Gambian activists today did what would have been unthinkable during the repressive rule of Fang Bili Mansa (self construct ruler) Yahya Jammeh who swore to remain in power for a billion years only to dodge or eloped into self-imposed exile. Turning the office of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) Mayor Yankuba Colley’s office into a dump site was borne out of frustration. Activists, who got pissed off with the KMC’s deliberate failure to collect waste materials in markets where they collect dues on a daily basis, decided to rally youths on a general clean up exercise. Their only motivation is to guarantee the health of a country reeling with health care challenges, resulting to many sick people being evaluated to Senegal for treatment.
A spiral of cholera outbreak resulting from poor sanitation in markets is capable of bringing the Gambia on its knees. It was for this reason that patriotic Gambian women led the market clean up exercise on Saturday. Gambians have responded to the women’s call as evidenced by their record turnout and provision of resources. But the Council that failed to carry out its responsibility was not only absent in the general cleaning but its leader Yankuba Colley had been purportedly rallying residents close to dump sites in Bakoteh and Manjai Kinda against refuse dumping. This had worked well, with residents invading dump site, resulting to a confrontation. Even the intervention of senior government officials and police could not convince anti-dumpsters blink. At this stage frustrated activists ran out of options until the idea of dumping the waste products in front of Mayor Colley’s office was generally conceived and agreed. Activists want Colley and his Council to feel the stench taxpaying market stall owners, hawkers and others are exposed.
This action reminds us about a similar story found in a book entitled Paradise of the Masses, in which a radical university lecturer advised members of the Gerinia Youth Movement to do anything to get the attention of a non-functioning government that failed to collect waste products in markets. Committees were formed across the country, a national clean up day organised and the waste materials dumped at the home of health minister. GYM members, led by a revolutionary university student Diti Oba, went into hiding while the movement’s unit for the Fabrication and Propagation of Rumour went into action peddling news that Oba and others were executed. For several weeks, the fictional country became ungovernable. GYM collaborated with an opposition newspaper to publish embarrassing classified government documents. In one instance, the Minister of Finance had his briefcase stolen during a bitter encounter with his illegitimate daughter member of GYM who had her own beef with her father for supporting a law that denied illegitimate children the right of inheritance. The Minister’s budget speech which was supposed to be read in Parliament was serialised by the newspaper in advance. In the end, the government relied on a woman to seduce Diti Oba which ultimately let the country off the hook.
Mayor Colley could have called an emergency meeting to avert this shameful act if his office had fulfilled its responsibility. Why would he waited until his office was infiltrated and acted? What he fails to comprehend is that we live in a New Gambia where police cannot exercise force on taxpayers for dumping waste in a public office. Mayor Colley has to choose one of the two options: serve the public and live in peace or continue sabotage and face embarrassment. If denying people public service is a winner time will tell.
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Great move . My special Thank and commendation go to our mothers and sisters for their sense of patriotism. Mayor Colley will learn hard lessons. I heard he cried when he saw the garbage been dumped in front of his office. For years, taxpayers in KMC were used for nothing and their hard earned money were spend on useless celebrations while the citizens continue to suffer from infectious diseases due to lack of proper sanitation.
This is what Yankuba Colley deserved he is such a hypocrite, liar and a monster. His days are counting when he is going to face justice by putting the country in to silent war.Which was the state of emergency he inserted during the political impasse. He has a lot of questions to answer
max you lied when you said Mayor Colley cried when he saw the garbage in front of his office. What will the Mayor cry for? Beside the garbage will be taken care of without the Mayor getting near.Stop spewing lies on this forum, for it just make you look like what you are a …….
Bamba , welcome back after missing you here for a long time . i hope you are recovering from enormous embarrassing defeat from the last elections. I think you need to speak to Mayor Kolley whether he cried or not . You once claimed to be a PDOIS supporters and you are now supporting disgraced mayor who was publicly shamed by his people. So you were hiding behind PDOIS to distract us here and now you are openly supporting the mayor. Thank you for revealing yourself . How is the dictator doing in equatorial Guinnea ? Hopefully we will get him soon to face justice and the criminal mayor will also face justice .
What difference does it make lying or not about Colley crying at the sight of garbage under his nose, when he should have cried about it anyway.
Ah!, he goes; “besides, the garbage will be taken care of without the mayor getting near”. Your types are the real rotten stinking garbage everywhere in these forums who inspire lazy fat bottoms of a mayor like Yankuba Colley. It is certain that somebody would have gotten shot and killed if such a righteous activism had happened one year ago. Next time he sits on his fat bottom neglecting garbage, the activists should bring it right at his very doorsteps. It is sloths for the f**k of certain things man.
This is exactly what is there to like about Gambians; a peaceful people who will, if you go too far, and if you go too far, will push back!
And unlike suicide bombing, Gambians throw eggs. There it is right there, an egg on the Major’s doorstep, or is it on his face!
The Mayor should be happy, because all that lying on his doorstep is money in the bank, if only he knew what to do with it. Its Compost, its soil, and given the poor soils in the Gambia, and the need to import tons and tons of fertilizer, there is a need to be innovative with what we got and turn every bit of that waste into good old manure – someone will buy it, and some bank will finance it – and who knows someday, someones waste might turn into someone’s gold.