Last week, the Executive Secretary of the Truth, Reconciliation and Repatriation Commission (TRRC), Dr Baba Galleh Jallow announced the appointment of Mr Alagie Barrow as the Director of Investigation and Research. This appointment sparked a lot of controversy in the country (especially on Social Media) as some folks are of the opinion that because Alagie Barrow was among those who sought to overthrow the government of Yahya Jammeh on December 30th, he is not fit to serve in this position. For them, there will be a conflict of interest in the proceedings of the Commission if he serves in that position.
I want to start by saying that the position of Mr Alagie Barrow as Director of Research and Investigation is administrative and not as a commissioner. We must understand the difference first. The Commission has two components; the Secretariat (which includes the secretary and all those who will be working under him) and the Commissioners (these will be drawn from the general public, applications to which was announced a month or two ago following certain procedures).
Thus, appointing Alagie Barrow who is seen by some as a victim and thus can’t possibly be impartial is unfounded because he is not a member of the commission who are the ones who will do the sittings and hearing of testimonies from victims. His work is to research and investigate the claims and reports brought to the Secretariat and therefore he is perfectly positioned to do that if he has the qualifications. We are already told that Alagie Barrow holds a master’s degree in Criminal Law and served in the United States Army until he attained the rank of Captain.
On his involvement in the December 30th attempt to overthrow the government of Yahya Jammeh, I just want to remind folks that the protection and defense of the Constitution of the Republic of the Gambia is a duty of each and every Gambian whether one is a government official or not. Thus, if Gambians see that the very Constitution that governs the country is being violated by the very person sworn to protect and defend it with impunity, they reserve the right to get up and defend the constitution which is what the folks of December 30thdid
From this angle therefore, Alagie Barrow and those who were with him in that crusade are heroes, defenders of the Constitution and the sovereignty of the Gambia. They sought to stop a regime that was bent on wiping out anyone who differed with them in opinion. Since that regime had made it impossible to change it by legitimate means, the only thing left for Gambians was to overthrow it with force just like they were using force to shoot whoever wished to oppose them.
A bad law is no law at all. Pacifism is good; but, not always ideal. Let us look at South Africa, one of the countries that has known evil regimes for decades. Many people seem to think that Nelson Mandela was a pacifist, but he was not. Mandela saw taking up arms and defending his people as a resort that he could – and would – turn to if every other thing failed. Everyone believes that Mandela did ‘what he had to do’ to defend his people. And the world over, no one ever says that Mandela did anything wrong because if the laws with which he could use to fight for his people turned out to be the very ones that were used to oppress them, he couldn’t rely on them anymore.
Now coming to Alagie Barrow serving as the Director of Investigation, who better to to investigate the extra-judicial killings, rape, torture, sackings and other violations than one who feels it firsthand? Alagie Barrow has the knowledge, expertise and impartiality to head this division. His detachment and ability to analyse situations is unquestionable. The same goes for Dr Baa Galleh Jallow who was himself a victim of the former regime. The thing is, they are in the administrative side and not in the Commission per se. They won’t be hearing testimonies themselves. Study the Truth and Reconciliation of South Africa. It was headed by Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu who was himself a victim of the Apartheid Regime. If he could do it without bias, why can’t Baba and Alagie?
