Yes, Yahya Jammeh must go!
In Africa, where participatory democracy is in short supply, there was a ray of hope when the incumbent President Yahya Jammeh of the Islamic Republic of The Gambia, conceded defeat and congratulated the winner of the recent election-Adama Barrow. As if he was possessed by a familiar spirit, Jammeh suddenly, made a U-turn and decided to reject election results on grounds of electoral malpractices. Democracy is now threatened in The Gambia by the attitude of the incumbent President, while the rule of law is endangered in an economy dominated by farming, fishing and tourism.
Going through available statistics, The Gambia, is one of Africa’s smallest nations, and unlike most other countries in West Africa, it has enjoyed stability for some decades. Stability in the country has not translated to prosperity as it is the case with many African countries. The Gambia which, has about 48.4% of its 2.0 million population living below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 per day, is about to be held captive by its chief executive, The President.
After about 22 years in office, Yahya Jammeh, swore not to handover to Adama Barrow who won the presidential election recently. No one knows what Jammeh intends to conclude in the presidency after 22 years of misrule. The country is in a state of confusion as the embattled Jammeh is leading the country into temptation. But the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), and ECOWAS, are bent on delivering the West African Sub-region and citizens of The Gambia from evil. The ECOWAS Standby Force is on alert to intervene militarily in The Gambia if Yahya Jammeh doesn’t handover power on 18 January 2017.
I wonder why most African leaders are not tired of war. If Jammeh is unrepentant, evil may occur within the West African sub-region, due to civil unrest in The Gambia. Jammeh’s recalcitrance against the people’s will is embarrassing to Africans and the entire world, as soldiers have been deployed to the streets of Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. Civil unrest in the Gambia will have a spillover effect to neighboring Senegal and other countries. Thus, increasing the number of illicit Small and Light Weapons (SALW) in the Sub-region. The proliferation of illegal arms in West Africa will further pose a threat to regional security.
Despite the moves by the international community, Jammeh was quoted as saying that “my government will never opt for such confrontation but defending our sovereignty is a sacred duty for all patriotic Gambians.” Yahya Jammeh is reported to have called the ECOWAS move “a declaration of war.” The Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ousman Badjie, has pledged loyalty to his boss by saying that “May I please seize this opportunity to renew to your Excellency the assurance of the unflinching loyalty and support of the Gambian Armed Forces.” One can see through Yahya Jemmeh that he has been infected with Greed, Arrogance, and Baseless Ambition (GABA) “virus”. The prescription for this “virus” would be for the embattled Yahya Jammeh to leave the Presidential Villa. If Jammeh remains in office beyond 18 January 2017, democracy in The Gambia is likely to be threatened.
Jammeh as a leader has a poor record. He has ruled the country with iron fist, and turned it into an extension of his family’s estate with the flagrant abuse of human rights and extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrest and incarceration of journalists, and political opponents. Unfortunately, The Gambia produces about 7% of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. He has withdrawn membership of The Gambia from the Commonwealth, scrapped English as an official language, and quit the International Criminal Court. These are signatures that Jammeh may not relinquish power without a showdown. The opposition has declared that Jammeh will be treated as a “rebel leader if he clings to power.”
Since African leaders have decided to take their destiny in their own hands, the ECOWAS is leading the local mediation efforts. It has dispatched four West African leaders led by President Buhari of Nigeria to Banjul to persuade Jammeh to reconsider his stance and handover power as soon as possible. Jammeh must go. He must be appeased to leave office, so that he can spare his country and the entire West African sub-region another round of bloodshed.
If there is civil unrest in The Gambia, who provides the funds to keep the standby force in operation? Most likely the ECOWAS. But Nigeria is in economic recession; can the nation afford the amount of money spent in Liberia to bring peace to that country. In almost 10 years, it’s on record that Nigeria spent about US$10.0 billion and sacrificed the blood of several Nigerian military officers and men to bring peace to Liberia. It was indeed a very costly endeavor. Nigeria, with its own Internally Displaced Persons of over one million, malnourished children in the North East and war against Boko Haram, coupled with other economic challenges, may not be able to finance any peace operation in The Gambia.
Someone should remind President Yahya Jammeh that leadership is not about titles and positions. It’s about influencing the citizenry to greater heights. What else does Jammeh want to achieve after 22 years in government? I am apprehensive about the future of The Gambia. The lesson Africans should learn is to always choose leaders who will invest their wealth of experience in building bridges, not walls. Leaders must ensure peace, not chaos. They must epitomize love, not hate. Yahyah Jammeh, doesn’t know the strategic security implication of his refusal to leave office. There is likelihood of a civil war in the short term, if he disregards the will of the people. When civil unrest snowballs into full scale war, democracy in The Gambia will be threatened. In war, the military objective may be achieved, but often, the political objective isn’t accomplished. If he’s pressured to leave office on 18 January 2017, there is prospect for a continuous democracy in the longer term. I concur with world leaders who say “Yahya Jammeh must go.” Yes, he must go!
MA Johnson