What Has Jammeh’s Father Done For Gambia?

Yahya Jammeh is like Satan [Iblis] who does not tell the truth but capable of destabilising the innocent mind. You hear some loose canon religious clerics often preach against using vulgar language against a leader who is ordained by Allah, the Almighty. Do these religious clerics truly believe in Allah and His Messenger if they ignore a leader who has proven to be a hypocrite and pathological liar? A leader who pits his own people against one another, sows seeds of discord and prides himself with killing lives that he cannot create. Ignoring such a leader like Yahya Jammeh is an unforgiven sin. He deserves filth to be thrown at him. How many times does this Satan has thrown filth at our fathers and mother? We can never let him be as long as he continues to pose threat to everything Gambian.

Until Yahya Jammeh stole our hard earned crown, we have been living and snoring in peace. No Gambian today goes to bed with peace of mind. Even the monster has denied himself that right hence the wise saying goes: those who don’t give peace to others don’t get it.

Gambians have generally intermarried and lived in peace until Yahya Jammeh infiltrated our country with Casamance Jolas who have turned Senegal’s southern region into warfield. Since 1982, these Casamance Jolas who want to control the three Bs (Banjul, Bignona and Bissau) have been spearheading fighting for the cessation of Casamance from Senegal. These bloodthirsty people have transferred their troubles to our Gambia No Problem; a country where people used to go to bed without shutting their doors.

Some Casamance residents told me that the region would have attained independence had Jolas involved all the tribes in the struggle. “We would have autonomy without firing a bullet. Unfortunately, our Jola brothers screwed up by taking up arms, killing and exiling their own people,” Casamance resident told me in Ziguinchor.

Truly speaking, Casamance is populated with other tribes: Fulas, Mandinkas, Manjagos, Karoninkas, Konaginkas, Bainunkas and Balantas whose strength cannot be ignored. With all these tribes around, one may wonder why Jolas who are mostly concentrated in Foni region took up arms in the name of liberating Casamance. No wonder Yahya Jammeh whose father was born in Casamance is proud of being bloodthirsty, swearing to kill innocent protesters and go to bed.

When Yahya Jammeh’s father came over to the Gambia to dance bukarab [Jola drumming] for women, he had found Mandinkas there. He could not stay because he had found Gambians who had no time for dance. What did such a man do for the Gambia other than giving her a Snake hell-bent on destroying everything Gambian?

On the flip side, Gambians are proud of Almameh Jawara and Mama Fatty for giving us Sir Dawda Jawara, the man who fought and won independence for them. The charismatic leader who ruled Gambians with wisdom, knowledge and wealth of experience. His belief in equality was the reason why he included diverse Gambians in his delegation to claim our country at Marlborough House in London in 1965. Where was Jammeh’s father? Has he done anything to advance the Gambia or Casamance?  

Yahya Jammeh spoke the truth when he said Mandinkas hailed from Mali. In fact, majority of the people who settled in the Gambia originated from Mali. But the President lied flatly that Mandinkas without whose help he would not have become President, settled in the Gambia after 1850. This delusional leader said even Banjul, which was turned into a settlement in 1816, was founded half a century before Mandinkas came from Mali. Has he forgotten that the name Banjul is a Mandinka name for bamboo rope [Banjulo]?

As one proud Mandinka old man put it, “we are proud of hailing from Mali. Is Yahya Jammeh proud of hailing from Casamance?”

The President’s heart is diseased with jealousy of not originating from a majority tribe. We are sorry for him because no doctor can cure jealousy, hatred and insecurity. Only graveyard takes care of them. One thing that is clear is that we Gambians will not give Jammeh the free ride to make Gambia Casamance Jola country. 

Jammeh and his hateful people can go back to Casamance if they hate seeing us.  Clearly, he has started a fight whose aftermath he cannot control; no one knows where it will end.  

If he is not blood-hungry like Casamance Jolas, the current crisis involving peaceful protecters could have been solved amicably. But a person consumed by fear of being conquered lifts his hands on the trigger when the wind shakes a stick. Cowards are naturally violent.

Ends