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lurker
509 Posts |
 Posted - 17 Jul 2008 : 20:35:21
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question.
overall,all things considered, after 14 years in power, president jammeh has been a success for the gambia.
discuss.
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kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 18 Jul 2008 : 08:35:33
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That is a very good question Dr. Lurker, and I hope members will ponder this question and provide their detail discussion of this issue.
Meanwhile, here is my own short prelude. I think Jammeh's performance is sincerely a mix bag.
SUCCESSES:
His performance in the area of:
1. infrastructural development (roads, schools, hospitals, etc) is commendable although it is hard to ascertain how far these infrastructural developments have impacted the standard of living of Gambians.
2.Jammeh's 14 year rule has also brought about a wider access to education (especially university education) and news (television) in the Gambia.
3. jammeh's presidency also in some sense maintained the legacy of stability from the Jawara era. Despite numerous attempted coups and rumours of coups, jammeh maintained a firm grip on the government thereby avoiding a situation of government breakdown and degeneration that characterize many failed states in the sub-region and beyond.
4. Jammeh's economic and foreign policy has managed to survive some tough and hostile international climate such as the British travel ban and suspension of all military aid to the Gambia during the mid 1990s. I think Jammeh managed to weather this set-backs by making internal political reforms as well as finding alternative economic allies such as Taiwan, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, and many other muslim countries.
5. jammeh's controversial "presidential treatment" programs have been celebrated in some quarters in the Gambia as successful. Despite international outcry, Jammeh's treatment of HIV-AIDS, asthma, and infertility for example succeeded in producing a small number of proponents who believed it has worked on them...
6.Jammeh's call to the land, "Back to the land" by emphasizing food self-sufficiency, promoting (and introducing )limited mechanized farming could transform agriculture in the Gambia in the long run.
7. jammeh's so-called war on corruption may have reduced the extensity (although not the intensity) of corruption in the government. Many government officials worry more about the consequences of their actions today more than they did during jawara's time.
FAILURES:
Jammehs nonetheless has registered some huge failures during his 14 year tenure as the president of the Gambia.
1. jammeh has all facade of an autocrat who rules with might...
a. He does not respect the rule of law. Political and other dissidents are arrested, detained, and summarily executed without due process of law.
b. Media prectitioners and private citizens critical of the government are often harrassed, arrested, jailed, and sometimes disappear for ever. They may also be embroiled in a government-controlled never-ending legal process that suspends their civil rights. Examples are Fatou Jaw Manneh and Dida Halake.
c. Government officials are fired, hired, re-fired, and re-hired in a cyclic process ("Operation No-Compromise)that continually stifles morale and productivity in government.
d. The judiciary and the legislature are in fact subsidiaries of Jammeh's long arm. There is no true separation of powers in the Gambia since the law makers and the judges are at the mercy of the presidents proverbial "electric broom".
e. Government corruption has not gone away afterall. Despite Jammeh's loud talk about eliminating corruption, he has surrounded himself with a small cliche of loyalists who have unfettered access to government coffers. Perhaps jammeh's security lies in how much succur he can provide or condone to provide to this inner circle of his security apparatus. Jammeh himself has been much suspect in the practice of corruption. The confessions of Capt. Ebou Jallow in 1995 after defecting from the military government is one of many testimonies to this.
f. Jammeh has also transformed a once vibrant electoral system into a circus of political intimidation, gerrymandering, and in the process almost transformed the Gambia into a defacto "one-party state". IEC officials, and civil servants are regularly intimidated,fired and arrested.
I hope this sets the stage for further discussion. Thank you.
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lurker
509 Posts |
Posted - 18 Jul 2008 : 12:45:44
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very comprehensive response, thanks. i wanted to get a feeling from gambians who have watched his rule unfold. i do not think toubabs from here can have a very objective view of 14yrs reign, only a snapshot .My toubab friend living there thinks that , on the whole, gambia has prospered under him, despite what people may think of his lunatic endeavours in the medical field! he thinks it is stable enough and would be worse if he was not there. so this question was really aimed at gambians who have lived through it and remember the era before for comparison.
your answer may leave others with little else to add! |
Edited by - lurker on 18 Jul 2008 12:46:49 |
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kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jul 2008 : 18:58:12
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| Did I kill the discussion then? |
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lurker
509 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2008 : 10:01:26
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| maybe others cannot give a better answer! but i am sure someone must have something to add. |
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Dembish
Gambia
284 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2008 : 18:43:53
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f. Jammeh has also transformed a once vibrant electoral system into a circus of political intimidation, gerrymandering, and in the process almost transformed the Gambia into a defacto "one-party state". IEC officials, and civil servants are regularly intimidated,fired and arrested.
Keyjatta a very nice round up bro but, the above final statement on your analysis justifies the end hence that very statement illegitimised the existence of the APRC government as far as I am concern. |
There is no egg without a chicken, and no chicken without egg. |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
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shaka
996 Posts |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2008 : 17:07:36
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quote:
Originally posted by shaka
A Nigerian's take on Jammeh's APRC.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200807281066.html
Thanks Shaka! I love tribute to OUR HUMBLE POLITICAL GENIUSE; as quoted "The Gambia's equivalent of our Gani Fawehinmi, Alhaji Halifa Sallah, and they belong to different parties"
Later I would subcribe on "ALLAH IS MY WORLD BANK!" as money does not come as rain from the sky for projects; to built TV station, Schools & University,
There were some funding for a comprehensive development & poverty alleviation programme that was high-jack from deposed President Jawara's government; at time of army take-over and accountableWe are talking about ACCOUNTABILITY & TRANSPARENCY!
"Baboun work monkey eat!" |
Edited by - kobo on 29 Jul 2008 17:13:10 |
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