GAMBIA CRIES FOR MATURE LEADERSHIP: By Musa Jeng, Atlanta It is indeed tragic that our search and aspiration for a developed, peaceful, prosperous and stable Gambia will not happen anytime soon. How any Government reacts when tested is a clear indication of its priority, what is important, and frankly its maturity. It was Tuesday night that Gambians all over the world were glued to online radios, Facebook and other social sites, holding their breath as the drama unfolded at the state house of the Gambia. When the dust settled, it was clear that Gambians coming from the Diaspora working with groups in the Gambia took up arms to bring down the Tyrannical Government of president Jammeh. Days after, some people are calling it an insurgency that gallant freedom fighters lost their lives; the display of emotions from the Diaspora on the online radio tells the story of anger and sadness for the fallen; the government of president Jammeh calling it a terrorist act, trying to borrow the term use by the west,; and of course sycophants on the ground orchestrating public demonstration and marches from the security officials to reinforce their loyalty and love for the president. The Gambian nation cries for mature leadership and not the same play book of the last twenty years. Instead of getting angry, over reacting and displaying what can be seen as paranoia, the Government needs to, for once, demonstrate mature leadership, by getting to the bottom and to understand the real story that led to this insurrection. It is a fact that as this drama unfolded in the Gambia, close to 95% of Gambians saw this as an opportunity that can bring an end to the Jammeh regime and most Gambians at home were praying and hoping that these guys are successful in their attempt to topple the Government. Majority of Gambians fully understands the president wanting to believe his sycophants, who are busy engineering public demonstrations and marches from the security to validate their loyalty and putting together public demonstration to show their love for the president. The temptation to resort back to the same playbook, especially targeting the international community with the narrative of terrorist trying to sabotage the peace and security of the country, this calls for a mature leadership and an attempt for serious conversation. The reality is that Jammeh and his government will never be able to spin their way out of it, and that Gambian people, at home and abroad are absolutely against the direction of the country. Instead of hunkering down and trying to play politics, resorting to the same play book of intimidation, scare tactics, arrests and eventually sending people to Mile 2, which will only exacerbate the atmosphere of violence and bleak future for our country, this is an opportunity to try something new. You can take my advice for what is worth, and remember for twenty years the play book might have kept you in power, but has not bring the peace, stability and the ideal environment for a future Gambia that we all yearn for. Immediately desist arresting of family members as a way of trying to settle score with the perceived enemies, create a credible commission that can seriously look into what led to the incident, and recommendations from the commission as to how to prevent a future occurrence. There is a need for a real serious conversation in the Gambia, without the spinning and relying on interest groups that are only interested in their individual survival. The composition of the commission should include individuals from the opposition parties, a representative from the bar association, a representative from the Diaspora constituency and a representative from ECOWAS and government representatives as well. It is absolutely important for Gambia to look at the Senegal model within the sub region, and that should be the Gambia we would like to create in the short term, in order to begin the change that will bring peace, stability and an ideal environment to build the future of our country. The ball is in your court, you can continue with the same play book of bashing the west, “us against them” that has not yield the peace we would all like to see, or at least venture into a new game plan that at the end of the day will focus on what ultimately is in the interest of a future Gambia. Thank you MUSA JENG
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 02:41:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015