Alagi Yorro Jallow

When has the Gambia changed? What has happened to our values; our virtues; respect for ourselves and elders;( “Ngorr, Joom and Koleeray”): Politics always divides us as a people. But we’re greater than our politics. We’re One people and One nation. That’s what we are and that’s how we should move forward for new Gambia.

Gambians can no longer be divided about certain fundamental issues. It was said that “a person’s behavior is a function of the environment which surrounds and influences them.”

Section of Gambians have allowed the environment of the Gambia to decay. It has become confused, filled with mixed messages, misunderstanding, loss of reliability, unpredictability, and confusion.
This is the environment which we allowed to be created for our beloved children and their future.
Why has this happened, and, continuing without an indication of positive change?

I think – I fervently hope – that these tactics and the whole strategy of hate and contempt will fail over time. Our history argues that, in the Gambia, the pendulum almost invariably swings back to common sense and tolerance after the fever breaks. But in the meantime, much damage has been done. In the present case, lives have already been broken. Anxiety and unease—and yes, downright hatred—seep through if not sweep over so many.

But as I’ve said before, and I believe it bears repeating: Tribal politics breeds contempt and hate. Sadder still, it’s going on anyhow.

The Gambia has forever changed and changing. In a matter of time Gambians helped one another. We cared for one another. We comforted one another. We became united over a common enemy (“Kang Killing” and “Yerr Maandeeh”). The flag was flown from nearly every home, business from and car. The national anthem was a source of pride. Police officers and Field force were our heroes and now, we not, we are suspicious of each other. Our motto became, the national anthem:

“For the Gambia, our homeland
We strive and work and pray,
That all may live in unity,
Freedom and peace each day.
Let justice guide our actions
Towards the common good,
And join our diverse peoples
To prove man’s brotherhood”.

In July 1994 and later, we became more divided than ever. We don’t even know who are enemies, who are foreigners and who are Gambians. Tribalism, bigotry, hypocrisy, (“Hasidiya”,” Wakk Buseew”,” Garuwalleh”) and misogyny have become common. The flag is disrespected and elders blackmailed. The national anthem became offensively dishonored. “Hasidiya” and hate politics became the order of the day. Our country has fallen by our own hands and continues to be dragged into disunity and fighting amongst ourselves.

The level of hatred being displayed especially on social media is unprecedented. In the past, out of self-respect or shame, some people would hide behind pseudonyms when they succumbed to pressure of publishing what they clearly knew was unacceptable. But alas! Today there is no sense of guilt or shame. Both young and old, male and female are freely posting hate messages and insulting one another openly. Tribal fights and comments have become a daily occurrence. What was a taboo is slowly becoming a norm? This is a big shame! This is not who we are. This must stop!

Let’s not bury our heads in the sand. If we allow the status quo, each day that passes, the Gambia will become more divided, the Gambia has become more tribal (I hate to admit it but we can’t be in denial forever – it’s clearly out there). It’s on the streets, in politics, at work places and slowly entering the mosques and churches. Unfortunately, even political, religious and community leaders from all walks of life speak unresponsively. This must stop!!!

There is so much pettiness, bickering and tearing of each other apart on social media. What has happened to One Gambia One People and One Nation. What is the future of our children if we continue to tear each other apart.

Each one of us may have strong opinions. We may have different views. We may disagree to agree, that is okay. But we should never allow ourselves to be divided. How will we condemn misogyny, tribalism, hate and contempt? Brothers and Sisters, these things start slowly. We may take this lightly. Every Gambian should be concerned on what is slowly developing into a national catastrophe.

This calls for serious reflection and action from all of us. Some of the postings on social media including pages which were sound and balanced have unfortunately fallen to this degradation. Let us resist the temptation and repent from our sin. There are better ways of resolving issues.

The presentation of the revised budget by Finance Minster Amadou Sanneh is not only long overdue but also utterly urgent and necessary given the gross financial indiscipline and severe mismanagement leading to the dire state of the economy by APRC. The budgets prepared by Yaya Jammeh were never realistic and pragmatic and this was why his budgets were consistently and constantly busted only for former Vice President Isatou Njie Saidy to go back to parliament to seek additional funds. I have not seen the full details of the revised budget but judging by the critical issues raised by NAMs today indicate that while it contains some sober and realistic revisions, yet there are also major issues of concern.

Members indeed have raised some very important issues that show that they need to take more time to study this budget quite well in order to further cut it according to our size. The suggestion put up by Halifa Sallah that the ministry to have prior consultation with the parliament is critical because that would have addressed a lot of the concerns and issues raised. We must realize that the budget is the second most important law after the constitution. Hence the budget is not an ordinary law. In fact it is the budget that enables the government to protect our rights and satisfy our needs. Hence the budget is the lifeblood of our constitution and sovereignty. Without the budget schools, roads, the police and hospitals among others will not function.

For that matter, the preparation of the budget must be taken up in the most serious manner possible. Therefore Halifa’s suggestion is in place that since the parliament is the body that approves the budget, the Finance Minister would ease his job and also empower the parliament to do their job more efficiently if he first creates a consultative engagement with NAMs until they are able to agree on the issues, costs and items of the budget. This revised budget is to fund the current and development expenditure of the government for 2017 hence expenditure must be kept at its bare minimum. Areas that are not social sectors but only maintaining offices and personnel must be cut down.

Another important issue Halifa raised is about public enterprises. Public enterprises help to decentralize and decongest the provision of public goods and services to make them more accessible and affordable to the masses. Secondly public enterprises are also created to serve as income generation for the government hence they are business enterprises. APRC Government severely mismanaged the public enterprises as Yaya Jammeh turned them into his personal golden goose. Consequently the dividends these enterprises were supposed to provide to the government were not coming. It is such interference that is responsible for the huge debts confronting these enterprises. Therefore the parliament must pursue this matter to bring to book managing directors and board chairpersons to answer to such mismanagement and economic loss. Furthermore, permanent secretaries of line ministries of each and every public enterprise must be called to answer as to why these enterprises failed to pay their dividends. The matter must not be left forgotten.

But we must tell all the members who spoke to realize that their job is not just to highlight, expose, disagree or suggest, but the parliament must realize that they are the driver of this process. Hence they must follow up, demand and summon persons and institutions of interest to come to the parliament to testify. For example, it is not enough for one to express issues about mining in the country, or raise concern about vehicle use, fuel consumption and foreign travels. We want to see the parliament take a definitive stand to give an order to the Minister of Finance on those issues.

Halifa also raised the issue of salaries and pensions and the need to create commissions to determine the state of affairs in these areas. Yes, that is a good recommendation that the government must do. But whether the government does that or not, the parliament on its own must also launch its own enquiry to enlighten themselves on the matter so that they can take clear position and advice the government accordingly.

It is indeed commendable the Minister of Finance produced a revised budget, but let him also understand that this budget must be backed by serious system and attitudinal changes. For example the issue of foreign travels must be controlled particularly at the highest level. The president and ministers must by now limit their travels and stop flying on business class. Members did well to highlight the huge costs spent on embassies, ministers and their vehicles, national celebrations and other operational costs. While it is commendable that cuts have been made to the Office of the President as well as plans to dispose off the planes of the dictator, yet it is still necessary to further cut down cost.

Going forward, the parliament must also set a ceiling for loans. In the past there was no limit as to how much the country can borrow, locally and externally. The current debacle we face is because there were no standards and checkpoints and those that exist were disregarded. Hence the parliament must ensure that we set targets and abide by checks and balances in order not to harm ourselves. We have to have a ceiling for loans particularly the issuance of treasury bills by the Central Bank. The uncontrolled and unlimited use of T-Bills in the past was just mindboggling. This must stop through the creation of necessary legislation.

Finally, it is important that the Minister of Finance and the National Assembly look into the Finance and Audit Act again because there are a number of regulations that have been either ignored or abused. For example there are regulations for the creation of funds for ox-plough, community development, relief to fight hunger, housing loans, transport loans, leprosy fund, medical supplies among others. These are specified amounts of money earmarked to address specific issues. Yet these regulations have not been usually utilized which would have helped to ease some of the hardships in our communities, institutions and in the life of individuals.

The government’s contribution to local councils must also be addressed. The Local Government Act requires that the Government provide 25% of the development budget of local governments yet for years this has not been honoured. The local councils and municipalities were also denied many revenue sources that they usually controlled. Hence if they continued to be denied those sources of revenue and the government contribution to their development budget is not also fulfilled then how do we expect the local governments and municipalities to provide the services and functions they are mandated to provide under the Local Government Act?

God Bless The Gambia

Language of Peace….

One of the reasons I am in a hurry for the beginning of the Constitution is so that the new Constitution will not only change the out-dated draconian laws, but will also put in place laws that are meant to protect the country from any form of civil strife while at the same time being democratic.

As your government has provided the space for the freedom of the press and freedom of expression, there is a need to put in place measures which will ensure that no one abuses these freedoms. You see, Mr President, human beings are such that if you open a window for them some will seek to make it a door.

Speech is very important. Similarly, it is very powerful. We should not joke with the power of speech. Whoever jokes with speech does not understand its power to do good or cause evil. In the Second World War, a time came when the allied forces, especially the British soldiers, lost hope and were about to be defeated. Sir Winston Churchill delivered a powerful speech which served as a rallying call to galvanize the soldiers. They reorganized themselves with renewed zeal and enthusiasm. The rest is history, as they say.

In April, 1994 a speech by a disk jockey sparked a genocide in Rwanda which killed up to eight hundred (800 000) thousand people. This was simply because of the way he reported a particular incident inciting violence between the two major ethnic groups in that country. These two examples show us how speech can both be useful and dangerous.

It is for this reason that in some advanced countries, even though they value freedom of expression, they still put in place laws which ban hate speech. If a speech is seen to have the potential of causing a war, a strife, or unrest in the country it is considered hate speech. This will not be contrary to freedom of expression because everything has two sides; the good and the bad. A good law will ensure that we make the best use of the good side of freedom of expression and discourage the bad side of it.

Mr President, I have written before that our country is polarized due to obvious reasons. We should endeavour to nurture the peace and security we enjoy and not behave in a way that will plunge our country into chaos. The Gambia is too small for civil unrest. We are too interconnected to embark on a path of revenge.

Considering the forgoing, we must make laws that protect the peace and security of the country. No one – political leader, religious leader or ordinary person – should be allowed to make statements that can result in to chaos or war. We must guard our cherished peace with all our might!

Let us talk about peace and reconciliation rather than revenge and war.

May God bless the Gambia.

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Marina Parade

Banjul.

Dearest:

For the attention of the Honourable Minister, Ousainou Darboe

I was left distressed and flabbergasted as to reasons why the United States Embassy in Banjul chose to refuse bright school-going Gambian kids mere visas to partake in a global competition of a robotics nature. The cruel actions taken by Embassy officials denying those kids of barely teenage ages the chance to attend a gathering of such magnitude has come to define the whole visa process Western diplomats assigned to the country have used for years in sending signals to shore up power. I do not care for the explanation of the American counsellor, nor will I fall for baseless reasoning on this and every other case found to be detestable, thus indefensible.

From an expertise analytical viewpoint – The issue here and all such recent offerings has come to signify US bargaining chip in furtherance of its foreign policy objectives. In simple terms, America is after something from the Gambia government, but clearly negotiations aren’t met as they’d wanted. I recognise cruel intentions on the part of the State Department as to rationale behind such a move. Fellow Gambians – Foresight has allowed me to analyse and conclude that the United States government through its embassy in Banjul is conniving to send diplomatic signals, the intimidating kind, to the ‘Barrow’ government playing up strength in bargain positioning. Folks, America is forcing the hand of the Gambia government to accept a costly demand which can only be described as unacceptable. And that demand largely hinges on deportation orders ascribed on all persons of Gambian origin being held by US immigration department and in prisons. As captured by local press, the embassy came out throwing ‘carrots’ for Gambia to accept deportees from US in exchange for warmer ties and financial benefit. How unethical, and pathetic too.
Let me make it abundantly clear that the diaspora is watching this space with great concern. And I will not hesitate to thank the Foreign Ministry in standing firm protecting its constituency abroad. A vital national interest is determinant on this and all such demands from Western governments in motion. The pattern is uncanny on coercive diplomatic moves the United States has gotten away with, for decades, bullying lesser enhanced states in furtherance of its national interest. If ever in doubt just look at the delaying tactics Gambia government officials are met with in securing visas on foreign travels. Make no mistake the deportation orders are illegal under international law. Let Foreign Minister Darboe be assured of diaspora support & fraternity at all times, encouraging push-back against bullying tactics. Similarly, the President and his government deserve noteworthy praise for recent successes across the spectrum, and for diplomatic manoeuvres and contributions to African progress through multilateral means at ECOWAS, the African Union, and through United Nations systems respectively.

As for ambassador Patricia Allsop, she should be declared persona non-grata – pack your bags and get the hell out. The American government need to recognise trends, changes in polarity, emerging international order, in that the world has moved on from the old norms. And that exorbitant visa fees thrown on applicants’ way wills never be understood. The ‘West’ continues to milk millions out of ordinary applicants through visa fees, otherwise unrefunded. Britain is charging close to D100,000 all those seeking to reunite with other-halves; a similar cost is attached by other embassies. This is unacceptable given jurisdiction or otherwise: It is along those lines that I wish to commend & send profound gratitude and appreciations to the Peoples’ Republic of China through ambassador Jiming. I call on government to prioritise Banjul-Beijing ties thereby by deepening economic cooperation & linkages in a broad range of areas for mutual interest. The same policy should apply to Banjul-Moscow ties and to our friends in the Arab world.

The writer encourages his countryfolks to exercise patience, and to cooperate with one another for the interest of the nation. The Gambian people need to recognise a new century of African renaissance and wise up to it, of an emergent educated elite who second-guess and pre-empt foreign intentions. A confident people in decision-making skills, to excel in negotiations and contract makings. America and Europe must open eyes to the realities of a new-world in which the old ways of bullying-tactics won’t stand, thus obsolete. It is along such thinking that Tanzania‘s President John Magufuli ordered the suspension of new mining licenses to foreign firms, stating that expired licenses will not be renewed; accuses foreign companies of tax evasion.

Gibril Saine, LONDON

Democratic Language….

If you have observed you would notice that instead of my usual ‘Hello Mr President’ I have written ‘Hello Chief Servant Adama Barrow’. This is to bring it home to you that as an elected official, you are the servant of the people – your electorate. Therefore, We the people of the Gambia, the Sovereign citizens of this country, are your employers and as such you should respect us just as we should respect you.

In all the times that I have met you in person, Mr President, I have observed that you are a very humble and decent human being. You are a respectful, honourable, dignified and sincere individual. It is interesting that you don’t even raise your voice to anyone! I honour you. I respect you. I value you. I support you. And I obey you!

However, as a president, you don’t only have to take care of your own approach to people, or how you talk to people; you also have to ensure that your officials respect and promote the language of decorum – the democratic language.

It is definitely essential for government officials to respect their electors and speak to them in a seemly manner. It has been observed that some government officials are not paying attention to this golden rule. They may say that as appointees of the president, we did not elect them. True. We didn’t vote for them; but we voted for you who appointed them. Had we not voted for you, you wouldn’t have employed them. So they should respect us as the bosses of their boss, so to speak.

Last month we heard a minister tell a young man that had it been his (the young man’s) father he would not have spoken to him the way he was them addressing him (the minister). Let me tell these ministers, permanent secretaries, directors that once one takes public office, your life no longer belongs to you exclusively. You will be attacked, insulted, disrespected; but you’re to bear all that as you’re a leader working for the people to set examples. So a public servant should bear all these with humility and magnanimity.

Again last week when the people of Gunjur complained of the foul smell emanating from the rotten fish caused by the Golden Lead Factory, a government functionary taunted them by saying, ‘In other countries, the smell you are complaining of here is called the smell of money.’ Can you imagine!

Have these people forgotten that we are in a democracy where the people are the masters and the government the servant? Mr President, I think you should make it known to your employees that no disrespect to the public will be condoned.

The people have genuine concerns and have nowhere to complain other than the government. So, we will rant, we will be impatient, the unruly among us will insult; yet you and your employees will have to bear it all.

I’m in no way saying that the people should disrespect elected officials. This is not what I am saying at all. All I am saying is that respect is reciprocal and the functionaries are expected to have a small ego and accept the silly things some of us will say and do. They are to set excellent examples of steadfastness and forbearance.

Have a Good Day, Mr President….

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

Dear Honorable Inspector General of Police,

I would first like to congratulate you on your appointment to the highest position in the New Gambia Police Service. I want to use this medium to talk to you base on the high or increasing crime rate and the high road traffic accident that you inherited in office.

Sir, commuters from Serrekunda to Brikama are no longer safe with their mobile phones or purses along the highway or garages as well as at pick up points like Tabokoto, Bufferzone/Bundung garages. This is  because of the thieves or criminals who are engaged in forcefully taking phones and money from passengers in broad daylight.

On Thursday night, June 29, 2017, at Tabokoto I witnessed a scenario where two boys forcefully took the mobile phone of a female passenger. As the woman was crying for help to get her phone back, I tactfully helped her get her phone back after which I proceeded to report the matter to the traffic police officers on duty at Tabokoto.

The officers there immediately responded that they cannot go to the scene because they are not equipped. I was then referred to Piccadilly junction police station. Upon arrival there, I found out that the same group of boys from the first scene were fighting one taxi driver for refusing to hand over money to them. They seriously wounded the driver for his refusal to give them the money they asked for.

I would suggest to the police authorities to put up armed men at passenger picking and dropping points to rescue and save passengers from these bandits.

On the number of accidents on our road, I guess the primary cause of this is:

(1) Farmers in The Kombos and Fonis do not control their animals especially cattle from randomly crossing or standing on the highway, thereby posing a huge risk to vehicles plying the roads.

(2) Drivers over speeding and overtaking other vehicles on high speed.

(3) From Mandinaba to Yundum the highway lanes are not drawn or demarcated to enable drivers know their lanes. This results in the drivers hitting each other because one doesn’t know where one lane starts or stops.

I would suggest that the police liaise with all roads or traffic stakeholders like farmers and the National Road authority to help solve this very serious issue.

I hope that my words will be taken into consideration for the benefit of the new Gambians.

Security in Africa….

As you are in the beautiful city of Addis Ababa to attend the AU Summit, I write to give some points on the issue of security in Africa. There is a lot of strife in many parts of the continent; many governments are at loggerheads with their citizenry. And without security, there can be no progress.

Mr President, the cause of most of these troubles is the injustices and the flagrant inequalities that have permeated our societies. To alleviate these difficulties therefore, we need to set the balance right.

First, to ensure that there is equality, we must ensure good governance which will provide a level playing field for all. Governments should seek to work for the people instead of just working for themselves. The people of a country must have the chance to make their lives better.

One of the things African leaders should discuss and agree on is the issue of not overstaying in power. Longevity is killing Africa. We have seen repeatedly where even formerly good leader becomes tyrannical due to the fact that he overstayed in power. You must, as a whole, come up with a solution to this problem.

Africa has everything; we have all the mineral resources we need to pull our people out of poverty. We must work together in order to ensure that our economies pick up and reach a stage where we will enjoy the fruits of our natural and human resources. African integration will be a mockery to African masses if we don’t even trade with each other. Instead of trading only with the West and Asia, African countries can inter-trade amongst themselves and that even be cheaper and more cost effective for them.

Free movement of people and goods should be encouraged and made a priority for all Africans. One African should be able to go to any country in Africa without let or hindrance. When this happens, a lot of businesses will boom and profits will increase.

Cooperation between different countries should be made a priority. Cooperation on trade, economy, security, energy, governance and all other areas so that every country will enjoy the benefits of cooperation.

There should be an AU Standby Force which will always be ready to be deployed wherever strife threatens to destroy the peace and stability of a country. If what happened in the Gambia is about to happen anywhere in Africa, that force should be deployed with a mandate to oust the recalcitrant leader who wants to cling on to power.

Mr President, I hope you and your fellow presidents will use this time to come up with plans and polices to uplift Africa.

Have a Good Day Mr President….

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

The Accidents Are Getting Out of Hand….

Mr President, every now and again, we read in the newspapers about some fatal accident or the other. In the past month alone, I’ve heard about three or four road accidents, some of which were fatal. Our roads are becoming more dangerous than HIV AIDS and Ebola combined! What is the cause of this? How can we minimize death on our roads? What can government do about it?

Theories have it that many of the drivers causing these accidents are either drunk drivers, wrongly licensed drivers or simply children of rich men [sometimes government officials] speeding on our roads without a shred of care as to what their reckless driving causes.

Mr President, we cannot continue to lose our people, sometimes the young, on our roads. It is the responsibility of a government to protect its citizenry, sometimes even against themselves. Therefore, it is time we look at the causes and solutions to road accidents. The problem, as the causes shown above suggest, is multidimensional and as such requires a multifaceted solution.

In the first place, I think there should be a massive campaign against indiscipline in the country. Someone drinking and driving is undisciplined. Some government official allowing his or her unlicensed child to drive is undisciplined; a person issuing a licence to an untested driver is undisciplined. So, all these people and the others have to be sensitized so that the indiscipline in the country will be reduced.

The second aspect of the solution has to do with licencing. Licence should not be an issue of revenue collection; rather, it should be looked at as a national security issue. Thus, it will be wrong for the issuing authority to also be the enforcer of the licence. The licencing should be taken away from the police and a new Licencing Authority/Agency constituted.

The Gambia Transport Union should be given the authority and mandate to test prospective drivers and the certify them. With such a certificate from the Transport Union, the prospective drivers will now go to Gambia Revenue Authority who will then authorize the licencing authority to issue a driver’s licence.

The Gambia Police Force/Service will then be given the mandate to enforce the driver’s licence law. In this way, Mr President, we can reduce, if not eradicate completely, the deaths on our roads. Life is sacred and we should do everything to ensure that lives are saved. After all, life is all about saving lives!

Have a Good Day Mr President….

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen