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Momodou
Denmark
11646 Posts |
 Posted - 27 Aug 2007 : 18:25:25
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FOCUS ON POLITICS
1986: THE YEAR THE IMF AXE HACKED THE GAMBIA
With Suwaibou Touray
This column has been focusing on political history and developments, particularly in The Gambia, and where necessary draw lessons and make comparisons in order to help the present and future generations learn from the past.
The narration commenced from pre-colonial to post independence period and that it has systematically followed events from 1965-1985. We are now in 1986, which precedes another election year 1987.
In the last edition, we stopped at where we mentioned a BBC report quoting the Nation as having written, "Either action taken against Sanna Manneh would not save the government from a continuing embarrassment."
Let us now continue from where we stopped.
By mid 1986, many close observers of the confederation had started to lose faith in the whole arrangement. Would the confederation succeed or not? Was the question many people were asking at the time?
In the pages of the Torch, an anonymous writer who said he was writing as a concerned citizen, presented himself as the president of the Republic and put state house as his address, had addressed his letter to his erstwhile political opponents calling on them and their committees to attend a grand National Assembly to discuss the issue of the Senegambia Confederation.
The writer opined that the issue of the confederation, has so far divided and united the country at one time and the other; that open discussion on the matter among all stakeholders cannot be put aside any further without grave and inadmissible cost.
The anonymous writer vowed to provide all those who attended the meeting with what he called "authentic copies of all relevant documents" produced on the matter, including expert briefs on the context and circumstances of each of the document.
The writer went on to say that after their discussion, let each go and campaign on the issues based on their convictions, aided by available information, public opinion and votes, at a determined date.
The writer, however, asserted that in his opinion and belief, the Senegambia Confederation was unstable and that he said was confirmed by what he observed as "Military Menace, Political acrimony and unfriendly economic actions." He, however, said he would not pretend to pass any judgment on the matter. The writer called for a referendum on the matter.
What became apparent later was that matters became worse for the Jawara regime. Confusion was abounding in official circles and wild rumours began to flare up that relations between the Condeferal partners had not improved.
According to reports, the Senegalese were, infact, suspected by many, to be engaged in plans of destabilizing the Jawara regime with the objective of eventually removing him from power. The Torch described the plans to be economic, political and military strategies. The Torch opined that for the Senegalese, the removal of Dawda Jawara alone should be the easiest of plots, since they remained as his only protectors.
What however remained, as the main problem, according to the newspaper, seemed to be the anticipated angry international reactions that any such foul play against "innocent little Gambia" would have aroused? Moreover, as the paper argued, President Abdou Diouf, at the time, held the OAU Chairmanship and as a result any such plans would have to be done with extreme caution.
The Torch also indicated that the British would have hated losing The Gambia to the Francophone World because of what it called the "Thatcherist backsliding and internationalist impotence, so they too would be watching very closely." This was the time many said the Gambia had started to look forward to big brother Nigeria for support and this was why they said the president had invited the Nigerian president General Muhammadu Buhari, to the 21st Independence Anniversary Celebrations.
The confusion was exacerbated with the rumour that President Jawara was having treatment in an English Mental Hospital. This rumour went further claiming that the President was hit by one of his wives with a "chicken heel' shoe on his head during a family feud.
According to the Torch, the rumour was later proven to be incorrect but that there was some iota of truth in the claim because the President was at that material time in some undisclosed location in London receiving treatment.
The Torch, however, hypothesized that perhaps the belief that President Jawara had gone for mental treatment might have stemmed from a more philosophic view and that is the 'chaotic mismanagement of the country's economy can only be made by a mentally ill-policy maker.'
President Jawara however returned to Banjul and attended the 21st independence anniversary. According to reports, during the actual march pass ceremony held at the MacCarthy Square, the growing popular resentment and mass unrest surfaced in some bizarre unmistakable form with a manifestation by a young man holding a written placate in front of the President and another who seized the microphone from a radio Gambia reporter also chanted some anti Government slogans that was heard live through Radio Gambia by the whole country. "We are suffering!" the man shouted, because prices of all essential commodities have been increased! etc". He was quickly and forcibly bundled out of the place by the police to save the president further embarrassments.
January 17 1986 was the date that the Minister of Finance Mr. Sheriff S. Sisay made an announcement over the radio thus introducing the floating of the national currency "the Dalasi". This means that instead of letting the Dalasi stay pegged to a fix rate against the Pound Sterling, as it had been since independence in 1965, it was let loose to float and allow its exchange rate to be determined by the 'wild' forces of the market.
The Minister arguing on the rationale, maintained that keeping the fix rate, was "no longer tenable, advisable, or efficient." According to the Torch, this announcement did not only strip the Dalasi of all its little credibility that remained but that it did the same thing to the Government itself.
Some observers of the scene revealed that every facet of Gambian life, at the time, had been affected by this general economic decline; that the end of January 1986, witnessed the rise of prices on a daily basis; that merchants were now flatly refusing to have anything to do with the Dalasi and some were accepting payments only in CFA Francs or other foreign currencies.
According to the Torch, the bad timing and the economic senselessness in the decision surprised many an observer. This was the year of the IMF axe. It has gone down in the history of The Gambia as the year in which the IMF axe hacked off 4500 public servants from the payroll, whose lives as from then on, could only be considered to be, as the Torch called it in 'peril and jeopardy'.
Apart from the above initial number of laid-off workers, another 1500 workers were made the latest casualties. According to reports, many of these workers did not understand the reasons and were taken unawares by "this bitter blow".
The Torch reported the earlier termination of 3000 employees working for both the central government and the state parastatals. The mass lay offs were part of the agreement between government and the IMF that was reached at in June of 1985 in which the fund provided The Gambia with 12 million Pounds Standby credit over a 15 month period. This agreement, the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) had a far reaching effect on the general population. Large numbers of dismissed employees joined the already large army of the unemployed.
During this period, a bag of rice sky rocketed up the largely unaffordable price of D350 dalasi and was poised to go even higher. Petrol, mostly consumed by the fleet of luxurious cars owned by the tiny classes of merchants, businessmen, top government officials and corrupt politicians, was said to be in chronic shortage. This infact made it a most sought after commodity thereby putting it beyond the reach of the poor.
According to critics, the regime had not published any plans as to tackle these grave problems; that the little it tried to do instead worsened the situation. On the other hand, the Senegalese government announced the offering of D1080 per tone for groundnut since 1984 when The Gambia was able to offer only D600 Dalasis per tonne to Gambian farmers. This was why farmers near the borders sent their nuts to Senegal in exchange for CFA Francs and at a much higher price. Records also indicated that this had reduced the estimated tonnage of nuts going to Gambian Seccos by 20%.
The Government in its decision to increase the salaries of the remaining civil servants by 10-20%, according the Torch, means creating a society where "few chop and plenty die, marathon."
See the next issue as we cover events leading to the preparatory stages of the 1987 elections.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No.99/2007, 24 - 26 August 2007
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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