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MY PERSPECTIVE Article 7
*By: Sulayman Lecturer Darboe*
"GAMBIA JAWARANG TANGOO"
Gambia without Jawara
When elders present at Jawara's meeting in Mansakonko showed concern by pleading to him not to hand over power when he decided to do so, a memorable incident in Gambia's history was created. This incident is up to date debated by intellectuals. To some, Jawara's decision to hand over power was a wise one and that he should have been allowed to give an opportunity to a fresher brain at the time to govern The Gambia. In contrast, some are with the view that Jawara's way of governance and his creativity in promoting democratic principles as well as economic-based initiatives, made certain people to heavily counter Jawara's opinion of steeping down. Ordinary farmers preview that they may not benefit the friendly economical environment created by Jawara anymore. As a result, they joined the line to plead for Jawara to stay. From many Mandinka elders, "Gambia Jawarang tango" could be heard. This means, Gambia without Jawara. This "Gambia Jawara Tangoo" may be ordinarily perceived. But is it truly as ordinary as we may perceive it to be? Keep on reading!
A verbal interview with about ten sampled elders who witnessed the early start of Jawara's era confirmed to me that from the onset of his tenure, Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara engaged Gambians in building a strong foundation for Gambians. This could be seen from several dimension which includes: Economical, Social, Religious, Infrastructural, and even political. Jawara's foresight economically was an untouchable reason why ordinary Gambians never wanted him to step down. This benefits enjoyed by Gambians from 1965 to 1994, made some Gambians to be pessimistic of whether beautiful Gambia would ever have a president like Baba Jawara.
Emphatically, let's examine Jammeh's tenure and that of President Adama Barrows present leadership to carefully pay dividend to the " Gambia Jawara Tangoo" which was emphasized by many elders amidst Jawara's decision of stepping down. To start with, Many Gambians are with the view that the late Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara falls in similar category with Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana among others. They were directly involved in the liberation struggles for independence and self governance. They laid a strong foundation for both social and economic emancipation. However, with all the strives and the pain they endured to see their respective countries to be fully liberated, some of them ended up been ousted by unlawful military coup and subsequently, the new leader would be weak in function which brings back the status if not in semblance to the era of colonialism, but closer to it. This is clearly seen in the case of Yaya Jammeh and Sir Dawda. Before Jawara would be ousted from power, the economy of The Gambia was healthy. Institutions were built and revenue was generated to expectation. Many are with the view that Jammeh monopolized this institution by taking control of them and the revenue they generated. It is unarguable that despite some of the successes registered by Jammeh during his tenure, he committed the worst forms of atrocities in the Gambian soil-directly or indirectly. This is evidenced by the revelations from The Truth Reconciliations and Reparations Commissions (TRRC) where perpetrators involved in executing the atrocities openly testify and thus confirming the long suspicion many Gambians uphold towards Jammeh into reality. Former president Yaya Jammeh's style of governance highly differs from Jawara's due to the fact that basic human rights were not observed unlike the Jawara regime. Freedom of expression was limited in scope , the media was highly monitored by enacting unfriendly media laws to limit the effectivity of media personnels, culture as well as religion was undermined. Above all, the state of governance was dictatorial but umbrella it under the name of democracy. But, of a kind.
In contrast, a brief research of Jawara's regime confirms that; basic rights of people were respected and valued and as a result, people were at liberty to participate in their diverse ways of talent in order to fully make life and livelihood the most adorable. To be precise, there was that political leadership which provided a conducive environment for citizens to fully participate in nation building. Such would be considered a rare privilege in the era of Jammeh. At this juncture, it is arguable to say that the foundation built by Jawara was jeopardize by Jammeh's leadership. Thus making the future of Gambians and beautiful Gambia uncertain as the disastrous seeds sowed by his leadership can still be seen flamboyantly growing. Interestingly, that special factor which motivated Jammeh and the team to overthrew Jawara was given the best of life during the tenure of Jammeh. This therefore makes Jawara's tenure practically incomparable to Jammeh's. Moreover, it also makes the elders right when they had to plead for Jawara to stay in power because of their skepticism of whether The Gambia would be better without Jawara. Were they genius?
As a result of the benched 22 Years of Jammeh's rule, the load for the coalition president seems too bulky to be reckoned. As a result, many ordinary Gambians are daily into conflict in thoughts, of whether he can truly bring back The Gambia that Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara and the others envisaged for. This would be a Gambia where basic human rights like: freedom of expression, information, security, mobility, association among others would be valued and respected. Are this rights actually observe by Barrow administration? Yes! But to some extent. Unlike the Jammeh administration, there has been a big plus in the sphere of citizens expression of views in relation to some of the things which directly or indirectly affect them. An example of this could be this article you are reading . As a concern Gambian, I am writing my views today about the present government in contrast and comparison with the past. This could have been my end in Jammeh's era! However, despite this progress, freedom of expression is still legally limited in scope because Jammeh's draconian laws on information are still in use.
On another part, one of the key concern that ordinary Gambians would raise to The Barrow administration remains to be Gambia's security both internally and externally. Internally, from the day that Jammeh was exiled, The Gambia has registered countless number of: land disputes often involving deaths of defenseless citizens, deliberate killing of people, thefts and other vices. Externally, the out stay of Jammeh's hit squad "Junglers" make others doubtful of the country's security. Moreover, some Gambians openly narrate that the current president has a political desire to entrench his leadership. As a result, he is argued to have lose for-sight in the manner of which Gambia should be governed. Some would even say he is incompetent to govern The Gambia. But, what is certain is, every Gambian who uphold their diverse views towards the present Government is acting under the principle of democracy which in civility, allows for such to be done. Because of this, some would openly say that Barrow administration has not reach at the finger tip of Jawara's and therefore they are incomparable. This also makes the elders right when they were skeptical of Gambia's future without Jawara and therefore had to plead for him to stay in power.
Taking reference from Yaya Jammeh's 22 years leadership and the two and half years of the present Barrow administration, it is unarguable that none of them have registered the successes pocketed by Jawara economically, socially, religiously and even politically.
Moreover, in my perspective, there was a high sense of political maturity before and during the Jawara era than now. The field of politic was never an avenue to enrich oneself during Jawara's era. But instead, it was one of the most powerful doors to shower in intellectual battles with white agendas aimed at emancipating Gambians from the darkest times. In Jammeh's regime, there was almost a political deadlock! Only the brave ones made noise and rest were found under the bed. This lead to little opposition and Jammeh smoothly swift the enshrined rights that should be enjoyed by every living soul away.
The bulk of political immaturity could be seen in the present Barrow era where the field of politic is now turning to be a corrupt institution where political leaders are on a race, probably 100m, to acquire material wealth rather than committing themselves to severely oppose the central government in areas of default to prevent further occurrences. Up to date, new political parties are breeding and I can fully proclaim that their aim in reality is to gain wealth but not to improve livelihood. This and other issues in the political arena makes me and some chunk of Gambians to lose hope excessively in the politicians and their respective political parties. As a result, it is still uncertain of whether The Gambia would ever have a president like Jawara. Probably a new breed! But with the ones we have, I'm doubtful! Even if there exist one, tribal and party affiliation are hinderances.
Until a new leader rises and prove me wrong, I am fully with the view that The Gambia would never have a president like the late Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara.
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