The Gambia polls: When people are fed up!

Mmegi Editor | Thursday December 8, 2016 16:49

It is a country that made headlines recently when its’ longtime leader Yahya Jammeh announced that it is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court. Earlier, the former president had withdrawn the country from the Commonwealth states and declared the country an Islamic State without first bothering to consult his people on the move.

Jammeh ascended to power in a military coup 22 years ago as a junior military officer. However, power corrupted him to a point that he could not distinguish between right and wrong, and his personal interests from national interests. He made unilateral decisions that had a negative impact on the country’s economic performance leading to many job losses and extreme poverty. He used the state media to brainwash his people and made them believe that he had powers to heal all ailments including the HIV/AIDS. His supporters viewed him as everything from liberator, to reverend, and healer amongst others.

Some of the people were fed up with Jammeh because he had lost direction, and he had forgotten that he was holding the public office on behalf of the people, although he was not elected into power. According to media reports, the Gambians had one common expression in the streets, that Jammeh was ‘tired’.

After many decades, opposition parties in The Gambia came together, led by Adama Barrow and won the elections.

This is a common problem in African politics where an individual, or a political party stays in power for a long time and forgets that it is supposed to serve the people. They end up overlooking the most important part of governance – accountability and transparency, and they target the private media, the judiciary, and other oversight institutions to ensure their silence. Opponents are put in jail, or have 24/7 surveillance by security agents who report directly to those in power. In the process, civil liberties are limited to a point that three people coming together is regarded as unlawful gathering, and entertainment hours are strictly controlled, whilst fear is instilled in the citizenry.These are just a few examples of how dictators like Jammeh were able to manipulate their systems, and the ignorance of their people to stay in power and centre everything around themselves. The opposition parties of The Gambia should be commended for coming together to remove the long time dictator who had placed himself as second to God. They set aside their differences and reached a common ground of liberating themselves from a tyrant. We hope that the country will return to normalcy and re-join the international community and reinstate the rule of law.

 

Today’s thought

 

“When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right.”

 

– Victor Hugo