It is time Gambians turn their backs on Jammeh

Yaya Jammeh 

Gambians have suffered in the hands of Yaya Jammeh for 22 years.  When he seized power, he promised to eliminate corruption he's accused the previous government of.  Instead, corruption is rampant as it is endemic.  And the situation is getting worse as the regime continues to lose control of the situation as it is losing support of the Gambian people.

This is a regime that has demonstrated beyond doubt that it has lost the ability and the will to govern.  As a result, it has resorted to the most bizarre form of governance that relies on cult-like groups of supporters who are easily manipulated by Jammeh for the purpose of remaining in power.

To govern effectively, one needs a long term development plan with clear sets of measurable goals and objectives or deliverables which has been lacking in the 22-year history of the Jammeh regime. The numerous Visions - Vision 2020, Vision 2015, Vision 2016 - that Jammeh has unveiled should never be mistaken for a rational and achievable development plans because they lack the characteristics that make them one.  They are nothing more than propaganda tools that gives the false impression to an unsuspecting population that the regime is addressing their development needs.

The proof is in the figures.  There is more rural poverty today than 22 years ago.  The Gambia is the only country in the 16-nation ECOWAS that has experienced a negative growth rate in the previous three to four years and it has the 16th position out of the 16 Member States from Gambia's 3rd position in 1992.  One third of the entire population is food insecure which means that 600,000 Gambians cannot afford three meals a day who are still living in less than $ 1 a day.  The Jammeh regime is long on political rhetoric and propaganda and short on performance.

It is time for Gambians to wake up from their slumber.  Jammeh has failed Gambians and so has his entire regime that seems to succeed only in constructing a formidable torture infrastructure to suppress a people that were brought up in a democratic environment prior to July 1994.  Jammeh and his team of incompetent sycophantic politicians and bureaucrats have demonstrated, amply, over time, of their inability to deliver the goods to the Gambian people which should not come as a surprise because the soldiers who seized power came to enrich themselves and not to enrich the lives of two million Gambians.  Jammeh and a few of his partners have enriched themselves at the expense of every one else.  It is time for Gambians to turn their backs on this brutal, incompetent and corrupt regime.   #JammehMustGo