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By Emma Emeozor
Gambia finally sent President Yahya Jammeh packing, through the ballot box, after 22 years of dictatorship. The December 1, 2016 election that saw the president conceding defeat, although he later recanted, was not only peaceful but also the first democratic election since he seized power from Sir Dauda Jawara on July 22, 1994 at the age of 29. He had held onto power, with ‘teleguided’ elections in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011 after forming a political party, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC).
With President-elect Adama Barrow, who is the country’s third leader since it gained independence in 1965, political pundits say that Gambians must consolidate the dividends of democracy while ensuring that the country does not slide to its dark past. By first conceding defeat even before the release of the final results, Jammeh demonstrated statesmanship. However, turning back to reject the election does not mean anything, as the African Union (AU) and others say he is talking nonsense.
The celebration that swept across the country, following Jammeh’s defeat is justified, even as caution must be taken not to jeopardise the fortunes of the election. The eight political groups, which formed the United Coalition that sponsored Barrow, owe the people a duty not to heat the polity too soon. Certainly, this is not the time for power boasting. This is not the time for revenge mission and this is not the time for hunting perceived enemies. The opposition must not forget that Barrow is yet to be sworn in and Jammeh is still a sitting president. Easing him out peacefully, just as the elections were held peacefully, should be the goal of the opposition and Gambians in general. Lessons should be learnt from Burkina Faso.
It is of note that it took years of painstaking reflection before ex-President Blaise Campaore was called to account for his rule.
Jammeh’s survival diplomacy
Jammeh is bowing out of office under a similar political environment his predecessor, Jawara, was sacked. The coup that brought Jammeh (then a lieutenant in the army) to power met with very little resistance and without bloodshed. That was because there was already public discontent and series of anti-government protests. Also, the coup received tacit support from the West. Over the years, Jammeh had repeatedly boasted that he had a “billion-year” mandate to rule Gambia.
A coup to remove him from office on March 21, 2006 was foiled. Jammeh, who was in Mauritania at the time, immediately returned home to consolidate power. He once called the members of the opposition “opportunistic people supported by the West.”
Casting his vote on Thursday, December 1, 2016, Jammeh had boasted of winning “a bigger landside” in the history of elections in the country. In the November, 2011 elections, he won 72 per cent of the votes. Perhaps, conscious of the yearnings of the people for change, he carefully read the writings on the wall.
Public protests against his government took place in mid-April this year. Largely masterminded by students and the opposition, it was the first time anti-Jammeh protests would be sustained for days. Many students and opposition members, including the main opposition leader, Ousainou Darbo, were arrested. Darbo was sentenced to three years in prison. He has been a thorn in the flesh of Jammeh, contesting the presidential elections twice, in 2001 and 2006, finishing second in both elections.
Interestingly, it was Darbo’s arrest and consequent imprisonment that inspired the emergence of Barrow, as opposition presidential candidate under the United Coalition. The West, including the European Union, fully backed the protests. With the results tilting in favour of the opposition, Jammeh had to deploy survival diplomacy by quickly conceding defeat. And he was cautious in his choice of words.
According to reports, Jammeh in a televised statement said the vote had been “the most transparent election in the world,” adding that he would not contest the outcome. The message was, thereafter, cut to a shot of the President, phoning Barrow.
But was Jammeh sincere in his call to Barrow? Perhaps, yes, at the time he did. And then no, as he has recanted, rejecting the election result. However, Barrow has dismissed fears that Jammeh will not handover to him. He expressed confidence when he said: “Power belongs to the people. It’s the people who have spoken. He cannot hang on… We won the election clearly; so there is nothing that he can do about it”.
Why the West moved against Jammeh
For a long time now, there had been no love lost between Jammeh and the West. The attacks and counter-attacks between him and the West, particularly, the European Union and the United States reached a peak after he became too critical of their policies towards Gambia and Africa at large. He pulled the Gambia from the Commonwealth. He also pulled the country from the ICC. He waged relentless war against the West over the latter’s bid to force African country’s to legalise homosexuality.
On February 18, 2014, he publicly described homosexuals as “vermins,” adding: “We will fight these vermins called homosexuals or gays the same we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes, if not more aggressively.”
He was defiant in the face of threat from the West, to the extent that he had to order gays and lesbians to quit the Gambia. He warned that he would introduce anti-gay/lesbianism legislation stricter than those in Iran.
Of course, Jammeh may have derailed from the course of improving the lives of the people, but he made efforts to alleviate their sufferings, may be too late. Examples of such efforts include the Jammeh Foundation for Peace, set up to help eradicate poverty, improve agricultural production and sponsor educational opportunities for needy students. He established a hospital to provide medical services to the public.
In other areas, he banned child marriages and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Also, he invented an “herbal cure” for AIDS (that only works on Thursdays). In addition, he introduced an annual fertility programme for women, during which he invites hundreds of women to the ground of the State House, where “he personally administers a herbal cure he had concocted for infertility.” He was known for arresting hundreds alleged witches. In all, his supporters had denied the allegation of abuse made against him just as they accused the West of destabilising his government.
The will of the people must prevail
Yes, Barrow was right to say there is nothing Jammeh can do about the election. The media has quoted Gambians, as saying: “We are free. We won’t be slaves of anyone.” An opposition member, who fled to Senegal after receiving death threats, Ramzia Diab, has been quoted as saying: “I never in my dreams believed he would concede. It almost feels too good to be true.”
The Head of the Electoral Commission, Alieu Momarr Njai, had earlier allayed the fear of the opposition over Jammeh’s willingness to accept the results.
The international community, including the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are watching the post-election development in the country. Certainly, Jammeh would not want the events in Cote d’Ivore (after ex-president Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept the election results) to repeat in Gambia. Since the declaration of the results, there had been disturbing statements issued by leading members of the opposition, threatening to deal with Jammeh and his supporters. The joy of victory is being accompanied by the sad memories of the ‘evils’ of Jammeh’s government.
An 18-year-old student, Adama Faye, who claims Jammeh killed his father, said: “We’ll put him in jail. We want him to go to the International Criminal Court. He killed my father; I promise you, he did. Since I was born, I haven’t felt this kind of happiness.”
Catholic priest Bruno Toupan, who was invited to bless Barrow‘s family after the results were announced, had said: “We have great hope in the Gambia. It’s a great relief as Jammeh was planning to bring in Sharia law. I would have been a second-class citizen.” The feelings of Faye and Toupan may be understandable, being non-political actors.
However, it becomes worrisome when party leaders issue inflammatory statements interpreted as the official position of the United Coalition. Reports have quoted the chairperson of the United Coalition as saying that Jammeh will be “prosecuted for his crimes within a year of handing over power. Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang described as the architect of the coalition and mother of the nation, said Jammeh wouldn’t be allowed to leave the capital city, Banjul, for fear that he could flee the country and escape justice.
Jammeh had announced plans to return to his farm, where he would “eat what I grow and grow what I eat.” But in a seemingly warning statement, Jallow-Tambajang said: “He can’t leave, if he leaves he’s going to escape us. We are stopping him from leaving.”
She was upbeat when she said that the government wanted him prosecuted quickly in case he tried to flee, pointing out that the government was yet to decide whether to try him in the Gambia or at The Hague.
Jallow-Tambajang did not pretend over the opposition’s haste to take its pound of flesh from Jammeh. She said that the new government was rejoining the ICC. In a separate report, the spokesperson of Barrow’s party, the United Democratic Party (UDP), corrobated Jallow-Tambajang’s statements.
Karamba Toura said the new government would rejoin ICC and the Commonwealth immediately. Also, Touran said Barrow would annul Jammeh’s declaration of the country as an Islamic Republic.
No immunity for Jammeh
If Jammeh is confident he would enjoy immunity from prosecution, he is wrong. Jallow-Tambajang has said, “there was no question of immunity,” even as she repeatedly contradicted herself on when and how Jammeh would be prosecuted.
She accused Jammeh of trying to stop the results from being announced after he realised he was losing the elections. Jallow-Tambajang’s statement contradicts that of the Head of the Electoral Commission mentioned elsewhere in this report. She further accused Jammeh and his wife of amassing “billions of dollars, pounds, whatever in stolen wealth.” According to her, some of the stolen wealth belong to two former African dictators – Muammar Gadhafi of Libya and Sese Mobutu of Zaire, who lodged their assets in Gambia. Another sin of Jammeh she mentioned was his failed attempt to take the British embassy’s land.
Barrow afraid of Jammeh?
Jallow-Tambajang added a curious dimension when she gave reason for the refusal of Barrow to accept Jammeh’s invitation to meet with him after the results were officially announced. She said: “He wants to meet Barrow. He has asked him to meet at his convenience but we have decided not to meet him because we don’t trust him. You can never take chances with Yahya Jammeh. That’s the level of distrust we have, that the population has. Our priority is the security of Barrow.”
Gambia must rise
The country of about two million people currently depends on tourism, production of peanuts and fishing. The governments of Jawara and Jammeh have been, respectively, accused of poor management, corruption, lack of foresight and human right abuses, among others. During the mid-April, 2016 anti-Jammeh protests, the hashtag was Is#GambiaRising. The protesters believe that for Gambia to rise, Jammeh must quit and reforms carried out.
Now is the time for reforms. Barrow should resist any temptation to make the ‘mission of revenge’ a top priority, for now. He must discourage any act that could instigate opposition uprising and hinder the process of peaceful transition as well as implementation of his reform programme. Rather, he should bring his business acumen to bear on the task of good governance.
He has said his immediate concern is how to appoint his cabinet. He has, also, said he would carry out reforms in the public service and the judiciary, ensures job security, strong workable agricultural policy, technology, energy production, mining, and attract investors. He also said the powers of the President will be reduced.
