It is so sad and shocking to hear about the cancellation of the recent elections in Gambia. While we wait to ascertain this new development, I would like to ask my fellow Africans to do just one thing! Stop being stupid! Very few people recognized Mr. Yahya Jammeh's effort "to implement the reforms necessary for successful, free, fair, and transparent elections that nobody thought could happen the way it did". That was not some haphazard stand I was taking. It is strategic in that it puts aside the revenge sentiments and tries to calm down retribution violence that had started agitating in the country, yet Mr. Jammeh still had power and authority for a month (until January 2017). Instead of making conciliatory moves until the handover so as to consolidate democracy's victory, people sheepishly followed the western stupidity of mockery and then started making threats to his life. Seriously, what did any normal person expect when preparations are being publicly made to hang him alive? These democratic forces in Africa who, by ignorantly following western ridicule of Africans even when they unexpectedly do the right thing, have ended up spoiling their own cake. The situation was theirs to manage delicately until victory was cemented and democracy guaranteed. Unfortunately the transition was immediately "mismanaged". We Africans have to think hard about what it is exactly that is important to us, and then be able to negotiate soberly through so as to achieve that important priority. Are we just happy with uselessly maligning others (kujerega) and revenge behaviour, or do we really want the freedomof choice and democracy for the long term? In Uganda for example, we saw what happened in 2005 when the constitutional two term limit was lifted. The incumbent was supposed to have left in 2006, and if the leading challenger had taken over, he would have also been handing over to someone else by last February 2016 and should be retired from presidential matters today. But the lifting of the term limits in 2005 was most probably orchestrated in response to the hate rhetoric about what happens to certain people after they are out of office. And now the lifting of the age limit is also going to be about those same unwritten yet realistic fears given our hate fuelled politicians who entered the country in 1979. People who, instead of improving what they found in Uganda, embarked on abuse, divisive utterances, and destruction for two whole decades. All their other actions since 2005, including election rigging and "sole candidate" project, are based on fear of retribution of if/when they are out. Today they are all now probably wondering "What is 'Mzee' planning for 2021? Is he standing or not?" If you are in their shoes, what do you think you will do? Won't you push him to stand again? Wouldn't that be your only guarantee for safety and wellbeing? While in countries like South Africa, Botswana or Kenya those guarantees and packages are solidely institutionalized, here people haven't said or proposed anything durable that calms African presidents fears. So the only option is to cling on even when already tired. It is a matter of life and death. In Uganda clinging today means to remove the age limit and build a life presidency. As we see in Gambia, hate speech and revenge ideologies are at their peak. Some people trying to use an.unfortunate murder on tribal grounds so as to fuel revenge one day. And with what has happened in Kasese, I foresee a more overtly clinging dictatorship in Uganda henceforth. And let nobody fool you about being able to end such a regime peacefully. Isn't the presidential age limit now up for discussion/removal instead? So where are all the utterances we were hearing about "dismantling the Museveni junta"? I wonder if people will ever wake up or get tired of being taken in circles. In Mr. Yahya Jammeh's case, they didn't even hold their cards.close to their chest for the few weeks until the formal hand-over. The hate-mongers are the ones who have made democracy to fail in Gambia (and here in Uganda). Even the so-called intellectual opinion makers are so shortsighted and have also been fuelling ridicule against a fellow African who for once had put the Gambian nation where everyone wanted it to be. On a clean democratic path. But did anyone appropriately recognize that cardinal achievement? Our African opinion writers instead literally copied the mocking of African leaders by European imbeciles. People who as recently as 1950's were still displaying Africans in human zoos while continuing slavery and their parasitic plunder on our continent's resources yet today they cunningly want to make themselves supreme by now preaching to us about equity and human rights. Aren't they most demonic or what? Look at the internet buffoon that they just chose "to lead the free world" as they call it. Yet it is a huge personal sacrifice that was made in organizing genuine multiparty elections in Gambia and conceding defeat. That was nothing less than a miracle from God. But it surely isn't constructive that we didn't applaud or at least recognize the enormity of this development. Instead, people started sharpening for him their guillotines, "panga's", and knives. Mr. Jammeh must have thought "See how these ungrateful idiots are spoiling everything?" Shouldn't we calm down our attitudes and utterances so as to have crossed this fragile bridge without it breaking under our sadistic and opportnistic euphoria, and letting our nations fall in turbulent waters? Because that is now where we have put the new democratic Gambia. Now how do we intelligently foil the looming violence and retribution? On that question our distinguished intellectuals don't have a solution. They'll probably write more literary articles about democratic values and then sit back in the comfortable living rooms and watch the downtrodden face the heat. That is the reality here. Because we Africans, by adopting western mocking stupidity, we are the ones who have contributed to defeating Gambia's latest democratic experience. We should abandon all these revenge seekers and hate speech peddlers. What we need is to practice building strong democratic values and the democratic culture of the peaceful transition that we say we want. It is a difficult effort of restraint and compromise. In Uganda's case, I ask all my people to embrace tolerance, genuine constructive attitudes, and to avoid destructive utterances, for the sake of our beloved country's future. As we all know, in any nation it is civilians, basically our parents, and our children, plus ourselves who are set to suffer the most if any violence outbreak occurs. This is valid across our continent.
Hussein Lumumba Amin 10/12/2016
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