Gambia’s political impasse: Nothing to negotiate

There is an interesting epitaph in the ossuary of the well-respected Nigerian jurist, late Justice Kayode Eso (JSC), which I have considered to be the beginning and the end of every legal exegesis. It reads: “Let no man live uncurbed by law or curbed by tyranny”. The import of this expression as regards the current political stalemate in the Gambia is that President Yahya Jammeh has ruled the tiny West African country for over two decades, totally uncurbed bylaw, as he is notorious in flouting the Gambian constitution and all known international laws with reckless narcissism. Having ruled uncurbed by law, the ECOWAS must, as a matter of urgent moral intervention ensures that his unrestrained paranoia is curbed by tyranny. The position of the Gambian people was well expressed in the December 1 general elections as arranged and supervised by Jammeh’s government. The verdict of the voters followed, sarcastically, the popular platitude of Sir Kenneth Kaunda that “Gambia must be free”. His Excellency, Sheikh, Professor, Doctor, Alhaji Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh Babilimansa, Commander-inChief of the Armed and

Security Forces of the Islamic Republic of Gambia lost the election fair and square.

The recalculation of the results does not change or affect the credibility and the accuracy of the vote. A man who conceded defeat to a popular wish and said clearly on the national television that the election results showed that the Gambian people wanted him to take the back seat would not been considered for negotiation after making a volte-face. ECOWAS Heads of State and Government never voted in the election and would not have any legal basis to open a window of negotiation on the exit of a demented tyrant. One would always find it difficult to rationalize every decision of governance ever taken by President Jammeh since he took over power in 1994. He made mockery of African tradition and values when he elevated the witchcraft cult to a ridiculous height. In 2007, the ‘Doctor-Jammeh’ claimed to have invented his own ‘herbal’ cure for HIV; this involves patients giving up anti-retroviral drugs. Two years later, his Green Beret presidential guard allegedly ‘force-fed’ a hallucinogenic potion to an entire village, apparently because he suspected that the villagers had cast a spell on his aunt. Under Jammeh’s rule, Gambia has become a modern-day version of Graham Greene’s The Comedians -with tattooed Daily Star readers lolling on the beaches while a Papa Doc Duvalier lurks in the background. This is a sordid case of irresponsibility over-advertised by a utopian leader. He clutches the Quran by his left hand and invokes heathenism to a brutal conformity. Mr. Jammeh is talking about the sovereignty of the Gambia. He should be reminded that the existence of international laws, regional and sub-regional treaties to which Gambia is a signatory, could undermine the sovereign of the country if the constitutional rights of her citizens are breached by an irresponsible government. The people of the Gambia have the world as their macro-constituency on which they must seek help if the domestic government deploys instruments of terror against them. His refusal to step down/aside from power in utter disregard to the Gambian constitution is an attack on humanity and must be treated with every sense of commitment toward the permanent enthronement of genuine democracy onthe soil of Africa-the first step is to force President Jammeh out of government house with every instrument of coercion at our disposal. Having mis-ruled The Gambia for 22 years the people felt it was necessary to uproot him in line with the extant democratic processes but being a consummate despot, he felt hecould use the old-trick of resorting to legal technicalities to perpetuate a repugnant suzerainty over the Gambians. The Supreme Court of the Gambia cannot go ahead to hear Jammeh’s petition in a hurry. President-elect Adama Barrow and his coalition of seven political parties have said The Gambia has not had a functioning Supreme Court for the past year and it would be unacceptable for Mr. Jammeh to appoint judges now to preside over this case, as he is an interested party.

The inauguration of the new president must hold on January 19 as this does not prevent the Supreme Court from continuing with the matter brought before it. As a reminder, Mr. Jammeh took the oath of office for the fourth time on 18 January 2012.

A new president must, therefore, be sworn in on 18 January 2017. After the 2011 polls, the losing candidate, Ousainou Darboe, filed a petition to challenge the result but Mr. Jammeh was sworn before the petition was heard. So there is a precedent for Mr. Barrow to be sworn in while Mr. Jammeh is still going to court. It is a question of law that must be litigated, argued and adjudicated upon by a minimum of 5 Justices of the apex court-it is not a one day affair except if President Jammeh, as suspected, wants to use his position to handtwist the Judges and compel them to give judgment in his favour by ordering for a fresh election which will amount to an invitation for anarchy. The Gambia is facing a very bleak political future but total removal of President Jammeh will be the only possible solution to minimize the unavoidable consequences of December 1election. It is morally injurious for anyone of us to think of fresh election in the Gambia when the people have spoken clearly through the ballot. The IEC insists that Mr. Barrow still won but his victory margin had narrowed from 9%to 4%. Mr. Barrow got 43.3% of the vote, Mr. Jammeh 39.6% and a thirdcandidate, Mama Kandeh, 17.1%, according to the revised figures. Mr. Jammeh pointed to this in his national address but some say the real reason for his change of mind might be induced by fears that he would be prosecuted for alleged human rights abuses. But whatever be the reason(s), the constitutional rights of the Gambian must be respected by all parties. The role of mediation by the ECOWAS member states should not be misconstrued for begging Jammeh to step down. It should be viewed as an attempt by President Buhari and others to give a full lecture on democracy to Mr. Jammeh as a measure to help him rewire his moral and psychic circuits in line with contemporary realities. And one of the realities is that no dictator who loses to an election in African soil would be allowed to perpetuate himself in power.

The political party founded by President Jammeh, Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) under which he contested the last election should take a step to reorient Mr. Jammeh on the need to ensure that a peaceful handover of power on January 19 is key to the consolidation of democratic values the party had nurtured in the country for two decades. The real test of patriotism as an emblem of the APRC is the capacity of the party to relinquish power democratically and subsequently pursue its grievances through a legitimate process of the Court. I think, if Mr. Jammeh has kept to his earlier concession of defeat, he would have done a serious good to himself because those who are clamoring for his prosecution for various human rights abuses would one day see reasons to grant him pardon in view of this patriotic gesture of putting the Gambia above his personal interest. Ibrahim

Hadejia wrote this piece from Gusau, Zamfara State.