By Musa Bah
I have been asked to speak on the topic The Gambian Writer and the Promotion of HumanRights. This is a profound topic and needs a detailed and careful exposition for it to be understood in its widest context, and properly. It will be prudent therefore to use the current situation in the country as a test case in the manner the writer contributes – or should contribute – to the promotion of Human Rights. Towards this end, I want to start by reading a poem I published on the Standard Newspaper in 2015.
THE WRITER
When there is a puncture
In a nation’s social structure
Things begin to crumble
People start to grumble
You see people steal
While the police stand still
The preacher preaches
While the girl bleaches
The scout shouts
The wrestler bouts
The scholar doubts
Corruption abounds
Then the honest cheat
Who value only the beads
Praises and tweets
The teacher teaches
While the artist sketches
Some simply sing praise
Seeking grace
They embrace
Every disgrace
Losing the race
At the far end is the writer
The poet
The dramatist
The journalist
Correcting the wrongs
Making others strong
He teaches peace
Celebrate him – the writer!
We need to create a Gambian who is consciously aware of his duties and responsibilities to protect and defend human rights. This new Gambian will be, as the common parlance goes, ‘his brother’s keeper.’ If we do this, we will have a society which is developed, advanced, aware and just. After all these, we will have lasting peace and stability. For, peace, it is said, is not the absence of violence but the presence of justice. The writer is supposed to contribute immensely to the creation of that Gambian. Literature plays a very important role in shaping the cultural identity of a people.
To further highlight the fact that what we read and write has a direct impact (good or bad) on the politico-socioeconomic condition of the people of a nation, I would like to quote the renowned Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiongo. In his introduction to the English edition of the book entitled Matigari, he writes:
…. By January 1987, intelligence reports had it that peasants in Central Kenya were whispering and talking about a man called Matigari who was roaming the whole country making demands about truth and justice. There were orders for his immediate arrest, but the police discovered that Matigari was only a fictional character in a book of the same name. In February 1987, the police raided all the bookshops and seized every copy of the novel.
Matigari, the fictional hero, and the novel, his only habitation, have been effectively banned in Kenya…..
(Matigari, Ngugi wa Thiongo, P. viii)
Who Is the Writer?
The writer is that person who uses language to teach, preach, and educate through entertainment. S/He brings out the ills of society and suggests ways to solve them. S/He is not aloof to the deprivation which his people face on a daily basis. S/He lives these problems and deprivations him/herself and suggests an inward solution to them.
Among the types of writers, the journalist’s work has a more immediate effect because it is direct and reports events of Human Rights provisions and protections – or their violations – as soon as they take place. Thus, informed of these, the general public agitates for them to be respected and addressed.
The other writers like columnists use their pen to bring to the public issues of concern. They talk about the protection of Human Rights and suggest ways to improve on existing laws and instruments to make them accessible to the people. Though this one is subtler in nature, its effect is more profound and more lasting. Take for instance the gender stereotyping which ends in the violations of the rights of women using religion. This is tackled in Michael Hamadi Secka’s book entitled ‘The Shock’.If people read these types of books, it exposes them to current trends and makes the stereotyping ugly and they end up abhorring those practices. This will make sure that they never entertain or indulge in such practices ever.
Again, I want to go back a little over a year ago when former president Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after being defeated in the December 1stPresidential Elections. Many writers came out to write and point out the potential danger of abuse and violations of Human Rights if he insisted on not stepping down.
Writers have always highlighted the ills in our society and through their pens sought to subtly change the culture for a better Gambia. Just look at the following excerpt from the poems of our own respected Juka Jabang.
‘Her life is full of beatings
She is battered all the time
Oppressed and shattered everyday’
(Juka Jabanag, The Repeal and other Poems…, as quoted in the Gendered Voices by Prof. Pierre Gomez and Isatou Ndow.)
This is how a writer portrays these abuses and violations of Human Rights, so the readers will abhor them from the core of their hearts. This is sometimes an earnest plea, sometimes a desperate cry, at other times commanding , on the mood of the writer and the audience. Whatever it is, the writer must always engage. Engage the government of the day and the governed so as to promote Human Rights. Engaging the citizens – the governed – will take the form of sensitization and educating the people to know their rights and the power to fight for them.
Finally, I want to leave you with a poem I wrote sometime last year which seeks to discourage a particular abuse of Human Rights.
WHAT IS MY NAME…?
Because I am black
They tell me to pack
I am skeletal like a rack
Of possessions, I am naked, stack
My situation is such that I’ve no voice
In most matters of import, I’ve no choice
For any insignificant achievement, I rejoice
Oftentimes, I am harassed by different boys
I am discriminated at school
At home, many think I am a fool
The dream of having my swimming pool
and other amenities like others, is my pull
Tradition says I should be married a teen
Having babies before the previous one I wean
They wish to my education n dreams throw in the bin
But, tell me, if that be my lot, how on earth will I ever win?
Some traditions, deprive me of my health
While Modou, Alieu go on to amass a lot of wealth
I won’t even have a fair share of what dad will bequeath
The culture, norms and traditions hide my beauty like a sheath
Here is my pledge: No marriage till I get education
I will not be a vessel for children till I guarantee sanitation
Like John, Peter and Modou, I also have ambition, aspiration
From henceforth I’m taking in my hands, my desired emancipation!
So, the Human Rights – right to life, right to food, right to shelter, education, health, and the right to participate in the country’s political life, right to water and electricity, right to live a peaceful and happy life and so on are all featured in the works of Gambian writers.
Thank you very much for your kind attention!
?? Our Homeland
HELLO MR PRESIDENT… The Fight Against Corruption…
Any nation that aspires to develop must have a very strong policy against corruption. Corruption is like a cancer that eats up everything good in a country. Once corruption spreads it tentacles in a country, it destroys everything in its path. It is like a raging inferno which will leave nothing standing in its path. It is an open secret that corruption is rampant in the Gambia, especially in government. We must do something to minimize corruption in all its forms.
The ugly happenings being exposed at the Department of Immigrations is just a tip of the iceberg, as it were. The Deputy Director General, Mr Seedy Touray should indeed be commended if the reports emanating from Immigration are true. It is high time we started rewarding and commending whistleblowers if we indeed want to control and minimize corruption and other forms of evil in our country.
As I said earlier, this problem is not only at the Immigration Department but in almost all other departments in the country. Last week, I saw an old woman who complained that if one is poor in this country now, one will not receive medical care. She said for some reason, she was told by a doctor that she couldn’t be treated on that day. On her way out, someone told her that she had to give something to the doctor, so she could be treated. She did; and lo and behold! She received the check up she was looking for.
Whether that is an isolated case or symbolic of trends at the hospitals, it is scary and a cause for concern. If, even in our hospitals, that kind of thing can happen, then it is indeed a very serious matter which needs our urgent attention. Another department that is said to be rife with corruption is the Gambia Revenue Authority. Many in the population believe that corruption is the order of the day at the GRA. Similarly, there is talk that there is corruption at the National Environmental Agency as that is the only way the renewing of the license of the Chinese company, Golden Lead Factory can be explained considering the environmental hazards it had been shown to cause.
A few weeks ago, we saw the Gambia Police Force/Service come up with a billboard which seeks to reduce corruption. This in a way is an admission that there is some form of corruption going on in that department as well. And naturally, it will not be farfetched to say that corruption is in every other department or ministry or even the presidency given its prevalence in all the above sectors.
The fight against corruption is a difficult one and will take the efforts of the entire nation to have an impact. Firstly though, we need leadership in that area. The Office of the President must come out strongly and speak against corrupt practices in the country. It should be condemned in the strongest possible terms and a message sent that it will not be tolerated from anyone, no matter who.
The general public must also assist in this area. Do not bribe anyone or seek to solicit undue favors from public officials. Do the right thing and whatever service you are demanding, pay the right amount if it is a service that needs to be paid for. And once you pay the right amount, insist on being given an official receipt so that the money will go to the right place.
The media has an important role to play in this. As it is, the conducive environment for the media to play its role is there and as such the journalists must up their game and conduct research; they must engage in investigative journalism. They should follow the money and track down every butut and inform the public. This can have a good impact on the fight against corruption.
Finally, Mr President, you should constitute an Anti-Corruption Commission that will become the face of this fight. This will galvanize the efforts of all by bringing the fight under one umbrella. This will give whistleblowers the courage to channel their information, so action can be taken. The last stage in this link of the fight is the judiciary. People found wanting must be prosecuted and face the full force of the law. That will be the only deterrent.
Have a Good Day Mr President…
Tha Scribbler Bah
A Concerned Citizen