On Thursday December 29, our head of state left the country via Banjul International Airport for Washington DC, United States of America for ‘a visit’.

Prior to his visit, unconfirmed reports have it that First Lady Zeinab Yahya Jammeh was in the U.S.

And on Thursday January 5, the president, accompanied by the First Lady, reportedly touched down at the Banjul International Airport at 10:45am.

According to reports, the president, as usual was received at the foot of the aircraft by the vice president, cabinet ministers, service chiefs, heads of parastatals, members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps, and a cross-section of the Gambian community.
 
And among the Gambian musicians and cultural troupes that entertained the welcome ceremony were Gambia’s kora maestro Jaliba Kuyateh, among others. All these protocols and ceremonial niceties are normal as it is now a tradition.

However, there are many abnormalities and mysteries surrounding president Jammeh’s trip to the US.

Firstly, the urgent nature of the trip sends the public wondering: Why all of a sudden? What is he going to the US for? After all, it has been a while since the President tripped abroad, triggering suggestions that our head of state is isolated.

The doubts raised above could have been partly addressed if it was indicated that the president’s US visit was a State or Private one. But it was not, a seeming deliberate action on the part of State House to keep the whole issue a mystery. This is not a fair treatment to the tax payers and such activities of a head of state should not be shrouded in secrecy.

In August 2011, while presiding over his annual Ramadan gift at State House, president Jammeh advised Gambians to stop rumour mongering. That are his words, but his actions are not helping the situation.

The fact that he emptied the chair of the chief executive for seven days without a hint to the public as to what he was up to in the US left the public with no choice, but to speculate.

As a result, some suggested that he was staying in an expensive private home he allegedly bought in the United States. For what? No one volunteers to give answers? But word has also been that the president was sick and he went to the US for treatment. That he had seen a doctor three times.

Some even suggested that the trip was fake. Others say that he was testing the loyalty of his security.

One would have therefore expected the head of state and the office of State House to clear the air upon return. But the president has returned home last week, leaving the public more confused. No word from either him or State House regarding the trip. Infact, unconfirmed reports have it that he ‘snubbed’ journalists at the airport. Why the cloud?

Why is the government of the day continuing denying us our minimum entitlements? The people should be informed, especially on matters that has bearing on the running of the affairs of the country. The president should clear the air.
Here, The Gambia in particular should learn a lesson from the saga of late Nigerian head of state, Omar Yara D’ua, whose ill-health was clouded to an extent that it bred acrimony within the Nigerian government and between government and the then First family.

Truth to tell, the Yara D’ua conundrum could not avoid blame for the current state of confusion and terror in Nigeria. Those who claim to love this country of ours, should spare us from a similar state of affairs. The public has a right to know