Fellow Gambians – I could not keep quiet but highlight the immense urgency with which the new administration in #Freetown has taken to task in replacing the #Old with the #New in an effort to bring about transparency, accountable governance and prosperity the #SierraLeonean people have been yearning for:
In his short time in office – President #JuliusMaada-Bio has sacked all political appointees at the country’s foreign missions including ambassadors and information attachés. He has also retired all those in public service who’ve attained the age of 60, except those under special employment approved by parliament. In what some have described as plugging the holes in the management of the country’s finances, he has further issued an executive order on expenditure control. Finally, there is a moratorium on the purchase of vehicles until a new Fleet Management Policy is established, and no telephone, internet or fuel bills will be honoured for civil servants until a new benefit policy is put in place. All overseas travels including ticket costs must now be within approved budgets of the departments or ministries. All contracts with the state – existing and in future – must be paid in the local currency, with all new contacts having to be cleared by the finance ministry. And all revenues collected by the country’s diplomatic missions overseas must be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund with immediate effect – as BBC World Service’s Umaru Fofana report.
All that talk of ‘regime’ or ‘System’ change in the Gambia, we can certainly learn a trick or two from this experiment: Salutations to the new government of Sierra Leone for the speed and admirable vision with which it has taken off with.
The 2018 Sierra Leone story is a welcome addition to the array of competent leaders rising across the West Africa terrain and elsewhere on the continent administering #nationInterest over that of personal: #Ghana #Tanzania #Botswana #Rwanda – too few to name but … tentative steps in motion towards rehabilitating profound ideals designed by such visionaries as #PresidentJawara, #KwameNKrumah, #ThomasSankare and others.
So much that i admire ‘competence’, in a leader, as much as disdain for ‘Kleptocratic rule’ – all too common across the African continent. Yet, we wonder why the ‘black’ is caught up in a ‘permanent’ transit-mode crisscrossing high-seas and continents seeking pastures new?!
In the case of the Gambia, there are serious question marks (???) over the direction of the country for which no one seem to be placed for rational explanation. A ‘clash of personalities appears to have caused a dent to a once solid ‘Coalition’, and that of ‘political patronage’ pushing the divide even wider.
Dependable editor – do allow for a rallying call to civil servants across the country, especially those nexus where money changes hands. Please, learn to exercise restraint and honesty in regards to public money. The Gambian people have suffered far too long, for a country in need of attitudinal change. And that is where ‘Visionary Leadership’ kicks in to guide young minds for a people ‘denied’ of such tools of life as ‘honesty’ & ‘good’, as succinctly laid out by, Nyang Njie, just recently.
If the president had it in him, today, his ‘Cabinet Ministers, Governors, District Chiefs and various government personalities will have crisscrossed the length and breadth of the country visiting schools, ”Bantabas” and such public spaces engage local communities and the country in a series of dialogue (not monologue) build ‘reassurance, instill ‘confidence’ engage the wider public in national planning and building. Mr President, how do you expect a people to love their country, to be quote unquote ‘patriotic’ for a leadership far removed from its own people?!
The government better start waking up to the fact that the Gambia remains one of the poorest countries on earth, carrying an unemployment rate of some sixty (60%) percent or more.
The tragedy of African politics remains a constant worry, for a people & continent of so much promise, but …
As to the rationale why we kept banging on about ‘Ethical Leadership’ and pragmatism as desirabilities in character trait and formula to truly emancipate the Gambian people from pervasive exploitation, untrained leadership and cruel businessmen grandstanding everyday market prices for quick profits. So men are such sinners!!!
Over the years, i have always argued that, as the single most consumable food product in the Gambia, there is a ‘national security’ element to ‘RICE’, and that, its importation should therefore be ‘strictly’ monitored and licensed to a Gambian or Gambian entities. That is no ‘protectionism’, Madam Ambassador Patricia Alsup, but ‘commonsense’ observing ‘national interest’, yes, even in business-ville! The policy shall be subject to revisit and change in the event the United States stop giving subsidies to its big-farm industry and tax-cuts for corporations & the super-rich. Talk of ‘socialism’, America and Western Europe are the most ‘democratic socialist’ countries i have ever met – question is, will the president and his ministers ever learn:
Fellow Gambians – There is ‘nobility’ even in poverty and a great lesson too, if only a wise could relate to the calling. Individually and as a collective, protect and treasure the ‘public money’ where ever its found, and report instances of corruption to both the police and media. More than ever I believe in the Gambia story, for i have seen the country’s young academics, entrepreneurs, doctors & nurses, ordinary men and women sacrifice great wealth and the simpler life abroad, simple because they care too much for country. We say well done ”un jaa raa ma” to those civil servants too serving national interest.
In the grand scheme of things even if mortality remains ever present and a constant thought, one is to be found persistent advocating for utilitarianism values and that of collective good. Just by gesturing with eyes closed, easier even to picture – visions of a food self-sufficient Gambia, at peace and a hub for diplomacy, spared by giant solar lights across the landscape. I envision an educated Gambia, armoured by domestic manufacturing industry adding jobs + wealth to the economy, sustained by a rising middle class, whereby children won’t have to die crossing the Mediterranean Sea for escape into the unknown.
Children, indeed, are the hopes of tomorrow. And if i should have a say in it, the Gambian people shall elect a young statesman under forty (40) at the next general election. With disillusionment on the up, rising to hysteria on the future direction of the country under a lost ‘coalition drivership’, from the get go i’d advised the president to be mindful of ‘vested interest’, and to police his own ‘legacy’ if he is to administer a ‘successful’ term. Where are we heading? Please, turn to Gambian talent for advice in all that you do, and not abandon you people, nor only rely on ‘Darboe’ for major policy-decisions of national importance.
I finally call on all Gambians by extension to humanity – hold tight onto faith for it is the only shelter we have got left in a world of much uncertainty. Politicians shall always bombard your ears with unfulfilled fine tunes and blueprints left to gather dust at a desk or cupboard somewhere – the corrupting influence of money + politics, despite raising the unconstitutionality of an ‘investment desk’ @ State House – to the chagrin of my UDP interlocutors.
Gibril Saine Twitter: @gibbysaine
HELLO MR PRESIDENT… The Fight Against Corruption…
Any nation that aspires to develop must have a very strong policy against corruption. Corruption is like a cancer that eats up everything good in a country. Once corruption spreads it tentacles in a country, it destroys everything in its path. It is like a raging inferno which will leave nothing standing in its path. It is an open secret that corruption is rampant in the Gambia, especially in government. We must do something to minimize corruption in all its forms.
The ugly happenings being exposed at the Department of Immigrations is just a tip of the iceberg, as it were. The Deputy Director General, Mr Seedy Touray should indeed be commended if the reports emanating from Immigration are true. It is high time we started rewarding and commending whistleblowers if we indeed want to control and minimize corruption and other forms of evil in our country.
As I said earlier, this problem is not only at the Immigration Department but in almost all other departments in the country. Last week, I saw an old woman who complained that if one is poor in this country now, one will not receive medical care. She said for some reason, she was told by a doctor that she couldn’t be treated on that day. On her way out, someone told her that she had to give something to the doctor, so she could be treated. She did; and lo and behold! She received the check up she was looking for.
Whether that is an isolated case or symbolic of trends at the hospitals, it is scary and a cause for concern. If, even in our hospitals, that kind of thing can happen, then it is indeed a very serious matter which needs our urgent attention. Another department that is said to be rife with corruption is the Gambia Revenue Authority. Many in the population believe that corruption is the order of the day at the GRA. Similarly, there is talk that there is corruption at the National Environmental Agency as that is the only way the renewing of the license of the Chinese company, Golden Lead Factory can be explained considering the environmental hazards it had been shown to cause.
A few weeks ago, we saw the Gambia Police Force/Service come up with a billboard which seeks to reduce corruption. This in a way is an admission that there is some form of corruption going on in that department as well. And naturally, it will not be farfetched to say that corruption is in every other department or ministry or even the presidency given its prevalence in all the above sectors.
The fight against corruption is a difficult one and will take the efforts of the entire nation to have an impact. Firstly though, we need leadership in that area. The Office of the President must come out strongly and speak against corrupt practices in the country. It should be condemned in the strongest possible terms and a message sent that it will not be tolerated from anyone, no matter who.
The general public must also assist in this area. Do not bribe anyone or seek to solicit undue favors from public officials. Do the right thing and whatever service you are demanding, pay the right amount if it is a service that needs to be paid for. And once you pay the right amount, insist on being given an official receipt so that the money will go to the right place.
The media has an important role to play in this. As it is, the conducive environment for the media to play its role is there and as such the journalists must up their game and conduct research; they must engage in investigative journalism. They should follow the money and track down every butut and inform the public. This can have a good impact on the fight against corruption.
Finally, Mr President, you should constitute an Anti-Corruption Commission that will become the face of this fight. This will galvanize the efforts of all by bringing the fight under one umbrella. This will give whistleblowers the courage to channel their information, so action can be taken. The last stage in this link of the fight is the judiciary. People found wanting must be prosecuted and face the full force of the law. That will be the only deterrent.
Have a Good Day Mr President…
Tha Scribbler Bah
A Concerned Citizen