|
Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
 Posted - 17 Nov 2006 : 07:51:55
|
I can't believe some of the language below comes from a member of a political leadership. Is he in his trees. Can some one please read below and help me understand something about this so-called NDAM/NADD elite
God save the Gambia
Ousainou Mbenga
Subsequent to the "selection" of Jammeh by his "Illegal Electoral Council" (IEC) as oppose to being elected by the "voters"; how many of us still have doubts that "those who cast the votes determine nothing but those who count the votes determine everything"?
Before we get into the core issues of this topic, let us first acknowledge the fact that September 22, 2006 and its aftermath presents another important lesson for us to take heed and learn from. In my view, this is the final lesson from the Jammeh regime. If we haven't learnt anything from the past 12 years, this episode makes it amply clear that Jammeh's declaration that he will "reign for thirty years" is not only a threat to our livelihood but a threat he intends to act and impose upon Gambians unless it is met with escalated resistance. Consider the intoxicated tongue-lashing that Jammeh resorted to following his "stolen verdict": "the whole world can go to hell" (including the people who supposedly "voted for him"), "I will close any newspaper..." and "....I put people in jail until they grow old...".
Aside from the apologists and the defenders (maggots) of this carcass (AFPRC-APRC), what are the rest of us willing to do to put an end to this tyranny? The vast majority of us didn't vote ourselves into Jammeh's tyranny or the general miserable African condition and to think that we can vote ourselves out of this African dilemma is the highest state of illusion. As we can see, the vast majority of Gambian people in no uncertain terms expressed their disillusionment of the "electoral process" than any other period in our history. Whether it is because of the alleged anger at the split within the "opposition" or the deep seated contempt of Jammeh's 12 years of unprecedented horror, it is a good sign of political consciousness, an indictment of the graveyard regime, APRC. Suffice to say, Jammeh tells us in the clearest of terms that "votes cannot remove me, a coup will not remove me"; to put it bluntly, "political power comes from the barrel of a gun".
ILLUSIONS, GOOD INTENTIONS AND ELECTIONS
Our illusions of what constitute political power; a consequence of the good but dishonest intentions of politicians of the ruling and opposition parties and the periodic ritual of sham "elections" has been the major deterrent for revolutionary changes. In general, governments do not as a rule derive their powers from the "consent of the governed". This exercise known as "election" has been skillfully designed centuries ago as an instrument to deflate the volatile anger of the masses (every 4,5,10 or 20 years depending on where the "democracy" is professed) to assure the continuity of the status quo that allows room for "reforms" and accommodate demands of the oppressed masses as long as they don't erupt into the skies and overturn the existing social relations.
Elections perpetuate the illusion that the masses have a say in the selection of their leaders. See The Point Newspaper post election survey of "voters". The vast majority of the responses were from the people who have a stake in the carcass APRC, whether it was coerced to protect their maggot jobs or "private sector" businesses is beside the point. The point is, all these shiftless respondents who consider themselves as part of the "elite" have no say in the decision making process, it is all left to the one-upmanship of Jammeh, the aspirant fascist-monarch.
Election(s) is the most advanced system of flattery in "democracy" with its many empty promises of reforms, lies and outright fraud. Our conditioned minds subscribe to the notion that nothing can be done without elections, the vehicle through which neo-colonial "democratic despots" like Jammeh legitimize the system of repression and exploitation of the ruling elite. This legitimization goes even further with popular catchwords such as "free and fair", peaceful and worst still when the "opposition" request for "a level playing field", a pipe dream at best. There will never be a level playing field in any election, especially in the neo-colonial states where the resources (radio, TV and print media) belong to one pinhead president whose dictates reign supreme.
A semblance of a level playing field may exist in the so called "developed nations", the nations that have the "god given rights" to exploit the rest of the world, particularly Africa then categorize us as "underdeveloped". This level playing field in the "developed nations" can only accommodate two players, generally the Democratic and Republican parties; both serve the same interest. Consider this; in the USA, a battle has raged for nearly 100 years to allow a third party - the Independent Party to no avail. Yet the ill-advice given to Africans is to allow "multi-Party democracy" which translates into 5-20 political parties in each neocolonial entity or "failed state(s)". May be these were the reasons why Winston Churchill said "democracy is the worst form of government except the others".
THE STOLEN VERDICT:
The Gambian voters should consider themselves a bit lucky in using a marble to vote. Had the touch screen computer been the method of voting, Jammeh would have added an earthquake onto his "landslide victory" with a perfect 100%. Because who else might be touching that screen other than the voter? Thanks to the marbles, a repetition of Florida in the Gambia would have been beyond disastrous.
All elections are set on floating standards to assure the fraudulent manipulations of the entire process. Rigging of votes is an ongoing process; it doesn't take place only on Election Day, though it escalates as Election Day draws near. To us, the process of any exercise is equally as important as its end result, and in this instance the "results" clearly exposes the corrupt nature of the electoral process. Sadly enough, many of us are only interested in results.
Let's examine the process utilized by Jammeh's APRC to rig the elections. The gun and the judiciary are the primary instruments utilized by Jammeh to assure him the "easy victory" in all his elections. The gun serves its obvious functions, murder, assassinations and intimidation, while the judiciary and its courts tinker with the laws and eventually created the "bayonet constitution" that have given the Jammeh regime absolute "rogue power". This "bayonet constitution" enabled Jammeh to erase "term limit", the "second rounds" clause, in the event no candidate captures more than 50% of the "votes", indemnifies murderers and the creation of his own illegal IEC. Jammeh's courts; "the arena of personal vendetta" has crippled the national consciousness of the entire country with help from his "mercenary judges" and the timid Gambia Bar Association.
It is arithmetically impossible for Jammeh to win an election without buying votes and bribery of illegitimate voters from our porous borders with Senegal. The 2006 elections show the lowest voter turn out in the history of the Gambia. It was reported that, out of 600,000 registered voters, only 260,000 voted; a below 60% turnout. There are many attributes leveled at this unprecedented low voter turn out ranging from voter apathy following the split within the opposition to contempt for the APRC.
A third attribute in my view, is that the dormant social consciousness in the Gambia is being awaken and for it to sprout on the already fertile ground, it requires a revolutionary leadership not in the form of the "opposition" but a "radical alternative". "Oppositions" are generally satisfied with regime change and the maintenance of the status quo, the aspirations of the renegade UDP/NRP coalition. It's time for the dead to bury their dead so that we can engage the masses in fruitful struggle to bring about fundamental changes in our beloved country.
Let's consider another senseless and corruptible aspect of elections. The plunder and waste of resources during the election process is what fuels the greed of the unscrupulous "politicians" and perpetuate the chronic dependence of the masses on hand-outs and bribes from these useless "politicians" as oppose to freeing up the potentials of the masses to do for self. Adding insult to already injured "voters", the electoral process condones and instigates VIOLENCE of the most reactionary nature among the masses while the opposing candidates fan the flames. The victims of these violent acts rarely include the criminal politicians who, once in office impose the permanent violence of POVERTY over the people. The immature and senseless behavior of candidates towards each other rather than addressing the social issues makes a mockery of the democracy.
In general, the resources (especially money) wasted on elections should make us question this notion of the "democratic" process. It's quite obvious that the mere exercise of elections will never liberate us from the tyranny of the neo-colonial state. Elections have become synonymous with the lottery. The candidate who raises the most money; the highest bidder, is most often guaranteed to win. Think about it. Is there any sense in wasting all these huge sums of money to "elect" a "representative of the people"? This outrageous misuse of public money and resources is the bedrock of this corrupt practice of the "democratic process"; the breeding ground for the-never-ending supply of the unscrupulous and greedy present day politicians. We never see them until elections time.
According to reliable sources, which I have no doubts about; Jammeh spent $7 million to "thief" the elections. Why should anyone doubt this amount, when in July 2004, Jammeh spend $3 million (D80,000,000) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of AFPRC-APRC. If we recollect, few months before the elections, the "old boys club" (African Union) held their summit in the Gambia and again Jammeh dipped his bloody hands into the public coffers to entertain his guests.
NADD spent a meager D619,368.60 in its campaign, thanks to the STGDP, the Minnesota Group and all the contributors on the ground and abroad. We have no figures on UDP/NRP expenditures but we understand they are heavily indebted with campaign expenses.
Just consider what else could have been done with all this money towards tangible human development. To show the folly of his reasoning in this elections, Jammeh gave instructions to his distributors of sugar (a poison at best and the culprit in the high prevalence of diabetes) to exclude all the "opposition" in his "benevolent act" for the Ramadan.
This is the disturbing irony with Jammeh's despicable behavior. Here is a person who was severely deprived in childhood into adulthood and instead of eradicating the conditions of deprivation, he reinforces the wretched conditions of deprivation beyond comparison; the source of his anger and violence. Now, all Gambians must suffer the wrath of his childhood.
Elections are seen as the be all and end all of society but to the contrary, the ballot box is truly the "great equalizer" because the vote of a poor farmer and the vote of Jammeh count for the same thing. Fundamentally, neither of these votes counts for a damn thing; Jammeh (or his "class of crumbs-sharers") doesn't need to vote to exercise "political power" and the poor farmer or battered wage worker will never exercise political power no matter how many votes they cast. This is the more reason why some of us advocate a radical system change as oppose to a mere regime change. There will never be a revolution through the ballot box with all its inherent corrupt and violent practices against the impoverished people.
THE "GUARDIANS OF THE OLD BOUNDARIES" (AU/OAU) RATIFY ELECTIONS
It comes as no surprise that congratulatory messages of Jammeh's "selection" are flying all over the pages of the Daily Observer, the only "legal newspaper" (a property of the "emperor") in the Gambia. The Independent has been burnt down, The Point is emasculated following Deyda Hydara's assassination and the Foroyaa belongs to a political party. Are these messages tendered for the sake of protocol or are we to believe that these "heads of states" truly believe that Jammeh won "free and fair"? The AU just convened its periodic summit in the Gambia and after all the waste of resources agreed on one single "resolution"; that no more coup d'etat will be tolerated in Africa. They agreed to gang up on any coup makers to protect the "sovereignty" of that neo-colonial entity. Here we have Africans being slaughtered in Darfur, Sudan and there are no plans to gang up on the racist Arab regime.
With the exception of the lone female president, Sirleaf Johnson (we hope she can resist to be "testosteronized" by the failed patriarchy amidst her) the AU/OAU remains an old boys club still Obedient to the empire, thus the title O.B.E (Order of British Empire) bestowed upon those who tirelessly work for the imperialist interest of the British. At the height of the anti-colonial struggle the O.B.E took a different meaning to Africans, it meant to us "Obedient Boys of the Empire". We must remind you that the neo-colonial state still serves the interest of the imperialist empire. The AU and their ally the "international community" will ratify any election results because it is to their interest that ruinous regimes like their own remain chaotic to maintain the status quo. It's to the interest of blood-******s that blood still flow in our veins lest we constrict the flow of blood.
Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, the AU Secretary General and Abdul Salami Abubakar, the UN Secretary General representative and Chairman of Commonwealth led the mission to observe the elections and report to the world their observations. Both Salim and Abubakar are aware of Jammeh's despicable behavior towards every aspect of Gambian life, yet they engage in the usual protocol crap with Jammeh with total disregard for the tyranny unleashed upon the Gambians. This protocol crap is of no benefit to us the victims of Jammeh's tyranny. We understand that Abubakar confided to a colleague that "Jammeh should grow up". Because of the mystification of the "authority" of presidents, they are always beyond criticisms.
A NEW BEGINNING
To the conditioned mind, there is no better way than the "election" way with all its corruption, waste and violence. It has been deeply coded in our mind set suggesting that we cannot do any better than this cultural trap that have humanity, especially the most vulnerable sector of humanity, the oppressed, in a permanent state of retrogress.
There has been a massive shift in human consciousness after all these centuries of operating on "fear-based mind-set" unconsciously concealing the revolutionary possibilities that await a future of well being for life. I am positive that I am not the only African who has sensed this massive shift in consciousness but the crushing load of our fear based culture has unnerved many of us to accept conformity and obedience towards our self-defeating practices that long ago out lived any usefulness.
A new beginning demand of us to sever all ties with the fear-based mind-set that closes our hearts and minds to the passionate question: can there be a better world than this wretched one? The passionate answer to this question is a resounding yes! For nature never intended to have her most conscious species, human beings to wallow in misery on planet earth and defer all enjoyment of life to a "hereafter".
"Ku marr geech fekasila" - the river comes to those who are thirsty. Our passionate drive and conviction to quench this thirst is what is being put to the test. The institutions of the status quo that run our lives, be it political, social or religious deliberately undermine the revolutionary possibilities for a better world as nature meant it to be. Therefore, we must be prepared to accommodate the changes that come with an altered mind set into our hearts and minds.
Only a developed open mind and heart can come to the conclusion that "traditional practices" such as wasteful elections, abuse of "authority" and the acceptance that human suffering was predestined are all manufactured to hold back humanity from the expression of its highest spiritual potential in harmony with nature.
We should choose our officials and representatives with minimal expenses and eradicate the corruption, waste and violence inherent in the electoral process. It is through these corrupt practices that politicians perpetuate themselves and this foul system hiding behind "democracy". Elections as we have accepted it under this system is just one of many stumbling blocks in our path to a more advanced humanity, a humanity of greed-less-ness and the well being of life.
In conclusion, opening up to something new and unknown may be challenging but very rewarding if we submerge ourselves in the efforts to rise and go beyond all limitations imposed by the current crumbling and chaotic culture of greed, senseless exploitation and death. The entire system has failed under the leadership of its demonic patriarchy. Change is more feasible than ever and finally inevitable.
To ensure this change for a new beginning (world), we need new mothers who can unleash their fury against this culture of violence perpetrated by patriarchy and not to reverse the roles and become like the failed patriarchy. All mothers to become must understand the essential role nature had always assigned them million years ago; birthing and nurturing (mothering) for the well being of society without violence, the senseless drive for ownership and restraint from happiness and a joyous life. To all African women and mothers to become, remember that some of us brothers really do care, the reason why we raise our sons to become good and supportive fathers in the inevitable new society.
|
I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
|
Topic Locked
