The Presidential Elections Circus has Begun
“Chop their rice, vote your conscience”
By Ousainou Mbenga
Those of us who had rural or semi-rural upbringing will recall the days of “Tulun Bayoo”—chasing fun from village to village after the popular local “Asiko” bands. I aptly liken the presidential elections campaigns to this once upon a time activity of the rural communities in The Gambia, because of how the promise-blinded masses flock to these meaningless and dusty rallies since “flag independence” while the living conditions have descended into gutter level. Oddly enough, these same drummers and dancers that we chased after sometimes become the accompanying attractions for these unscrupulous politicians.
Does this futile exercise of voting and electioneering contain the real solutions to ourwretched living conditions? Elections are usually “a nonviolent contest between the ruling classes” but frequently takes a reactionary violent turn in Africa and other oppressed countries. It is during elections that the most toxic tribal and ethnic backwardness erupts among the downtrodden masses in defense of their most unreliable candidates who habitually betray their aspirations for a decent living. It is these same candidates that shake hands when they meet each other but their supporters go at each other’s throats.
The sticking point questions are yet to be answered. Are these politicians worthy of the ultimate sacrifice of you losing your life? Who represents the real problem; the voters or the slimy politicians? This political rot clearly revolves around the willful ignorance of the voters and the despicable behavior of politicians whose livelihood means our misery.
There are no inspiring examples among these politicians that deserve the sacrifice of your lives. Equally undeserving of your sacrifice is the “impotent elite” who work hand-in-glove with the slimy politicians in the senseless land grabbing and sales to the Chinese, Indians and increasingly to Turkish. These colonialists in black faces will always betray you, therefore, cast your vote without being violent against the masses of our downtrodden Gambia. Always remember that there is life after the campaign, the same miserable life they have promised to change fifty-six years ago.
The way you live determines how you think.
Until we change our living conditions of dilapidation, surrounded by trash and garbage, impassable roads, worst during the rainy seasons, we will forever think backwards. True to fact; if you live in squalor and disease yet consider it as normal and or predestined, the way you think will only bear the fruits of rot and despair. The wretched social conditions that we have been relegated to must be vigorously overturned in order to break with old ideas and ancient ethnic affiliations that continue to elude us from national and continental unity.
It’s been said that the citizens of a country behave and think exactly like the “leadership” of that country. Is it any wonder how African presidents, their designed National Assemblies, cabinets, and the corruptible “civil services” repeatedly win elections to stay in power? These presidents, ministers and other elected officials didn’t drop from the sky, they rise from the citizens who think like them. These are the citizens that guarantee them their votes. This is truer in The Gambia like it is in all African countries. It is this same impotent elite, the “cart before the horse leadership” that build beautiful houses and buy expensive cars but driven on horrible and impassable roads. It is this same leadership that is surrounded by trash and unsightly garbage without any plan, with no relief in sight. This is the uninspiring “elite” that you have sacrificed your lives for fifty-six years, with nothing to show for but continuous suffering. The vast majority of our people have surrendered their brains to blind religiosity, slimy politicians and “tribe”. Therefore, some of our people would rather remain in poverty, misery and abject suffering as long as their “tribesman” remain in power as president, National Assembly Member (NAM) or a conman politician.
The worst lesson, we Africans learn from the “white man” (Europeans) was how to be and remain “tribalist”. Let us recall that the inhabitants of what we now know as Europe (white people) were the most tribalist in human history. The constant early wars among the English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Scandinavia and East European countries were the dress rehearsals to the First, and Second Imperialist wars, commonly referred to as “World Wars I & II.” The world was never at war, the tribalist European war mongers dragged the entire world into those two wars of rape, plunder and pillage. Subsequently, dividing the conquered loot amongst themselves. And finally, these tribalist Europeans weaned themselves from their ancient sentiments of tribe and ganged up against Africa and the rest us. Just as the European tribalist weaned themselves from ancient tribal affiliations, so will we Africans. The African revolution will be a significant contributor in averting another European imperialist war to redivide, maintain and control the resources of Africa and the rest of us.
Just as we learn these backward tendencies from the warring tribes of Europe so can we unlearn them and UNITE Africa and African people the world over. Only a principled African unity can save us from the “beggardom” that colonialism and neocolonialism has made us into.
Revolutionary Politics is the Solution!
After fifty-six years, The Gambia, like all other African countries have degenerated into squalor and misery across every aspect of our lives. Electrical power outages since 1977 is the order of the day. Water shuts with rationing adds insults to our deeply injured souls.
An incubator for disease and ultimately premature deaths, are foolishly ascribed to GOD. The Covid-19 rampage and the scandalous theft of funds to mitigate the chronic existing problems of the ruinous “health care system” is evidence that the Barrow regime is bent on the same path of personal enrichment and drown the country into “debt peonage”. The reckless increases of commodity prices with total disregard for the obvious suffering of the vast majority of the downtrodden masses beg the question: to what end with the Barrow regime? How much longer will we accept this ineptitude and stagnation as normal to attain “development”?
With revolutionary politics, we ask the question: development for whom and for what? We want development to change our living conditions for food, clothing and shelter not the whims of our illusive “partners in development.” A Nigerian taxi driver summed it best: “Nigerians think the brain is a spare Part.” I dare generalize that it’s not only Nigerians but most Africans “think the brain is a spare part.” We only have one brain and it’s meant to be used to our benefit from the cradle through our life span.
It’s quite an embarrassment and shameful for The Gambia government to be satisfied with mediocrity. Unappreciative of quality (“Bonn chi sa bopa”) is so pervasive in the “government” past and present that it numbs the desire for innovations. Take for example the national (state) television, The Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS). Since its inception, the dull and poor reception quality of the television remains baffling. Even the “come lately” online television networks of The Fatou Network, and Kerr Fatou present quality receptions let alone comparing GRTS to QTV. Equally disheartening is the poor performance of the national wireless and telecommunication services of GAMCEL in comparison to Africell, which openly brags about being the “Fastest and most reliable 4G internet service in The Gambia”. Those who consider the “brain as a spare part” will take this to be insignificant in the scheme of issues of national interest. Things of this matter are very important in the national psychology, they motivate and challenge our brains for innovations, creations and constant advancements.
The December 2021 presidential elections will be yet another turning point in the political history of The Gambia. The 2016 elections had all eyes on The Gambia, notwithstanding the disingenuous unity among the “opposition parties” to kick Jammeh off the cliff. If the subsequent betrayal by the traitorous “Coalition 2016” haven’t jolted the masses from its political slumber of trusting slimy politicians, I can’t imagine what else will. A coalition of such disrepute represented by the Barrow regime (National People’s Party) NPP, minus the renegade United Democratic Party (UDP) is the dagger plunged into our hearts. After this nightmarish experience of “from the frying pan (Jammeh) to the fire” (Barrow), who would jump into another “coalition” with potential traitors to the principles of a united Gambia?
# Will The Gambia Decide again in 2021?
Any “decision” influenced by the “colonialists in black faces” against the vast majority of the Gambian masses will prolong our “suffering peacefully”. Let’s face the cruel political and economic realities (neocolonialism) that stare us in the face every day, from our homes into the streets. Hunger, horrible infrastructure, suffocating traffic with grossly indiscipline drivers, unemployment, under employment, chronic— acute diseases, pennyante hawkers, mainly women, in your face corruption without remorse and a long list of other ills in our beloved Gambia. And you believe for a moment that this “impotent elite” you call leadership will make a decision that would interrupt the privileges they enjoy at our miserable expense? It has become a common outrage from the African masses that the post-independence leadership is worse than the colonialists. Our misery is their privilege. And the more matters become chaotic the more they can wield and defend their authority to allow easy access of the out flux of resources and an influx of AID and crippling charity from our venerable partners in “development”.
Let the presidential election circus take its illogical conclusion but we must be ready to chart the revolutionary path to guide the masses into the proud future Gambian front of the African revolution, the only guarantee to our collective happiness.
JUBANTI GAMBIA: THE REVOLUTIONARY ALTERNATIVE!