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By Seedy Ceesay
After 19 years of Jammeh’s rule, Gambians and non-Gambians alike have seen the total destruction of the social and economic fabric of our beloved country, needless to mention the daily abuses of the rights and the freedoms of the people of The Gambia.
In the wake of Dr. SeidatJobe’s interview on Freedom Radio when he spoke of the array of choices of the transitional leadership in the post-Jammeh era, it’s important that one takes stock and puts aside our differences,whether political or non-political, and open themselves up for an honest and sincere debate. As our people at home are going through trauma on a consistent basis, including loss of lives and their properties, it is incumbent upon every single Gambian to come to terms with what’s happening in our country.
No more closing one’s ears and hearing no evil. No more turning a blind eye to our challenges. Eventhinking that your own family isn’t personally being disrupted by the inept governing within Gambia under YayahJammeh is false. All are affected. The economy is in ruins. The Gambia can be considered under a State of Emergency now since there’s a total disregard for the rules of the land. For example, a young man was beaten to death by the President’s armed guards in KomboLamin while riding his bicycle home from work while the president was traveling.
Regarding the Constitution, today in The Gambia one is arrested for merely expressing his or her feelings as to the state of affairs of the country. And then that arrested citizen might be kept in detention or completely incommunicado for over 72 hours. This has happened not once, not twice, but consistently with no consequences ever felt by the government. Not only are Gambians subject to indefinite detention without following the due process of the law as stated in our Constitution. They are also subject to cruel and inhumane treatment, as well asbeing deprived of their livelihood.
Politics in The Gambia consists of various oppositional groupings within the borders and the Diaspora. There are six opposition political parties within the country who’ve yet to see a free and fair election while President Jammeh’scontrolled the electoral process. Coupled with the various Diasporan groups situated all over the globe, each group has similar agendas to save The Gambia from her daily torment brought on by Jammeh’s regime. One could say that a free and fair election will see our loved ones in the Gambia succeeding in bringing a government by the people and for the people (and actually it’s not rocket science.)But the Million Dollar question is this: “Is it possible in today’s Gambia?” My answer would be “No.”
Then what can we do? One reason for the existence of an opposition party is to be an alternative to the party in power, and to educate votersabout their civic duty. However,because of the selfish culture of politics in The Gambia, these seeds haven’t been sown. The proper political education hasn’t been taught but rather they’ve shown the politics of personality and patronage. If politicians in the first Republic had worked hard to educate the people, about their civic rights giving them a critical mind, thenour leaders would be rightfully seen as servants and not bourgeois. We’d have a completely different political climate in The Gambia. Yet political education in both the first Republic and the second Republic fell short, and now politicians are seen as elitist. The average Gambian fails to understand the role of those in public office.
For example, the roles of the President and Secretaries of State: Political parties have been used as fronts for our political leaders during the first and second Republic. In conducting politics this way, the political leaders are seen to be superior. However,taxpayers in The Gambia pay their salaries, in addition to supporting all governmental services by paying taxes. Political leadership in the first Republic and the second Republic failed to educate the electorate that they, the Gambian people, are superior since without their money and their votes they could not take office. The power should rest in the electorate but in The Gambia today it clearly doesn’t.
Gambia’s political leaders create prestigious positions for themselves. In the eyes of the ordinary people, insincere politicians give the false impression that they are God-sent and that their office is God-given. Some leaders, like Jammeh, even claim they have Allah’s World Bank to sponsor projects here and there by giving a couple million dollars to towns and villages as a gift of generosity. One example is when he gaveD3 million dalasi to the Brufut elders.
One wonders how on earth a President of the smallest nation on the African continent, who went into office with an overdrawn account in the red, can turn out to be an incredibly wealthy head-of-state owning multi-million dollar mansions in America and other countries within the space of a decade. This can only happen in The Gambia without any consequences since our political leaders have failed to empower the people with knowledge. One then wonders whether this lack of correct political educationby our political leaders was purposely done in order to enrich themselveswhile holding their powerful offices.Suffice it to say that it has become a game of the few. It has created a culture of politics of personality.
We see that political parties in The Gambia are only recognized by their leadership, which is actually not wrong if it is defined in the right context. But instead you hear HalifaSallahas PDOIS,OusainouDarboeas UDP, Sir DawdaJawaraas PPP, and Sheriff MDibbaas NCP, to name just a few. What this has created is, in the event of the demise of these leaders, that one sees the total demise of their political parties as well. This result is because the culture of Political Personality doesn’t empower the people to own those political parties. In order for us to create ownership of our country and to create genuine multiple oppositional parties in The Gambia, we must endeavor to educate the people to take responsibility of their various political parties. They must learn about and accept the responsibilities of a true democracy.
Coming back to Dr. Jobe’s interview about the need for leadership in this crusade against impunity in The Gambia, he mentioned Ousinaou Darboe as his choice to lead. There’s nothing wrong for Dr. Jobe to express his opinion and to support a particular person in taking leadership. I think it’s more than just supporting a person to lead. One must have looked at some fundamental issues considering the fact that today, if Gambia were a human being,she is crying. Gambia’s tears are running.
Our people are going through the worst of slavery in the 21st century. There’s a need for collective responsibility in order to alleviate the suffering and to prevent a national disaster. It’s often said it’s better late than never… but it’s getting too late for the people of The Gambia since the crusade has unfortunately been perceived to be elitist…a Grand Talking Shop.
The situation today isn’t just choosing an individual or supporting an individual as the transitional leader. The Gambian people must also be empowered as we move toward the third Republic where the elected politicians won’t take power behind the people, or impose themselves on the people. For the imminentadministrative change in The Gambia, the leaders will be a choice made by the electorate during our third Republic. In my opinion, for us to create national leadership that’ll be a national emblem to win support by all political persuasions, those from the opposition and from the current ruling government, we need the fair and free elections made by informed and educated voters exercising their civic duty.
To gain international support, I now call for a national conferenceto elect the transitional leadership to pave the way for the third Republic. This national conference will be held by the people in order to choose the leadership of the various opposition parties. I call on each opposition party to tour and have meetings in every village and town with one single message: for a national conference. I call on each political party to tour the length and breadth of the country.And the timely message should be that we’re at a critical situation today where lives and properties aren’t protected by the government in power.
Electioneering has repeatedly failed under the current system of First Passed the vote so each of these political parties will have their rightfulshare of voting representation at this conference. Each political party will select their own representatives, at an agreed upon particular number, to come to this national conference to elect the transitional leadership.
And the cabinet of leadership that’s going to be elected at the conference would create a platform to engage the government to respect the rule of law. They would also drum up support from the international community and from the Diaspora to fund the transitional period. At this national conference, a tax force committee would also have to be elected to be the caretaker to put mechanisms in place, including how long the transitional leadership would be in office.
To conclude, it is the civic duty for every Gambian, and for all those who stand for the right of the people, to add their voice in this crusade against the impunity running rampant in The Gambia. We’ve all seen what happened in the Brundis, Rwanda, Freetown, Liberia, to name just a few. It wasn’t a lightning strike that caused those countries to devolve into chaos. It was the collapse of their governments that led to the genocides, completely unable to protect the lives of their citizenry.
Today we have Gambia at the crossroads…with us as the traffic officer. It is our choice which direction we send our country. The green light is gone. We’re now at the amber light telling us to prepare. The sooner we direct the better.source: http://www.freedomnewspaper.com/Homepage/tabid/36/newsid367/9098/OPEN-LETTER-TO-THE-OPPOSITION-PARTIES-AND-DIASPORA-GROUPS/Default.aspx
