Niccolo Machiavelli said in The Prince that “All well-governed states and wise prices have taken care not to reduce the nobility to despair, nor the people to discontent.” President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia seemed to have ignored these words of wisdom. On December 10, 2016, Jammeh brazenly rejected the result of the Gambian Presidential election held on December 1, 2016 in which he was defeated by the opposition candidate, Adama Barrow. President Jammeh had initially conceded defeat on December 2, 2016 but later changed his mind and vowed to stay put, saying that only the court could decide who was the President. Barrow, the President-elect offered direct talks but Jammeh has remained adamant. His petulance and shameless volte-face has thrown Gambia and the world into turmoil.
Meanwhile, many world leaders such as Ban Ki Moon of the United Nations, Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, Sirleaf-Johnson of Liberia and ex-president John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, among others, have appealed to Jammeh not to cause despair and discontent in Gambia. He has been told to relinquish power but the man has bluntly refused all entreaties. Barrow is expected to be sworn-in on Thursday January 19, 2017 but Jammeh has ordered that no judge would perform the ceremony. Jammeh has the backing of the Head of the Gambian army.
Yahya Jammeh, who came to power through a coup in 1994 has contested four presidential elections and won. His current intransigence takes us back to the Burkinabe uprising of December 2014 when President Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso was forced to resign and fled to Ivory Coast. Like Jammeh, Campaore seized power in 1983 and 1987 through coups d’etat. He killed his boss and friend, Thomas Sankara. He dumped his military uniform and contested the presidential elections in 1991, 1998, 2005 and 2010 and won.
Campaore’s attempt to amend the constitution to extent his 27 year old term caused the December 2014 Burkinabe uprising which overthrew him. If Jammeh remains intransigent, there may also be a Gambian uprising. Meanwhile, several top officials serving in Jammeh’s government have resigned while thousands of women and children have fled to neighbouring Senegal.
According to John Stuart Mill, “The worth of a state, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it.” We sincerely pray that Jammeh will not throw Gambia into avoidable civil war through sheer obduracy and the insatiable spirit to die in office. If Jammeh remains obstinate and greedy, he will only be following the disgraceful footsteps of several African leaders who refused to leave the stage when the ovation was loudest. Such men have been described as “corrupt, mean, autocratic and irresponsible.” On top of the abominable list is Teodoro Ngema of Equitorial Guinea. He became president in 1979 and has no plan to leave power. He is Africa’s longest serving President.
Denis Sassou ruled his country from 1979 to 1992 and stepped down; he came back to overthrow a democratically elected President in 1997 and has remained in office. Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola has been President from 1979 till date; he promised but failed to step down in 2003.
Robert Mugabe has been president of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. Now 93, Mugabe who is one of the longest serving and indeed the oldest President in Africa is planning to contest the next presidential election. Mugabe has always maintained that he would die in office.
Our next door neighbour, Cameroon, has been ruled by Paul Biya since 1982 till date. He is 84 and not in a hurry to step down. Ibrahim Babangida ruled Nigeria from 1985 t0 1993; he was forced to “step aside” when it became glaring he was preparing to be a life president. His comrade-in-arms, Sanni Abacha, the most brutal ruler in Nigeria, was in power from 1993 to 1998 but died before he could change to civilian president. Some African leaders were either killed or died in office; some stepped down willingly. Mobutu Sese Seko was President of Congo DRC from 1967 to 1997. He was overthrown in 1997 by Laurent Kabila. Mobutu was accused of stealing five billion US Dollars from his nation’s treasury. At the height of his squandermania, Mobutu imported a four hundred million US Dollar cake from France for his birthday. He died in Morroco, aged 66. Laurent Kabila, who deposed Mobutu, was assassinated in 2001; he was succeeded by his son, Joseph.
Post a Comment