Of Tribalism and Men: Pointing out Ethnic Politics in the Gambia is No Crime – The Watchman

JOLLAS HEAD BUREAUCRATIC UNITS!!!

Of Tribalism and Men: Pointing out Ethnic Politics in the Gambia is No Crime – The Watchman


Once again, Gambians are showing their timidity when it comes to facing the glaring deficiencies of our grossly imperfect democracy by attacking a newspaper gutsy enough to point out that yes, tribalism does exist within the pungent environment of political stagnation that Yahya Jammeh has concocted after 14 torrid years of misrule. To hear them tell it, critics of the Freedom newspaper's recent illustration of political appointees tainted by a common denominator, that of being Jolas, are concerned that all in all, these reports are just stunts that have no merit and possess the latent potential to incite internecine mischief. As the British would say, this is plain poppycock. Gambians are sensitive to a fault about how the imaginary good name of their country is seen and perceived by others and amongst themselves and this not only shows political naiveté but also reveals the biggest impediment to national development and the building of a credible juggernaut of an opposition to the blight and malaise proffered by the parasitic Jammeh outfit.


To attack the glaring incidents of Jolas at the head of bureaucratic units is a civic duty and anyone feeling squeamish about the deed is akin to the wily French administrators of the colonial era who in their bid to maintain hegemony over their African and other foreign subjects invoked the ideal of assimilation and attempted to neutralize the tribal links indigenous Africans had with their unique backgrounds. This ideal was exposed as a deadly fallacy because in the end, the notion of assimilation was so hypocritical and so contrary to the tenets of the French revolution of 1789 that revolts broke out in French Indo-China culminating in the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 when the French army was defeated by Vietnamese forces led by Ho Chi Minh. The suppression of tribal identity despite festering undercurrent tensions also had deadly implications when the Yugoslav socialist federation disintegrated in 1992. Hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Croats and Bosnians perished in the ensuing civil war that ground to a decent halt after the Dayton Accord was acquiesced to by the warring parties in 1995. An even better example is the Rwandan tragedy of 1994 where the legacy of French overlords downplaying tribal differences on a selective basis led to a million souls slaughtered, a culmination of ethnic grudges that were ignored as mere historical footnotes.


The lessons of the above mentioned calamities should be that as uncomfortable and even sometimes confrontational as the topic might be, us Gambians need to assess the unsavory nature of our characters and the seeping of convoluted tribal factors into our daily lives. To ignore this taint on our national psyche and to bash those who are brash enough to say tribalism is being perpetuated by Yahya Jammeh is akin to reacting like the crowd that kept mum when the emperor walked around naked until the precocious kid pointed out the obvious. There is a difference between detailing the prevalence of tribalism for nefarious ends and the need to monitor the onset of ethnic patronage before it gets out of hand. Frankly, the way so-called Gambian editors, commentators, columnists, opinion orifices, and rampant blowhards overreact at the whisper of possible tribalism is a disgrace. It shows an unwillingness to confront a stumbling block to overall Gambian unity and it this wimpy characteristic that has doomed any decent venture to right Gambia's political and economic ship.


If Zimbabwe's stalwart opposition were to behave like The Gambia's so-called anti-Jammeh political groups or worse even its nascent exile media, no one would have been exposed to the inequities of economic and political power between the Shonas, Mugabe's tribe and the Ndebele who migrated to present day Zimbabwe during another ethnic tension filled migration, the Mfecane. If Zimbabwe's MDC had heeded the timid prescriptions of a press akin to say, Gambia's online media scrum, then no one would have imagined that legally, it won the last presidential and parliamentary votes in a gallant display of bravery an organization only to see its triumph stolen under the pretext of a need for a runoff scheduled for June 25th 2008. The saddest ace up Yahya Jammeh's dirty sleeve and which this writer has pointed out again and again is the fact that when push comes to shove, Gambia's opposition and media, with the exception of a rare few, do not have the courage and resolve to challenge the Jammeh regime efficiently enough to effect simple political change such as due process in the arrest and detention of political prisoners and of any citizen for that matter. If Nelson Mandela and his anti-apartheid colleagues were offered the services or moral support of Gambia's opposition parties and so-called media, they would politely refuse. They know to have toppled Apartheid, one had to show unblinking daring and principled agitation, admirable traits Gambia's opposition and press heartbreakingly lack.


Any anthropologist would simply point out that tribalism on Yahya Jammeh's part is an instinctive and cultural proclivity within kin based societies where personal and family bonds play an integral part in forming the overall structure of the clan which in turn contributes to the formation of the tribal unit. The Scottish clans, Italian families and Japanese Yakuza all highlight this fierce devotion to filial and common history bonds that has been a hallmark of their operation for good and, at times frighteningly so, for worse. Discussing African tribalism has become taboo because those who make ill advised ploys to do so are ill-equipped, point out the primordial as opposed to the practical aspects of it, obfuscate some facts in order to subtly paint their kind as superior, and in most cases, cannot even discuss the convoluted dimensions of ethnic politics due to mixed feelings about experiences they had personally endured. As much as I appreciate P.K. Jarju's integrity as a contributor to useful exchanges on the political fate of The Gambia, his attack on Pa Nderry Mbai's Freedom newspaper was unwarranted and borne out of the sensitivity that has no place in objective assessment of societal events and which should be a feature best left to the biggest cry baby of them all Bubacar Sankanu. There is no denying that no matter what the Freedom newspaper publishes, critics, circling like starved vultures always swoop in to make a big deal out of nothing. What's gives here? The fact that Yahya Jammeh does not trust anyone but his Jola clansmen or the fact that illustrating this deliberate act shames all of us into confronting our own inherent tribal biases?


The crux of the matter, what needs to be undertaken by all concerned parties is to realize that in the end, Jammeh's political power can only be entrusted with very few trusted lieutenants and the more oppressive and decadent his marauding becomes, the less likely he is to buy into the notion that Wolof, Fula, Mandinka and other people of Gambia's various nations will tolerate the indecent abuse of power. Jolas on the other hand will put a blind eye to the unethical misappropriation of state resources because they have more at stake to lose and better yet, they know come what may that Gambians are sick of Yahya Jammeh but not angry at Jolas just for being Jolas and the spirit of forgiveness among us is greater than alarmists give us credit for. Which Mandinka, after Jammeh's rule will go after a Jola neighbor to right a perceived wrong committed during the tenure of his kinsman? Which Fula man will dump his Jola wife in the event Yahya Jammeh is booted out of state house just because he was mad at the stupid dictator all along? How many of us Gambians will make a list of Jolas to kill after the tragic-comedy of Jammeh governance just because the Freedom newspaper rightly showed the tribal penchant of Jammeh in positioning Jolas at crucial loci of power? Do these commentators who are so enraged about Freedom newspaper's listing of powerful Jolas in the Jammeh era honestly believe that Gambians are akin to bloodthirsty Rwandans who turned on each other at the urging of hate filled radio broadcasting and mob pressure?


Let's not become too prudish about evolving the discussion of ideas and tools to enact change in The Gambia. Let's not use our bully pulpit of newspaper ownership and publication to print only those ideas that fall in line with our personal biases and preferences. Let's not suppress the urge to explore revolutionary and evolutionary paths to effect much needed transformation in the socio-economic matrix of The Gambia. Let's understand that without fully confronting the ghosts of past failures and dereliction of civic duty, us Gambians will be part of the sad string and cycle of countless African nations who when given the chance to positively change their histories opted to live in fear and tyranny. Let's understand that as much as the topic might be explosive and downright painful at times, a national dialogue on socials ills such as tribalism is necessary to prevent worse case scenarios and preserve the cherished welfare of our small but proud republic.

Are you kidding me? do u expect anyone to read your whole comment. You have a point and u r right to a certain level but keep it short next time.