By Salifu Manneh
In my view, Yahya had all the manifestations of an acute psychotic state. He was delusional, paranoid and grandiose, hence his non-hesitance to go after every person or group of people he did not trust, finish them off at all cost without showing any remorse. We will never know the exact number of people who lost their lives, were traumatised and displaced socially, emotionally and psychologically from the brutal and dictatorial regime of Yahya Jammeh. He was callous. He treated his opponents disrespectfully and without any humility at all. He surrounded himself with killer human machines; the junglers, a propaganda wing called the green boys-what colours are these boys these days?
Remember all of his thieving, accumulation of wealth, (Janneh Commission) harassments, alleged killings and the mafia style in running our country was not done single-handedly. Yahya was aided and abetted by Gambians and non-Gambians. People with conscience should be ashamed of selling the Yahya agenda. After all, he had his chances, used and abused a lot of his chances, and wants us to remember him and respect him as an honourable man, in no way. It’s absurd. It’s ridiculous. It’s unfair. It isn’t brilliant. It’s shameful.
Yahya was consumed and taken away by fame, he never expected, the increase in wealth he had, never dreamt of it, and power that got into his head irrationally. The same insatiable appetite for power simultaneously made him powerless, toothless, and stateless.
Yahya’s era was a nightmare, and to encourage people to relive that nightmare by selling his agenda, in my view, is tantamount to nothing short of insensitivity, ridiculousness and irresponsible behaviour. For those people he tortured, killed, maimed, brutalised, strangulated, and suffocated (TRRC report), talking about these things in a non-treatment/ therapeutic environment can feel very distressing.
Yahya and his revolutionary ideas came ceremoniously with jubilation, and many people at home and abroad felt his coming was long overdue. Still, the end was bitter, unceremonious and humiliating. His grip on power is long gone. We as a nation never had time at all to process fully well how Yahya descended on our political scene uninvited; what his coming meant for the country, and how all this massive and unprecedented change would come to affect our lives forever. Victims of his barbaric regime will never have closure unless and until Yahya comes to an open and transparent space; takes an oath, is prosecuted and given a fair trial, apologises for his wrongs and shortcomings, and victims are compensated financially, treated psychologically and physically.
Yahya’s claim that he could treat Aids did a lot of damage to our country. Many Aids patients lost their lives as a result of Yahya’s reckless and irresponsible behaviour. Giving people the hope that he could cure Aids was a troubling state of both mental and physical health. It was a big lie, and his treatment centre could only be described as a centre of abuse of power, physical abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse and irresponsible governance. Donors withdrew a lot of support for the treatment of the AIDS population in our country once it became clear that our mentally derailed president, Yahya, had made unsupported claims that he was a healer. It was a hoax, a false and dehumanising attempt by Yahya.
We must not forget that Yahya enriched himself through the treatment centre. Being a patient under his care was a traumatic experience for most people. How do we engage with these ex-patients who may still be alive or dead, and ask them about their experiences and offer them psychological support if needed? Are they victims who should be included in any compensation scheme proposed for reconciliation purposes?
Yahya would long be remembered as the self-proclaimed leader whose delusional beliefs led him to announce that he would rule the country for a billion years on his unfaithful day; he was made to abandon the state house and the country in a hurry. Many Gambians profited from the chaotic nature of his departure and, to this day, may be sitting on a lot of wealth and resources that belonged to the state. The looted and the loot exchanged a few hands and enriched many people on the sides. We would never know the real wealth the country lost through dictatorship. How many citizens went into exile due to the dictatorship?
Talking about Yahya Jammeh’s return is unrealistic and an ill-advised conversation. Good though to engage in discussions that promote reflections about our common understanding, shared good and community togetherness. Every victim of the Jammeh regime must be given full respect and the compensation they deserve. Their recovery from their traumatic experiences due to the dictatorship is our responsibility as citizens of this country. Where are the junglers? Dead. Where are the Green Boys? Dead. Where are the mercenary judges and the judicial system? Severely dismantled but not yet dead. We are stuck, depressed and traumatised by the horrific and inhumane dictatorial regime of Yahya Jammeh. We want to move on.
Let us talk politics. Let us critically examine our economy: what is going right? What is going wrong for us? How are our agriculture and people’s lives affected by torrential rains? Why is there such a huge unemployment rate amongst youth in our country, despite our population being youthful? Why and how has our healthcare system reached the critical state of absolute collapse and is not fit for its purpose?
How could our small country accommodate huge inward illicit drug trafficking and consumption? What does it tell us about the government’s inaction in the areas of corruption, high cost of living, and high death rates from our referrals to general and private hospitals? Why are we no longer safe as a people and as a nation? What is responsible for the country’s increased and high crime rates?
Let’s take a pause, think and remember Solo Sandeng, Koro Ceesay, Ndure Cham, the young school children who lost their lives from holding a peaceful demonstration: if your son were one of the dead, how would you be feeling today, you, the person promoting the Yahya agenda? The Ghanaian Nationals are asking pertinent questions about the brutal killings of their loved ones.
The list goes on and on and on. Our hearts are with all their families and lost ones. Our Nation is still in mourning about the wrongs and ills of Yahya and his dictatorship regime.
Jammeh’s agenda promotion must end, and the best place, space and environment to bring a closure for all of us victims and the general population is in the courts. RESPECT. PERIOD.
