By Da One
Omar al-Bashir is in custody waiting trial on various charges relating to human rights abuses and corruption. Will he be sent away as a privileged refugee to a possible number of Afrikkan countries? It is clear whatever little progress he might have achieved during his rule is of no significance anymore. His legacy is irredeemably sealed with the blood of thousands of Sudanese killed and maimed by his brutal “security apparatus”.
Omar al-Bashir came to power with the promise to stand down after a transitional period which, it was promised, will usher in a new dawn for the Sudanese brothers and sisters. It never happened.
Instead, he took a route that’s sadly all too familiar in Afrikka. He resigned from the army, formed a political party and entrenched himself with the advantage of incumbency and a constitution tailor made for him.
Transition is the keyword in the defeat of democratic norms in Sudan. Transition is the keyword in the defeat of democratic practices in The Gambia’s current political situation. Smart leaders do not cling onto power in exchange for their dear lives. They make preparations for life after the presidency through their policies that are reflected in the day to day operations of state institutions. These policies directly and positively impact the lives of the citizens and those living under the jurisdiction of the state.
Today Omar al-Bashir is in handcuffs out of his place in a maximum-security complex where he subjected his opponents to torture and other forms of human degradation. It’s possible al-Bashir will spend the rest of his life in jail.
Barack Obama and his wife signed a book deal worth four hundred million Dollars after leaving office, having performed well in improving the international image and the economy of the United States of America. Compare that sum to the one hundred and thirty million Dollars found hoarded in the residence of Omar al-Bashir. The lesson is that there is greater value in honesty in service than the little amount that could be pilfered from public coffers.
The question becomes this: is Adama Barrow on the trajectory to even outdo Barrack Obama by stepping down after his mandated three years and be honored for ever or is he also going to be dragged in handcuffs out of office like al-Bashir in humiliation like a ragtag common criminal to rot in jail as many despots of Afrikka are currently undergoing?
My observation is that we have gone beyond the “tale tale signs” phase into the phase I would like to call “yes-I-am-entitled-to-rule-come-rain-come-shine. By all indications, Adama is waiting to see if he will survive December and January when he is morally obliged to hand over power. If he overcomes those two challenging months, he will feel confirmed in his hunger for power to rule without limit. Evidence of that lays in one of his speeches where he said his performance in this transitional arrangement is what will determine his second term in office. Going by that, he won’t shy away from vying for a third term in office with the usual constitutional arguments that has plagued all Afrikkan leaders from Musaveni of Uganda to Nyesimbe of Benin. They all want to die in office as presidents.
The lesson from Sudan for ordinary Gambian citizens, is that the moment we let our guards down a bit, there is the next potential “president-for-life” waiting to pounce on our democratic gain to turn the narrative to be about him and him alone. Adama Barrow fits well in the description of such “leaders.” Will Gambians again allow themselves to be robbed off their hard-earned freedoms?