Thousands of Gambians yesterday descended at Arch 22 in Banjul, amid a sporadic rainfall, where the 14th anniversary of the July 22 Revolution was commemorated in a grand style, with President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh announcing the creation of a state mining company by September, this year.

“By September, we [the government] will create a state mining company. We know how much it takes to [have] those equipment. We will [have] those equipment, mine our resources, sell it for the benefit of you and I and our children,” President Jammeh announced a colourful ceremony, also graced by the Senegalese prime minister, Cheikh Haguibou Soumaré and the Guinean prime minister Dr Ahmed Tidiane Souaré.

The president’s statement was in line with the his desire for Gambians to reap maximum benefit from their resources. According to Dr Jammeh, what is happening in some parts of the continent, where oil companies become richer than the country in which they operate will never happen in The Gambia.

Delivering a speech, the president said that when the discovery of oil in The Gambia was announced, a lot of such companies rushed in and made a proposal of 5 per cent benefit to the government for a period of 35 years, which he had flatly rejected simply because such deals are bad deals and tantamount to exploitation.

Commenting on the theme for this year’s celebration which is “Independence and National Pride”, Dr Jammeh said the two go together as one cannot be achieved in the absence of the other.

He stressed the need for Gambians to look inward and be independent for sustenance and meaningful development.

He wondered how Taiwan with a small area of arable land unlike The Gambia, can be food self-sufficient in rice production when The Gambia depends mostly on imports. He revealed that 89% of the country’s food consumption is imported, a phenomenon to which he attributed to the strange ailments surfacing gradually among the local populace.

International matters

President Jammeh decried the lack of fair treatment to African nations by the West who were developed by resources of Africans centuries ago.

He cited the donor conferences which pledged US$50 billion to only Afghanistan for a period of 10 years, and of which 10 billion [Dollars] has been delivered while only US$1 billion was  pledged to the whole of Africa, while the Western companies are making US$10 million out of Africa a day.

He added that the US$1 billion pledged to Africa comes with  conditionalities, such as the Peer Review Mechanism for Africa, which instigates hostility among neighbours and which he refused to subscribe to.

Dr Jammeh wondered why the International Criminal Court (ICC) is focusing on Africa, while heinous crimes are being perpetuated in the Middle East with the perpetrator going scot free. He labelled the invaders of Iraq as “war criminals” as the conflict tantamounts to a genocide, with heinous acts such as torture and execution taking place there.

Dr Jammeh also harped on the failed attempt by Britain and its allies in the UN Security Council to impose multilateral sanctions on Zimbabwe’s ruling elite as another testimony of the unfair treatment being meted out to Africa.

However, he praised China and Russia, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, for blocking the resolution based on the fact that the Zimbabwe issue is entirely an internal matter.

The Gambian leader however emphasised that he is not supporting African leaders who brutalise their compatriots, but was just speaking the truth.

Vindication

For Dr Jammeh, the failure of NEPAD has clearly vindicated him due to fact that he opposed the organisation since its inception because of the way it was conceived and what it stood for.

He recalled that some of his colleagues were not happy with his statement and buttressed the fact that he will never support any institution formed to strengthen and deepen the spirit of begging.

“I am not against any progressive African institution. If we, the African leaders, respect ourselves, all the nonsenses that are going on today would have stopped,” he stressed.

New buses

In a separate development, President Jammeh presided over the launch of the brand new air-conditioned  buses for the Unique Transport Systems Company (UTSCO) aimed at putting an end to the difficulties and unfair treatment being meted out to commuters by commercial transport drivers. The president also launched the maiden edition of the Gambia Armed Forces AHOOAH magazine.

At the event, the president, who is the commander-in-chief, also decorated a number of personalities with medals of honour, based on their association and service to the Gambia Armed Forces. They included the vice-president, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, Speaker Fatoumatta Jahumpa-Ceesay, SoS Musa Gibril Bala-Gaye and the chief of protocol, Alhaji Ousman Ceesay, Mustapha Njie, CEO Taf Holdings Ltd, Muhammed Sillah of Sankung Sillah & Sons and Abdul Aziz Titao Mendy, the development officer at the National Sports Council.

The event was also attended by other members of the Cabinet, members of the National Assembly, members of the Judiciary, diplomats and other dignitaries, school children and representatives of civil society organisations and groups .


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