Posted by 
by Alagie Saidy-Barrow.
We laugh at the appearance of David Colley at the TRRC. We make fun of his lack of basic “understanding” of simple terms. We are amazed at his callous disregard of the welfare of inmates under his care! But the reality is that David Colley is not the only one who was in charge of an institution with zero to little clue on how to run such an institution! And he certainly isn’t the only one who has such disregard for those under his care. How many ministers did Yaya put in charge of ministries when such ministers never had the qualifications or capacity to run these ministries? Look around your friends and associates, how many held positions that they were definitely not qualified for? The only difference between them and David is that they could perhaps articulate themselves better than David! Otherwise, the incompetence David represents is not his alone!
It’s not that these ministers didn’t know they were unqualified for these positions, something deep within them made them happily accept these positions without thinking twice about it. Can we say that that something is dead in them now? Do you think our desire for palass and prestige is dead in us? What have you done to hold your associate or friend or family member for allowing themselves to be used by evil and for accepting a position they were never qualified for? As we look at David, we must also look at ourselves, our friends and family members. Or do we still persist in the conscience-soothing malarkey that everything is Yaya’s fault?
Look at some of those hanging around political parties with each angling themselves for a future position they are probably not qualified for. Sadly, they might just get these positions because of their mindless obedience to the party leadership! Just as David was obedient to Yaya! That’s what politics of patronage does: You support my political party and when I win, I’ll give you opportunities to be rich; if you don’t support my political party, I’ll do all I can to make sure you don’t get a sniff of the “National cake” as Hamad Bah calls it.
Some of us laughing at David Colley don’t realize (purposefully at times) that we also have our Davids within our midst. You see, David never banked on a day like this before. He was assigned a fiefdom and he adamantly guarded and carried out the duties assigned to him exactly as the evil emperor required. Every time he misses a step, he was locked up in his own house! But look at how many ministers and directors and permanent secretaries were also at the beck and call of Yaya to use, abuse and refuse when he’s done with them! You see people get hired today, fired tomorrow and rehired the day after. Some were imprisoned, freed, made ministers and fired and rehired again. At what point does one stop being a genuine victim to becoming an accessory to one’s own victimization?
We mustn’t pretend that David Colley is an aberration of the order that was and is in place! I personally know people in positions of responsibility whom David is head and shoulders over! It’s easy to laugh at David Colley today but look around your friends and family members and see how many were also ministers, permanent secretaries, directors and what have you without the qualification! At least David has some experience! The ministers and others were plucked, oftentimes, from anonymity and made minister! The sad case of David Colley, as funny as we may see it, is also an indictment on all of us. Some of us were busy promoting the system as ambassadors! Others could not wait to attend solidarity marches for the system. Some of us were praying for that system to last longer. Well David Colley is not an exception of that system; he was the norm! And it was a system we birthed, nurtured, supported and promoted and it’s still alive!