– Advertisement –
By Kebeli Demba Nyima
Atlanta, USA
For months The Gambia has been tormented by one stubborn rumour. Yahya Jammeh was supposedly returning home in November. Markets buzzed, WhatsApp groups boiled and political speculators fed on the anxiety. All the while, the official line from government was a muddle of half-sentences and clever phrasing that never quite said “yes” and never quite said “no”.
That fog has now lifted. Minister Demba Sabally has done in one clear statement what the entire machinery of government failed to do in years. He said publicly and officially that Jammeh will not be coming back to The Gambia and that the government is not entertaining any talk of giving him sanctuary. No word games. No diplomatic acrobatics. A simple, unambiguous message that every citizen can understand.
– Advertisement –
The effect is immediate. Traders can go back to selling vegetables instead of rumours. Families can stop arguing over imaginary homecoming arrangements. Political hangers-on who were selling “absobi” for an event that never existed have been exposed for what they are. Jammeh is not returning, and the matter is closed. Full stop.
One can criticise Demba Sabally on many fronts, but on this issue he has done a vital public service. In a political culture where officials often speak in riddles, he chose clarity. He treated Gambians like adults who deserve the truth. The Jammeh return circus can finally fold its tent and go home. The country has more important business to attend to.
And if anything, this episode has revealed something far more important than the rumour itself: Demba Sabally is in the wrong ministry. A man who can stabilise an entire nation with one sentence should not be confined to the bureaucratic quietude of Agriculture. He has shown the kind of political courage that belongs in the Ministry of Interior or the Ministry of Defence. His communication style resembles the British classical school of politics where leaders looked the public in the eye and spoke the truth without hiding behind technocratic fog. His fearlessness has echoes of the Greek ideal of parrhesia, the ancient duty to speak boldly even when the consequences are uncertain. A country cannot be governed by leaders who are economical with the truth, afraid to criticise, or too cautious to name what needs to be named. When officials hesitate, rumours thrive. When officials dodge questions, mischief-makers fill the silence. When officials sprinkle ambiguity into matters of national importance, instability follows.
– Advertisement –
Sabally did the opposite. He confronted the rumour directly. He controlled the narrative rather than letting the narrative control the state. In doing so, he exposed Jammeh’s acolytes and defeated them on their own terrain. He demonstrated exactly the attribute every security portfolio requires: moral courage combined with absolute clarity. These are the traits that steady nations during moments of uncertainty. These are the traits that prevent panic from metastasising into political disorder. These are the traits that ensure the government, not the rumour mills of Kanilai, defines the truth. And these traits are precisely why President Barrow should seriously consider reassigning Demba Sabally to Interior or Defence. The country needs firm, unafraid leadership. It needs men who speak as though the nation is listening, not men who speak as though they are whispering in a corridor. Sabally has proven he has the heart and the gut for the job.
