Thursday, June 23, 2016

Crime and Punishment

So Jammeh’s office announced in a press release that they have discovered “one of the most serious economic crimes” during his nearly 22 years of rule. From the sound of it, this is epic and unprecedented! If this is "one of the most serious economic crimes” under his watch, I wonder how many other “serious economic crimes” are there and what is their level of seriousness? This also probably means that nothing of this magnitude (or even close)  has ever happened in the history of The Gambia. 

When the junta came to power, they claimed to be "soldiers with a difference" and promised to wipe out corruption. This was the basis of their coup. They accused the previous government of all sorts of economic crimes and arrested folks willy nilly. But it did not take long for them to prove that their claims were false and they came in pretense. Soon after, former Finance Minister, Koro Ceesay, was  assassinated for attempting to be an obstacle when the junta wanted to dip their ashy hands into the cookie jar. 

The “soldiers with a difference”, who were God sent under the leadership of Jammeh to wipe out corruption, ended up perfecting it; and now the “most serious economic crime” in the history of The Gambia has happened under Jammeh's watch. Chei lee! Who knew! Somehow, economic crimes have been happening for a while now with folks getting arrested and jailed, but it never ceased, and now the ultimate has happened?  Is Babili sleeping at the wheel or is he the architect and beneficiary of these economic crimes? Remember, this is “one of the most serious economic crimes”, there are other serious ones too.

Now this leads me to my main question: where does the buck stop? Is Jammeh ever responsible for anything besides living a flamboyant lifestyle and chastising Gambians day in and day out? After all, these serious economic crimes have been happening under his watch for 22 years now. Everyone and their mama is getting arrested for crimes they have committed, suspected of committing, or falsely accused of committing. See, no amount of arrest can hide the truth! A system built with lies will crumble under the weight of those same lies.

They claimed to be “soldiers with a difference”, but they never disclosed whether that “difference” was good or bad, and now we know it is all bad! It is that “difference” that brought us the brutality we are now facing, the daily dose of hassteh and disrespect from Babili, the never ending threats we receive, and is now unraveling the fabric of our society. What a difference soldiers can make! Did Jammeh commit any crimes and who will punish him?

Sunday, June 12, 2016

A Lost Generation?

As human beings, we are shaped by our environment/culture, especially during the critical period  of
our lives (from early childhood to  before we hit adolescence). We do pick up new values after that (good or bad) based on our exposure to a new culture or environment. And if we are not exposed to anything other than what we know, we don't get a chance to learn something new and different.

For most Gambians that were under the age of 13 in 1994 (when Jammeh came to power) and those born during his rule, what Jammeh brought us is pretty much all they know, for the most part. A culture of public hassteh, intimidation, and crude insults. They grew up watching "dear leader" insulting the entire population while  mothers and fathers clap for him and continue to support and chase him around. So to this generation of Gambians, this is normal and acceptable societal behavior. So unless there is Devine intervention to help one refine their prospective, they stand no chance!

And what we see in Bai Babou's behavior is a direct result of the culture Jammeh brought us. If you watch the video he made claiming the audio was fake, and the subsequent video in which he softly admitted to wrongdoing and apologized to his fans, you will notice that his baseless arrogance, body language, and temperament, are exactly like Jammeh's. This is what he grew up seeing and thinks it's normal. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't have enough exposure or maturity to be able to refine his prospective.

Crudeness should be punished not rewarded. Jammeh was rewarded for his crudeness by Gambians, and look at what they have created now. Jammeh is insulting our mothers and fathers while they clap for him and laugh at his crude and disrespectful bad jokes.

My question to Gambians: is this what we value and reward as a community? Mbalax jarrna lee? Is Bai Babou's music education? Fahass? Gambia yaga neng njor fahass teh teye la gaina ponday! "Sen nangamtani ndey, mann yen rek la heef." Heef purr lan hana? Take the pacifier out of your mouth first before you can eat! Talent doesn't guarantee success. We have seen many talented folks who failed (from our artists to our soccer players) because of their lack of discipline and their foul temperament. If we don't raise our standards, we will remain in a perpetual state of confusion. Have we lost an entire generation to the Jammeh madness?

Friday, June 10, 2016

Gambia Nice

Nice is not nice sad is sad brutal is brutal
Intimidation insults threats beatings and arrest
Rape torture forced-disappearance and murder
Night so dark and impenetrable no one noticed 

Gambia nice!

Mass graduates in all disciplines heeming ataya
With degrees in hand fanning furrno
Employment seen at the furthest galaxy far far away
But will the backway get them there? Who knows!

Gambian nice!

Mandinkas about to be smoked like crack
To satisfy an addiction that’s further deepening 
Announced on loudspeakers and TV for all to hear
Interpreted in different languages and applauded

Gambia nice!

Sweet memories of big truck jew baa front and center 
When dust was kicked in the air forming a blanket of cloud
Dusty choices abundant and there was no going wrong
Ndeysan, balpuserr we miss you and please come back home

Gambian nice!

Cost of living a permanent resident in cloud 10
Too high for marijuana to lift and get you there
Alcohol has no smoke to attempt to elevate you to higher heights
Down to earth you remain to face the full wrath of reality

Gambian nice!

Free healthcare education and benechin 
River flowing and washing in prosperity to the shores 
Youths happy healthy vibrant and thriving
Prayers answered and fortunes raining from the sky

Belie walie talie Gambia nice!  

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

A Conversation with Sam Sarr

Sam: Dear readers, I was not going to dignify the perpetrator of this recording circulating on social media but after a second thought, I found it somewhat obligatory to make a short comment about it.

Me: Sam, when you are caught with your pants down to your ankles in public, you are obligated to make a comment because it is not normal behavior anywhere. Even if that comment is “oops, OMG!”  You are the perpetrator here. So yes, you had no choice but to explain.  

Sam: I am not crazy with all my military training from across the world to advocate the shooting of peaceful demonstrators under any given circumstance for that matter. I have broadly studied military law, the rules of engagements and fully understand the implications of the Geneva Convention.

Me: Sam, you are here articulating your military training from across the world, but by your own admission, you tremble when you hear gunshots and have shot yourself in the leg. So please give us a break with the talk of military training. You claim to broadly study military law and fully understand the implications of the Geneva Convention, but that’s not reflected in your verbal assault we heard on the tape. You clearly said that the initiators of the peaceful protest deserve to lose their lives and “you” would “fu*king” shot them if you were there and in charge. These are the rules of engagement you broadly studied? So much for your understanding of the rules.  

Sam: I wouldn’t in my wildest dream think that an intelligent person in this country will embark on the illegal activity of secretly recording a conversation with anyone without that person’s permission, given the stiff penalties laid by the laws for such banditry. That means, the conman was either unaware of the existing laws in New York City in particular or had simply taken the risk with the hope that I will challenge him in the courts and provide him with the cheap popularity he is seeking or perhaps the fast money he could gain from extorting his sympathizers.

Me: Sam, how can you talk about law when you want to “fu*king” shoot peaceful protestors? You are here representing a dictator who is violating the human rights of Gambian’s on a daily basis and have the audacity to talk about law? You represent and defend lawlessness. How convenient!  

Sam: I do not only view him as a coward and a conman for the unauthorized recording he did but in addition to not letting me know that he was going to share it on social media, he doctored the entire two hours recording into a twelve-seconds soundbite to make everything looked like that was all we had talked about.

Me: Sam, if the “coward” had informed you that the unauthorized recording was going to be shared on social media, what would you have done? Isn’t the whole purpose of the “unauthorized” recording for you not to know? So why then would he tell you? And it doesn’t matter if the recording is 2 weeks long or 5 seconds long. The fact that you said that the peaceful demonstrators deserve to lose their lives and you would “fucking” shoot them does not change. Yakor Wakh!

Sam: Well before the segment of the 12 seconds recording which I know he meticulously changed, I had already challenged the fellow on his evidence of his certainty that Solo Sandeng the UDP youth leader who organized the so-called peaceful demonstration was actually killed as he was strongly convinced of it before walking into the Mission. With nothing to show for that claim other than what he was hearing from the streets and social media, he changed the subject to why the demonstrators were manhandled for “peacefully demanding electoral reform”. That’s where I gave him my piece of mind about what I know about the “so-called peaceful demonstration” which in the past six months or so was the main subject of propaganda and fundraising  among the anti-Gambia government dissidents in the USA and Europe.

Me:  Sam, the only defense you seem to have here regarding your 12 seconds bluff is that you also did challenged the fellow on his certainty that Solo Sandeng was killed. How does that relate to or justify you “fu*cking” shooting peaceful protestors if you were in charge? Oh, I see, that was your piece of mind you gave the fellow. And in case you are not aware, the burden of prove is on your government to prove that Solo Sandeng is alive, not the other way around. They were recorded on video arresting him and have yet to charge or produce him. Please don’t talk about anti-government dissidents in the USA and Europe, Ebou Colley.  

Sam: Indeed, most of us were expecting some gullible fellows to fall for the incessant propaganda that I wrote about and published in series on the gambiaoneradio.com and Gambia Inquirer.com websites advising the potential mercenaries not to bite the bait and suffer the consequence. That the APRC government was indeed overwhelmingly voted into office by 72% margin of the population with the party’s popularity since 2011 growing exponentially.

Me:  Sam, you can write in series and publish all you want, but that doesn’t change your dishonesty and lies. It is glaring in everything you write. You should do yourself a favor and stop writing! You incriminate and further embarrass yourself every time you do. Your lies don’t hold your pieces very well, they are full of cracks.   

Sam: But then I am afraid on April 14, 2016, Solo Sandeng and his group of sponsored thugs swallowed the whole bait together with the line.

Me: Sam, peaceful demonstrators are now considered “thugs”? Where and by who? Are you into victim blaming?

Sam: I cannot boast about my linguistic skills in spoken Mandingo, but I can definitively say that I have a perfect understanding of every word spoken in the language. Hence, from the video footage circulating on line about the so-called demonstration on April 14, led by Solo Sandeng, there was nothing he said that suggested anything like demanding for electoral reform in the Gambia. That desperate excuse was a last resort of justification after the ultimate UPRISING failed dolefully. Solo for all I heard him saying in the video footage was his aggressive demand for a change of the government, period.

Me:  Sam, what does you not being able to speak Mandingo have to do with anything? Solo Sandeng had a sign that clearly said “we want electoral reform”. Also, are you telling us that Solo Sandeng does not have the right to demand for a change of government regardless? Sam, you should listen to yourself more.  

Sam: Although the fellow argued that he wasn’t following any of such campaign online in the past-big liar-I went on to tell him about the magnitude of the security threat the hooligans had posed to the peace and security of the country in their demand to change the regime in the manner they wanted to do it.

Me: Sam, you are not allowed to called anyone “big liar” after your boss (Jammeh) named you “Liar of the Century”. You take the cake Mr.! And don’t talk about security of the country please, you were there as a senior officer when Jammeh (a junior office) took over the government effortlessly in 1994. You did not only fail in detecting any security threat then, but you were also arrested and jailed.  So nyan nala with the security blah blah blah!

Sam: On a final note, my position on the so-called peaceful demonstration never changed since the architects of the anarchy started their conspiracy to the very day it happened on April 14 2016. That if you want to tear down a country in an effort to change a government that was popularly elected into office, then be ready to face or see anything in that uphill battle including the end of few to many lives, plus of course yours.

Me: Sam, again, please don’t talk about “anarchy”, you represent and ferociously defend a government that is just that.  You seem to be proud and bragging about the loss of lives too.   

Sam: Now that the whole nasty scheme boomeranged in their satanic faces, it looks like out of shock and disbelief, they want to resort to any means to nurse their wounded souls. If they have any element of conscience, they should blame themselves for any casualty in the problem they have cooked and dished in six months or so.

Me: Sam, forget “boomerang”, Jammeh is dusting off his guillotine for your head. With Gambia isolated and the noose tightening, your loose mouth and recklessness is the last thing he needs. You just threw in a monkey wrench in his already boiling sea of troubles. Watch him sacrifice you for acting up. You were seeking a comfortable retirement by selling you soul to the man who made you cry, right?  Guess what? Your mouth just did you in!

Sam: But, hey, the con artist is always a con artist and this is one con artist on steroid.”


Me: Sam, you conned people into buying your book, just to turn around and tell them “nahay mbowe.” You disputed the contents of your own book. Who does that?  Talking about steroids -  you are the dealer for the con artists. You were better off  denying that it was your voice on the recording rather that make this flimsy argument. Your boot-licking ways has crossed the line and your disdain for your fellow Gambian has been exposed for all to see. Everything you said is on record for posterity sake. My only question to you now is: Sam, what will you do post Jammeh? You can sleep on it.  

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Well Done!

Well Done

In the front end you make all these promises, but in the back end you pile money up to the sky.

Well done!

You've done a wonderful job of tearing down the country into pieces.

Well done!

You've done a splendid job of selling out the country with your business plan.

Well done!

Kanilai Farms, Kanilai Cosmetics, Kanilai Mburu, Kanilai Transportation, Kanilai Dem Macca, Kanilai Tobaski, etc.

Well done!

Strictly personal gains you've pursued all these years. And now tax rates are higher that the plane you fly in.

Well done!

Meeting peaceful protesters at the gate with arrest,
 torture and death. And now Solo Sandeng is MIA and Lawyer Darboe changed.

Well done!

You deserve a round of applause for all your hard work that has left the country in ruins and in a perpetual state of darkness.

Well done!

Now who's going to deal with the IMF? For your services, I must congratulate and salute you!

Well done!

Friday, April 8, 2016

Deffanteh Republic

Jammeh's first defanteh was in 1994 after accidentally taking over. He arrested ministers and other high government officials and loaded them in lorries, confiscated their properties, and jailed/tortured some. Called them RATS and accused them of embezzlement and storing the loot in their homes in Pipeline. 

Next deffanteh session was with the British. Jammeh accused them of ruling Gambia for 400 years and stealing our elephants, zebras, buffalos, lions, giraffes, hippos, cobras, rattlesnakes and ningkinankas. I guess they left the crocodiles because we have them plenty, and Jammeh now owns most of them, but all others mentioned are now extinct. 

The 2012 deffanteh with the opposition was a good one too. Jammeh call them dogs and said he will not bark back at them.  In that deffanteh, Jammeh said “Is it now that I am using government resources? If they [opposition] think that the resources I am using are government resources, what do they mean by government resources? You know they are never specific? They are here to serve foreign interest and I don’t care." Then who’s resources are they and what foreign interest are they (opposition) serving? Be specific please! Jammeh also let the opposition know that if he takes back what he owns at the state institutions, they will not function. Even the state broadcaster, GRTS, he claimed, is using his cameras and that The Gambia Government last purchased a vehicle for him in 1995. And, since then, he has been designing the type of vehicles he wants and they (manufacturers) do it the way he wants them. Borom Gambia Y!   
   
How about the deffanteh with the domas (witches)? That one was weird! Rounded up some domas and gave them a cocktail mix to drink and spill the beans. How many were rounded up again and where are they now? And who ratted out the domas?  

Then there is the ongoing deffanteh with Senegal. How many times have the border been closed sah? Who’s counting? But my favorite Senegal deffanteh was last November's, in which Jammeh insulted the Senegalese leaders. He said President Abdou Joof lost because he didn't listen to his advice. He accused President Wade of discussing him (Jammeh) with the whites, and he attributed Senegal’s problems to Mr. Wade’s “ndel fondong” (bald head). He even threatened to “nan”  NescafĂ© on Mr. Wade’s “ndel fondong” too. Classic! And he called President Macky Sall a puppet. Deffanteh 101 right there!

Given this backdrop, I have some deffenteh suggestions: How about deffanteh with the economy and show it who’s boss? How about deffanteh with the crumbling roads? They need someone to set them straight. The electricity supply has been playing games for so long and needs to be wrestled down. Unemployment is pushing the youths into the Atlantic Ocean and needs some serious defanteh. The Banjul gutters have been stubbornly stagnant for God knows how long; who’s going to defanteh with them? So far, the Banjul Mosquitos are winning their deffanteh! This is just a tip of the “deffanteh iceberg”. Let the real “deffanteh games” begin!

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Happiness and Fulfillment

If you ask people about "happiness and fulfillment" and what it means to them, you will probably get a variety of answers. The general approach to happiness is that if you attain what you desire, you are happy; and if you don't, you are unhappy. Win the lottery, get a great job, get married, go on a holiday, and you are happy. Miss the lottery, don't get a great job, don't get married, don't go on a holiday, and you are miserable. Or is often considered as a subjective state of mind, as when one claims one is happy when one is at a beach enjoying a cool drink on a hot day, or is out “having fun” with friends.

Webster defined happiness as "the emotion evoked by success or by the prospect of possessing what one desires." But this may sound shallow to a reflective person because they know that this kind of happiness is fleeting. Here one minute and gone the next! When the "having fun" is over or we finally possess what we have been desiring, somehow the happiness soon fades, and before we know it we are back to our disgruntled self again, desiring something new to make us temporarily happy again. However, more often than not, happiness remains forever elusive for those with such shallow views.

But if you go beyond the surface, the understanding of "happiness and fulfillment" drastically changes. Plato argues that we must be moral in order to be truly happy, and that it hinges on the four cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice. Wisdom is based on mind. Plato believes that the wise person uses the mind to understand moral reality and then apply it to daily life. The wise person is guided by prudence in the choices they make. Courage has to do with how we handle adversity,  but it also includes one's convictions. As a matter of fact, Socrates, who was Plato's mentor, chose to die rather than abandon his deepest convictions. Moderation (self-control) is connected to our desires. Human beings have endless desires, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. But it becomes problematic when we desire a good thing in the bad way, or a bad thing. 

Our desires for food, sex, alcohol and material possessions must not consume our lives in a way that compromises our character, but don't tell that to some people, they may accuse you of being jealous. Justice relates to one's overall character. For Plato, the just person has a healthy soul, in which reason rules the appetites and our desire for honor. The just person is fulfilled, at peace, and truly happy.

In my evolution, I've been inching closer and closer towards Plato's view of "happiness and fulfillment". Not there yet though because the gravitation is slow; the road is full of obstacles and other forces are pulling from different directions too. Growing up in a place where resources were limited (and still are), I was made to believe, for the most part, that material success is what defines and fulfills an individual. Your success is generally measured by the amount of material possessions you accumulate, regardless of your character, especially now. This idea of success has now led too many folks in my community to abandoned morality and dignity and plunged into the ocean of injustice and hypocrisy.

The "pretentious culture" in my opinion is a source of misery for too many folks. They will lie, cheat and steal just to impress others. It is simply hard to coexist with these types of people if you’re more interested in simplicity and gratitude. Pretension is a mask that allows you to be someone else, and many get consumed by it. Ultimately it can make you and those around you very unhappy.  Our relationships with others, while vital to human existence, can often cause us a tremendous amount of anguish. On the same token, our relationships profoundly influence, if not define many aspects of our lives.

While there are "happiness and fulfillment" prescriptions from thinkers and religion, it should still be considered somewhat relative. What works for one may not work for another. But as I continue my journey in life, I find myself rebelling against this notion of material possession as the yard stick for happiness and success, and define my own state of happiness. My quest for "happiness and fulfillment" has led me down the part of seeking health (moral and physical), peace of mind, and sound wisdom.

In pursuing these goals, I've been able to make enormous strides in keeping my sanity, distance myself from unnecessary contention, and avoid the rat race. Moreover, I focus on nurturing who I am, rather than who I should be. I refuse to surrender to the unnatural demands of the class struggle, my lucidity is too important. My objective is to live simply, live well, and try to make a difference (no matter how little). Overall, I'm in a place of contentment and it keeps getting better. We should all learn to appreciate the simple things in life more, for they can bring you the most happiness.