slavery, colonialism and their effects on African people is true. But then the question becomes: Who or what is the source of this information? We all know the history written by WHITE PEOPLE on slavery is full of LIES and MISREPRESENTATIONS. And you my dear learned Doctor believe that crap been fed to you by your MASTERS. That’s why I humbly asked you to be silent about things you know nothing about because just your that statement can play havoc on the minds of the unsuspecting.
Second, you said slavery and colonialism are in the past and we should deal with our present problems and take responsibility for our failures as if those two historical crimes have no bearing on who we (black and white) are today. You see African intellectuals trying to water down and down play the impact and effects of slavery and colonialism on African development all do it for the same reasons; out of ignorance, fear of knowing and facing the true truth and their subconscious need to appease the whiteman.
How does an exchange about the whiteman’s obsession with homosexuality in Africa turn into asking me about retraining and retaining workers in the Agricultural sector? Or you just trying to be funny?
Finally, we are not asking YOUR MASTERS for any answers or handouts, we know the answers to the questions we are asking them already. The trick is to wait in anticipation for them or the enemies within and act accordingly. For handouts, let them just pay us what they owe us with interest and their biggest banks will collapse with never ever a recovery in sight. Take slave money from every white household and they will starve to death. Even today. So don’t come here with that’s-in-the-past-Jargons. It’s as present as four hundred years ago. Only those benefitting from it, like you, are blind to it. Of course for obvious reasons. It’s hard to let go off privileges.
To conclude, Jollof News represent different things to different people. For some it’s a bantaba, for some a classroom, for some a cafe etc. It is left to each and everyone to decide what it means to them. Thanks though for your word of caution that you are not my teacher. Doc I’ll pity any student who has to pass through your hands, more especially a black student. He or she will just be white-owned physically, psychologically and culturally, just as you are.
Yours in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.
Lamin,
Did you know that slave owners received their final compensation payment £16.5bn(total payment) in 2015
From the British government from British tax payers,
So most Black people that are working in the UK for the last 200 years, were paying their ancestors slavemasters via income tax,
And your correct “move on” is their motto.
Moors/ Boule society, different set of people
https://youtu.be/62yJxiwcmkg
Neoliberalism? I believe in free market competition to sustain economic growth and minimal state control/ interference in human progress. That is neoliberal ideology. I am a proponent of that. I have no interest in what our government is doing WRONG, my only interest is for all Gambians to come to the table, tell us what to do RIGHT, and how to do right in an effort to help solve our nation’s problems without resorting to labeling those we disagree with or those with opposing views as puppets of the West. The issue was never about homosexuality, rather it’s about human rights and freedom to live our lives as Gambians without fear of persecution. It is about the right and the wrong of our laws. It was never about sexual orientation. Until someone decided to make it so. Now that we have gone there, I,and I hope you, will agree that some of the numbers mentioned in my earlier post are indicators of bad economic outcomes. As one that claims to be in the service of our great country, we await your response to the questions if you know the answers. I pray you will indulge us with the benefit of your knowledge and experience. Thank you sir.
Thank you very much for keeping this important conversation going. Am sure many are benefitting from the exchange or simply enjoying it. Doc, you have been miseducated about a lot of the contemporary issues Africa is facing and has to, in one way or the other, deal with. The sad part is that it takes a lot of time and energy from people like me to de-educate our people who the white education system(s) has contaminated. They do the damage and we do the cleaning! Is that fair in your eyes Doc? But am willing and able. So I will.
For your benefit, below is a link to an article I penned, under the pen-name “Da One“, exclusively for The Gambia Times online newspaper about my personal experience on a coastal fishing village in The Gambia. You will find more than an answer to your question about the (non) fishing industry in The Gambia.
http://www.thegambiatimes.com/the-untapped-millions-in-our-waters/
The opinion pieces under that pen-name, shall decolonize your mind a bit. Provided you are willing.
What I have so far been able to glean from your language is the following and that is directly linked to all what you believe in.
1) Your heavy reliance on (American) conceptual metaphors to put your points across is indicative of your high assimilation into the American culture. Americans, especially the middle class, don‘t comfortably talk about race and class. For the American mind, there is only one thing that determines success and that is the almighty “hardwork“. This believe is a complete fallacy but we wont get deep into that today.
2) You appear quite emotionally detached from the realities of the Gambian peasant (whom you rightly mentioned to be 74% of the Gambian population). You could do better in this area because the kinds of brains needed to uplift their lot is one you are carrying on your shoulders.
Now I will do you a favor and get down to the art and science of running a state, a country. If time and space will permit us.
The Gambia is a third world country endowed in abundance with natural resources. A country of less than two million inhabitants shouldn’t be difficult to develop. But since independence, we have been wallowing in poverty because of ignorance in politics and economics, compounded by BAD LEADERSHIP. So in order to develop, you have to begin with educating the people on and in relevant subject areas. In order to achieve that, you have to take three baby steps:
1) Make education free and compulsory.
2) Make it accessible and useable.
3) Learn, live and work in our languages. English should serve only as a second language for every Gambian. Cognitively, a child cannot reach his/her full intellectual capacity in a foreign language.
Educate, educate, educate and educate. That’s the first step to go.
Doc you said you believe in a free market competition. I will say you believe in a free market economy. All the same, but that has so far only served the interest of multilateral lenders in Africa. In fact, there is nothing like a free market economy as such. Europe and America are permanently engaged in protectionist practices that is detrimental to our African economies. How can you call such a free market. If you desire, I will give you examples.
Do you remember the massive privatization of our public enterprise in the 80s? What was the outcome? Tens of thousands of people loose their jobs without compensation and a defeated purpose.
Here is my lesson:
Invest our taxes into the productive bases of our economy. That will yield self sufficiency in agriculture and nullify our trade deficits that keep on piling up, year in year out. We will also be able to finance the public services through accrued profits from our exports leading to better standards of living for your children and my children. That will also ameliorate our debt situation.
Our agricultural produce can easily be processed into finished products such as oil, sardines, textile, juices of various assortments, packaged rice, and the list goes on. That will be a stabilizing factor for the current uncontrollable inflation.
This is not happening because Dawda, Yaya and Adama are ignorant about what a free market economy is. They, like you, are blind followers of western dictates of what can bring about economic prosperity.
My reply is becoming really long but I hope I have been able to share my knowledge and experience with you, as you wished. Should there be a need for clarification on anything, my dear learned Doc, please do not hesitate to call my attention.
Yours in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.
I read the article. My question was not answered by the article. I will appreciate if you can tell us how to encourage our citizens into commercial fishing. What suggestions do you have for the administration to help tap the vast millions in our waters.
We can both agree on education, education and education. Can you give us specifics on how you plan to educate our children not only to develop Gambia, but to compete effectively in the world. How will you finance this FREE education for all and how will you make it COMPULSORY.
I hope we will agree that Gambia cannot exist in isolation, we have to sell and buy goods from trade partners, we have to interact with them, we have to learn their ways. If we learn, live and work in our language, how does that affect our interactions and relationships with the rest of the world. Pointing out the errors of American and European society is an exercise in futility, I need to know your strategy on preparing us/our children for the next chapter. Thank you.
Dr Isatou Sarr,
I am not hateful, but I do hate people, circumstances and instances that intrude into my conscience to twist my way of life. I hate people (most especially the politicians) that control the mantle of our collective livelihood and (mis)manage it. I hate neocolonial, reactionary and imperialist sellouts that give away our collective wellbeing to people that will never honestly and impartially contribute to our livelihood/wellbeing/human progress.
Dr Sarr, I’m always at home. For the past 27 years, there isn’t a single year I failed going home. In fact I’m leaving on holidays on 10th July to return on 30th August. This is what I do every year. There are moments when I would go for very urgent matters in December or at Easter. So the Gambia is just like Rotterdam-Amsterdam to me. Didn’t you read my postings I sent from The Gambia in August 2017?
I think I have to invite you to be a regular visitor and set up micro finance projects to ameliorate our people’s conditions, as Babu does, and stop talking about white elephant proposals that give no resourceful solutions.
Dr Isatou Sarr,
That’s the neoliberal ideology, the American outlook of the world that has not benefitted over 20 million American destitute citizens who live on scrumbs, in the streets and ghuettos, in the world’s “most neoliberal, powerful, free market economic and democratic” nation. LOL. Now, I know why you live in the USA, why you love and revere the ideologies of your benefactor country and her people.
Give me a vivid account of minimal state interference in human progress in the USA. One thing I personally know, is that your progress as a human being in the USA is remote controlled by that neocolonial, capitalist and racist country. Don’t fool yourself about that.
Babu, I am disappointed in you. I never said you are hateful. I said what you wrote is hate. One thing I know is this, at the end of the day, we all want the same thing. What is BEST for Gambia. I am sure we will disagree but we need to learn not to be disagreeable. Please let me know when you are home, still want to kick your fat a…, then invite you to dinner. Stay focused Prof.
Dr Isatou Sarr,
I’ll be home on the 10th July, stay around the Kombo areas to run some errands, maybe for 2-3 days and go to my village in the URR, then visit my mum’s village in the CRR. I’ll be there, between the two regions, till end of July- early part of August before returning to the Kombo. I stay at Brusibi.
HOW RO ENCOURAGE GAMBIAN YOUTH TO GO INTO COMMERCIAL FISHING.
You see, the biggest problem to go into any kind of business in The Gambia is capital. That’s what many young people will tell you. In my mind, the second problem is professional skills in the fishing sector. In a nutshell fishing has to be made attractive to the young by making credit (in the form of boats, fishing equipment and of course adequate cash to cover overheads for at least the first quarter of the operational life of the venture) accessible.
Doc I’ll be back……
Still, in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.
I try to avoid getting into petty quarrels as much as I can. I try to look for what is a controversy and what is not. I welcome controversies. A controversy means there exists an objective issue in dispute and the argument of which leads to better understanding for the disputants. What I read above does not appear to me to be a controversy. Dr. Sarr made a list of some very important points and the responses did not directly answer the points in her list. Calling Dr. Sarr learned doctor is rather petty in my view. She is a doctor which means she attended higher education, worked hard to earn her certification. In other words, she is learned so no need to belittle her education by calling her “learned doctor” or something to that effect. I believe her educational accomplishments should be respected. I suggest both Dr. Sarr and those who responded to her commentary to each expand on what each has to say and turn it into a full fledge article and have it published in the other online newspapers to get more readers. Because of the importance of some of the “opinions” raised, the larger the readership the better for Gambia. Another important thing, the more the readership critic a person’s writing, the better for the writer because certain thoughts may come to his or her attention which he or she was not aware of before. Dr. Sarr, please be very proud of your education. A red flag is always raised when I read about a person who overtly or covertly attacks the qualifications of another rather than what that person said or wrote. It is ok to attack what a person says or writes, but it is not ok to attack a person’s education or belittle it or attack the speaker or writer personally.
Samba,
I had no illusions that my questions will be answered. All my life, I have been the only woman in my field, these guys are incapable of bullying me. I know who they are and I know what they do. The biggest challenge is they are incapable of reading. I have suggested severally on this medium that if nothing at all, they should attempt to read one book in their life. The book is
“How to read a book”. This will go a long way to solving the insecurity complex common in our men.
Oh yea, oh yea! There comes another Certificate Minion. I really don’t think you have read between the lines of my posts to call me petty. Cozy up to the Doc. for all I care about. One thing I can assure the learned Doc or anyone for that matter is this: our exchanges will never boil down to personal attacks; at least not from me. Having said that, I will never shy away from countering anti-black and anti-Africa utterances and actions with all the power and force at my command. My presence here is not to bully anyone; male or female. In fact it doesn’t matter to me whether the Doc is a he or a she. Yes, I have respect and and admiration for our women folk. I think we should support them, uplift their lot and treat them fairly. So she cannot accuse me in any of my post of being sexist. So why, despite all my efforts at being civil, would you Samba and our learned Doctor try to soil my name?
Good try at for nothing.
Yours in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.