For nearly as long as civilization has existed, being a child, women or elderly men means you enjoy protection enforced through communities, societies and governments. However, in Gambia, these are people whom the regime villains go after killing, jailing, devastating their families and communities in countless ways as a means of retaliation against Gambian populations to live in fear. Gambians can only shake their heads at the pointlessness watching in dismay because 2016 has been a banner year with the overambitious regime deliver so many tragic unbelievable events in contrast to the much-ballyhooed empty promises. Gambians are sadly aware of our country is ruined. The result was predictable. However, many Gambian don’t seem to understand that Yahya Jammeh is trying design his legacy for our neighbors in Cassamance and sub African continent that is generally understood by foreigners.

We know now their contempt has no bounds. Gambians now see Yaya Jammeh as unacceptable largely because of who he is: his tendency toward cruelty and viciousness, his tribal attitudes, and his lack of seriousness to respect the office he occupies. The regime governs by using fear combined with misinformation by duping Gambians into accepting dangerous and destructive policies, using traditions where it benefits them to the extent of confusing Gambians by their reliance on an outdated understanding of the cultural concepts on a societal issue and hide behind religion by using its leaders to temper down protest, frustrations and criticism of the Dictator. The overambitious dictator continues to expand his brutality unilaterally by encouraging violence, undermined the opposition especially UDP, impersonating a pious image, determined to ruined Gambia’s relationship with Senegal, victimizing Gambians, vicious campaign of hatred against the west and behaving as if he has a scepter with a throne. Gambian families are feeling much more vulnerable in day.

To our neighbors who typically profess a desire to create two independent state, they see him as a hero such as it is, for him allowing them to use Gambia as fortress, allocating ghost budgets, sharing our gifts benevolently and building their communities. Those folks, musicians and Nigerian actress see him as a hero pan Africanist who solves all their problems, make their dreams come true, fulfil their wishes as he pursues their unrequited love. There’s no thrills for Gambia in such romance because it demands for our blood, tears, and lives sometimes to fulfil those wishes. As for Gambians, the endless promised economic reforms have reformed nothing but leaves us with blackouts, continuing regime interference in all decisions and dishing out mockery of visions “eat what you grow- grow what you eat” nonsense. Our country folks are battling endless furloughs or paying them half salaries, inadequate funding of our hospitals to buy medicine, bleeding our citizens through massive taxes, limiting working days whiles rolling back programs, increasing holidays with his birthdays, regime agents abusing citizens and short-changing our youths their future. Yahya Jammeh has squandered an opportunity to harness the talents of Gambian intellectuals to develop our country but instead calculated how it might impact his lifestyle because check and balances will hinder his ambitions of dictatorship and fixing the nation electric woes with affect his checkbook diplomacy.

 
The unfolding saga of the regime snubbing Gambians, demonizing citizens, strangling businesses with new tax regulations every month, and annexing every farm land of real-estate value to Yaya Jammeh has become more than a frustration never seen before. The Gambians have been lied to and misled for so long that now we have grown skeptical and cynical of this bad regime. The regime continues to underappreciate Gambians, frustrating other nations and he assails those who disagree with him as enemies to be killed. Yahya Jammeh cannot deliver for Gambia anymore because he is controversial figure whom his peers hide from. He is more isolated and seeks for relevancy through violence. One way or another, the brutality on our citizens puts to rest any lingering fantasy of their legitimacy to continue to rule Gambia. Gambia need change in leadership to bring back opportunities for our citizens, reset our relationships with world, bring a significant development, and get the whole nation lasting pride back as the smiling coast of Africa.

By Habib ( A Concerned Gambian)

As the dense fog of grueling movements and regime scandals engulfs towns across Gambia, many helpless Gambians just shake their heads in disappointments and Step back from the endless cycle of depressing events. At the same token, the regime does not encourage the warrior spirit of Gambians diasporians but ridicule us for taking extra cleaning jobs and home healthcare jobs to provide for our families back home whiles hijacking our money exchange rates. Back home, the regime is seen as a club rewarding their supporters instead of a government for all, punishing the oppositions on fabricated crimes, the laws of the nation apply only to other people such as the defendless and those whom are victimized. Yaya Jammeh is a taker who continues to be a great burden in the nation, our societies traditions, our religion freedoms and business instead of being a president who brings lasting benefits to all Gambians. The Gambia government is used so extensively by foreigners, political cronies, and Yaya Jammeh’s family as a vehicle for benefiting themselves, at the expense of the rest of us.

The vast majority who commit crimes are shield from laws, rewarded and given waivers to behave badly. Most of them continue to act infallible by keeping quiet, some still engaged in undermining the will of the people to see a change in our lives, others still warm up to dictator after spend time in mile-2, few still hauling ugly insults on us and the rest are clearing paths to hide Yaya Jammeh’s crimes. People will routinely manipulate events, suppress the truth, deliberately doctor a good image of the regime to present a false and rosy picture of Yaya Jammeh who does have Gambian interest at heart. It’s an astounding assertion but things continue to go off the rails because our institutions are all failing. it is ridiculous that army Generals, regimes darling religious leaders, some APRC top leaders and cabinet ministers will not stand up and tell the truth when it matters most. Most people except these folks who go home every day to their communities convey nations views on things such as — do not kill needlessly, release them or even admit we made an error. Instead, they will engage in fog of double talk, lame excuses and political cronyism to please the dictator whiles the rest of Gambians continue to wallow in misery.

The modern leaders of the Gambia —be it the army, leaders of institutions and others selected by Yaya Jammeh have the least qualifications, questionable origins, least moral values, ethical issues and other notions. Few Gambians among many will air in the side of the truth, — and one of them flared bright last week, as the first blind Magistrate Muhammed Krubally who got fired after rejecting the state prosecutors reference of the law. There are many more stories like that but only few dare to talk. Yaya Jammeh and his military have been doings insane excesses on defend less Gambians —kind of a in-your-face provocations testing the pulse of the nation on how far they can push their Dictatorship ambitions. The sad tale is all too emblematic of the regimes failures and using fear to validate themselves. It’s a terrible disgrace to go after women, elders and innocent children. But even with all we’ve been through under this regime, they are still arguing so explicitly of bring developmental success and don’t even feel ashamed saying such things while we are still waiting for answers on so many issues. The regime blames their woes on the oppositions whom are not even allowed to have government jobs, only few among regime darlings do their fair share and they are mostly found of rewarding their friends whiles punishing their perceived enemies.

It’s hard for Gambians to wrap their head around things because everything has to be narrated all in one direction to Yaya Jammeh’s liking whiles the citizens suffers. GRTS does not serve the country too but serves as a protectionist mouthpiece of the regime. Everything which the nation has to learn from ranging from sensitization, significant historical events such as April14th/16th, sensationalized revelations, to the president dislikes, it all ends up getting pushed aside, or buried. As a results, people citizens are not abreast with issues. We may hate to admit it but many Gambians pick whom to vote for based on their perception of a candidate’s persona, linage, self-interest and do no base their decisions on a very instinctual level understanding candidate’s policies, let alone a regime which brutalize them and fail to deliver on their promise. Gambians should all brace up and save our country if possible this November. It’s hard to fathom why Gambians now like to settle for less whiles other governments are held accountable by their citizens to meet their needs.

Gambians are tired of the regime always trying to burden us around election time with collective tribal guilt by lecturing us about the sin of Jawara regime as if they don’t look around themselves in the same room and wonder about themselves. The same regime proudly attaches all privilege to linage first whiles pressing on others of their dreams to hold them down and look at some capable people with skeptical eye. No one is guilty of anything, we are all Gambians and love each other equally because the regime wants to destroy our tradition of our tolerance of differences and custom. Also, the diasporians whom the regime demonized as bad citizens by relentlessly playing with our heads are the ones looking out for our people back home. The Gambian diasporians are those shedding blood to make sure their fellow countrymen are comfortable. Running around sweating to make sure families back home get decent meals. Lately collecting funds across the globe to help the sick, shedding tears on stranger’s death, trying to pay off their debt and collecting funds to repatriate their body for burial. What does the regime do? Despite all the name calling, the diasporians are taking the perilous task of keeping our sisters sold as domestic slaves and helping our brothers captured by rebels on back way journey to make sure they are safe. We must no longer settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of Gambians can barely get by. We can turn the table around again and that rest on our hands.

By habib ( A Concerned Gambian)

This moment in history is an extraordinarily emotional moment for Gambia that could end the killings, kidnappings, torture, extortion and other traumas. Whiles Gambians are making crushing sacrifices, most of the so called marabouts are helping Yahya Jammeh and his agents in fulfilling his beguiling bad wishes, destroying our societies and engaging in hypnotic bewitchery by giving them concoction to poison our water good supplies or victims that meet a specific criterion to sacrifice. And the notion that they can force people to vote for Yahya Jammeh by feeding Gambians with forbidden meat like dog to barking to the polling booth or that of donkey to carry baggage thrown on us is ridiculous and very hateful. Chmm! This is very alien to our culture and belief but the regime has swept along so many wired things in Gambia since coming to power by coup. Expressions of concern by the religious leaders about the regimes actions using spells to cast on people and killing people are very few because of example set for those who dare to question them. The APRC regime is eager, as usual, to go after the religious leaders because they are not worried anymore of public perception. Those who speak up are either serving jail time if they are luck, some killed and few found their way in exile.

The Gambians wants no more of Yahya Jammeh and his regime because they have been fully unmasked by the crimes they are committing on our people. We find it hard that any work done for Yahya Jammeh by these so called marabouts involves terrorism on Gambians and economic worry. In another reference, either way, a central question now for the marabouts who prescribe Yahya Jammeh to kill our virgin girl, force amulet in babies’ throats or feed infants to crocodile is —what should we do with them post-Dictatorship era? The fact makes us wonder whether the way forward involves undoing your evil deeds spells now or we should hold you responsible. This marabout business has been very corrosive to country for many reasons. The unspoken assumption is that it has caused families a lot and now its attaching itself to dictatorship to ride on our cash. One forward-looking way for marabouts and those agents carrying their spells is to own up to the fact that your work as enablers ultimately serves no one.

Yahya Jammeh has tried everything for us to turn against each other based on divisions of lineage or religion but it didn’t work. The regime after failing Gambians on all levels, they are trying another end run thinking we can blindly follow them to destruction. How can someone give directions for people to carry such evil acts for him and at the same time claiming he cares about you and the poor farmers. Now the government goes to foolish lengths to even refuse handing over dead bodies. God does not like evil and will expose people who carry out evil act. They forget that sometime somewhere someone will get the information and pass it along. Yahya Jammeh sold himself to Gambia by hiding the price tag of his evil deeds, and twenty-two years later it’s clear that we are paying for it dearly with our blood, our sweat, our lives and our identity as Gambians. He will salute marabouts wishes but burnt economist like koro Ceesay when he told them his wishes against corruption.

Lastly, my advice to Gambians is to pronouns GOD’s name and seek refuge from evil before eating or drinking anything from Yahya Jammeh. One of the companions of the phrophet (SAW) was given poison in a vial to consume but he recited an important supplication “Bismillahi Lladhi la yadurru ma`a smihi shay’un fi’l ardi wa la fi’s sama’i wa huwa’s sami`ul `aleem”. That translates to (‘In the Name of GOD, with whose Name nothing on earth or in the sky can harm. And He is the Hearing and Knowing.’). As for the security agents or agents carrying evil deeds on Gambians yearning to breathe free from dictatorship, being a soldier does not nullify your sins or crime and your sins are not redeemed good intentions thereafter.The conditions of forgiveness is 1. Admitting your sins. 2 Seeking forgiveness and 3. Not returning to do it again. The question which should be asked now to all politicians is — Will you consult a marabout for our countries affairs? If they mumble on that question, let move on to the next candidate. We have suffered too much and it’s time to care about our people.

By Habib ( A Concern Gambian)

It has been a long, costly, frustrating road for the Gambians with lists of scandals, gauntlet of hurdles that Yaya Jammeh intentionally caused and now he turns back to us Gambians as his passenger when the trip has gotten even stranger to ask for 5 more years .The enormous crisis now menacing our country didn’t erupt spontaneously or unexpectedly on Gambians and sure it didn’t happen whiles Gambians were occupied elsewhere, but it’s because we didn’t ask questions when it mattered the most.

Too often, while observing trends on the supercharged Gambian social media sites and online radios, things quickly can get obtuse and verbose at times when legitimate questions are put forward. Many brave Gambians are taking up the challenge of voicing their reservations and having the guts , character to stare down the enormous taboo of asking questions to those seeking public office to rule us.

Debate about anything which involves a citizen is made more difficult because Gambians are guilty of putting their lineage (tribe), proximal family relations, shelf development interest instead of their country first. When questioned are unwelcome, and it often is when it pertains to an individual, there is a temptation to eviscerate people character and shoot the messenger.

As a results, people wear their emotions on their sleeves -get bitter, mean, and petty on things we should all agree with. This is the primary reason why Yaya Jammeh is still ruling Gambia . He sensed an opportunity thrown on his feet because there are plenty of issues we carelessly let him exploit.Sometimes, It may seem like the much talk about a ” new” Gambia is a long way from the smiling coast again.

The Dictator used this to his advantage as he has shown again and again that he-governs by grudge, uses state power to beat up on people who cannot fight back and murder people. He was not known for being religious at all ,but he now presents himself during daytime as pious man with gruff exterior, Quran on his hand, prayer beads on his fist, rapped in white robes up to his jaw bone and his speeches are without substance but some people find it refreshing.

One ridiculous ploy talent Yaya Jammeh have which I am sure scores very heavy on his books of bad deeds is the ability to poisonously define and reintroduce people which unfortunately sticks with low- information masses. The little thin material he hears about someone, he will weave it with a conspiracy of a enormous crisis. Yaya Jammeh of all people, label some people as tribalist which is far from the truth and to this day, it unfortunately resonates among some Gambians.

So my advise is ,it’s better for Mama Kandeh of GDC to come out and answer the concerns of Gambians about him . It is a dangerous call to stay quite when your phone is ringing . Gambia has series of colossal problems. Here’s why you should reconsider your stance :Do not let Yaya Jammeh distract your campaign by stereotyping you late in the campaign . One of the most distressing things about these stereotypes is that,Gambian people who have reservations about your message will with often internalize them and use it on a day it does not matter, Election Day. You might have met the IEC standards of competence but that same body disqualified Ousainu Darboe a season lawyer and failed Solo Sandeng.

Certainly , we are awed by the large number of youths who have admire you and look up to you. The Gambian people need to know what accountability Yaya Jammeh will face — and what safeguards will be put in place to make sure Gambia will never have a military ruler again after all what Yaya Jammeh put us through . The trust is, If it is not for widespread discontent and distrust of the current APRC regime , most Gambians in the diaspora would have sidelined Gambian politics time long ago because our vote don’t count . All what we ask for now is for our voice to count! No one is in love with what is happening back home in Gambia.

By Habib ( A concerned Gambian)

Yahya Jammeh understands his regime has left behind a well-documented record of corruptions, retiree benefits shriveled, state murders, thousands of youths that fled the country, angry victims, Gambians who feel cheated into dictatorship, rigged system, quick fire sale of our prides to foreigners, and a seriously broken society in which the leaders are the least intelligent, have questionable backgrounds, clueless, Cassamance diasporians, unethical people whose hands are stained with crimes. With these kind of people leading our prestigious organizations, Yahya Jammeh become ever more powerful and able to lash out in all directions at any provocation. He would roll over laws with the help of mercenary judges to earn conviction, buy off his critics “who has no shame” with materials and give positions to those who shall turn a blind eye to the continued oppression. As a result, 22 years later, nothing works. Racketeering on all levels seems never-ending. Broken ferries which some sail backwards only to reach the wrong destination. Glass is half-full development visions slogans only gives us blackouts around the corner, never out of mind but always out of sight. Depressing realities as Kanilai is more develop than Banjul- the city of Gambia, and broken education system failing our future generation.

For one thing, Yahya Jammeh understand Gambian mentality and we get the practical reality now. In every institution, he will commit the most horrendous crime to drive away principle people and make seats available for unprofessional people who unreservedly see him as a savior or he puts his lineage in leadership positions. Independent Journalist and bright aspiring young Gambians whom would have jumped directly to the top of the journalistic pecking order, all ran away because their institutions were either burnt to ashes, their colleagues killed and others tortured. The same goes for our once cherished institutions such as Ports, Nawec, and Gamtel. Most of their season directors are either embarrassed to death , jailed in mile two for months and some exiled. Those people appointed by the regime now who assumed directorate positions — are helping the regime to be more dictatorial by — spying on Gambians, blocking services or reducing internet, mixing the nation’s drinking water with “Safara”, selling cash powers instead of returning their instructions to their glory days of being — one of the best in Africa. As for the military, court of public opinion verdict is out there for everyone to see. Make no mistake: In truth, there is compelling evidence in the wake of April 14th/16th events that the service men shamefully choose sides to support oppression and dictatorship. That’s another lengthy topic which I will discuss in a future piece.

Yahya Jammeh knowing very well that the power to reshuffle all his stacked deck lies on elections and there is only one place he can’t escape his opponents, the ballot box. All his misdeeds on Gambians have thrust upon him, and it remains to be seen if he can match his rhetoric with reality because — we have seen Dictatorship at his best which left us in events of crisis and brought our country to the bottom of the barrel in freedom. So he worked very hard to make IEC the most broken independent organization, compromised its credibility and entrust the organization in the hands of the very unethical people — uninterested in any change. His folks at the IEC go beyond constitutionally to make sure they aren’t shaping any policies that will be fair to the other parties. They dismissed every help given to APRC along the way as irrelevant whiles they ensure Gambian opposition parties are certainly walking on a perilous tightrope with painful measures towards the elections whiles allowing apparent intruders in the nest with relaxed rules along the way. The policing arm of the IEC whom are the lawmakers in parliament, tasked with oversight but are rubber stamp unfit members. A more modest reform that would give opposition and ruling parties equal voice are all eliminated. That is fundamentally unfair, and ruling party see loopholes to exploit the system with their marbles.

Although our believe is that — the opposition going into elections after Solo Sandeng’s death and jailing of UDP executives raised legitimate criticisms but not to the extent of shelf-destructive episode some are making it to be. Once again, people should understand that the opposition in Gambia have never been or not always treated fairly especially the UDP. So many party members died in the line of duty serving their party honorably. It’s hard to gin up much enthusiasm but we need to pick up were the great heroes left off and continue the fight to victory and fix the catastrophe APRC manufactured in our society. Those heroes held firm against intransigent, pugnacious and irrational APRC regime to say a loud “NO” to dictatorship. Whether you like or abhor the idea of going to election as a chance to stop the madness in our country, it would be unconscionable to achieve it by not continuing the quest of our fallen and our elders in prison. It is not enough at this moment to acknowledge the efforts of our opposition because we all have identical desire and interest to see Gambia free out of dictatorship. I am sure Darboe and Co in prison would be appreciative if we all come out in massive numbers to vote for opposition, offer moral support to their families and free our tortured women in jail.

Anti-dictatorship feeling is more intense than ever, gaining strength each day and bringing new voters to opposition camps. The much landslide the regime talks about seems shakier as evident of opposition support growing because Gambians are just fed up with this system. Majority of Gambians believe that opposition leaders now grasps their problems and fears in ways the nation’s current leaders do not. UDP took considerable courage and put the regime to task. The military are tired of killing their brothers and they are now talking. They now see Yahya Jammeh and his Generals as people who do not have the interest of the country but only to help themselves becoming wealthier, marrying two wives, ambushing Gambians for sacrifice, deducting their salaries and having endless girlfriend with worldwide dramas. APRC regime is in crisis and need awards as a source of motivation but as the old saying goes “Never let a crisis go to waste”. If they are confident of winning the elections, let APRC buck up the courage to stand behind their record on every decision they have made and release all the oppositions in prison.

Lastly, I will discuss three events briefly recorded in history off memory to help inspire people. The first event. When Ala ibnul hadrami ( A companion of the prophet(S.A.W)) whom was on a mission reached a place called dahna, all their camels ran away in the middle of the desert. He raised his hand and supplicated with these words “ Yaa aleemu , Yaa Haleemu, wa fee sabeelika harajnaa”. Before he finished his supplications, all the camels came running back towards them. Also, they came at another standstill, when they encountered a deep river to cross. They did not give up either. He ordered everyone to get back on their horse as he raised his hands up whiles reciting that same supplication. His followers were astonished by what they saw — their horses were walking and galloping on river waters. Let’s move to the next event. When al ansh” A dictator” at a point in time threatened abaa idris ibnul alhawlaani to disbelieve in GOD or else he will throw him in fire, the man refused. He was thrown in fire and GOD called out the fire to “cool like it did with Prophet Ibrahim”. He came out of the fire days later unburnt and people where surprised. Moving to the third event. When they refused Amadou Bamba to pray on their ship, he took out his mat or hide, made supplication and pray in the open ocean without drowning. These people were not prophets but held on to their faith in the time of need. So Gambia, this is our moment. We have the truth on our side. Let us stand together and cross that bridge on December 1st by holding our hands together. We can do it. We have been hurt for so long. We have cried for 22 years. We have buried too many of our citizens and now we don’t even have bodies to pray on. Let’s not get intermediated anymore. Here is a chance for that son, daughter, or relative you haven’t seen for years to come back home and pay respect on their parents’ graves. Let’s start knocking our neighbor’s doors to bring out the vote. We will encourage our opposition to dissolve the political bands and unite as one for the shake of our country. We cannot afford anymore lone wolfs snatching one of us away. We gave Yaya Jammeh every opportunity in life but he wants to take our lives and deny us opportunity. Let’s pack this monster and send his away with his family to live in peace. Let’s go to the polling booth with courage of Martin Luther king, let’s be patient with the long lines and lets show our independent mind once we get inside to vote against Yahya Jammeh.

By habib ( A Concerned Gambian)

Tribalism must be wash off Gambia’s face like last nights makeup or an old lipstick.

Torrent of abuses giving our nation a black eye must be washed off Gambian society forever like performing abolition

Cassamance citizens must wash their hands out of our elections because they are SENEGALESE citizens.

Those Greedy people in the leaked Panama papers must washed their hands off our economy before they cause a “Dalasi Holocaust”

Immoral acts and sins committed on our land must be wash of with tears of repentance , promise of not do the deeds again and compensate where necessary .

Our dead must be washed up in the pool of blessings and showered with prayers (Janazah) not in pool of crocodiles

Mercenary judges who melt our dreams like ice must be wash off Gambias face with one way ticket to their home country .

Chameleon acts of changing colors to set up people to the green knife sharp edge in the slaughter house must wash off their ill will colors with the rain of love.
Broken glasses of dictatorship on our freedom’s path must be washed off by a politician with a dream like Martin Luther King, a mind like Rosa parks and empathy of Sir Dawda Jawara.

By Habib.

As our public system clamours for the redress of ancient wrongs perpetrated on our forefathers by foreigners from beyond the oceans, that same public system relentlessly utilises the political cudgel against its own people. On billboards strategically located in the greater Banjul area, there are advertisements on the colloquium on the Slave Trade, Slavery, and Colonialism: reparations, remembering the past, shaping the future.

In the week that witnessed the purported validation of a worthless document, the so-called National Human Rights Commission Bill 2016, a judicial officer was summarily fired without so much as an explanation from the implementing authority. His Worship Magistrate Muhammed Krubally (Krubally) of Bundung Magistrates’ Court can be humane and deferential to a fault, but he is a brilliant thinker wedded to fairness and consistent principles. He loves his work and was given to Latin maxims and long quotations from legal literature.

On the eve of his departure for the conference he was attending in Florida, he adjourned a case I had before him to 01 September 2016. He told us in court that he was going away for just a week and would be back by the weekend commencing 25 August. Now we know that is not to be, not immediately in any case! For a magistrate so intellectually and operationally competent, Krubally’s dismissal is a big loss to the country.

However dissected, Krubally’s dismissal, without explanation was perverse, utterly unjustified, and an assault on the principle of judicial independence as that doctrine is ordinarily understood in any country whose public life is grounded in democratic institutionalism under the rule of law.

At paragraph 6 of the preamble of the 1997 Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia (the Constitution) the claim is advanced that “the functions of the arms of government have been clearly defined, their independence amply secured with adequate checks and balances …”. At substantive sections of the Constitution, similar and more specific claims are made about the operational independence of the courts. These claims are false and utterly nonsensical, not only because of how the Executive routinely nullifies Constitutional protections, but more fundamentally because of the deep architectural flaws embedded in our supreme document.

Undoubtedly, the Constitution permits the legal mismanagement of Gambian public life. With its hollow protections, it would still be an instrument of violence, if only potentially, even in the most benign of hands. As they say, the courts are placed in between ‘the rock and hard place’. This is perilous for Gambian public life!

That great decisions worthy of celebration emanate from individual members of the bench from time to time is not in question. As an institution, the judiciary – and by extension the courts – is far from independent even in that sacrosanct domain of operational matters. To be efficacious, the rule of law must be systemic, not individual. In a largely arbitrary public terrain, judicial officers must be shielded from even the threat of Executive reprisals.

In a country where high flying intellectuals and economically successfully middle class individuals toy with the false and rubbish notion of total disinterest in seminal public questions – politics, in short – it is not a compelling contention to expect that judicial officers must consistently remain the foremost exemplars of rectitude as if they live outside the ambit of human frailties, failings and concerns. When tragedy strikes, the brave and consistent adherent to the rule of law would be left to his own devices, to pick up the pieces, so to say, and negotiate his way around the powerful landmines of Gambian public life. Major assaults on what remain of the very fragile systemic integrity of Gambian polity passed into the annals of our public intercourse as a matter of course. Witness Krubally! Another major judicial sacking has hit the legal rumour mills from 23 August. A developing story!

Clearly, the courts have an inbuilt checks and balances system via the general appellate mechanism. I reiterate that the courts are a judicial dancehall, not a playground for arbitrary Executive directives. If the State was aggrieved by a judicial decision rendered by Krubally, the lawful route of getting redress is to trigger the general accountability system of appeal by going to the High Court. The Executive probably feels too big for that cumbersome process it regards as the puny citizen’s avenue for resolving public disputes. This mentality is perilous for the overall polity, including for the Executive itself.

As a national document, it is disturbing that the Constitution embodies immense potential for violence against the citizen, and of stalemate and paralysis in governance. A crisis, any crisis is therefore only solvable via the agency of raw power, not through the more sublime avenues of political and legal negotiation in a public environment equally responsive to the legitimate needs of all its members.

Unquestionably, the Judiciary is a victim of the legal centralization of national power in the Executive. By section 141 (2)(c) of the Constitution, “a judge of a Superior Court … may have his or her appointment terminated by the President in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission” (JSC).

To appreciate the subtle if legal subjugation of the Judiciary, to the Executive, it is vital to disentangle the architecture of the management structure at the former. At section 138(1) of the Constitution, the President has the legal authority to appoint the Chief Justice “after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission”. Second only to the Chief Justice in the administrative hierarchy is the Judicial Secretary, “who shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the JSC” (section 143(3)).

What is the basic appointing criteria regarding Superior Court judges other than the Chief Justice? Committed to leaving nothing to chance, the Constitution provides an explicit answer. “All other judges of the Superior Courts except the judges of the Special Criminal Court shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the JSC” (section 138(2)).

Considering the ostensibly heavy consultation the President must engage in with the JSC in the appointing process of Superior Court Judges, and the Judicial Secretary, it is imperative that the composition of this central body on judicial appointment be properly scrutinised. In both appointments to, and removals from, the JSC, the President is the predominant player. “The members of the Commission, other than the members referred to in subsection (a) and (f), shall be appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice and subject to confirmation by the National Assembly” (section 145(2)).

Continuing with 145(6), there is yet again a clear demonstration of the President’s stranglehold over the JSC. A member can be removed “for any other cause”! In reality, there is no ex officio member of the JSC considering that even the representative of the Bar must be nominated by the Attorney General, a Cabinet appointee who holds her position at the exclusive pleasure of the President.

As for the member of the JSC to be “nominated by the National Assembly”, the Speaker, a Presidential appointee who heads the Legislature, is duty-bound to facilitate that transaction. For any Party member of the National Assembly thinking of opposing the President’s choice for membership of the JSC, there is the threat of expulsion, and the small matter of 91(1)(d) of the Constitution to exercise a sobering restraint on any potential wild journey from sheepish compliance with “orders from above”, a euphemism for Presidential directives outside the ambit of lawful commands. As for JSC members coming under sub-sections (a), (b), (c), and (e), of section 145, the President has undiluted power over their fate.

No sensible system can so thoroughly subject the Judiciary to such total control!

Clearly, our Constitution woefully failed to separate public power. Its design is maximally flawed if only because meaningful authority is almost exclusively lodged in the Executive at the expense of the other two branches. I accept that even where public power is properly balanced by the Constitution, there can be no serious answer to the thesis that law cannot self-implement. For efficacy, it must rely on a political system underpinned by the rule of law, i.e., by the separation of public power in a manner calculated to safeguard individual liberty. According to James Madison, a leading proponent of American federalism, “the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny”.

Even without its inbuilt distortions, and regardless of how beautifully crafted and balanced, a Constitution that will continue to be either differentially applied, or not applied at all, presents a profound challenge to national cohesion and survival in that it serves the interest of a fraction of the overall polity, in this case the Executive. “At the heart of any failed state is a constitution that is not performing – either because the balances its drafters struck between competing demands on the document were wrong, or because the machinery, will and resources to make it work are woefully inadequate” (The Gazette 2012).

With all its flaws, the Constitution remains the supreme law of The Gambia. Poignantly, it also speaks directly to Krubally’s issue. “In the exercise of their judicial functions, the courts, the judges and other holders of judicial office shall be independent and shall be subject only to this Constitution and the law and, except as provided in this Chapter, shall not be subject to the control or direction of any other person or authority” (section 120(3). Even on doctrinal considerations alone, the principle enunciated in section 120(3) is unassailable.

The dismissal of Krubally is completely unlawful. Although apparently speaking in the language of civil process, the Constitution grants express immunity to a magistrate acting judicially from all process, civil or criminal. “A judge or other person exercising power shall not be liable to any action or suit for any act or omission by him or her in good faith in the exercise of his or her judicial function” (section 123).

There is widespread public sympathy for Krubally but alongside this sympathy is palpable fear for position, for freedom, for life. In a way fear pervades all spheres of the fabric of Gambian public life, and fear is a legitimate and agonising human concern. At page 436 of his book, Dictator, Robert Harris renders timeless wisdom on the inevitable if paralysing ultimate reason for being fearful: At first I thought I would never recover from Cicero’s death. But time wipes out everything, even grief. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that grief is almost entirely a question of perspective. For the first few years I used to sigh and think, ‘Well, he would still be in his sixties now,’ and then a decade later, with surprise, ‘My goodness, he would be seventy five,’ but nowadays I think, ‘well, he would be long since dead in any case, so what does it matter how he died in comparison with how he lived?’.

Students both of history and contemporary affairs would have recognised the futility of managing a country’s public life by force and fear. It is like the proverbial collapsing of the support of the sky. Everyone suffers! And for those who are disinterested in politics, and are busy accumulating wealth and the purely epicurean pursuits of life, I counsel that you look around the world for your timeless lessons. Ask the formerly untouchable, and, or, indifferent, of Libya, of Iraq, of Syria, of Liberia, of Sierra Leone, others. Politics encompasses and reaches into every aspect of life.

However viewed, Krubally’s dismissal is an assault on his human rights and dignity, a perversion of the rule of law, an affront to the principle of judicial independence. If the Constitution is toothless, what about a so-called National Human Rights Commission!

I would rather worry about the sorry state of Gambian public life than waste time and resources on the non-urgent issues of the Slave Trade, Slavery, and Colonialism.

Of more immediate concern, Krubally is effectively stranded in the United States. Without help from Gambians in the Diaspora, he will soon be destitute in that great ocean of wealth. I know there are many generous Gambians in the Diaspora and I urge our able and dynamic online anchors to mobilise public support for this deserving candidate.

I condemn the unlawful dismissal of an exemplary judicial officer!

Lamin J. Darbo