By Bax
There is no harm in accepting an offer of reconciliation from anyone, especially a political opponent, who is also occupying the Office of President…On the contrary, it should be a commendable, reciprocal act of goodwill and love for the country, to accept sincere and genuine offers for reconciliation, from an opponent whose rule has caused so much pain and despair, even to one’s own followers, family and relatives…
The GMC, as an Independent political party, has the right to respond to any given situation in their own way and I respect their right to accept Jammeh’s offer of “reconciliation….” and I hope everyone does too..
However, I am disappointed, not least because of the appeasing tone of the statement, but because the GMC is accepting an offer that is at best obscure, ambiguous and unclear, and at worst, just another gimmick of a self-righteous buffoon, who preys on people’s vulnerability and gullibility to brush and enhance his own image…As this staged – managed gesture is no different from the many previous, meaningless “offers” before it…
Indeed, societies that have experienced traumatic periods, either as a result of political or religious contradictions/practices or just inter – communal conflict, do need proper reconciliation processes and procedures to restore calm and confidence and move back into normalcy, as smoothly as possible…
Although The Gambia has not experienced the type of aggravated internal conflicts and contradictions, as we saw in Rwanda or South Africa (Apartheid era), two decades of Jammeh’s rule of impunity has undeniably, created what would seem to be political and/or ethnic/tribal and even religious tensions, that could flare into conflict if the transition from his rule is not properly managed.
It is, therefore, important that Gambians and friends of Gambia discuss and understand what reconciliation is all about, so that we can respond appropriately, to any sincere and meaningful offers of reconciliation coming from the Jammeh regime…
“Reconciliation” is been bandied around a lot in the diaspora these days, but the fact that this gesture from Jammeh, as well as, actions from certain individuals in the diaspora are classified as reconciliation (moves), does seem to suggest a lack of understanding of the term, at least, in the political sense…These actions by these diaspora former activists, may be “reconciliation” (or more appropriately, submission) of individuals with their former foe, but certainly, not in the sense of a political struggle seeking to end the rule of impunity and establish the rule of law..
This is so because the basic, fundamental “ingredients” that are required for genuine reconciliation (and healing) process to begin are woefully absent…When we cast our mind back on societies where genuine reconciliation took place, we find the presence of the following “ingredients”-:
(1)…Acknowledgement by all actors that something is fundamentally wrong;
( 2)…Establishing beyond any shadow of a doubt, what is fundamentally wrong;
( 3)…Identifying the key players and establishing the extent of their roles in the problem;
(4)…Formulating a clearly defined procedure and process of accountability and acceptance of responsibility as well as punishment…
(5)…A general willingness to fix the problem and forgive the perpetrators of.any crimes or wrongdoings for the sake of the reconciliation process..
It is evident that in the case of The Gambia, these are woefully missing..What seems to be required is for diaspora opponents to acknowledge that they are wrong, seek forgiveness and reconcile with the regime..That is not reconciliation in the political sense, but submission, as it changes nothing…
So let’s call it a SUBMISSION OFFER because that is what it is..
Ends
A brilliant and constructive offering from Bax. Please accept my standing ovation and nomination for the nobel prize for outstanding “reason”
I would ask those condemning Mai Fatty out of hand…to again read and absorb what he is proposing.
My take on this is impartial { please don’t shoot me for I am only a humble message carrier}
I am somewhat dissapointed with CORDEG’s response on Freedom Newspaper.
As the self appointed carrier of the dissident movement…surely it is its prime duty to accept with maturity this proposal from Mr Jammeh, backed up with the support of the Supreme Islamic Council, and to form an adequate and interested response.
The first requisit is to ask for clarity from The President what the terms of this offer consists of.
The second requisit is to assertain and make a constructive opinion of the validity of this offer
The third requisit is to take instruction from its membership, to sound all opinions….advise….and form an adequate response.
If after considering all matters..the response is no but thankyou for the offer.
I would then make it clear to The President….that the door to negotiation is still open….and present CORDEG’s counter proposals.
At worst this would give much needed traction…to the exchange.
At present there is none.
The object of gaining traction is to move to a strong position of leverage.
At present there is none.
The object of gaining traction is to begin some momentum towards an acceptable solution to both parties.
At present there is none.
To simply close the door…is just not acceptable.
Opinion.
The ‘basic ingredients are woefully absent,”.Bax, that is the naked truth. We hope president jammeh can start at home first.@ Michael, Mr Scale your idea is an awesome one. and anybody ready for reconciliation should consult. analyse etc but we singling out the word “RECIPROCAL.”.
Bax , you hit the nail on the head . A brilliant piece . It is a submission offer . Reconciliation has to have the process of acknowledgement , contrition and forgiveness by oppressor and his victims . Is Jammeh ready to acknowledge that he did abused or committed crimes against Gambians and make that pronouncement on national tv ? Is Jammeh ready to take personal responsibility for those crimes or human rights violations ? Are the victims ready to forgive him ? These are important questions which needs to be asked In any reconciliation process but in our case it is the people who are wrong and abused jammeh , therefore they ask his forgiveness . If they want personal submission to jammeh , let them do that for personal gain but to use the name of the struggle or political party to seek reconciliation without the actual process of acknowledgement , contrition and forgiveness is totally wrong . The main goal of reconciliation is to achieve sustainable peace and seek justices . Mr fatty’s naviety and looking for an opportunity from untrustworthy dictator is very disgraceful.
Thanks Bax. In fact Bax, Jammeh never mention the word RECONCILATION in his GRTS interview. Jammeh instead issued threats and blend it with a pardon to some and extinction menace (wipe them out) to 10 wanted gambians. Jammeh is far from reconciliatary mode, he reasserted that he cannot forgive and will never forget his feelings. Gambians are confused about two national political processes that are totally different. One is called a National Conference as obtain in most francophone countries when they fought for multi-party democracy and presidential term limits in their constitutions. The other is called National Reconcialtion as pegged on a Truth and Reconcialiation process as obtain after a regime status quo is overturn. Rwanda and South Africa are prime exemples of these. Gambia does not fit in any of the processes.
None of the two political processes are in motion in the Gambia. Please let us STOP the confusion. Jammeh beleives the Gambia is his personal property acquired by his conquerous bravure in 1994, as such no one else has the right to dictate his or her wishes on him the victorious ruler and conquerer of the Gambia. We must accept Jammeh’s mind set if we want to move forward. Jammeh is not and does not consider himself a president who came thru the ballot and lives by the ballot. NO NO NO.
The 30th December freedom fighters understood this FACT very well and as such have indicated the road for the rest of us to fininsh the job of removing the arrogant and brutal conqueror in the Gambia by all means necessary. Then and only then can we revert back to democratic rule as enjoyed from 1970 to 1993.
Michael, probably you are yet to properly comprehend what evil yaya jammeh is all about… This murderous armed kanilai devil is what I call PUNGENT EVIL ON TWO LEGS… The genuine Gambians’ reaction as you can see are the WORTHY response in reality to the evil we have on our hands & another spew of lies as it’s ALWAYS been… If you are in doubt, EVIL yaya jammeh can shake your hand in right & stab you with the left at same time… How long do you think we are to go on like this only to start all over again unending…??? Even its supporters & sycophants aren’t spared the murder & evil… Honourable Kebba Touray, e.g., the late former APRC Kombo East constituency MP was poisoned & murdered by yaya jammeh for merely expressing his honest God fearing opinion by querying about APRC MPs blindingly using their rubber stamp so-called majority to endorse the murderous devil’s LIES & CAPRICE… The truth is yaya jammeh ISN’T & will NEVER wilfully abdicate power on own accord, if you are ever in doubt… From hence forth we will be doing things the harder way which is the only language the murderous kanilai devil understands & listens to…. I’m calling on the International Community to please help & assist us with ‘tools & implements’ to finish off our business already commenced to reclaim our motherland from the poison & disease infested jaws of the kanilai murderous alligator TONY DAA FATABA KOH KACHA-DING MERRENGHO… God help & bless Gambia; Ameen.
A word of caution to those of you who are taking Mai fatty seriously. Please don’t waste your precious time trying to analyse and make sense of Mai’s statements in response to Jammeh’s so called reconciliation efforts and reaching out to his opponents. If you do not know Mai Fatty, you will soon discover very soon that he is worse than the controversial and shameless Samsudeen Sarr. Those who know Mai will tell you that he is unscrupulous and has an exaggerated sense of his intelligence and importance. Mai is only a show boy and a wanna be. Those in the legal profession and Mai’s clients will tell you that Mai is very unprincipled who has question marks with clients. Mai’s GMC political party is a big joke. It is only Mai running the show and no one else. Anyway I will in due course tell you who Mai really is. I owe it to Gambians to do so. Gambians must know who these public characters are and we should not be hoodwinked by people who only have their own agenda. Deyda Haidra once again many thanks for always seeing the bigger picture. You know the Gambia and Gambians and you analysis of Mai’s recent political machination is spot on.
Bajaw,
If as you claim all Gambia’s political leaders are “useless” then i will not share in your pesimism.
This is a room full of hopelessness and despair.
My room welcomes the light.
Bajaw , I agreed , majority still don’t know who Jammeh really is . How can the same man be lying and fooling us for 20 good years . Every time something happened , he came up with strategy to use the situation to his advantage and yet we act as he mean well . We are too naive because we never ask any question and simply follow whatever he said . Jammeh has been lying since day one when he committed terrorism and treasonable crime in our beautiful country . He continue to terrorize and loot our meager resources for his personal enrichment.
I want to believe that reconciliation should be the end product of a process of engagement and negotiation. But what is absent in this whole dialogue is the word negotiation.
Bax has outlined a process in which negotiation can be germane in establishing what is wrong and how it can be fixed, but more importantly negotiation is the fundamental ingredient that can reconcile the issues and concerns that are in question.
The whole process of engagement and negotiation when constructively affirmed and validated will create the basis for reconciliation.
It seems to me that there is a general recognition that something is fundamentally wrong not only with our political and governance situation, but with the whole atmosphere that underpins the basic fabric of our societal norms, values and mores.
And it is from this consensual recognition of what is wrong, from those who govern and the ones that are governed, that the process of reconciliation must begin: to engage and to negotiate.
From my own perspective the government should initiate a two-prong engagement process, one for the Gambian diaspora and the other for the Gambian opposition. Once there is engagement then the process of negotiations can begin in earnest. These negotiations can even be conducted in secret and with the help of intermediaries.
It is not uncommon even in very hostile environments and in the heat of war, where engagement and negotiations do take place to resolve issues of fundamental concern to warring parties.
And even whereas such parties are hostile to each other, the capacity to engage and negotiate, is a fundamental predisposition that must be available at all times.
Hence all parties to this dialogue must raised the notch and begin a process of engagement and negotiation with the outcome of a resolution that will lead to a favorable and genuine reconciliation.
.
Kamalo, and friends…
I don’t think Mr Jammeh is on the “reconciliation” road.
Bax and Deyda have called this as close to an explanation as we can get.
Both advise extreme caution.
In my opinion…Mr Jammeh is on a “fishing expedition”
I think he will be delighted with the none cohesive response and the weakening of the dissident spirit.
The Samsudeen Sarr syndrome is at work. Mr Jammeh will continue to chip away at the dissident resolve.
He as fired a salvo at the heart of the dissident movement with a view to guageing its strength and weakness….this is to break it up or at the very least to degrade it.
He has siezed the inititive.
The response from the dissident movement is to “close all water tight doors”
Mr Jammeh has launched an all out Propaganda attack.
The dissident movement have responded as he anticipated and with this he will be delighted.
Yahya Jammeh is a formidable advisory.
…Never to be underestimated.
The dissident movement should have responded with strength and maturity. To take Mr Jammeh on at his own game.
Opinion.
Mike Jammeh is UNTRUSTWORTHY, he does not even trust himself.
An eye for an eye is what Jammeh said and understands as the CONQUEROR of the Gambia. Period.
JK has to GO….and nothing else.
Michael, we only scrutinize our noble politicians for honesty & fairness as would-be rulers but as fallible human beings, we don’t expect them to be perfect for “perfection belongs to God only”…. If it took us some twenty long enough BARBARIC-MURDEROUS years under the current kanilai bandit syndicate unending & still counting, when our current opposition leaders are SUPPOSED to be selfless INDIVIDUALLY & COLLECTIVELY, in their services to Gambia including their very own selves & families BUT still fighting each other for individualistic selfish gains at ALL costs, what does that connotes to us Gambians & friends watching them from behind…??? Believe me, I personally understand & sympathize with all individual opposition parties with some of the tangible arguments forwarded for being wearing of being duped into helping another to power BUT that doesn’t mean they CAN’T collectively find common grounds for the SAKE of Gambia FIRST which matters most & should take precedence above anything else… If they don’t want to do that for individual selfish egocentric gains, then there is something drastically wrong for we need to go back to drawing board for plan B option…
Maxs, whilst in Gambia I made some surveillance moves in parts of the country & spoke to some “sleeper-cell” comrades working from within the murderous syndicate… At the Kanfengda village which is the junction to kanilai, you can literally see the murderous devil’s shallow mind at play with his ‘war-preparedness setup’ of the soldiers at the sentry & how they go about rushing upon, provoking & threatening all on board the commuter transportations… I will call upon all genuine Gambians & friends to switch our ‘sixth-senses’ on from henceforth, to work collectively with each other tirelessly, to successfully reclaim the motherland… The evil murderous kanilai devil will NEVER abdicate power wilfully & MUST have to flushed out for real in all & any means NECESSARY…. God help & bless our noble endeavour to reclaim the motherland from rot & the evil intention of the murderous kanilai devil; Ameen.
Bajaw, I sincerely hear your outcry and I understand. 20 years on have change the demographic picture of the Gambia as we knew it in 1993.
I am on the ground and know what I am talking about.
The only SOLUTION left to us peace loving and democratic Gambians is to do what the Kanilai Conqueror did in 1994. FIGHT… until VICTORY.
Deyda, you know where I’m coming from… All areas of western Division now referred to as West Coast Region & KMC from Kanlagi through to Kartong down to the Kanifing Municipality/Urban Area up to Denton bridge have been filled with non Gambian settlers deliberately for illegal political voter purposes to the illegitimate advantage of the murderous kanilai devil… So which opposition leader stands any chance of winning individually under such & other illegal dubious circumstances currently in play…??? With our tireless efforts collectively together, as we witness in the recent attempted prosecution of our comrades in the US, Gambians & friends together can move mountains… But Gambians MUST refused to be taken to ransom by our political leaders & leadership aspirants for any other purposes EXCEPT for Gambia FIRST only & any thing else to come after that…. If NOT, then of course inevitably the Plan B option comes in… For it’s our noble birthright to ensure peace & tranquillity reigns in our motherland & only home…. Except for sheer bravado, lies & DAMN LIES there’s nothing mystical about the murderous devilish coward, apart from our meagre state resources available which it thieves endlessly at will, & the arms & ammunition temporarily at its disposal, meant for our collectively national security but rather used upon to main & kill the very people need to be protected… God helps Gambia & bless our noble endeavour to reclaim our motherland; Ameen.
Bax, Mai’s so-called “standing ovation” pronouncements, this is NO attack on his PERSON, I believe has to be a calculated move to appease our murderous devil, scoring political points to stay afloat…. For I learnt the murderous devil is in attempt using its enslaved Electoral Council/commission to deregister / disband some ‘weak’ political parties… Mai is better off & protected with all to gain nationally, & Internationally as political party leader than a humble peasant… Mai down his own heart & mind doesn’t believe a word from the kanilai devil… It’s better when our politicians come clean to us in their actions & pronouncements, than rather taking us for rides, insulting our individual & collectively intelligence; for those are bygone days… The present generation of Gambians WILL make sure the past & particularly the recent COSTLY mistakes are redressed & NEVER EVER to be repeated in the annals of our country history… God help & bless Gambia; Ameen.