Whenever Dictator Jammeh is cornered, the ‘sympathy for the devil’ camp emerges.
There are a possible two camps of Gambians who are and will delay the fall of President Jammeh. The first group/camp are those who see their jobs, earnings tied and connected to the existence of President Jammeh as the head of state. These band of Gambians include, local traditional rulers ( Alkalos, seyfos, Councillors, MPs, and some community leaders) a certain level of civil servants whose qualification and competency in manning certain positions are questionable, hence, they are holding onto President Jammeh with their molar teeth.
The category of Gambians whose families are in civil service, public broadcasting corporation (GRTS), security officers (NIAs, police, army, custom, immigration) and top level government employees also have some blindness to the calamity of Jammeh. The employees par say may not be supportive of the dictator but their immediate and extended family members. The staff cannot disclose their hatred for the Jammeh style governance for fear of reprisals should family members inadvertently disclose it to agents, hence the circle continuous.
The second band of Gambians are those who have ‘sympathy for the devil himself.’ Whenever President Jammeh is perceived to be cornered, they emerge with precautionary alarms. These category of Gambians are not necessarily base in the Gambia alone, they are all over the world. They see Jammeh as an underdog, and that, feeling sorry for him, and supporting him in a closet is a national duty. This group may harbor ethnic bias or prejudicial bigotry and other motives, but since they hardly make their support for Jammeh public, it hard to ascertain. They are President Jammeh’s secret weapon, they come out when he is under pressure.
If you are observant and attentive, you will discover them all over the place, particularly in social media. They will start making warnings, advice on avoidance of conflict, focusing on things that will only favour the Jammeh existence. This category of Gambians are the worst the dissidents and activist will have a difficulty in convincing, since their emotion and feelings for Jammeh are not base on reason or logic , it is mere empathy for the devil.
And then, you have us, the dissidents with divided agendas. If we can put our acts together and see our national responsibility, avoid making issues about individuals, cease personalizing the struggle, stop attempting to take glory at the expense of genuine national focus, we should be able undermine President Jammeh and his Hench men much better. The struggle is not about individuals, or personalities, it is about a cause. Always remember not to infuse your personal goals with that of freeing the Gambia.
The end of President Jammeh is not tied to his secret agents, military, police, Imams and Priest for sale, or even his hold on the media, it is on genuine UNITY. That will break his back, and eradicate the devilish menace. May God guide our actions. Ameen
Ends
Thank you Kairo for highlighting The Gambian challenges delaying to free the country from Yaya Jammeh. I was concerned about how some Gambians keep supporting Yaya even though he is killing, abusing, torturing and mis-managing the economy. It is high time Gambians accept that there is no hope in Yaya Jammeh ruling The Gambia. His using all tactics to confuse Gambians and even using tribes against each other just for him to continue to rule the country. Most Gambians are seeing the light across the tunnel.
“They see Jammeh as an underdog, and that, feeling sorry for him, and supporting him in a closet is a national duty. This group may harbor ethnic bias or prejudicial bigotry and other motives, but since they hardly make their support for Jammeh public, it hard to ascertain. They are President Jammeh’s secret weapon, they come out when he is under pressure.” You hit the nail on the head