Today majority of silent Gambians at home and outspoken ones abroad are critical of Jammehs style of governance not because we hate him for who he is but for what he stands for since he accidentally came to power on July 22nd 1994. Like many dictators in Africa, Jammeh is completely intolerant to criticisms or divergent views on issues of national interest. To him he is only one who has the solution to the tiny impoverished nations socio-economic challenges. To him he is the alpha and omega of everything that represents our country to the extent he is now craving to transform The Gambia into a monarchical rule of governance where he would be crowned king thereby paving the way for his offsprings to become our future kings and queens. Yes as far fetch as it may sound, this is the ultimate dream of a man who now typifies nothing but total disaster for his legacy. However, as of now its only Jammeh and his jungulars who are found wanting for the numerous killings during his 20 plus years of terrorising Gambians but surely its not Jammeh alone who is an intolerant Gambian. Its a fact that majority of Gambians are completely intolerant to criticisms and that is a real worry. How can we claim to advocate for democracy and good governance when majority get temperamental when they are criticised on even issues of national importance. Some would jump quickly in the bandwagon of stereotyping those criticisms as personal attacks, a term which is widely used in the Gambian struggle. Maybe its time our on line radios to educate people or engineer debate on what is really a personal attack and what is not. To me personal issues stops at the periphery of ones private life, family and friends. However, ones role in government or alleged affairs with public officials past and present shouldnt be categorised as personal attack. If one is accused of dating or sleeping with the President of The Gambia for example how can that be seen as a personal attack? Its the responsibility of those accused to clear their names using whatever means at their disposal. Likewise if the president gives out money lavishly to any citizen be an imam, man or women that discussion should not be seen as personal attack. Lets not try to shut people up unnecessarily by simply invoking or misinterpreting terminologies like personal attacks wrongly. Lets learn to be tolerant if we seriously want democracy to flourish in post Jammeh era. Have a good week ahead Gambia.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 12:09:47 +0000
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