By Madi Jobarteh

Western Europe and the United States share a terrible history with Africa. History has shown that slavery and colonialism were the imagination and invention of Europeans for the purpose of exploiting and oppressing Africans. History has shown that London, Manchester, Amsterdam or Paris were small and poor towns before the advent of slavery. But soon after the African Holocaust, these European cities and many more in Spain or Portugal emerged as huge industrial conglomerates ever since. For centuries Europeans came to African to kidnap our ancestors to ship away to their ‘New World’, which are the Americas from where the United States and Canada emerged as the richest countries.

 
Since Africa began its liberation struggle and eventually gaining independence from the 1960s, we have seen how western European countries and the United States jointly and individually spared no effort to undermine our struggle for self-determination. Where we even produced visionary leaders through the democratic process such as Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba and Ahmed Sekou Toure, we have seen how the West purposefully sought to eliminate them one by one through various means. Until today the West continues to support dictators, rebel groups and exploit Africa’s huge resources for their own benefit and to our detriment.

 
Yet, in spite of slavery, colonialism and now neo-colonialism, Africans now willingly struggle hard to go the West. Today Africa’s best doctors, engineers, lawyers and engineers as well as experts in all fields have found home in the West, working there and developing Western economies. Our young people including the illiterate and unskilled are not left behind in this exodus to the West. Thousands continue to embark on all sorts of dangerous journeys just to get to the West. Thanks to our people in the West many families at home are having decent lives.

 
Why is that? Why are our people not running to China, Russia, Brazil or India like they head to the West? No one goes to seek asylum in China or Malaysia or Rumania? What is in the West that makes it our first choice and not to North Korea or Turkey or Iran? Why do we still go to the West despite the horrible history we share with them until today? China or Russia or India never enslaved or colonized Africa, yet we do not go to those countries but only to the West. Why?

 
The answer is simple. We all want to go to the West because of democracy. Any African who is persecuted in Africa runs away to seek asylum in the West. Any African who is seeking greener pastures or education goes to the West. This is because there is Democracy and Good Governance in the West. Because of that democracy and good governance, the West has produced sustainable economic wellbeing and immense opportunities for its people and we also want to benefit from that. Gambians in America, UK and Western Europe know this because they see how these countries are governed. They have see how American people or the British and Western Europeans engage and monitor their leaders to make sure they produce the right leadership based on democracy.

 
When one considers all of these, why then are Gambians, especially some of them in the West who have seen and experienced democracy face to face now deny democracy to their own people at home. Why is it that when someone raises his or her concerns and issues about the Gambia Government or Adama Barrow or a political party, these people in the West unleash so much violence on that person? They call you a tribalist, hater, social media expert, attention seeker or seeking cheap popularity. They would even try to question what you did during the APRC Tyranny as if they stayed in the Gambia and physically wrestled with Yaya Jammeh and defeated him a long time ago! Some would even rationalize that Gambia is not UK or US as if democracy is good for the West but not good for the Gambia.

 
Instead of these people demanding the best from our leaders and subjecting them to hard scrutiny, rather they condemn anyone who is trying to hold the Barrow Administration to account. What is most amazing is that these people are behaving exactly the same way as APRC folks were behaving when Yaya Jammeh was in power. At that time anyone who criticized Yaya Jammeh, you were labeled an unpatriotic citizen, a Western-backed agent or a tribalist who just hated Yaya Jammeh. Why are we repeating this? Why then did we remove Yaya Jammeh?

 
Everyone has seen that the only reason Western Europe, US and Canada are so rich and powerful is because of democracy. Therefore one would expect that Gambians in the Diaspora would uncompromisingly demand and insist on democracy for us also by any means, but so far what is coming out from some folks there is indeed scary. They enjoy democracy in the West yet they want to deny democracy to their own people in the Gambia. Why should we label a Gambian citizen negatively just because the person holds and expresses a divergent and dissenting opinion? Whose idea is correct? Who has the power to determine who is right or wrong? Can’t we just agree or disagree without having to vilify each other?

 
Is this the way we want to build the New Gambia? Is this the way we want to support and protect Adama Barrow? Can’t these people realize that they are not only harming Adama Barrow, but we are fundamentally taking our country back to dictatorship and destruction? Yet they still enjoy democracy in the West but they do not want their own people to enjoy the full extent of democracy at home. Certainly it is not ignorance but this is sheer dishonesty.

 
Gambians, Get Ready! We have entered Part 2 of the Struggle against New Dictators. On December 1 Gambia decided for True Democracy and we must not allow a bunch of Minority Dishonest Dictators to reverse that decision. Certainly this is not the reason why Solo Sandeng led patriots to demonstrate for democracy and electoral reforms. The struggle continues…
God Bless the Gambia.

By Madi Jobarteh

If truth be told, this National Assembly is the best parliament the Gambia has ever produced since independence. It is indeed the dream team and for that matter they cannot fail the nation. In this parliament there exists the necessary knowledge, experience, personalities and wisdom that we require as a nation. Through their personal experiences, with longstanding involvement in the political activities of this country, members of this parliament cannot claim ignorance in any way about what the Gambia needs and where it should go. Hence if they fail to fulfill that responsibility, we must hold them totally responsible for failing us. They would have no excuse in anyway other than sheer dishonesty and huger for power.

In the first place, Mariam Denton, The Speaker is a well-educated Gambian. She is a woman who had fought her own battles with tyranny from the very early days. She knows the law to the bone hence she is fully familiar with the challenges facing the Gambia from a legal perspective. As a lawyer and a political activist under UDP, she knows what that party faced because of dictatorship. Therefore the least we expect from Mariam is to be another speaker who would facilitate tyranny to return to the Gambia. If Mariam fails us, it is certainly not because of ignorance. Hence our lives and destiny are in the hands of Mariam Denton.

The Deputy Speaker is none other than the longstanding opposition giant Momodou Sanneh who had led his own revolution against Yaya Jammeh. He has the experience and knowledge about the National Assembly being one of the longest serving members in the Second Republic. As an elderly Gambian who has witnessed how his children and grandchildren have been destroyed by dictatorship, Sanneh cannot tell us he does not know what kind of Gambia we deserve. Hence we expect Momodou Sanneh to bequeath to his children and grandchildren a Gambia that will be proud of his legacy. If he fails us like APRC, he has no excuse.

Therefore between Speaker Denton and her deputy Sanneh, we expect nothing other than enlightened and compassionate leadership for the creation of a new Gambia. It is now that we will see if indeed their personal and political experiences are worth the salt they are made of.

The greatest asset we have in the National Assembly is the presence of 31 elected UDP representatives. What more can we tell these UDP folks when their members were the most brutalized opposition party. Do we need to remind UDP what is dictatorship? Would they forget Kanyiba Kanyi? Would they forget their experiences at Denton Bridge in 1996 when they were mercilessly beaten by APRC and soldiers? Would they forget Solo Sandeng? Would they dare to forget the mass incarceration of their entire leadership in July 2016? Hence who dare remind UDP that they have a solemn responsibility to deliver good governance to the Gambia?

UDP members must realize that we do not live in the Yaya Jammeh narrative anymore. We live in the UDP narrative now because just as they were the worst victims of the dictatorship, today they have also become the biggest beneficiary of that tyranny. They earned it because they worked for it. Hence it is now that UDP will show us what they are made of. Will Mariam Denton, Momodou Sanneh and Kebba K Barrow use their majority in the parliament for the good of the Gambia or just for the partisan interest of UDP like APRC did? The fact remains that the experiences and expertise within UDP in this parliament offers us a unique opportunity to create the best Gambia ever. Therefore they have no excuse to fail us.

When it comes to the Majority Leader Kebba K Barrow affectionately called KKB we have nothing to do but to celebrate because of the excellent profile of the honourable member. This is a man who has spent the better part of his life in the civil society, working with communities for socio-economic development. Over the years KKB has trained, sensitized and worked with various associations for women, youth, the disabled and children for the protection and promotion of their human rights. A longstanding staff of TANGO, KKB and I have crisscrossed the length and breath of the Gambia going into poor and marginalized communities to empower the masses to defend their rights and demand quality services from local government authorities and the government. We have trained all categories of Gambian society in promotion of good governance and democracy. Hence if that KKB is now the Majority Leader in the parliament, then all must hail the Gambia. KKB dare not fail by turning the National Assembly into a rubberstamp for dictatorship. If he does that then it is nothing other than dishonesty and hunger for power for he definitely knows what are the challenges and prospects of the Gambia.

Minority Leader Samba Jallow must be credited for being that lone party member in the last parliament who stood up with Gambians through thick and thin. He is indeed a man who did not shirk his duty when his motherland called him to do so. He is not Fabakary Tombong Jatta and his APRC NAMs who decided to forsake the Gambia for Yaya Jammeh. Hence we must feel very confident and satisfied that Samba Jallow is still the minority leader. We would hope that he would mobilize his NRP team to support nothing but the good governance and democracy of the Gambia.

The combination of PPP and the new independents give us only hope even though most of them are entering the parliament for the first time. The personalities in these camps tell us they are citizens of integrity who are inspired to serve their nation. Being adult Gambians who have lived through the dictatorship, there experience is enough to place them on the path of democracy and good governance for the Gambia.

Finally. It is not an overstatement to claim that the rock of the National Assembly is the PDOIS Frontline. Led by the indomitable Halifa Sallah and indefatigable Sidia Jatta with strong strikers like Ousman Sillah and Suwaibou Touray, we cannot expect anything from this formidable team other than the defense of the supreme interests of the Gambia. Hence we definitely cannot expect under performance from Sidia and his vanguard in the parliament. It would be the greatest tragedy if PDOIS abandons the people in the cold! There is no doubt that they will never ever do that.

Frantz Fanon had said that each generation has a duty to discover its mission, to fulfill or betray that mission. Our new National Assembly Members must realize that this is their generation. We went through 22 bloody years of misrule and each of these parties had stood hard and strong against tyranny until it was vanquished. Hence their mission has been carved out for them already, which is to create a new Gambia of democracy, dignity and freedom. Will they fulfill or betray their people? Time will tell. But we can tell them that they have absolutely no excuse, individually and collectively to fail. If they fail, it will be for no reason other than dishonesty, hunger for power and unpatriotism.

We therefore wish the National Assembly well. We expect the party leaders of UDP, PPP and NRP who are Cabinet ministers to provide the necessary guidance to their parliamentarians to better guide the Executive. Failure is not an option.

Having party leaders who founded the Coalition inside the Cabinet of Chief Servant Adama Barrow further enhances this National Assembly. With a set of strong women like Fatoumatta Tambajang, Isatou Touray, Claudiana Cole and Saffie Lowe Ceesay, in addition to a team of male technocrats, this Cabinet therefore has the requisite knowledge, experience and expertise to steer this country to greater heights. Indeed the Cabinet is equally a dream team and they have absolutely no reason to fail the Gambia. No one knows the Gambia more than Barrow and his Cabinet for they have lived through the dictatorship and they all had their various individual battles.

To the rest of the citizens, let us begin to sensitize and organize in order to empower our people. Our greatest weapons are enlightenment and organization. No force on earth can defeat an enlightened and an organized people. Let us be prepared to demonstrate, petition and speak out in our towns and villages, through the radio, television and newspapers, everyday. Let us demand transparency and accountability without which democracy is hijacked and transformed into a tyranny. Let us all be activists for social justice. Let us all be human rights defenders. Let us all be advocates for democracy and good governance. Let us work together as groups to monitor the National Assembly and the Executive to ensure that they abide by the rule of law. Let us realize that what we face is a life and death issue!

May God Bless the Gambia and the National Assembly!

ANALYSIS – The recent spat of rash appointments within the Gambia’s Foreign Ministry continues to raise eyebrows and debate amongst the diaspora & Foreign Policy circles seeking answers as to legality and utility of an ambassador-at-large. As framed within, Section 79, subsection (b) the constitution authorises the president to ‘receive envoys accredited to The Gambia & to appoint Principal representatives of the country abroad’. The term ‘principal, here denotes ambassadors, and counsels; and nowhere is an ambassador-at-large mentioned.

Diplomacy, in simple terms, is a by-product of relations between nations. In bilateral & multilateral terms, diplomacy is often termed as an art or practice of conducting negotiations between nations. In Foreign Policy terms, however, experts define the term as a profession, or activity, or skill of managing international relations, typically by a country’s representatives abroad.

How does recent appointments fit into this arrangement – Well, according to Foreign Policy Magazine, an ambassador-at-large is one who is not assigned to a particular diplomatic post but is appointed on a special mission. This ruling seems vague necessitating further clarification. Turning to the 1970 republican constitution, and the watered down 1997 version, there is no mention of such a post, or privileges. On section 79(c), however, the constitution ‘gives the President power to negotiate and, subject to ratification by the National Assembly, the conclusion of treaties and other international agreements’. My understanding is that an ambassador-at-large is one who is NOT appointed to a ‘Foreign Post’, but travels to various places carrying out special duties. So what’s the point of our ‘REAL’ ambassadors then, Mr President!

In American Politics such an appointment is conferred on ‘one with special duties who may be sent to more than one government with a specific message from the president.’ In Gambia’s case, however, this leads to more confusion as to why a tiny country as ours, having accredited diplomats around the world would make such rash appointments with no legal legs to stand on. We have heard of sports ambassadors, business ambassadors, but those are vague terms conferred on citizens who achieve or did extraordinary feats. Basically, ceremonial terms; and certainly, every Gambia abroad is an ambassador for their country projecting the good-Gambia-Image around the world. The diaspora being a true testament of that showcase in magnificent ways, indeed. And as the country embark on a new era rebuilding external relations & partnerships, the government must learn from recent experiences that the Gambian people have voted for a new direction and a rethink in foreign policy – Not favouritism, nor cronyism.

There are legitimate questions here, if, in fact, those appointees are salaried, and on what terms and conditions of issuing diplomatic passports. Looking at the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations (1961), clearly, Jammeh has overstepped the process by issuing the country’s privilege papers in exchange for monetary favors. Not again, and Foreign Minister Darboe is on notice that Gambians are taking a closer look. For accountability purposes in view of a ‘Freedom of information bill’ soon to be introduced in parliament, pro-democracy groups aim to put in periodic requests of all persons issued with diplomatic passports, bar ‘REAL’ ambassadors.

President Barrow ought to be mindful of charges of ‘personalization of the state’, hence the Gambia’s republican constitution is premised on the principles of separation of powers, Checks and Balances, all in line with the democratic process – values Jammeh crushed. I further enjoin on him to regulate any more issuance of diplomatic passports, and to sign on each applicant before issue.

Moving on – The issue of term limit has gone cold within this administration. One of the verbal agreements the diaspora and coalition 2016 aligned on was for the insertion of such roadblocks into the statutory book as a curb against perpetual rule. Let me remind the President that we are still here; that we hold these ‘Truths’ to be inherently dear to us, thus SACROSANCT. When the issue last came to a vote at an ECOWAS gathering, the Gambia and Togo remain the only two countries to vote against the motion. For reputation, and his own legacy purposes, President Barrow ought to know that ‘supremacy of the law’ supersdes ‘Seniority’ or ‘Privileges’. The role of government is simply to ‘govern in defense of the constitution’. I’d be remiss not to remind him that he has executive authority to authorise a cabinet reshuffle, or sack any minister not up to the job. Folks, you better recognise #NewGambia in a #New-Era – Taxpayers deserve a return in more ways than one – and that also means ‘COMPETENCE’.

Gibril Saine, LONDON.

By Madi Jobarteh

I hereby to call on the Speaker Mariam Denton and her deputy Momodou K Sanneh together with the Majority Leader Kebba K Barrow and the Minority Leader Samba Jallow and indeed all National Assembly members to pull down the picture of Pres. Adama Barrow from the main chamber of the National Assembly, now. The presence of the picture of the sitting president in the National Assembly is a direct affront to the separation of powers principle and the threat to our democracy. It is a practice that is monarchical and dictatorial. The National Assembly does not belong to the president, rather it is the house of the Gambian Nation. No president’s picture deserves to be there. There is absolutely no justification for the president’s picture to continue to hang in that house. Remove it now.

 
In the past the APRC Tyranny persistently and illegally displayed Yaya Jammeh’s picture in the National Assembly as if he owns the house. This is a backward, feudalistic, monarchical and tyrannical attitude. We are not a 13th century chiefdom. We are a modern democratic state in which the three arms of the state, the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary are separate. They serve each other through a clear checks and balances system to ensure the good governance and sustainable development of the Gambia. Hence no arm is to be glorified by another arm.

 
Displaying the picture of the president therefore inside the premises of the Legislature or in the Judiciary is nothing other than a sycophantic over-glorification of one person above and beyond our sovereignty. It is an attempt to place a human being above the Gambian nation as a lord. It undermines the independence, professionalism and effective performance of that parliament. This is not what the Gambia has decided for. The president is nothing other than a paid servant to do a job. He must not be worshipped! The job of the parliament is to hold the president to account.

 
I hereby demand that Speaker Mariam Denton and the National Assembly authorities remove all pictures of the president from the National Assembly. We expect Mariam Denton and the National Assembly to consolidate the democratic foundations of the Gambia and not to perpetuate dictatorial tendencies especially from so early a time.

 
Secondly, the National Assembly must summon Pres. Barrow to report on his visit to the Republic of Congo where he is reported to claim that the Despot Denis Sassou Ngeusso is ‘an excellent advisor’. The Gambia people need to know the rationale for this visit and what results were obtained. It is indeed a great cause for concern to have our newly democratically elected president visit and applaud a certified corrupt and brutal tyrant who continues to perpetuate himself in power for decades now.

 
But since the Constitution under Section 77 subsection 3 requires that it is the Vice President who answers questions on behalf of the president in the National Assembly, one wonders how this will be possible now. For that matter I call on Speaker Mariam Denton and the National Assembly to demand that Pres. Barrow appoint a vice president immediately for the effective and efficient running of the state to ensure transparency and accountability.

God Bless The Gambia

Albeit today is a bank holiday, I cannot afford not to register my association with the many Gambians who cherished the convening of your first cabinet. What is even more caressing was the setting out of your government’s priority areas notably “the energy sector, fixing the broken economy, unifying the nation, improving the health and agricultural sub-sectors and ending the country’s isolation.” You further intimated that “institutional, electoral and constitutional reforms” are siblings of the priority areas to be urgently addressed. Mr President, how do you intend to achieve this lofty reform agenda?

There isn’t an iota doubting the merit of your intention, however, it created more questions than answers. To achieve this reform two pertinent areas need sorting: capacity and personnel. Fortunately, there is no deficiency regarding the latter. This, rest the focus on the former, capacity. Here, the first thing which comes to mind is finance especially when one recollects the Finance Minister’s maiden press conference. Suffice it to say our economy survives on tax, aids and grants.

The only way forward in materializing the reform agenda is soliciting funds from strong stakeholders without stifling strings attached. All secured funds must equally be accounted to the butut to avert it dripping into deep political and private pockets.

 
Gambia has attracted a lot of international attention lately and with it willing investors and donors. However, close attention must be paid to the strings which come with the most needed funds. Who benefits at the end of the day is fundamental?

 
Unifying the nation depends on whether victims and their families are given the justice they unquestionably deserve. Reconciliation is unconceivable without justice. People need answers to subside their nightmarish agonies of not knowing why their love ones were murdered, where are their remains buried, how did they die, who killed them? Once that bridge is crossed, civic education becomes paramount in nursing the broken hearts.

 
Meaningful development is illusionary without regular and affordable electricity and water supply. Apart from worn-out generators, mismanagement and corruption are the cancerous demon of leading NAWEC to the mortuary. New means need to be explored in providing energy efficiency and effectiveness for Gambians in line with modern facilities and technology. Enough of the old wine in new bottles Mr President.

 
Safe journey and happy Easter bank holiday. Until Tuesday, don’t disappoint.

Sulayman Jeng
Birmingham, UK

By Tukulor Sey

I can’t believe it’s been a year since Yahya Jammeh took your life simply because you exercised your right to protest, demanding electoral reform. Oh Solo! Yaya saw you as a threat because he feared his TYRANNICAL DYNASTY WOULD COME TO AN END and guess what? YAYA HAS BEEN REMOVED THROUGH ELECTIONS! While we celebrate your heroism and are thankful for your sacrifice, Yaya lives in a foreign country where nobody knows his name – he is a nonentity. We have a national assembly that will amend the electoral laws to favor all citizens. Your death and that of many before you, shall not go in vain because JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL.

 
You have many who love you! Your children and Nyima miss you. UDP misses an irreplaceable member. YOUR INCIDENT SPARKED A MOVEMENT called Kalamaa Revolution. MANY were arrested, some SEVERELY TORTURED, but they kept on fighting! SOME WERE SENTENCED TO 3 YEARS, but they remained defiant. The fear of The Dictator diminished! Gambian voters and the diaspora TOOK THE BULL BY THE HORNS AND CONFRONTED YAYA THROUGH THE BALLOT & WON! Your comrades were released, and WE ARE FREE!

 
Heroes sometimes die, but their memory lives on through their families. Solo, your children named a Foundation after you to keep your memory and legacy alive (Solo Sandeng Foundation). There is an adage “an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Your family has jumped many hurdles, endured their biggest nightmare of losing you, yet they remain humble, religious, and steadfast.
As we prepare to walk the path you took that day, we pray for Allah to accept you in his Jannah. Ameen. #SoloLegacy #IAmSoloSandeng #KalamaaRevolution

Now that politics is over and a new executive and a National Assembly are installed, I wish to prevail on our country’s new leaders to take up their sacred duty of serving our nation with utmost sincerity to us the citizens including themselves and their own children.

This post in intended for the attention of the members of the national assembly as the law makers of the land. Although it is evident that our type of government gives the executive branch every responsibility including the drafting, presentation and defense of bills in the assembly to become laws, members of the assembly are nonetheless the most important denominators in the law making process. It is prudent therefore that they the members of the assembly know the laws that are being brought before them and properly scrutinize them for their ramifications and everyone.

As a former police officer, I can attest to the fact that The Gambia is among few countries that makes very bad laws and tie the hands of the police and judges in enforcing them. It is a country where you will find a lot of criminal law and constitutional provisions that are at total variance with the dictates of any civilised, democratic and independent nation. Although some of these laws were inherited from the British colonialists who made them with the intent to curtail the rising trends of anti colonialism movements in Africa during the struggle for independence, I cannot understand why we still have such laws in our statutory books over half a century after independence. What makes matter even worse is that our own national post independence governments instead of repealing such draconian laws, amended them and make them even worse for us thanks to our irresponsible representatives we put in parliament.

Let us take a short tour on our Criminal Code. Section 52 of the Criminal Code of The Gambia provides for a fine of between 50,000 to 250,000 or an imprisonment of 5 years or both for publication of a seditious material. A seditious publication is anything that is intended to bring the person of the president to disrepute etc. There is the giving false information to a public officer act which we will all recall as in the last ten years hundreds were sent to prison for that act for writing to the president for grievances.

Section 69 defines Unlawful assembly as any three people or more assembled with intent to engage in riot. And when they start to carry out their actions, it does not matter whether they harm anybody or not, their action now constitutes a riot which is punishable with up to 5 years in prison without an option of a fine.

What is even more scary about that Public Order Act is section 73 which states that law enforcement officers engaged in dispersing such riots will not be held accountable whether in criminal or civil courts for any injury or death resulting from such dispersing. As far as these laws are concerned, it does not matter whether such protests, assemblies or riots result in victims or not or breach of peace or not. It only gives a verge phrase of “causing fear” which is subjective.

You will recall that these were the laws used to put the entire UDP executive in prison together with dozens of their members following the late Solo Sandeng incident. The sooner we conduct a thorough cleansing of our statutory books, the better for us all as no one knows who the next victim will be. As we speak, we have at least 2 cabinet ministers and at least another 2 in parliament who were victims of this very law.

Our constitution is also in a similar mess. Look at the membership of our national assembly. Can you imagine a whole constituency voting for a member in an election only for him to lose that seat when he is dismissed by his party leader. The seat becomes vacant and that constituency will have to go through a bye election to get someone to represent them. Now we are wondering why our parliaments are rubber stamp and parliamentarians are loyal to thief party leaders instead of their constituents.

If we accept such provisions in our law books and constitution, what more do we expect as a people other than being victims of our own complacency.

Another law I had always had issue with is our Social Security and Injury Compensation Act. How can a person be involved in an accident and gets permanently disabled and you pay him only fifty thousand dalasis. When he dies, he gets only a 100,000. How will the disabled support himself for the rest of his life let alone the young dependants the victim leaves behind?

This is my little contribution as a citizen and I hope that President Barrow and his parliament will carry out their parts as well in our best interest and we will not see a repetition of the last 2 regimes.

Long live The Gambia and her citizens.”

From a concerned citizen