As we draw closer to the end of term of the tenure of the outgoing president, yet he remains recalcitrant in accepting the verdict of the people, it is now time for the National Assembly to assume its constitutional responsibilities. All categories of the Gambian society have spoken in no uncertain terms and various groups have shown their open and unfettered support for Adama Barrow as the elected president of the republic. The entire Gambian population is now determined and prepared to defend our vote. The international community has similarly shown that they are fully behind the people of the Gambia by calling on outgoing president to step down.

Yet the outgoing president continues to make ridiculous statements about the elections while filing an ill-informed petition to a non-existing yet illegally constituted Supreme Court, which intends to start sitting on January 10. Meantime ECOWAS, backed by the African Union and the United Nations and governments of the world, has indicated that come January 19 if Jammeh refuses to step down they will resort to the use of military force to end his misrule. Since December 9 they have been frantically engaged in diplomacy to avert conflict.

Now I ask, does the National Assembly wish to tell us that they are not aware of these developments in our country to the point that they have remained mute like a silencer? Given the fast approaching fateful January 19 day, and the continued refusal of Jammeh to see reason and abide by our constitution, the onus is now on the National Assembly as the only constitutional authority in our republican system with the capacity to bring sanity to the outgoing Pres. Jammeh and save the Gambia. I wish to put it to the members of the National Assembly that they have a duty to prevent a military conflict in our small but beautiful land by prevailing on the outgoing president to humble down with faith and respect the verdict of the people.

Advice The Outgoing President
Section 102 spells out the functions of the National Assembly and in that regard Subsection (a) empowers the National Assembly to ‘advise the President on any matter which lies within his or her responsibility’. The first responsibility of the president is to respect and defend the constitution. But on December 9, it is clear that Yaya Jammeh has reneged on his oath of office by flouting Section 6 of the constitution and intends to further violate Section 63(2). By these actions he has already violated his responsibilities under Section 17, which puts an obligation on the president to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens.

Hence the National Assembly must now rise up to its obligation to advise the president as per Section 102(a) to withdraw his December 9 infamous statement because it was unconstitutional, politically motivated with bad faith and endangers national security.

Vote of No Confidence
Failure of the president to heed to the advice of the National Assembly, the parliamentarians yet still have other powers given to them by the constitution to pass a vote of no confidence in the president under Section 63 Subsection 3. Hence the National Assembly still holds the key to our salvation and the prevention of armed conflict in our dear country. They must be seen to fulfill these solemn national duties.

Impeachment of the Outgoing President
Apart from a vote of no confidence and failure of the president to heed parliamentary advice, yet the constitution still gave powers to the National Assembly to impeach the president for misconduct. Section 67 Subsection 2 empowers the National Assembly to undertake impeachment proceedings of the president for misconduct, which are spelt out in Section 67 Subsection 1.

The grounds for removal of the president under the first paragraph of this section are where he or she is found to cause ‘abuse of office, wilful violation of the oath of allegiance or the President’s oath of office, or wilful violation of any provision of this Consultation’ or if he or she misconducted himself ‘in a manner which brings or is likely to bring the office of President into contempt or disrepute’. Furthermore the second paragraph of Section 67 Subsection 1 also states that a president can be impeached for having ‘dishonestly done any act which is prejudicial or inimical to the economy of The Gambia or dishonestly omitted to act with similar consequences.’

Here again we can see that outgoing Pres. Yaya Jammeh has abused his powers, wilfully violated the oath of office of the president and flouted many other provisions of this constitution based on his utterances and actions since December 9. The deployment of soldiers into the offices of the IEC and the continued denial of media coverage to Adama Barrow by GRTS are additional actions that severely violate the constitution. Furthermore, by making GAMTEL to close down Internet and telephony services on December 1 coupled with the deployment of soldiers in combat readiness around the country without a state emergency or declaration of war, all constitute actions that damage the economy of the Gambia.

These actions and utterances including his statements with the African Bar Association as well as statements by his associates, notably National Assembly Member Seedy Njie are major factors causing anxiety in the Gambia and slowing down the economy. Their statements by Yahya Jammeh and Seedy Njie constitute threats to the peace and security of the country as they peddled tribalism, threatened constitutionality and incitements to violence against certain individuals and communities. These are clear and justifiable grounds for impeachment.

Meet with the Outgoing President
In light of the foregoing, it is therefore utterly urgent and necessary that the Speaker of the National Assembly Abdoulie Bojang together with the Majority Leader Fabakary Tombong Jatta and the Minority Leader Samba Jallow and all the members demand an urgent meeting with the outgoing Pres. Yahya Jammeh to advise him to withdraw his December 9 illegal utterance. They should advise him to go back to his December 2 concession of defeat and promise to support the transition process. They should advise him to therefore reactivate the transition process and abide by the terms of the constitution for the inauguration of Adama Barrow on 19 January 2016.

Failure to heed to the advise of the National Assembly, I would call on the Speaker, the Majority and Minority leaders and all members to therefore invoke Section 63(3) to pass a motion of no confidence in him. They should follow this with invoking as well Section 67(2) to impeach him for gross misconduct.

Abandon Yaya Jammeh and Embrace the Gambia
In addition to the constitutional responsibilities placed on them, members of the National Assembly also owe it to their country as the representatives of their people to abandon Yaya Jammeh in order to prevent a violent conflict from erupting in the Gambia. I therefore call on all National Assembly Members to publicly isolate and disassociate themselves, individually and collectively from the outgoing president in the supreme interest of the Gambia, their motherland. All sectors of Gambian society have spoken, yet the National Assembly as an institution and as individual members have remained mute. Bear in mind that failure to play your part as effectively as you should but letting the country to plunge into conflict, then you should consider yourselves as accomplices in the crime against the Gambia. History will judge you as those sons and daughters who abandoned their motherland at her most painful moment in favour of a dishonest, unpatriotic, greedy and murderous tyrant.

Let us engage our National Assembly Members
I wish to call on all Gambians to impress on their National Assembly Members to realise that they are the direct representatives of the people hence they must be seen to uphold and defend the will of the people. Our will was expressed on December 1, and the National Assembly must realise that it is the most important national institution in the Gambia that cannot be seen to be a bystander in the affairs of the people. They must not aid and abet any attempt, project or individual who wishes to dilute and abrogate the will of the people. This is a solemn responsibility placed on the National Assembly by the constitution under Section 112 paragraph (a),

‘All members shall regard themselves as servants of the people of The Gambia desist from any conduct by which they seek improperly to enrich themselves or alienate themselves from the people, and shall discharge their duties and functions in the interest of the nation as a whole and in doing so, shall be influenced by the dictates of conscience and the national interest.

On the basis of this provision, and in the face of a looming national tragedy and in fulfilment of my constitutional responsibility and because of my love for country, I hereby call on the National Assembly to assume their national and constitutional responsibilities without delay. Failure to fulfil their historic and patriotic duty, they risk plunging the country into a conflict of far reaching consequences for which the people of the Gambia will neither forget nor forgive them forever and ever.
For the Gambia, Our Homeland. #GambiaHasDecided

By Madi Jobarteh

The unconstitutional announcement by the Inspector General of Police on December 26 for individuals to obtain a permit before embarking on a ‘convoy’ is utterly unfortunate, unhelpful and a direct threat to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people.

Section 25(d) of our constitution gives each and every Gambian, individually and collectively the freedom to assembly and to demonstrate peacefully without the use of arms. The exercise of such right does not in any way require the permission of the State and its agencies. But all State institutions and the Gambia Police Force in particular are expected to be present to protect the exercise and enjoyment of this right by citizens. Section 25 is an entrenched clause which means it is a provision which cannot be abrogated in any way by any authority, institution, individual or power in the Gambia except through the expressed will of the people of the Gambia in a referendum.

Hence for the IGP to issue such a directive is a direct violation of Section 17 of the Constitution, which places an obligation on the Executive as the chief protector of the rights of citizens. The Gambia Police Force and all officers of the force are an agency and employees of the Executive, hence they are equally obliged to protect rights and not to damage them. Rather than command citizens to seek a permit, the IGP Yankuba Sonko is expected to instead seek the cooperation of citizens in how best the police can serve them. Seeking the cooperation of citizens is not the same as requiring them to seek a permit first before they can enjoy their right.

I know the IGP is using the Public Order Act as the basis of his unfortunate announcement. Let me remind the IGP that the Public Order Act is a colonial law created in 1961 and then amended in 1963 by the colonialists for the purpose of limiting the freedom of Gambians to agitate for our freedom and independence. This colonial and draconian law was not touched again until in 2009 when the Dictator Yahya Jammeh amended it in response to the urge in citizens to agitate for their freedom following he 2000 student massacre and the 2004 murder of Deyda Hydara and the events surrounding the 2006 presidential elections and 2007 parliamentary elections. Because of the agitations of citizens and the fear of people gaining their freedom, the Dictator went back to the colonial period to fish out this draconian law in order to clampdown on the sovereign rights of Gambians.

Let us remind the IGP that a public servant and a security officer without political awareness is a potential criminal. Section 1 Subsection 2 of our constitution states that the sovereignty of the Gambia resides in the people of the Gambia. It went on to say that the State derives its legitimacy from the people and the State and all its officers perform their functions on behalf of the people and for the interest of the people. Hence each and every member of the State must see himself or herself as an instrument for the expansion and protection of the rights and freedoms of the sovereign people of the Gambia. No public officer or security officer must therefore allow himself or herself to be used as a tool to limit the freedoms of the people.

The IGP must realize that he must not therefore curtail fundamental constitutional and sovereign rights of citizens on the basis of a law that was the imagination and invention of colonialists. We cannot be said to be an independent and sovereign republic yet we continue to employ colonial laws and institutions to injure citizens.

The Public Order Act is an illegal and unconstitutional law because it directly violates the constitution in all respects. Section 4 of our constitution states that the constitution is the supreme law of the land.

“This constitution is the supreme Law of The Gambia and any other law found to be inconsistent with any provision of this Constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.”

This clearly shows that the Public Order Act is wholly and totally in contravention with Section 25(d) of the 1997 Constitution hence it is an illegal law.

What we expect the IGP to do is to deploy more traffic officers and general duty police officers to assist in the expansion and protection of the rights of the people. The Gambia Police Force should be seen as an institution that supports the people enjoy their right and not to curtail our rights. This period is a festive season in all parts of the world, particularly in the Gambia. Our people do not have to seek a permit first in order to enjoy the full expanse and time of their God given country. We must be able to enjoy ourselves in line with our constitution. In that case we only expect the entire State machinery to be a tool to facilitate the enjoyment of constitutional rights and not a tool to stop us from enjoying our constitutional rights.

Finally, let me inform IGP Sonko that a new Gambia has emerged. Let all public servants and security officers realize that. Let them make themselves the true servants of the people and not oppressors of the people. The Gambia is taking record and we shall hold each and every public servant and security officer to account on the basis of one’s actions. No security officer or public servant can defend oneself on the basis of carrying out an order. All security officers must realize that they are not bound to carry out any unlawful order, but they must be seen to stand with the rights and freedoms of the people.

I wish to put it to IGP Yankuba Sonko to therefore withdraw his unconstitutional announcement with immediate effect and deploy the full resources of the Gambia Police Force to enable Gambians enjoy their full constitutional rights. Failure to do that, IGP Sonko is therefore violating our constitution and the rights it has conferred on us. For that matter, IGP Sonko is therefore breaking the law and he must be held to account for such illegal action at the right time.
Forward with the Gambia

By Madi Jobarteh

Dear CDS Badjie and members of the Gambia Armed Forces,
Just over a week ago on December 14, 2016 we wrote an open letter asking you to find a way to persuade outgoing president Yahya Jammeh to step down peacefully and avoid bringing about violent conflict in our country. Over the past week, our country’s security situation has grown increasingly precarious, causing widespread fear among innocent men, women and children and adversely affecting our economy. During the same period we have also seen an increasing number of Gambian civil society organizations and individuals pleading with Yahya Jammeh to step down and prevent our country from sliding into conflict. These internal Gambian voices have been complemented by the voices of Gambian ambassadors, professionals and private individuals in the Diaspora. We all have also heard the concerned voices of many countries and international organizations around the world pleading with Yahya Jammeh to see reason and step down in the interest of peace and stability in our little peace-loving country and the safety of our parents, children, families and relatives who just want to live their lives in peace.

Unfortunately, in the face of this near universal chorus of pleas from both at home and abroad, Yahya Jammeh stubbornly refuses to budge and is willing to plunge our country into a violent conflict which will shed the blood of innocent people and destroy our country. Does Yahya Jammeh want God himself to step down to earth and plead with him to step down? Can Yahya Jammeh defy the will of the entire world and still win, as he says he will? Why does Yahya Jammeh shut his eyes against the reality that after 22 years in power, it is time for him to move on and allow The Gambia to move on? When Yahya Jammeh declares that he will not step down because he is not a coward, our response is that he is refusing to step down precisely because he is a coward. It is never cowardly to do the right thing. It is always cowardly to refuse to do the right thing, especially if refusing to do the right thing means sacrificing the lives of innocent people. In any case, the issue at stake is not about chest pounding and empty verbal bravado. It is about doing the right thing by God and by the Gambian people. It is about avoiding a conflict that will claim the lives of innocent Gambians who have nothing to lose if Jammeh steps down after enjoying power for 22 long years. Jammeh is trying to protect nobody but himself and his personal selfish interests.

We assume you have heard the news that ECOWAS has formally decided that if Yahya Jammeh refuses to step down on or before January 19, they will send a military intervention force to oust him and make sure that the will of the Gambian people is done. It is clear to all right-thinking people that there is no way Yahya Jammeh can win a war against the combined forces of ECOWAS with possible support from French Special Forces and other international players. Of course, if there is an external intervention force, you our dear brothers and sisters in the Gambia Armed Forces will be the ones to risk your lives in the line of fire. We Gambians do not want a single member of the Gambia Armed Forces losing their lives or suffering any kind of injury in defense of Yahya Jammeh. You Gambian soldiers come from us, the people. You are our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, and our relatives and friends. You also have your immediate families who look up to you, who depend on you for their day to day sustenance, and who love you more than Yahya Jammeh will ever care for you. Your spouses and loved ones need you; your parents and blood relatives need you; your children need you to be there for them as they grow up. We the Gambian people need you to stay alive to defend our country should the need arise in the future. The need to take fire for us does not arise in the present circumstances. If you take fire, you take fire for Yahya Jammeh, who is not worth it if only because he will no longer be your Commander-in-Chief after January 19, 2017. Why then would you die for him?

In essence, we are saying to you our dear brothers and sisters of the Gambia Armed Forces that the current crisis, especially after January 19, will not be about defending our country or our people – the majority of whom have voted for a new president and want to move peacefully on with their lives. The current crisis, especially after January 19, will be about citizen Yahya Jammeh, who wants you to sacrifice your lives and destroy the futures of your families, your children and the children of other Gambian families so he can try to do an impossible thing – hang on to power after clearly losing a free and fair election. If you take up arms against the Gambian people or against an intervention force, you are risking your lives for Yahya Jammeh, not for The Gambia or the Gambian people. Do not let Yahya Jammeh use and abuse your precious lives for his own personal and selfish interests. Please do not risk your lives for Yahya Jammeh. He is no longer your commander-in-chief after January 19.

In the light of Yahya Jammeh’s insane insistence on staying in power even if it means sacrificing your precious lives and the lives of many other innocent people, we are asking you again to please persuade Yahya Jammeh to step down peacefully and save our country from war. If he refuses to step down for God’s sake and for the sake of 1.8 million Gambians, we ask that you simply refuse to sacrifice your lives for him. If you die defending Yahya Jammeh, you die defending evil and you will never assume a place of honor in Gambian history. Rather, you will forever be remembered as soldiers who chose to defend an unjust tyrant against the will of God and of the Gambian people. You will be remembered as soldiers who helped Yahya Jammeh in his nefarious determination to stay in power even if that means destroying our country. And then what will happen to the innocent children you leave behind? What will happen to your brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, widows, widowers, parents? How will your mothers and fathers bear the pain of losing you to such an unworthy and evil cause? The point we are making is that if Yahya Jammeh refuses to listen to reason and common sense whether from you, from the Gambian community at large or from the international community, please do not sacrifice your lives for him. His time is up. He is going out one way or the other. You have your lives, your careers and your families to look after. And you have a country to guard and defend. Please don’t die for Jammeh.

In the event that military intervention happens – which it will if Jammeh refuses to heed the voice of reason – please remove your uniforms and stay at home with your families, drop your weapons and raise your arms, or otherwise cooperate and help in any way possible to make sure that Yahya Jammeh complies with the will of God and the will of the Gambian people. This will not be an act of cowardice or surrender. In fact, it will be an act of honor and courage on your part in support of truth and reason, and in the interest of our dear little country and thousands of innocent Gambians including your own families. No one will penalize you for doing that because that will be the right thing and the lawful thing to do. It will not be against any constituted and legitimate authority, but in support of the sovereign national interest which you are sworn to safeguard. Remember that Yahya Jammeh’s term as legitimate president of The Gambia ends at midnight on January 18, 2016. After that date and time, he and anyone supporting him will be guilty of treason and treasonable felony if they oppose the government that has the mandate of the Gambian people. Please do not die for Jammeh or allow Jammeh’s mad greed for power to destroy your futures and the futures of your families and our dear, peaceful country. If this war happens, and we hope Jammeh sees reason to prevent it, it will not be one Jammeh and whoever supports him can win by any stretch of the imagination. If Yahya Jammeh wants to commit suicide, let him go ahead and do it. Please don’t die for Jammeh. The choice is entirely yours.

We want to seize this opportunity to also briefly address our brothers and sisters in Jammeh’s cabinet. We are certain that the intelligent men and women in Jammeh’s cabinet know very well that he is fighting a losing battle. Therefore, we are asking you to either issue a joint statement asking him to step down or even better, to resign from his government now before it comes crashing down around you and thereby implicating you in an aiding and abetting scenario. We all know that Jammeh’s time is up. His government is over or will be over exactly at midnight on January 18, 2017. His ship is sinking. Do not allow yourself to sink with it and jeopardize your personal safety, security, and future and the safety, security and future of your families, your children, parents, spouses and relatives as well as the wider Gambian community. It is not too late to do the right thing, join the vocal popular Gambian revolution and help our dear little country avoid a potentially catastrophic conflict just because Yahya Jammeh is too cowardly to step down after being president for 22 long years and after been clearly defeated at a free and fair election. So we say unto you as well, members of the Jammeh cabinet, please don’t die for Jammeh. Tell him to step down or resign from his government. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing the right thing before it’s too late. Godspeed.
Author’s Note: Please share as widely as possible with our dear brothers and sisters of the Gambia Armed Forces and in the Jammeh cabinet, their families, relatives and friends. We must nurture our beautiful new Gambia and protect our dear brothers and sisters in uniform. Let’s loudly say to them #Don’tDieForJammeh!

For 22 years, Gambians were forced into a nightmarish marathon. Along the way many were tortured, maimed, killed and disappeared. Many made sacrifices that stripped them of their freedom and paid the ultimate price – but they had no regrets.

Many were humiliated and chastised by the enemy but they kept going, keeping an eye on the prize. Many children were orphaned and many spouses widowed, but they fought on to keep the memories of their loved ones alive. Many political prisoners were jailed, some tortured into a coma because Yahya Jammeh wanted to silence the opposition and show Gambians who is boss – this became his biggest blunder because instead of being intimidated, they pushed back and formed Coalition 2016.

Many were chased out of Gambia for speaking the truth, but they fought even harder. Many felt guilty for abandoning their families because of the time expended in this fight, but their families understood – they could see HOPE from a distance and knew VICTORY was a certainty. Whoever said Gambians are not resilient?

ALAS! Freedom knocked on our doors this year and Gambians young and old, stood up and said ENOUGH! Knowing this is A FIGHT NO ONE CAN WIN FOR US, the political parties formed a coalition, which triggered a chain reaction across the globe:

1. Gambians raised funds and oiled the machine that took Coalition 2016 to promote their candidate/platform nationwide and Gambians turned out in droves. Historically, many democracy movements are funded by the international community but in our case, we said NO NO NO – WE GOT THIS!

2. Coalition 2016, led by seasoned elders of Gambian society, studied Jammeh’s shenanigans and quietly closed the doors to the IEC in his face. Alhajie Alieu Momar Njai, holding those keys, said “Not In My Name” to Yahya.

3. Then the voters came in! With all our monies, strategies, planning, THE FINAL SAY was in the hands of those with their ballots on December 1st, 2016. The faith of our freedom, democracy, peace, was in their hands! If they had betrayed Gambians, only God knows how the likes of me would have felt.

Thus, I MUST TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY AND THANK THE GAMBIAN VOTERS for finishing this marathon with the most historic win – ousting a Dictator through the ballot box.

This is something that continues to shock many international news mediums and commentators and THIS TIME, GAMBIA IS MAKING THE NEWS FOR ALL THE RIGHT REASONS!

Abara, Jeurejeff, Ajaarama, #ThankYouGambianVoters

By Tukulorr Sey

I write with a deep sense of regret as to the attitude of the National Assembly in Banjul. For the record – The legislative branch is tasked with the sacred “Truth” of enacting laws on behalf of all Gambians, and of executive oversight by upholding the President and his Cabinet accountable for the decisions therein, amongst others. Simply put, that body, the Parliament, historically came into being, purposeful, sanctified, with a remit to preserve democracy.

Indeed, if the occupants of that chamber are true representatives of “The Gambian People” as they have led us to believe; and as prescribed in their portfolios, then why the wait. To put it plain, how long are Gambian MP’s prepared to sit there before condemning the tyrannical actions embarked on by Yahya Jammeh? His actions are unconstitutional, and therefore, illegal under law. His behaviour is undemocratic, and damn right shameful. The tension in Banjul is palpable, as uncertainty exacerbates. The dictator’s 360 degrees U-turn is tantamount to treason, further embroiling the good-Gambia image into a tabloid media-circus.

Members of the National Assembly – as international concern over the situation in Banjul escalate, the Opposition-Coalition sprung to a well-deserved victory in an election described as “free and fair” and “rig-proof” by Jammeh himself. The turn of events thereafter, by reneging on concession, and not following through with the “Transition Process” to the President-elect and his team; has fallen foul of the constitution breaching all civilized norms of the democratic process along the way.

I had expected the “National Assembly” to come out in no uncertain terms and to condemn his behaviour. The Gambian people expect their representatives to lead such condemnation in forceful terms. No wonder then the “rubber-stamped” Parliament scores very low in public confidence ratings year on year.

Elected (sic) members of Parliament – grow a moral backbone and disown Yahya Jammeh immediately. The APRC regime is, but a ship with holes sailing across the high seas. As for Jammeh, his like is akin to a roaring lion with no teeth, resorting to scare tactics. Have no fear, and nor should you despair – those with sense are free to relate!

The wind of change blowing across the land is UNSTOPPABLE! And as Jammeh begins to pack bags to “Lonely-ville” in the dying days of APRC (mis)rule, Save yourselves and jump ship – to be on the RIGHT-SIDE of safety, and of HISTORY.

Many-a-night, I’d wondered the footsteps of gallant soldiers marching across Independence drive towards a national cause at the birth of a “Republic”. On that faithful day in 1970, Banjul became the shining city on an island that captivates, romanticized in folk songs from Dakar, to Bamako, in Mali. As a plea on behalf of Gambians worldwide, i sincerely call on Member of the National Assembly to disown Yahya Jammeh, and begin criminal proceedings on charges of high-crimes against the state – beginning TONIGHT!

By Gibril Saine