The piercing persistent ring of the phone shattered the tranquil of the brief predawn sleep. I concluded that it was not the Suhoor (heda) alarm having already let it ring a few times.

“Doctor, bed X’s condition has changed.”

“Please remind me again, what’s her name and the admitting diagnosis? “, I blearily mumbled to the nurse. “And secondly is she really alive or dead?” I asked the admittedly cynical question because believe it or not, I’ve been called numerous times about patients’ ‘changed condition’ only to find that the patient was actually taking their final breaths or already dead. But I digress as that’s a story for another day.

On the ward I found the patient gasping for breath. Her blood oxygen level was dangerously low and she urgently needed oxygen amongst other things. But life-saving oxygen first and foremost.

The nurse tiredly shook her head. The only oxygen sources on the ward, the portable cylinder and the concentrator were being used for two patients at that very moment. In effect there was no oxygen available for this patient. 4M15 am, no oxygen in the hospital. The hospital only had limited oxygen supply in the form of portable cylinders and oxygen concentrators. The word portable is a misnomer as there is nothing portable about them; each cylinder is the height of an adult male and heavy. Not to mention expensive. Oxygen concentrators are machines the size of a small suitcase and basically extract oxygen from the air using electrical power. They are also expensive to purchase, run and maintain, and our hospital only had 3 working concentrators. The remaining two are owned by the maternity/gynae department and paediatrics department. Borrowing from those two wards was out of the question. As we pondered this quandary, her sister who had been by her bedside all night pleadingly stared at me……

———————

This oxygen shortage experience I just related happens with wretched regularity the length and breath of the national health system, and I speak with the conviction of a health care practitioner on the front lines of care. I am not interested in massaging the facts or delivering some ‘maslaha’/spin about how plans are afoot to address this situation as healthcare practitioners have been hearing such platitudes for ages with no progress. The painful catastrophic reality is that patients i.e. your relatives, my relatives, OUR relatives, die daily due to a shortage of oxygen in our health system and the situation shows no Y. Z. [. \. signs or fierce urgency to improve.

Consider the following:

There is no overarching national framework or strategy to supply oxygen to the major health centers or public hospitals, or if there is, it is only on paper i.e. the perennial ‘being worked on’.

The international standard is for individual hospitals to have their own oxygen plants on site, or at the very least a central Government-owned manufacturing plant that supplies oxygen to the peripheral health facilities. Each patient bed ideally should have piped oxygen on demand from the on-site plant.

As such major hospitals and health centers (public and private) have to source/buy their oxygen cylinders from private oxygen manufacturers like Banjul Oxygen Ltd, which is hideously expensive and unsustainable.

Our apex referral Hospital EFSTH (Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital) at one point was allegedly spending 800,000 Dalasis monthly on oxygen purchases alone.

Oxygen is classified as a drug and it goes without saying that it is among the most elemental and fundamental in any health care system. It is critical in life support systems i.e. emergencies and surgeries.

Across the myriad issues facing the Gambian health system, there is a disheartening continuation even widening of that disconnect between the daily experience of those on the front-lines (i.e health care workers) and the policy/ decision makers ‘at the top’ especially how the former can guide what needs to urgently addressed to deliver good patient care.

A sustainable long-term solution to the oxygen issue would be a good start.

By: Dr John Locke

By Gibril Saine

I observed with great distress recent reports emanating from Treasury officials in Banjul regarding the health of the nation’s finances. The astronomical figures being quoted and claimed to have been embezzled by the previous incumbent continue to shock & awe in equal measure. It is no secret that the country is in dire straits in terms of its money and I fear, with near certainly that The Gambia shall never register any meaningful progress, nor fulfilled the sustainable development goals target without disposing of its debt burden. The country, like most of Africa is caught up in a vicious cycle of ill-advised loan schemes encouraged by Western powers through their agents – multilateral financial institutions – carrying punishing interest rates. After the subjugation of a particular country in such economic mess, the next phase becomes stringent austerity measures through the much maligned structural adjustment programmes, to be completed by privatisation, auctioning off its assets, companies and resources to foreign hands. This pillage and plundering of Africa’s resources thus became the norm, subjecting the continent at the beck and call of the West. Africa, how tragic, yet an avoidable one – But will we ever learn?

To President Barrow – you don’t have to be an expert in British and US foreign policy to effectively administer, just ponder & reflect and use common sense. Analysing from a vintage point across the London financial district, I sense such ground work being laid for the Gambia, urging the leadership to wise up to the trap. For the record – future generations of Gambians are indebted to the neck held hostage in financial ruins, but for the flamboyant lifestyle the ‘Jammeh family’ had lived crisscrossing the globe in private jets, decadent cars, lavish mansions, legendary ‘Kanilai’ parties the world has come to know about. It is still baffling to many, and an absolute travesty that Central bank officials and their cohorts at the Finance Ministry who aided and abetted – presiding over a thievery of the worst kind West Africa has ever seen prevail scot-free; still practising at the heart of government. Many-a-night, I woke up to nightmarish dreams watching history repeat itself for a country we all so dearly love. If empiricism is anything to go by, the Barrow government appears reticent leading without a rear-view-mirror, blinded by big money, the business class, auctioning off the nation’s assets to foreign hands reminiscent of recent past.

Cheii Gambia – Where are we heading to; and where is honourable Halifa Sallah and the rest of Parliament in their oversight roles policing executive power. With a measure of anger, the Gambian people are whispering chants of betrayal #President Barrow #Ousainou Darboe continually repositioning their selves & kind ever closer to positions of influence. With due respect to Darboe, he is clueless in terms of foreign policy and diplomatic niceties, and should be reshuffled. The banished adage of patronage, clientelism, thru a façade of nepotism and cronyism thus emerged overstepping bounds of conflict of interest. It is incumbent upon President Barrow to separate himself from businessmen and negotiations, and to allow each line ministry handle investments as accordingly. The so-called permanent secretary for investment at the office of the president is undemocratic, and must close immediately. The country boasts a chamber of commerce, and an Investment zone and free trade Agency (GIZFTA), so why the multiplication of services – further adding to bureaucracy.

Dialling back to the 2015 IMF & World Bank report on the country, both institutions in essence called out sheer incompetence at the Central bank of the Gambia and the finance ministry where officials are found culpable in their oversight duties pertaining to monetary policy. It was against the backdrop of that report when the erstwhile finance minister ‘Kolley’ came out with a falsified statement projecting 6% GDP growth rates he knew was untrue. Loans were contracted with foreign financial firms disappearing into thin air. Inflated road projects that do not measure to scrutiny, nor the huge costs attached. The diaspora is screaming asking why is it that European road projects are built to last 100 years, yet in Gambia multimillion dollar projects erode under the power of heavy rainfall. incredible right!. As of 2016 the interest rate payments alone on Gambia’s external and domestic debt stock stood at 107% GDP. This figure is bound to accelerate to monstrous figures the country can never afford nor repay. Over several decades, poorly structured schemes of greed emasculated under clouds of lies and deceit in covering tracks came to define Africa’s failures. Looking closer, It became apparent that certain aspects of corruption and looting selling the nations assets and reserves to vested interest are deliberately calculated by the very politicians screaming national interest. A classic scenario came to define Yahya Jammeh – rich beyond measure.

For Gambia, the country lives on hand-to-mouth producing just to give it all away in interest payments and then borrow more to survive the year ahead further adding more pain to the already existing wound. The Jammeh era mismanagement of borrowing-at-will with no questions asked a docile parliament nor the media unaware of its true role. From an advantaged vintage point in London, I watched the Gambia and Africa on a pattern to destruction signing mismanaged loans deals secured on exorbitant interest payments which consume large chunks of the country’s GDP. I’m all for debt ceiling legislation in curtailing supplementary budget expenses as brilliantly enunciated by Gambian economist, Nyang Njie. The IMF and such partner financial institutions carry bad reputations for impoverishing developing nations exacerbating poverty through painful austerity regimes. It’s about time Africa and Africans take our own destiny in our own hands drawing plans designed to last. With total debt wipe-out, I stand optimistic the Gambia can finally wave bye to the much maligned ‘SAPs’ and set meaningful economic agenda in motion as infrastructure spending, agriculture, education, ambitious social programmes that uplift everyday Gambians further away from the poverty line boosting job creation too.

Western bilateral and multilateral aid gestures are mere charitable handouts the Gambia must try kick addiction from. Just look at the few millions handed to the new government with the right hand, yet taking it all back with the left through excruciating interest payments on loans consuming total GDP output. To the world – the Gambia is drowning under the weight of a national debt burden ratio at an alarming 110% GDP, rising annually. The only honest and pragmatic solution to remedy this unacceptable state of affairs is total debt wipe-off if the United States and Europe truly care and are sincere partners as they claim. I urge Britain to lead in this benign gesture given centuries old history, but will she? So I task Mr Lajos, EU high diplomat in the Gambia to help lay the foundations with the Finance Ministry counting in U.S embassy and the UN system for a better way forward. I urge Gambians & our government to pre-empt IMF and World Bank together with EU are talking of debt restructuring. These are mere semantics, useless as the paper written on. They are also looking to prop up government and the nation’s coffers with few cool millions – do not fall for it, those shall register worthless in the long run as interest payments multiply on the debt in situ. The only pragmatic and honest solution to the Gambia’s economic woes & future aspirations in building a progressive city-state as envisaged in the national development blueprint is, but total debt cancellation and a wipe-off.

By Famara Fofana

One of the most common sights in major intersections and garages around this time of the month is that of commuters and drivers exchanging verbals. Sometimes, they would come to the point of squaring off like a pair of timid light-feathered boxers in a ring or as it used to happen in our hamlet in Jarra – two hens facing off, flapping their wings in style and looking into each other’s eyes, similar to the modern day version of ‘faasaa-faas’ before a duel.

At a time when most people are literally a contestant in the highly competetive rat race that is ‘raba raba’, anything that could delay ir throw a spanner in somebody else’s work is hardly taken lightly. If anything, that four-lettered word called TIME is considered tones of money even for a people that have spent years subjecting one another to the so-called West African International Time (WAIT).

And boy do you know? Of all the players in the game that is ‘Raba Raba’, motorists, particularly those in the commercial sector, appear to be the dominant players. Patience, it would appear, is their Achilles’ heel.

Picking and dropping passengers anytime, anywhere and anyhow ,it is not uncommon to hear cab drivers especially those that ply the West Field area, barking at pedestrians asking what on earth has become of such people they almost knock on the backside. Usually it is one of the side mirrors that does the trick. To send you panicking, a middle-aged taxi driver wearing a singlet and a Jim Iyke type of shades would impolitely yell ‘Uncle hana yow gisulo moto bi’ or in some instances to the ear-piece loving, mini-bag carrying young ladies ‘Son yew lu jot sa botiyi. Doh bayi doh di loh’.

Who knows , like the taxi driver himself, that commuter atthe receiving end of his fury, also woke up in the morning without a ‘kopar ndawal’ for the day and had to rush to one of those money transfer bureaus along Kairaba Avenue to collect some bucks wired to him or her the previous night.

In a spontaneous response triggered by the numerous items on their to-do list , the person on his or her feet too is tempted no matter how cool-headed they may be to say, ‘yow driver soh ma laa leh. Hana yow amulo brake’?

That is where it stops. No blows to trade but only words to bandy about, for the mantra of the drivers themselves is ‘fat-fat’ in reference to the little time they have. Similarly, the other person in the business of ‘nyeffeh’ would put the little altercation behind him.

These sort of scenarios I tried to depict may sound humorous but in reality they are daily experiences people like myself stumbled on or at times encounter to and from the workplace. They provide a bird’s eye view of the dwindling rate of patience among most young people; driver or pedestrian. It also underlines the gravity of intolerance fast creeping into our society.

In the end however, there tend to be only one winner; the one who exudes cocksure bravado amid the ‘shouti-bouty’ or the ‘dangam’ types. That is how they play by the rule book in such situations.

This is Sere-kunda after all. We are fond of the hullabaloo. We rarely fall in for real fights. So the young lady offended by the motorist would end up saying to herself ‘man mii nga hamneh seyanguma, awma dom amaanguma dara’. In contrast, the uncle who has seen enough in his life would pretend not to have noticed the driver asking for trouble because he can’t afford to indulge in any scuffle that may end up costing his family especially the newly wedded ‘Jongoma’ he has taken. Meanwhile, for the highly-ambitious taxi driver with fire in his belly, all that has passed has indeed passed. Attention is swiftly shifted to the next ‘kiliyaan’ as he hope for a happy return home, just like the uncle or young lady who was out in the morning to fend for their families.

Free Baboucarr Nani Sey; Go After the Big Fish

The arrest, rearrest, charging and arraignment of sports journalist Baboucarr Nani Sey beats comprehension. Baboucarr and his fellow youths were protesting what they saw as an ‘illegal transfer of ownership ‘ of a particular land in their area, Kololi. He was then arrested, charged, bailed and rearrested now to appear in court.

It is interesting to note that according to Baboucarr, they were simply demonstrating peacefully their disagreement on the selling of this important land by Kanifing Municipal Council to Global Properties and some other entity. The youth of the area have claimed that if anything, they are the ones who should be arrested but not Baboucarr Nani Sey.

It is said that when our football team performed well in a competition, Yahya Jammeh spontaneously gave them a piece of land situated near the stadium which used to belong to KMC; and then instructed the Department of Lands to compensate them by giving them another land. That is how the Department of Lands came to give the Kololi land (the disputed land) to KMC who later sold it to Global Properties and some other entity.

It is clear therefore that this mess is also a doing of Yahya Jammeh and his erratic behavior. Thus, even after being defenestrated, the clown is still impacting negatively on the Gambia and her people. This issue should therefore be viewed critically before it escalates into something else.

Government should therefore look into this problem quickly and closely with a view to finding a lasting solution to the standoff. As this involves the youth who are largely unemployed [thus frustrated, with a lot of time on their hands], it could escalate very rapidly.

Thus, as the saying goes, ‘Prevention Is Better Than Cure.’ Solve this problem. Now!

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

By Alhassan Darboe

Whoever said that UTG graduates or certificates are not recognized internationally must be
having a rethink these days. Famara Singhateh, a UTG law graduate has bagged a coveted position as
head of Gambia Desk with A- law firm in Brussels, Belgium. His areas of specialization for his new
employer are Gambia Law on Trade and Investment, Banking and Finance, Insurance, Commercial law
and Practices, Establishment or Acquisition, License Requests and Public Procurement Policies and
Regulations.

Barrister Singhateh never traveled outside the shores of the Gambia for higher education but stayed
in The Gambia and obtained HTC from The Gambia college, Diploma in law at GTTI and a Bachelor of
law degree (LLB) at University of The Gambia. He further went on to obtain his Barrister at Law (BL) at
Gambia Law school in Banjul, The Gambia and admitted to Gambia Bar and enrolled as Barrister and
Solicitor of the Supreme Court of The Gambia.

Well before his engagement with A-Law International law Firm, Mr Singhateh worked for FBNBank
Gambia Limited as the first Country Head, Legal Affairs which came after he served the same
institution as Country Head, Human Resources & Administration double hatting as Chief Anti-money
laundering officer. Prior to his stint with the bank, he worked in both Insurance and Education sectors
within The Gambia.Talking to WhatsonGambia from his base in Europe, modest barrister Singhateh
said that he is humbled and very grateful for his new appointment. ”All I can say is that I’m very happy
and humbled by this new appointment, Alhamduilillahi”.He concluded.

Alagi Yorro Jallow

How do you measure patriotism in the wake of the unprecedented type of body politics exists in the Gambia? Is it about falling in line behind your preferred political leader? Or does it mean confronting what is wrong with our country as well as what is right? These questions are not only of our time. They are timeless, and form key tensions at the heart of our system of government. I believe we should reconnect to some of the core values that have united us as a people in the past, and can unite us once more. What is patriotism? It is question that occupies my mind recently as the nation I love dearly is beset by crises that threaten to overwhelm the basic tenets of our cherished democracy.

My hope is that let no one expect any monopoly on wisdom. But I do hope, we can start recognizing that patriotism must be as expansive and inclusive as our democracy should be. We hope to start a conversation about love of country to which you would like to lend your voice and thoughts. We need to hear from our wonderful, diverse, citizenry now more than ever.

The difference between Patriotism and Nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility while the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to a war.

Nationalism vs Patriotism

Nationalism and patriotism both show the relationship of an individual towards his or her nation. The two are often confused and frequently believed to mean the same thing. However, there is a vast difference between nationalism and ariotism.

Nationalism means to give more importance to unity by way of a cultural background, including language and heritage. Patriotism pertains to the love for a nation, with more emphasis on values and beliefs.

When talking about nationalism and patriotism, one cannot avoid the famous quotation by George Orwell, who said that nationalism is ‘the worst enemy of peace’. According to him, nationalism is a feeling that one’s country is superior to another in all respects, while patriotism is merely a feeling of admiration for a way of life. These concepts show that patriotism is passive by nature and nationalism can be a little aggressive.

Patriotism is based on affection and nationalism is rooted in rivalry and resentment. One can say that nationalism is militant by nature and patriotism is based on peace.

Most nationalists assume that their country is better than any other, whereas patriots believe that their country is one of the best and can be improved in many ways. Patriots tend to believe in friendly relations with other countries while some nationalists don’t.

In patriotism, people all over the world are considered equal but nationalism implies that only the people belonging to one’s own country should be considered one’s equal.
A patriotic person tends to tolerate criticism and tries to learn something new from it, but a nationalist cannot tolerate any criticism and considers it an insult.

Nationalism makes one to think only of one’s country’s virtues and not its deficiencies. Nationalism can also make one contemptuous of the virtues of other nations. Patriotism, on the other hand, pertains to value responsibilities rather than just valuing loyalty towards one’s own country.

Nationalism makes one try to find justification for mistakes made in the past, while patriotism enables people to understand both the shortcomings and improvements made.

Summary:

Patriot: Expresses the emotion of love towards his country in a passive way

Nationalist: Strives for independence and the interests and domination of a nation and expresses his love or concern for the country in an active political way.

1…. while nationalism can unite people, it must be noted that it unites people against other people. It was nationalism driven by religious identity and political misgivings which caused the Partition of India in 1947. It was nationalism which was central to Hitler’s philosophy and which led the Japanese to invade China in 1937 and precipitate the Second World.

2. Nationalism focuses on the State while patriotism focuses on the people

3. It is better to love our country keeping in mind that democratic ideals are the most important. The term ‘national identity’ is difficult to define–it can mean a religious identity, an ethnic identity or even an ideological identity. The main shortcoming of nationalism lies in the fact that it can blind people. Love for one’s country is imperative and necessary, but if this love becomes more important than Constitutional values or democratic ideals, it is misplaced.

Additional Readings:

(The Huffington Post: There’s a World of difference Between Patriotism and Nationalism)

Read more: Difference Between Nationalism and Patriotism | Difference Between

http://www.differencebetween.net/…/difference-between-nat…/…

We Are Not Sheep….

Mr President, I cannot help but applaud your government through your minister of Foreign Affairs, Lawyer Ousainou Darboe for the Gambia’s stance on the Saudi Arabia-Qatari issue. Of late, countries have been abandoning Qatar like a man stricken with leprosy, or worse, with Ebola.

Saudi Arabia’s calling Qatar a sponsor of terrorism is nothing but the height of paradox. It is like a case of a pot calling the kettle black. When one considers the stance of Saudi Arabia on terrorism, and then looks at the number of Saudi nationals embroiled in acts of terror, it becomes very evident who is a likelier sponsor of terror between the two nations.

Albeit, this in actual fact has got nothing to do with who is sponsoring terror and who is not. It’s unfortunate that Saudi Arabia has tied a rope on its nose and given the end of the rope to the United States to be pulled wherever and whenever they please; sometimes to the detriment of the Muslim world. The US-Saudi Arabia relationship is very complex indeed, and that much corrupt as well.

This relationship is used to entrench the stranglehold the United States has on the Muslims to ensure that the some-tines-lone-voices of dissent are put in check. One can observe this in the fact that part of the problem between Saudi Arabia and Qatar was sparked by the reporting of Aljazeera, a Qatari backed news channel on the so-called Arab Spring which rumpled feathers in the Middle East. This shows that all they are worried about is an uprising of the masses like what was observed in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries. The US has an interest in a stable Saudi Arabia as the Royal Family seems to be in their pocket.

So one may ask, what the heck does any of that have to do with little Gambia, thousands of miles away? Well, as we live in a global village, all countries are interconnected. But that connection has not gone to a level where we should just blindly follow Saudi Arabia in boycotting anyone, or jump anytime they say we do. So the stance of your government expressed through the foreign minister to stay out of this so-called fight against terror. Bravo Lawyer Darboe.

Let us make our own decision; of course after careful consideration and consultations. We are not sheep to be led blindly!

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

In 2006, the parliament enacted the Former Presidents (Office, Allowances and other Benefits) Act. Since Barrow is now on the seat, I wish to remind him that great benefits await him if he governs this country in line with our Constitution and democratic principles and hand over power peacefully at the end of his tenure.

The benefits specified in this Act for a former president are as follows:
1. Monthly allowance of D50, 000 for life
2. Two personal staffs for life.
3. Twenty-four hour security service at home and office for life
4. Three vehicles and the drivers will be selected by the former president
5. A diplomatic passport for life.
6. Protocol services within and outside the Gambia
7. Free medical treatment for the former president and his or her spouse anywhere in the world for life.
8. Thirty days vacation for the president and spouse anywhere in the world to be selected by the former president for life.
9. Air tickets and perdiem for the vacation will be paid to both the former president and spouse for life.
10. A well furnished office with four paid staff, one vehicle and one motorcycle and both fueled permanently by the state for life.
11. Residence of the former president shall be maintained by the state with two cooks, four housekeepers and two gardeners for life.
12. The accommodation will also be provided with telephone, Internet and other unspecified facilities for life.
13. At public functions, the former president will sit immediately after the current vice president for life.

Apart from this constitutional entitlement that awaits Barrow, there is another more lucrative opportunity that Barrow could win. That is the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. This is a lifetime award that a former African president could win if such a person was democratically elected, served his constitutional mandate and demonstrated exceptional democratic leadership and left office peacefully. For that achievement, such a president could be selected as winner and the prize is

• $5million USD over ten years
• $200,000 USD per year for life thereafter.

Since the prize was launched in 2006, only four African presidents have won it so far as follows:

• President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique (2007).
• President Festus Mogae of Botswana (2008),
• President Pedro Pires of Cape Verde (2011)
• President Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia (2014)

But one needs to remember that the Gambia Constitution has stated in Section 4(2) that a president who left office due to Section 67 of the Constitution does not qualify for the benefits and allowances of this Act.

Section 67 is about impeachment of a president for misconduct that range from abuse of office, willful violation of the Constitution or misconduct that injures the economy among other crimes. This means it is utterly necessary and important that Barrow abides by the Constitution and other laws of the Gambia and avoids making decisions and actions that would negatively affect the economy hence lose these great benefits. This means if president Barrow leaves office in 2019 under the circumstances of Section 67 then he will also not qualify for the Mo Ibrahim Prize.

Therefore, if we go by Section 67 we can see that it directly disqualifies Yaya Jammeh since he willfully violated the Constitution on 9 December 2016 when he rejected the polls. More seriously Yaya Jammeh never demonstrated exceptional democratic leadership and never left office peacefully. Thus Yaya Jammeh does not qualify for the benefits of a former president under this Act. This means Yaya Jammeh will not even be considered for the Mo Ibrahim Prize as well.

Therefore the ball is in Barrow’s court: To rule well and enjoy life after the presidency. He must not allow partisan and political expediency cause him to miss this great retirement package. Otherwise he will be doomed like Yaya Jammeh! For Life!! Those who love and support Barrow and wish him well must therefore guide him to lead with exceptional leadership and act according to democratic principles.

Having said that, we must also highlight the fact that the Act in the Gambia Constitution needs a little but significant amendment. This is because the Act was tailored purposely to serve the selfish interests of Yaya Jammeh. For example, it defined a former president as a person who held the Office of the President for not less than two terms (Section 2). In 2006, it was clear that Yaya Jammeh had spent more than two terms hence this section was purposely made to suit him. The section did not also set a term limit of the president because Yaya Jammeh never had any intention to step down.

The parliament now needs to review this Act so that Section 2 would define the former president as a person who served for at least one term and not more than two terms. This must be done as soon as possible before the end of tenure of Adama Barrow.

God Bless The Gambia.

Madi Jobarteh

Nah. No one is unreasonable here Mr President. Most of the criticisms levied on your administration stems from the trauma Goloh Ajumah precipitated on us. Nontheless, we all want a prosperous Gambia desk on strong democratic institutions and practices to harness our fragile democracy, justice and equal opportunities for each of us. However, the sooner we appreciate that the solutions to this national ambition just isn’t rested in politics but our attitudes and media the closer we get to achieving our goal, Mr Penguin, oops President. Evidently, on December 1st 2016, Gambians had succinctly demonstrated what Goloh Ajumah denied us in politics we compensated by networking and sharing information in the social media which resulted in a historic democratic change. The ability to network and share information on the Gambian social media has reached completely unprecedented heights, which means that the status quo which has been used to lull us into accepting the establishment narrative is wielding less and less substance. The internet has the potential to initiate a total shift in public perspective.

Mr President, you are a living testimony to this assertion. In the recent past, the Gambian social media particularly Facebook and WhatsApp audios have illustrated it has potential to initiate carnage and well as broker peace, stability and development. The Gunjur beach and Kanilai sagas are a clear manifestation.
While the social media is influence the narrative for a viable political dispensation, our attitudes to work and state remained unpalatable. Unless we awaken ourselves from the lullaby of attitudinal nomalcy your administrative efforts to deliver development will be daunting.

For instance, reporting time to work. Officially, every civil servant must clock in at 08:00 for work. Sadly, majority walk in majestically late without any sense of guilt. Furthermore, most of the time spent at work has little or no bearing with official business. Thus, government and the public are daily rob of valuable official time and resources. Additionally, the condescending arrogance welded by some of our civil servants is obnoxious.

Let us cite Hon Madi Ceesay as an embodiment of the others to illustrate my assertion. “I missed my flight to Malta but did not miss my meeting. So what?” he communicated on his Facebook. It is the same flippant attitudes that citizens endure from people they pay to work for them daily. That must change Mr President if we are really serious about transforming our country to a City State. His flight ticket was paid by the taxpayers and the most he could have done was to apologise for his lateness and assure us it won’t happen again. But no. He had to massage it on our faces. Similarly, the belief that “one has to survive where one works” must equally be binned. How can one steal from a family and be cool with it Mr President? In most cases, before one gets a civil servant execute his or her duty, one has to dig into one’s pocket first. That is wrong. It is unacceptable. And shameful.

The National Civic Education Council has a crucial role in helping reform our attitudes to work and responsibilities. Systems must also be initiated to curb wasting of public valuable time and resources during official work periods. Many people are getting paid for virtually doing absolutely nothing at all. The only reason many are so desperate to have a government appointment is to steal from us. Get rich for nothing. That is not an ingredient for development. The social media also has a role to play in redifining our attitudes to work.

Sulayman Jeng
Birmingham, UK

Here are the 12 Select Committees of the National Assembly including the National Assembly Authority which is composed of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Majority and Minority leaders.

1. National Assembly Authority
2. Public Accounts / Public Enterprises Committees
3. Agriculture, Rural Development, Environment, Sustainable Development & NGO Affairs
4. Appointments, Standing Orders, Privileges & Ethics
5. Defence & Security
6. Education, Training & ICT
7. Foreign Affairs
8. Health, Women, Children, Refugee, Disaster & Humanitarian Relief
9. Monitor The Implementation of Government Projects
10. Tourism, Acts, Culture, Youth and Sports
11. Trade, NEPAD, Regional Integration, WTO, WB, LDC & ACP-EU Matters
12. Local Government & Lands, Ombudsman & IEC

The purpose of these committees is to strengthen the oversight and investigative function of the parliament. They focus on specific issues by receiving reports, conducting fact-finding missions or holding public hearings as part of investigation into issues of the country. These committees have their rules and procedures of operation.

National Assembly Select Committees therefore make the National Assembly function better and stronger in monitoring of public institutions and officials to make sure that they are transparent, efficient, accountable and responsive to the needs of the people. In this way the parliament makes public institutions deliver quality public goods and services to the entire people all the time.

These public goods and services include healthcare hence making sure our health workers and public health facilities are performing their duties adequately. They also ensure that our teachers and schools are also giving quality education as well as making sure that our police officers or prison officers or managing directors or permanent secretaries and indeed all public servants in our pubic institutions are all doing their jobs properly. They also monitor the private sector and the civil society.

In this way, the National Assembly therefore makes sure human rights are respected and protected which means the rule of law is adhered to by all which means corruption is curtailed which means good governance prevails hence improving democracy in our society. This is why the National Assembly is the most important and most powerful institution in the Gambia.

But for the National Assembly to make democracy work, it means citizens like you and me must also be active, vigilant and patriotic so that we follow them. We must know how the parliament works and what their powers are and what structures they have and which processes exist in the parliament.

Politicians or the government do not deliver democracy. Politicians always want to keep power and control the people. Look at Donald Trump right now in the United States. Remember Yaya Jammeh in the Gambia and his accomplices. Therefore only the Almighty Citizens produce and protect democracy and make it work for all. This is what history has shown everywhere in the world. When Trump wants to trample on democracy in the US it was public servants like Sally Yates, Preet Bharara, James Comey and many judges as well as the millions of American citizens who rise up to stop him. The examples are in our own history.

We have democracy today because first and foremost our forefather Edward Francis Small stood up against the British Colonialists. Since then many more of our forefathers joined the fight for democracy such as Dawda Jawara, IM Garba Jahumpa, PS Njie and Rev. JC Faye among many others. They were also joined by many chiefs and alkalolu and indeed ordinary men, women and youth in our villages and towns as well as our Gallant Mothers to fight for freedom until we gained independence.

During the APRC Tyranny, we have also seen how many ordinary citizens stood up against the government to ensure democracy prevails in our country. People like Deyda Hydara or the students or Solo Sandeng among many were tortured, jailed, maimed and killed because of their stand for democracy and human rights. One can see therefore it is only the people who bring democracy and protect it, but never politicians or the government.

Therefore let us start to follow and pressure our National Assembly to make sure democracy works in the Gambia. Only democracy can produce quality education and healthcare, good roads, uninterrupted electricity supply, good salaries and good roads, peace, justice and stability.

Therefore, ask your National Assembly Member to which committee he or she belongs and who are the other members and the Chairperson of the Committee. Let us demand the telephone numbers of these people so that we can call them. Let us know their offices and the time they are available to the public so that we can visit them to tell them our piece of mind. Let us write letters to them about our issues and concerns. Let us protest in front of the parliament to let them know we mean business.

STAND UP FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE GAMBIA. TODAY!

God Bless the Gambia.