In an interview recently granted to GRTS as part of activities marking the advent of the new year, President Jammeh issued yet another warning to all civil servants to do their job correctly or be removed, saying that one could only be save if he or she delivers up to expectation. “You can only be independent if you are delivering and if you are doing good things. You can be independent by doing the good things you want to do but if you are not doing anything you are not independent because there is an authority that is responsible for you.

“The law is clear on who is who. Nobody can be independent in this country, not even the President. If am not independent as the President, who else is free?” he enquired.

Speaking in a televised interview, President Jammeh, who deplored the poor performance of some civil service personnel, maintained that he would intervene to make sure that people did their jobs correctly as, he reasoned, that is what they are paid for.

“Here and there I fire people from government. I fire ministers because sometimes some of them are not ready to work. Sometimes they have the wrong people in the wrong place. If you put the wrong people in the wrong place, it is not going to work,” he opined.

Switching the discourse to the issue of the recent case filed by the UDP-NRP alliance at the Supreme Court to challenge the amendment of the local government act effectively putting the President in charge of Area Councils and Municipalities, the Gambian leader countered that the country is a democracy where the majority carries the vote. “The amendment was made by the majority of the National Assembly. If you are telling me that National Assembly’s action is illegal then I wonder which authority in this country can make laws which anybody considers constitutional, legal or illegal? If I have to intervene to save Gambians I will do so and who ever does not like it, you can leave the country,” Jammeh fumed. 

In President Jammeh’s opinion, it is a matter of choice for supporters of what he termed the so-called opposition. How many seats do they have in the National Assembly? Few, and all of the National Assembly Members are elected by constituencies. I have been elected by the country. Who has more authority?
“If anything goes wrong in this country, it is Yahya Jammeh that must fix it; so I will not allow anything to go wrong in this country. Those who are not satisfied with that can go to a country where nobody makes law but the opposition,” he asserted.

Commenting on the forthcoming local government elections, President Jammeh expressed optimism that the APRC party would win the elections because, according to him, Gambians are not fools.

He noted that 98% of the Gambian people want to progress, saying that they want a better nation that they can be proud of. “If we have won the presidential and National Assembly elections, obviously people want progress. If they wish this to continue they should vote for the APRC to continue our development agenda because there will be no point putting in people that would be opposed to anything that is progressive,” the President posited.

See subsequent issues for continuation of the interview.