Referred to as raison d’etat (reason of State) in French speaking, the ‘national interest’ entails a country’s goals and ambitions cutting across various aerial divides which shall be discussed shortly. Politically speaking, the national interest signifies all that concern the political, economic, social, diplomatic and military dimensions in pursuit of self-interest outcomes for the state.
Good leaders & countries, large and small, rich or poor, have learnt to navigate a fine line in compromise, rationality & balance of interests in the operability of national decisions. An ethical national interest pursuit, which The Gambia must always lead-by, does not mean other states or people should suffer, rather a win-win shared prosperity formula. Speaking on the occasion marking the United States 242ndIndependence-day, ambassador Patricia Alsup, had this to say; ”The national interest must supersede all other interests and considerations’’. ‘For when the Barrow-government subscribe to the national interest in all that it does, the Gambia is sure to keep a progress beat for the good of all its people’. The speech was more than symbolic, subtle in parts loaded with ample meaning for those in-the-know with diplomatic nice-play. These carefully crafted words were directed at vice president-select, Ousainou Darboe, attending in his capacity as foreign minister. You gotta love the ‘yankees’, lol sticking parting shots at a seasoned politician many call divisive in his parochial ways, interest politics, demagoguery, resorting to comforts of tribe-play; typical of neo-patrimonial politics.
When you look THRU American politics, more so an era of president Trump, a protruding ‘nationalist’ tone plays loud in White House’s dealings with the outside world. To be exact, America has somewhat behaved that way, even subtly, whenever its interests are found around the world. Chillingly, empirical evidence backed up by declassified paper-trail reveals United States covert streak deposing democratically elected governments in South-America & Africa who will not dance to its ways. Extreme greed in the quest for oil in the Arab world calculated on national interest basis, has woefully exposed this hunger to stamp foot & base on Arab soil. The irony though, anytime a visionary leader emerges somewhere who cares to govern in its national interest is castigated as a threat to ‘Western’ interest. How do you expect Africa to rise & thrive in such a hostile climate of big power politics where the rules are stacked against her?!
There is much concern among analysts decoding coups & target assassinations of elite politicians raising enough heat for Gambia’s intelligence agency to investigate C.I.As involvement in the overthrow of the ‘Jawara government’. This is not mere fiction; the coincidental turn of events speaks volumes, for the readership to think, ponder, beyond what’s palpable. International politics is a game to play & win, and Africa is there for the taking. We need to think smart & strategic, in leadership but people too. Often times, rather than a focus pursuing national interest rallying the population on a clear progressive message, morally bankrupt politicians will revert to ethnicity, ‘my tribe’s turn to eat’ as illustrated by Kenyan professor, PLO Lumumba. Because they lack vision or credibility, Short-sighted leaders will invoke the ‘tribe-card’, parochial politics reverting to their support base – a classic recipe for instability & regression.
To play fair, there are visionary politicians on the continent, though have failed to translate national interest into maximum beneficial gains. Instead the thinking reverts to incremental but compromised progress, caught up in personal enrichment schemes at the expense of the many. Take Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, for example, on its attempt at land reforms. The reasons advanced was to correct an injustice against black-land-ownership. Instead confiscated farmlands were handed to party loyalists unable to plan nor plough – thus a hungry nation ensured.
Whatever one thinks of Macky Sall, the man has brought Senegal to the forefront of democracy presiding over a fast-growing economy. Today, Senegalese politics excites, with a certain adversarial vibrancy about it. See how the old man, Abdoulie Wadda, was cleared outta the way, for an enlightened Senegalese people far removed from his ways of politics. In the case of former president, Yahya Jammeh, touted as pan-African, yet owns a multimillion dollar mansion in the United States at the expense of poor Gambians.
Not to be despondent, we’ve had such good qualities vested in one as showcased by Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara, Amilca Cabral and such greats-pasts positioning a confident, industrious & prosperous Africa that is self-reliant producing enough ‘agriculture’ to feed itself. Sadly, such visionaries are betrayed, murdered by their own under the command of outside interest. Burkina Faso is such tragic story, as murderous as the event was. The other problem stems from a leader surrounded by fraudulent men, the ‘Yes’ type advisers but backhand wheeler-dealers playing double with special interest for a very selfish end. Today, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Liberia and Sierral Leone have embarked on an upward cusp, Barrow’s-Gambia may soon follow, if only the national interest was its MOTTO.
Fellow Gambians – the Semlex passport scandal has left a sour taste in the mouth, so is the Port expansion deal still unexplained to the Gambian people. Finance minister ‘Sanneh’ has dodged parliament all the while to discuss the mountainous DEBT or loans/debt/grant triangle contracted at the ‘Donor Roundtable’. The administration must strive to effectively communicate with the public as flagged-up by COMMONWEALTH report, and to differentiate ‘personal’ from the ‘public’, establishing rigid institutions in the daily operation of government. With all my heart, as candid as can be, the status quo is SLOW for my liking – envisioning a countrywide highway road network plan, jobs masterplan, land reforms and shift towards agriculture mechanisation ought to have started by now – transforming lives & fortunes of ordinary Gambians in the process.
I refer to the legacy of President Jawara – for a visionary setting up solid democratic institutions, public corporations, social enterprise, a low debt inflation-controlled market prices affordable to all Gambians, positioning environmental protection in the ‘Banjul Declaration’. Addressing parliament recently, the MP for Wuli West, Sedia Jatta, accused the IMF of wrecking Gambia’s economy at a time of a strong ‘dalasi’ and subsidised public parastatals, as SAROO, NTC, GPTC, etc, through the much maligned ‘structural adjustment program (SAPs). The new finance minister (Mr Njie) ought to reflect on that history, given IMF’s (filthy) hands all over the country’s (macro) economic governance – for a seemingly ‘independent sovereign state’.
For the ‘National Interest’, I remain.
Gibril Saine Twitter: @gibbysaine
