I greet you my dear brother, Dibba Junior, on this blessed morning of the day of Eid we fondly call ‘Sunkari Saloe’ in Mandinka. Shall I not then proceed to do for you the customary prayer our grandmother the late Mba Jankay Njie of Farafenni would do for me during her blessed life on earth: “May Allah bless you with long life, good health expanded provision and a good ending by the honour of the late Bulli of Marchi Kunda.”

Junior, I wish to explain in this  epistle the concept (nay, the reality) of the Arabic term ‘barakah’ that is used in the same vein in Mandinka. The concept of barakah has long fascinated me and I have been doing some research about it of late. I know you would relate to my desire for increased barakah in life because you and I come from a family that appreciates and craves barakah more than anything else; to the extent that the response of our parents and community elders in appreciation of any service we render is in the pregnant Mandinka pronouncement-cum-prayer ‘a barakah’.

I know you have heard your father (my uncle) say about certain individuals that ‘nying barakah ta leh’ and also the reverse about people that seem to be devoid of this blessing. But what is barakah and how can you attract or increase it in your life?

As general introduction, the term ‘barakah’ is “the attachment of Divine goodness to a thing, so if it occurs in something little, it increases it. And if it occurs in something much it benefits.”

One of my revered sacred teachers has this to say about barakah: “Barakah is an invisible wave or field like radiation … But unlike radiation, barakah, brings benefit at every level of existence the longer you are in contact with it.” And the foregoing is very deep thought indeed!

Now how about this explanation of the concept of barakah by the Imam  Al-Haifa Hydara about 25 years ago during a Gamo at our other hometown of Badibou Jajari. He explains the difference between a cow and a dog. When a dog gives birth, the puppies come in groups of 6, 8 or even more at every time that the dog bears her children. In contradistinction is the cow who gives birth to one or two calves at a time. Now throughout the country you see hundreds of herds of cattle. But where in the world have you seen a ‘herd’/pack of dogs? His answer to this conundrum is in one word: Barakah!

So much of theory about this concept of blessednes my junior brother! How does one attract/grow barakah in ones life? This is the question that needs to be answered so that this missive could be of much barakah to you and those who would want to gain practical benefit from it.

There are many ways to attract baraqa in your life, among them these: Live by the divine injunction “wa bil waalidaini insaanan” (and be kind to your parents” as taught in the Quran; and before that, in the Bible:  “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.” (Exodus, 20:12). This first step here, will open the doors for that divine goodness called barakah to manifest itself and grow in your life.

Turn your aspiration and frustrations into supplications, as author Muhammed Harris would put it.  Praying about these issues rather than worrying and dissipating energy about them would turn them into sources of barakah.

Now I have to stop here even though I can easily give you 99 ways and means of attracting barakah in your life; but I will stop here because good things are not supposed to come on the cheap. How much are you willing to pay to gain these treasures? Indeed my favourite singer-songwriter and philosophical genius Jaliba Kuyatehnis right: luck is writ with ones birth; prayers are to be sought; but barakah is supposed to be bought.

Make no mistake about the barakah being “bought” as Jaliba would put it. There are so many nuances to the word he used in Mandinka “sang-taa”. It doesn’t have to be a monetary transaction. It broadly means something that is to be EARNED. Here I stop young man while you ruminate on this one.

Eid Mubarak. Alamaa n-na sali siyaa la, Waalimang!

Momodou Sabally

The Gambia’s Pen

International speaker and author, Momodou Sabally is Former Presidential Affairs and Secretary General in The Gambia.

By Madi Jobarteh

Let me say upfront that feudalism and the caste system in any form should be criminalised and abolished by law in the Gambia if we are to truly uphold the Constitution of the country as a Republic. In a republic all citizens are equal which is what the Constitution first entrenched in Section 1 that sovereignty of the Gambia resides in the people of the Gambia. The Constitution considers all Gambians to be equal citizens. Therefore, any other classification of citizens as first or second or low- and high-class citizens is unconstitutional and against the very principles of republicanism.

It is true that our society has a longstanding history of social, cultural and political systems in which people have been categorised into various castes. One will see that such caste system does exist in all human societies in various forms and at various times. Such classifications came about as individuals and societies dominate and control each other through wars for various reasons. The economic and political systems that underpinned societies at the time were rooted in various belief and cultural systems that people live by until today.

But as nations emerged out of feudalism such as in Europe in the 15^th and 16^th centuries or from colonialism such as in Africa in the 1960s many new nations came to create laws to establish the equality of all citizens. In France feudalism and the caste system were abolished on 4^th August 1789 by an act of parliament following the French Revolution in that same year. The Tenures Abolition Act of 1660 abolished feudalism and the caste system in England.

When it comes to Africa and those countries under colonialism such as US, feudalism and caste system became untenable since these new nations are now republics. They are neither monarchies nor feudalist. However, in most of these new nations not enough was done to actively and fully abolish feudalism and the caste system even though their new constitutions did entrench the equality of all citizens as can be seen in the Gambian Constitution under Section 1.

Therefore, the practice of caste system within Gambian society everywhere and anywhere must be criminalised and abolished by law. The Gambia is a Republic in which no citizen is subject to or lower or higher than any other citizen in anyway. Those cultural beliefs and practices that seek to promote caste system must be abandoned. Our new culture should be democracy and republicanism. Anything that seeks to injure, undermine or weaken democracy and republicanism must be seen as gross violation of national sovereignty and the constitution.

I therefore call on the National Assembly, the Gambia Government and the political parties to undertake urgent steps to pass legislation to ban caste system in the Gambia. Until we ban caste system, we cannot build a just, equal and free society. The caste system is against democracy and good governance because caste system undermines and limits empowerment, participation and accountability. With the caste system the governors cannot be effectively held accountable by the governed.

In other words, in a caste system a so-called low or inferior caste person cannot hold to account a high or superior caste person. If that high caste person is now the president or governor or chief or alkalo it will be difficult for him to be held accountable. This is why sometimes one would see how some of our politicians and supporters use caste to make some individuals entitled to leadership even if they are not fit to lead. Caste system has always been used to entrench dictatorship in our communities which is why it is also easy to entrench dictatorship at the national level.

Caste system is discriminatory, exclusionary and unjust. This is why some individuals cannot be leaders of their community while others cannot own land and even others denied being buried in a cemetery or even speak their opinion on community issues. So long as such culture remains then it will be impossible to ensure popular participation and build a democracy and good governance in our country.

It is because of the caste system that gender inequality also persists in our society. Caste system is not only about surnames and in which trade one belongs, but it also creates an imbalance between men and women. Caste system upholds that women are inherently weak, mentally and physically and only good for the satisfaction of men. Look at any person who strongly believes and upholds caste system and you will see that such a person is also a strong believer in the superiority of men over women.

Furthermore, caste system is a tribalist idea in which believers in that system do not belief in the equality and interaction of individuals from other tribes. They always perceive their tribe to be superior, purer and better than the rest. Therefore, caste system only promotes bigotry, prejudice, exclusion and discrimination which are beliefs and practices that are highly unconstitutional and against republicanism.

We need a new Gambia in which not only are all citizens equal before the law but also in our minds as citizen we sincerely believe and uphold that there is no superior or inferior person on account of his or her surname or origin or birth. If we accept caste system to prevail then in effect, we are endorsing and entrenching oppression and exploitation of one another in the name of culture. No human being or society deserves such a culture of oppression and exploitation.

We must recognise that every culture has two elements: oppressive and exploitative elements on one hand and on the other hand empowering and liberating elements. Caste system or feudalism are aspects of culture that are oppressive and exploitative. Civilised societies and informed human beings always seek to abandon oppressive and exploitative elements of their culture in order to promote and uphold liberating and empowering elements of their culture. This is what is called civilization and progress.

The Colonialists had used our feudal and caste systems to dominate and rule us by demolishing our feudal kingdoms only to create new feudal chiefdoms called districts hence continue to dominate, control and exploit us. Therefore, colonialism was possible largely because of the caste system. PPP as well as APRC governments were also able to rule this country for 50 years largely because the caste system created a fertile ground for them.  The caste system beliefs in divine leadership which is nothing but unaccountable leadership. It is this same cultural belief which is also making Pres. Adama Barrow and his officials and supporters to also claim that he was made president by Allah.

For that matter the Gambia must begin to democratise and civilise our culture as other societies have done well before us by abolishing feudalism and the caste system. Let us raise our voices against caste system in any form in the Gambia and put unbearable pressure on the National Assembly, the Gambia Government and our political parties and leaders to abolish the caste system. Anyone who resist abolishing the caste system or continue to believe in the caste system is a person who undermines the sovereignty and the Constitution of the Gambia and injures the dignity and rights of Gambians hence a threat to national unity and stability.

Stand up against Caste System. Protect Citizen Sovereignty. Demand Democracy and Good Governance. Protect the Republic.

For the Gambia Our Homeland.

The Gambian dalasi, like any other national currency, is not only an economic and financial tool but it also represents a social, cultural and political identity of the Gambia. For that matter in producing a new national currency there was every justification for the Central Bank of the Gambia to seek public contributions as to what it should contain and how it should look like. A bunch of officials in a cosy office cannot merely think that they can determine the history of a people.

A look on the faces of the currencies of nations of the world would reflect the presence of their national culture, history and identity that exudes a sense of pride and patriotism in the people. These new bank notes released by CBG do not show that fact about the Gambia. Therefore, these new notes can only be described as a postcard and nothing more. Most of the features represented on the notes do not necessarily speak to the unique culture, identity and history of Gambians.

In the first placed while the Gambia has a rich bird life and a leading world destination for bird watching it does not suffice therefore that only birds should show on our currency!  I am not aware of any bird that is officially designated as the national bird of the Gambia but if there is it is such a bird that one could justifiably place on the face of the currency. Yet apart from birds we do also have other animals on land, sea and air as well as flora that also form part of our identity and culture. If we had a national animal or fish or tree or crop it would make sense to showcase them. Did CBG consider that?

The depiction of a ferry, a fisherman and women farmers are not necessarily peculiar features of Gambian life. Women farmers, fishermen and ferries exist in every society. Hence our currency does not need such features. Thus, apart from the Stone Circle, which is uniquely Gambian in shape and size, even if other nations also have stone circles such as the Stonehenge in the UK, I think all the other images need review.

Therefore, the question we need to ask is why didn’t the CBG consider all of these factors such that it creates a process where it can obtain ideas from Gambians who own this currency after all. For example, our country is not only about birds and farms and machines. We are a nation of people first and foremost. Hence it is important that a national historical material like our money reflect at first the people of the Gambia.

Yes, all Gambians are equal and sovereign citizens, but we cannot show each and every citizen’s face on a few bank notes. Therefore, among us we do have individual citizens who stand out because of their unshakable commitment to our freedom, or their contribution to the social, economic and cultural development of the country. For that matter one can think of Edward Francis Small as one individual whose face deserves to be on our currency. He was a citizen who ignited the fire of liberation in our country well before the new nation was born.

While I will oppose the face of any sitting president to be put on our currency however, I strongly believe that former Pres. Dawda Jawara deserves to be on one of the dalasi notes. In that vein one must also consider the faces of Garba Jahumpa, Rev. JC Faye and PS Njie among others at the political level. Yes, we may have differences with these political figures but there is no denying the fact that they were the people who were there at the very beginning in the fight for independence for which they deserve our recognition.

The reality of having faces of founding political leaders on national currencies is not strange. We see the faces of such individuals on currencies like the Ghanaian Cedi where all of the six founding politicians or the Big Six as Ghanaians call them were collectively imprinted on the 50 Ghana Cedi note. We could also see face of the first US President George Washington on the 1-dollar bill.

When it comes to fighting for rights and freedom, in addition to EF Small, one could also consider a leading trade unionist ME Jallow or journalist William Dixon-Colley who was a strong pillar of freedom of expression and the media in the Gambia and made huge contributions to advance the cause of transparent and accountable governance in the country. In that vein I strongly hold that two persons worthy of consideration are Deyda Hydara and Solo Sandeng – patriots like them serve to remind citizens of the purpose and value of citizenship and sovereignty!

It is also important that we consider the role and contribution of women to reflect in our national currency. Women are huge economic producers as well as major socio-cultural and political contenders in the history of the Gambia. With the help of our historians CBG could have identified some of these heroines to showcase them on our currency. This way we would have also provided mentoring and inspiration to our young girls as they see their fellow women on the national bill!

Finally, cannot we have also considered precolonial or pre-independence historic and legendary figures who had stood up against slavery or colonialism or contributed immensely to the development of our society such as through music, religion, sports, education, healthcare or agriculture among others. In that case why cannot we also think of Kunta Kinteh as a Gambian who unreservedly exhibited human dignity and self-determination even when he was forced into slavery!

In light of the foregoing I wish to ask that the Gambia Government to immediately abandon these new bank notes so that the Central Bank could go back to the drawing board to engage in widespread national consultation in determining our currency. This is essential because we must not create a situation where every new government would come to change our currency at great cost to our economy. We have to have a currency that will stand the test of time because it is relevant, realistic and true. Over the past 22 years this country has changed the face of our currency several times without any value to our economy, culture, identity and history. Such waste of resources must end now!

Scrap these new bank notes NOW!.

For The Gambia Our Homeland

…………………………….

Former Presidential Affairs Minister and International speaker Momodou Sabally, has advised the young people of Liberia to dream big, remain positive and preserve the hard-earned peace and stability of their country.

Sabally made these remarks in a keynote speech he delivered in Monrovia where he served as guest of honour on the occasion of the 45th anniversary celebration of the Federation of Liberian Youth (Fly).

Refreshing the memories of the delegates at the conference about the chequered past of their country in relation to civil unrest and the Ebola outbreak, he asserted

“And that is why your hard-earned peace, stability and health as a nation must never be taken for granted. The foregoing premises are the very reasons for the young people of this country, the ones with the biggest stake in the scheme of things, to resolve at all times and under all circumstances, to preserve the peace and stability of this great country of yours. There is no progress,  no development and there certainly can be no recovery of time lost to war and disease if there is no peace in your country.”

Citing the personal sacrifice of the current Liberian President who played for, coached and partly financed the Liberian national football team during his youthful years, Sabally exhorted the gathering of youth leaders to emulate the great civic leaders of the past and present generation to help them make meaningful impact on their societies.

“The examples abound. But I present  to you the case of the legendary Martin Luther King Junior. That towering giant of a civic leader who climbed against all odds to reach the top of the mountain of HOPE and prophesy a dream. So for you to become a good civic leader, you need to be able to DREAM and to dream big and to dream POSITIVE.

“Yet, my brothers and sisters, let us be civil. Let us imbibe  the ethos of nonviolence and peaceful approach through dialogue in our civic overtures. Martin Luther King Jr. did it. Before him, Mahatma Ghandi did it. No matter how tough the situation and circumstances. No matter how agitated our base and followers. Let us, as leaders, approach issues with caution and with a determined ethos of peaceful resolution of matters dear to us and our flock.”

He concluded by urging the youths to embrace bigger dreams than their perpnsal goals and to strive to make their communities better by serving the people in authentic and genuine manners.

Other speakers at the event included the President of the Federation of Liberian Youth  (FLY) Amos Williams, former Presidential aspirant MacDella Cooper and the mayor of Monrovia.

Sabally participated in the 50th anniversary celebration of the UNFPA in Monrovia, on Thursday, May 30; and he later held a motivation talk and consultation session with the leadership of the Student Democratic Alliance at the University of Liberia. He also addressed a gathering of members of the University of Liberia Muslim Students Association at their ‘Iftarr’ event and led the group in prayers at their Monrovia campus.

My Dear brother and respected Commander,

I send you greetings from Monrovia, the city of my sojourn for this blessed week of May, 27- 31, that happens to coincide with the last 10 days of Ramadan, 2019.

Indeed Liberia should ring a bell in your mind just like it did with me even before I deplaned at Roberts International Airport because this is the place where we suffered our first ever casualties in the field of war since we established our fledgling national army in the mid-eighties. May Allah bless the souls of the late Corporal Modou Bojang and Private Sama Jawo who fell to enemy fire at the onset of the ECOMOG regional peace keeping mission that entered this country in 1990, with the aim of quelling the horrendous Liberian civil war that would later spill into Sierra Leone with heart-renting consequences.

As we would say in our civil service parlance back home, “the subject of this letter refers”. You would recall that I dispatched part 1 of this correspondence about a fortnight ago with a promise to finish it starting with the premise that you may have one good thing going for you regarding your attempt at getting our armed forces involved in commercial agriculture. That thing would be the discipline usually associated with the security services. Alas, my inclination towards that argument was shattered by the ricochetting thunder of a trigger happy soldier who opened fire on an unarmed driver of a passenger vehicle for not stopping at a checkpoint in the Village of Kanilai, Foni Kansala.

The fact that both the perpetrator and the apparently unruly victim of this scary incident are both products of your institution tells a lot about the state of mind of our men and women in uniform. Don’t get me wrong Sir, I know you have hundreds  of highly trained and conscientious  officers in your force, but is it not the few rotten potatoes that render the whole bag of potatoes suspect?

In addition to the foregoing premises, I was privileged to listen to an interview by fellow Economist Dr. Gajigo concerning this subject matter on Kerr Fatou’s “The Brunch” talk show and he also made some important arguments, opining that your proposed venture into this agriculture project is not a good move. He averred that the company you want to partner with in this project is not fit and proper. He went on the record to state emphatically that the company you intend to partner with, AGCO, had been engulfed in bribery in multiple jurisdictions leading to heavy fines as penalties for their infractions of due process. Indeed given the low probability of financial success in this proposed venture I am not surprised that the company concerned could be involved in bribery in their past ventures. The economics term that hit my mind when I first heard about your planned venture was: rent-seeking behaviour! Therefore I feel vindicated that your proposed partner in this business Is allegedly associated with the foregoing unfavourable traits.

My dear brother, let me hasten to acknowledge here that I would not have come up with this sequel given the revelations and arguments advanced by other concerned voices including Madi Jobarteh. But I was alerted about a rebuttal by our so-called “Dr.” Henry Carrrol on this matter published by The Standard newspaper. As usual Henry Carrol was very obnoxious in his approach to a very decent debate we have been engaged in on this matter. Knowing how the Gambian psyche works, I thought it fitting to come up with this second part to diffuse the misinformation Henry Carrol spewed into this discussion.

In the estimation of many Gambians, Henry Carrol qualifies as the nation’s Chief Clown and he deserves a fitting coronation to that effect, for many reasons. So I would not directly respond to his rambling verbiage for the Mandinka proverb is true ‘Ning Faloe yeh e danfu e yaa danfu, faloe leh fisayaa ta e teh ti’ ( if a Donkey kicks you and you kick it in revenge, then the donkey is better/sounder than you.).

Yet the nation’s chief clown deserves some sort of finger-wagging. Henry is akin to the proverbial petulant kid who runs amok, farting around the bantaba, when the village elders are engaged in serious discussions regarding important matters of the community. Henry Carrol is trying to polute our national conversation with his obnoxious overtures but we cannot afford to entertain that in these trying times of ours. He surely deserves serious lashing to ‘tune him up’ if I may swipe some military parlance here. A few lashes commensurate with his biological age would be in order since maturity unfortunately does not necessarily come with age.

Let me confess here, Honourable CDS, that I hesitantly started this series of epistles addressed to you because of the respect I have for you and also the tough circumstances we face in our so-called New Gambia, where attempts at decent, honest conversations about matters of public interest are usually misconstrued for personal attacks. But I had to make bold to do this because we have made too many mistakes too soon in the past two years of this coalition government. Too many bad deals were signed; and the security forces are once again getting involved in the shedding of innocent blood (from Kanilai to Faraba Banta) even before the attempt at correcting the errors of the past government bears fruit. Therefore it is important that we advise one another and attempt to correct erroneous steps before it gets too late.

I will dilate on this situation in part 3 of this series. But for now let me seek your kind permission to fall out Sir?

Yours,

Momodou Sabally

Former Presidential Affairs Minister, Economist