May Day and The Poor Workers In Gambia

There is a Wollof proverb which hold true for all of us. "every child will grow up to be exposed or revealed, whatever you become, give thanks to the woman who brought you into this world", And the Mandinkas have similar saying, "every child's rope emanates from the mother."


In the global workers day celebration, I can only vividly remember seeing multiple Gambian women in rural areas rushing to farms and gardens, rushing back home to cook and then heading back to farm...This visible imagination inspired one of my poem 'Every woman knows'.

With all the hard work, dedication and tending to little ones, these women still have time to look good. Hence, everyone woman knows her worth and beauty. It only happens, some lacking the financial means to perfect it.

So let us remember the women in gardens all over the Gambia, the women in the markets places hassling and all workers struggling to make ends meet in our mother/fatherland.

Not forgetting the many armies of Gambians scattered across the world suffering to make a better future for their families and children. Let us strive hard to make work pay for our fellow citizens whose salaries are far less than their daily bread. The average salary today does not have an inflationary increment to cater for the expensive cost of food, higher rents, school fees, travel expenses, let alone savings.
Gambian workers are poorer today than they were 10 years ago. There have not been any serious salary increases for the civil servants for a long time, and prices of basic commodities continue to appreciate.
The average civil servant, carpenter, builder, and market woman lives from hand to mouth. In fact, many civil servants survives and protect their dignity on 'small shop loans' from shopkeepers. They have a book with the shop keeper who records their daily borrowings. These circle continues month after month, year after year.
For us in Europe, America and other African countries, our earnings are now hampered by the expensive living cost we cater for back home. Without remittances, many families will beg to survive. So kudos to every single one of us who looks back, should we all hold our remittances for a month, there will a nationwide riot no doubt.

Our brothers and sisters are dying at sea, all to find work and make ends meet. Working is a sacred duty upon every man and woman.... http://suntoumana.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/every-woman-knows.html

Super Kanja Mouths

It is official, small country syndrome affects most of us. Do you know who I am? The rest is all spilling the beans.

The celebrity Gambian radio host of Freedom Radio, Pa Nderry M’bai, unleashes venom against certain individuals in the Gambian dissident group, whipping them for leaking stuffs and talking too much, and too quick to carry out naïve and premature plans and plots to unseat President Yahya Jammeh. There is some element of truth here if the master of all connected radio motor mouths in the Gambian online media is convinced that we have Super Kanja Mouths [okra soup mouths] within our midst.

Pa Nderry M’bai is simply complaining that people talk too easily about plans in the offing without looking into the many dangers that lie ahead. In that, they give away their own security and that of others and dash the hopes of returning normalcy in our country. Are these Super Kanja mouths not the ones extending Jammeh’s rein of terror?

M’bai’s hard truth comes just few days after Kairo Radio’s Mohammed Lamin Sillah raised what he called the “biggest obstacle to the struggle to defeat tyranny in the Gambia.” Talking in Wollof parables, Mr. Sillah said “a hunter that wants to go home with bush meat does not cough frequently.” He too concurred that “our people talk too cheaply and in the process spill the beans.”

ML Sillah hosts The Talking Point

Our erudite commentator and security analyst also had bones to pick with loudmouth people. Yaya Dampha warned people to be wary of the damage caused by “the people who use their tongue to shatter everything. People need to sit on their mouths and avoid talking too cheaply, putting others’ lives in danger.”

What did Super Kanja Men tell you Mama Neneh?

It is now evident that Gambian men have a serious weakness in keeping secret or anything confidential, especially when they see fair-coloured women sitting next to them. Even Jammeh’s secret agents give in everything while courting girls. These girls do not need to tune these agents because they vomit until they run out of gas.

News in the grapevine says December 30th foiled coup was leaked to President Jammeh two months before the execution took place. A self-exiled journalist poured the soup while trying hard to win the heart of Mama Neneh Macdouall-Gaye. This journalist is not a lone wolf in this type of attitude because many of our men do as if they have not been to the circumcision camp.

How then should trust and confidence be built in the activist and dissident circles, when people too cheaply confide in newspaper editors and radio hosts?

Pa Nderry M’bai wants to work his ash off for his information. However, it seems volunteering of confidential information is rather the norm, instead of the other way round. People want fame without hard work; they want recognition without sweating for it. What more is left on their plate other than blabbing, barking or yapping?

Anyone bent on unseating the Jammeh regime through whatever means should first guard his mouth.

Gambians will not be moved or swayed by how much Facebook likes, twitters postings one gets. The age we are in will be defined by substance and credible achievements over media inflated self-importance. The media is a vital tool but it is my fervent belief that educating and preparing our people should be the target not deceiving them in becoming a darling without substance.

Social media is contributing to creating this demon of ‘aling njee, aling njee’ ‘look at me, see me, here I am.’ If concrete steps are not taken to create a China wall between the private us and public us, no plan will work against President Jammeh. The philosophy of detachment is lacking in many Gambians of social importance. There is no private them and public them, it is all muddled up. President Jammeh and his intelligent agents don’t even work too hard to discover plots against them. Beautiful women get the job done with a slight smile. Let us be wise up, tough up and man up. Let us simply keep our mouth shut for the common good. Not everything we are privy to is meant to be shared.

A key member of the Committee for Restoration of Democracy in the Gambia in Europe is also accused of not leaking whatever is discussed behind closed doors to Bala Garba Jahumpa. It is common knowledge that whatever Bala knows is soon passed on to Jammeh. This is one of the reasons why he still secures a cabinet spot. We know the person in question but time is not ripe for him to be identified. But the onus now lies on all of us to trail these mouths without covers because they are the ones keeping Jammeh’s feet on the ground.

We have so many stories to tell on Super Kanja Mouth series but one sometimes forced to take a pause and say, alas, that coveted kewulo [circumcision camp] passed onto generations since the time of our ancestors is dead and buried. If any pieces of it exists, when can one find them?

Ends

Character Assassination and Spreading Falsehood

Friday reflection: brothers let us remember to stay away from accusing our sisters of immorality willy nilly. Society cannot be police by men going around accusing women of indecency, sleeping around and chastising them for no reason. This is a serious offence Islamically, and a great insult to womanhood.

 Islam teaches us never to accuse women of adultery, fornication etc, because it may all be false, you will deny that women, dignity, self respect and a cherish companion. Mutual rivalry is a human nature, people tend to want to be above others, if their personal accomplishment fail to demonstrate they are more successful, they resort to character assassination, slander and tarnishing the good name of others. Mandingka saying that "what is not the reputation of an individual, a jealous person will concoct it, however, in the long run, God clears decent people of evil slander and false labelling." Do not rush to conclusion, and be thorough before passing judgement on things written or heard. May Allah Guide Us.

Gambian freedom fighters should not mimic Yahya Jammeh

In a national struggle against open or silent oppression, the freedom fighter cannot afford to take a leaf from his oppressor, Oppressors thrive on marginalising their opponents, isolating them and victimising them. They master the art of creating a wedge and perfecting the policy of we versus them. Freedom fighters or pro-democracy activist will lose legitimacy where they want to become the struggle by constricting the public discourse. Stakeholders in this Gambian nightmares will not stand aside and watch. Since it is an equal opportunity patriotic duty for all conscientious Gambians to take a stand, don't wait to be invited in this noble endeavour. No other Gambian has any higher stake than you, wherever you are. Stand up and be counted, the struggle is not own by anybody, group, sector or influence.

Last week radio program

On Kairo radio today, we address few issues.

1. understanding ourselves, our genealogy and why, people are are still moved and happy of their background, ready to patronise singers to praise them. Do people really understand who they are, and what their family lines means, their role in society.

2. Family up bringing. Why it is not good to be aggressive against children without good words, making them proud, saying statements of blessing on them. Why we must stop insulting children, cursing them and swearing at them needlessly.

3. Why women need to analyse society and stop copying others, focusing solely on materialism and vanity. Leading to the chaos in society.

4. Why many Gambian children are running away from parents in Europe and America. The reports indicating that, people who bring children from Africa at age ten and over, is more likely for those children to run away and falling prey to bad peer pressure. 

5. We also discuss the need for Gambians to genuinely respect one another. Deal fairly and justly with everyone. 

6. People complain also Gambians make bad comments about one another in work places in abroad. Why, we must stop jealousy and stop making damning remarks about others.

Gambian ancient wisdom

Ancient wisdoms: "A child's rope emanates from the mother" (Mandingo) saying, and the Wollofs would say "every person that grows up and attain adulthood will be exposed, however, remember to thank the womb that bore you." Both statements means the same. The mandingka society beliefs that, women make or break the person.

This is a direct correlation to the manners and methods a mother conduct herself, since the child learns more from the mother than the father and the sanctity of the marital union depends on give and take.

 Whilst the Wollof wisdom here means, our successes, self-respect, ,manners, failures etc all are linked to the mother. And as an adult, a person has no place to hide in society, you are either a good member of society or a failure, but the justice of that is starts from the womb that bore you.

Gambian heroes are many

In the wake of the tragic failed coup, where 4 brothers lost their lives. There have been a quiet debates taking place among Gambians as to the level of heroism and bravery of the fallen brothers and those who undertook the adventure.

The failed coup last year was not the only attempted coup and will not be the last. With the system that President instituted to rule the Gambia, attempts will continue to be made until he is dislodged from power.

Who are Gambian heroes, and how shall we quantify our heroes and heroism? Kairo radio will host a discussion on this pertinent subject soon. In a dictatorship, all conscientious citizens are forced into a corner, and by virtue of their refusals to condone evil, corruption, nepotism and sycophancy, they become heroes without any public recognition and celebration.

In a national struggle against open or silent oppression, the freedom fighter cannot afford to take a leaf from his oppressor. Oppressors thrive on marginalising their opponents, isolating them and victimising them. They master the art of creating a wedge and perfecting the policy of we versus them. Freedom fighters or pro-democracy activist will lose legitimacy where they want to become the struggle by constricting the public discourse. Stakeholders in these Gambian nightmares will not stand aside and watch. Since it is an equal opportunity patriotic duty for all conscientious Gambians to take a stand, don't wait to be invited in this noble endeavour. No other Gambian has any higher stake than you, wherever you are. Stand up and be counted, the struggle is not own by anybody, group, sector or influence. 

With that has a backdrop, the Gambia has had many heroes and will continue to produce many more. Heroism is not restricted to men and women in battle. Heroism and conscientiousness encompasses a much wider framework of people.

There are Gambians in exile who will thrive in they accept the status quo back home, but they refused to be a party to the tyranny. These categories of Gambians include the highest number of silent heroes. We have salute them and encourage them to take the next step on funding opposition activities and youth movements affiliate with the organised opposition parties on the ground.

Another category of heroes are the men and women in the media. These groups of people spend time, money, and sacrifice their leisure to provide vital food (information) to Gambians all over the world and also to the international community. Left with the GRTS, and daily observer, the international community will have no idea what brutal system ensues in the country. Salute them in their perfect and sometime imperfect ways of get news and disseminating it.

The solid heroes for many are the official opposition on the ground. Many of these men and women lost the privilege to earn a decent livelihood in their own country. The ones who have careers and operate outside the ambit of the state are the ones with private source of income.

The state uses many tactics to dwindle the support base of the opposition. However, with hardship and brutalities, ordinary people continue to bear the brunt of the dictatorship, salute to them as well.

The heroes who have fallen since the unfaithful day of July 22 1994 to date, varies in complexities and the patriotic political undertaking. For the UDP alone, the torture related deaths to its party member’s stands at 9, with others who suffer chronic pains after soldiers/APRC militants attacked defenceless party militants. The cooked up trials and charges against them also created a lot of heroes.

The fortitude of many Gambian lawyers standing in a bias law court defending their clients on political related charges.