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| President of Gambia Adama Barrow. Photo Source: Culled from the internet |
“When a handshake goes
beyond the elbow,” our elders say, “it ceases to be a friendly gesture.” And
so, when Gambia’s former President Yahya Jammeh— after all his atrocities in
his tenure as the leader of the West African state— made a U-turn in not
accepting the results of the 2016 general elections, almost everybody bared
teeth at him.
Jammeh’s ‘handshake’
that he forced down our throats to believe was a friendly gesture had gone
beyond our ‘elbows’. The world rallied behind his opponent, Adama Barrow, who
had emerged winner in the polls.
In Abuja at the 50th
Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Governments of ECOWAS
held on 17th December, 2016, The Gambia was one prominent agenda on
the table for discussion. Indeed, ECOWAS was that concerned about the political
situation in that country.
At the said Abuja
meeting, the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia
[ECOMIG] had agreed that Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria contribute troops to
pressure Mr. Jammeh to step down.
“On Thursday, 19th
January, 2017, the day President Adama Barrow was to take over, at least, a
battalion each of ECOMIG Forces crossed the international boundary into Gambia
from the North and South,” said Ghana’s Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, to
his Parliament.
He was briefing the
House on Ghana’s participation in the ECOWAS Mission.
ECOMIG [troops] after
entering Gambia had secured key and vulnerable points in Banjul and without
resistance or whatsoever from the Gambian Armed Forces (GAMAF), Mr. Barrow was
later sworn in as President of Gambia. As we witnessed, the ‘messiah’ hastily
took the oath of office at Gambia's embassy in Dakar; Senegalese capital.
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| Mr. Adama Barrow being sworn into office in Senegal. Photo Source: Culled from the internet |
It is only important we
remind ourselves of this history. In that, almost three years now after Adama
Barrow came into office, he seems to have so soon forgotten all this important historical
narrative as he blatantly breaks promises he made himself. Nonetheless, some of
us would painstakingly remind him of such.
Mr. President, when most
Gambians marched through the streets of the capital, Banjul, and other cities
amidst singing, drumming and dancing defying the ‘régime fort’ of Yahya Jammeh,
they had an avalanche of hope in you to make things better. These Gambians
believed that under your watch, democracy would be given its needed respect as
you promised stepping down after three years in office for fresh elections to
be organized.
“We have our country
back,” shouted Modu Ceesay, a taxi driver who took his shirt off and waved it
furiously over his head. This was captured by DW TV. “This is our country and now we have it,” he added. But
really, do Gambians have their country back [now]?
Prior to Adama Barrow’s
ascension to the highest office of the land, he promised his coalition of
opposition parties and the people of Gambia that he will serve only three years
in office as a transitional president.
He also promised to
transform the economy, promote good governance and ensure freedom of expression.
Though Mr. Barrow has made steady progress with regards to certain promises
like the release of political prisoners and the setting up of The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission,
his critics continue to express
disappointment and resentment.
The Gambian President’s
apparent unwillingness to relinquish power after his three years agreement with
the coalition of opposition parties and for that matter a promise to his people—
at large— have raised suspicions. The formation of youth movements and his own
political party, National People’s Party [NPP], for instance, are indications
of his unpreparedness to hand over power as promised. The feeling among most Gambians
is that Adama Barrow is adopting the same cling-onto-power antics Mr. Jammeh
used in his 22 years rule.
Delivering his New Year
message to the people of Gambia, Mr. Barrow made it explicitly clear that it is
constitutionally unconstitutional to resign after the said three years
agreement. He indicated that his promise to the people of Gambia elapses on 19th
January, 2020 but he will not step down as promised.
That, he will complete
his mandate as stipulated by the Gambian constitution and ensure that the
needed electoral reforms and processes are comprehensively executed to ensure
free and fair elections in the 2021 general elections.
Typical of African
politicians, Mr. Barrow explained that the institutional failures in the
country affect every fabric of Gambia’s society and, as such, needs an
extensive examination which goes beyond a transitional government. Did he know
of the existence of Gambia’s constitution and the country’s ‘institutional
failures’ when he himself promised relinquishing power?
Clearly, the Gambian
leader will contest the 2021 elections. So, really, is it wrong for Adama
Barrow to complete his term of office? Constitutionally, Mr. Barrow has every
right to complete such. However, morally, rationally and logically, it does not
make sense for him to stay in power. He has a huge task capping his hand around
the flickering hope of Gambians so no wind, ever again, quenches their quest
for a taste of a true democracy where leaders abide by their own words.
If for any reason we
are told that Gambians do not trust their President, then it will be the doing
of Adama Barrow himself. There is nothing disgusting as spitting on the floor
and picking it back with your own tongue and when this happens, people around
tend to look at you with great suspicion.
President Adama Barrow
has every opportunity to write his name in the history books of African
politics as one of the few leaders who never compromised on his integrity. If
Mr. Barrow will stop buying water cannons aimed at dispersing potential
protesters and rather invest such monies in the human security of the very
people he governs, Gambia will be a better place to live.
The danger here is that
the scars of Mr. Jammeh’s long reign still have fresh imprint in the hearts and
minds of Gambians. The little pricking of these scars could spark fire. Can we
Africans, for once, realize that politics must not be reduced to a dishonest
venture where electorates are promised heaven but in the end find themselves in
hell?
The steps taken by the Three-Year Jotna, a pro-democracy
movement, to demand Adama Barrow to resign through organizing demonstrations
and sending of petitions to the presidency, are not out of place. To say it
succinctly, more of these protests are needed for Gambians to register their
displeasure of the president’s actions.
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| Exiled former president of Gambia Yahya Jammeh. Photo Source: Culled from the internet |
“In the end, we will
remember not the words of our enemies,” Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “but
the silence of our friends.” If ECOWAS became friends with Gambians and through
its ECOMIG helped chase Jammeh into exile, then it must equally show this
friendship in calling Adama Barrow to order before things probably go worse in
the near future. It will be but a useless venture to have ECOWAS going to
Gambia again on a similar mission.
Here, no foreseeable justification
by ECOWAS that it has no direct mandate or whatsoever to meddle in the political
affairs of a member state would be tolerated. If the regional bloc is that
interested in peacekeeping, then it must, in the first place, run checks on
member states to help curb and prune the greenhorns of problems that could
spark political upheavals.
As it stands, Africa
can only be told to watch the lion cubs in Gambia that appear to have been left
there by Yahya Jammeh.
The
writers, Solomon Annan & Solomon Mensah, are Ghanaian journalists who have interest in the world’s politics with
an unflinching eye mainly on what pertains in Africa. Views expressed here are
solely theirs and do not, in anyway, reflect the editorial policy of this media
organisation.
Email:
internationaldialogue2@gmail.com
Twitter:
@abisolo7 & @aniwaba
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