Thoughts on the Gambian Political Crisis

1. I see a critical mass gradually taking shape in our fight for justice and democratic dispensation in our country. We should focus on the bigger picture and propagate ideas of not only liberating our motherland but hatching up ideas for the way forward. The Gambia is crying for statesmen/women and to borrow from President Obama, we need strong institutions not a strong man. The effort to unite the opposition parties is a daunting but necessary task. But in my view, that isn’t enough. What we need now is a national movement involving not only the political parties but civil and professional organisations. Then and only then can we set stringent conditions to Jammeh on the forthcoming general elections, because without a guaranteed level-playing field, going to the polls will be a meaningless exercise.

2. The stakes are simply too high for Jammeh to surrender powers through elections knowing fully well that he could be prosecuted. He will do everything to maintain power, as has indeed happened since 1994. I repeat, we need to forget our petty differences and create a national movement uniting all entities for change. Naturally in a democracy we will have different ideologies and beliefs for taking the country forward. But the things we have in common including tolerance, rule of law, respect for different opinions, the rights of the citizens triumph over those differences.

3. All the political parties, the people in the diasporas, professional organisations such as the Bar, medical council, trade unions, NGOs, etc should engage Jammeh as a united front with the support of regional and international partners.

4. There should be no co-operation with Jammeh in any elections, until amendments to the constitution quintessentially imposing a two-term limit and replacing simple majority clause with over 50 percent votes. This will enable all opposition parties to test their strength and then form alliances to defeat the incumbent in any second round of voting. However, as it is Jammeh or any other candidate can rule with 25 percent of the national vote if this is the highest any candidate receives.

5. An internationally supervised election with a verifiable voter
registration roll will also be an absolute necessity. Jammeh is a citizen and he can run for whatever office he wants, so long as there is a level playing field in all aspects of the campaigning and the media. As it is today and has been for the last 15 years, the GRTS (national radio and television) is completely a No-Go area for the opposition and any viewpoints that may criticise Jammeh or his administration. Even mild criticism is not tolerated as exemplified by the unjust conviction and
sentencing of the seven journalists Pap Saine, Sam Sarr and others including a young mother with a six month old child. As we all know, critical radio stations and newspapers have been fire-bombed and closed down, while editors have been arrested, locked-up and even assassinated.

6. We need to clearly separate state institutions such as the radio and television service, the security forces, the civil service etc from the ruling party. As it is even institutions such as the Public Transport and Ports Authority are used to assist and fund the election campaigns of the ruling party.

7. Democracy is not just holding elections every five years. We need a state funded opposition to oversee and criticise the work of government where necessary. The outlandish statement by the recently sacked Speaker of the Assembly (Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay) that the opposition would not be granted permits to hold rallies just because “it is not election time” is a case in point. While Jammeh campaigns through the national television network everyday for 5 years, the oppositions are denied permits to hold rallies until a few months before the actual election.

8. There is also a need for an established shadow cabinet by the opposition that can “shadow” the government’s work and offer alternative proposals throughout the five years.

9. If Jammeh refuses to cooperate with an exit strategy to the present crisis, then all options are open and remember regional and international partners are involved in this process. Then, there could be a wide range of options to finish off his regime ranging from targeted sanctions to an international arrest warrant as recently happened to the President of Sudan among others. He cannot survive that and would most likely agree to a guaranteed exit strategy unless he is mad. We must avoid the trap of legitimising Jammeh by default through participating in a charade democracy of no free and fair elections. Under the circumstances it is better to boycott and grant him his wish of becoming an emperor.

10. It is my view that we need an independent transitional government to oversee this process. The rebuilding of state institutions is important not least we risk the Guinea Bissau scenario having a weak government at the mercy of the security services. This brings me to the Armed and security forces, they have to be reconfigured to understand that elected officials run the show and that their primary loyalty is to the Gambian State. It should also reflect our diversity using it as a strong, professional, well trained army. For example, the National Army should not certainly be involved in nonsense such as “witch-hunting” as Jammeh subjected them recently.

11. Equally, there will certainly be no witch-hunting in the Gambian Armed Forces once Jammeh is relieved of the post of Commander-in-Chief which he has illegally held since he grabbed it in a coup in 1994. Existing members and former members of the Gambia Armed Forces will be free to play their full part in creating for our nation a professional army serving the state. We must not go down the Iraq route where disbandment of Saddam’s security forces and witch-hunting left a security vacuum. We will need assistance from the international community to achieve our aims for a professional army.

12. Reflections on a post-Yahya Jammeh era should start now as there are very serious challenges facing our country, especially in these times of global financial uncertainties facing the world to which our country is not immune. There are enough brains both in and outside of the country capable of doing this.

Alpha Ebrima Ismaila Chongan - BALANGBAA

Thumps up for the 25 Gambian-Taiwan Students

By: Alieu Khan, Åland Islands.......................June 20th, 2008

I was very happy to hear that the 25 Gambian students studying at the National Taipei University of Technology has successfully completed their studies and are about to take up new jobs in The Gambia. This is really a moment of extra pride and jubilation. It's a celebration of dreams being realised and a relief to the brain drain crises that is costing Africa more than 4 billion Dollars per year.

I was not the least surprised with the excellent performance of the 25 students. Some of them have been academic standouts, since their primary school days. Fatoumatta Ndure is not a stranger to many young Gambians. She has represented Gambia at many international gatherings and has always been outspoken in issues affecting young people. It's the same with Cany Jobe, Asi Jallow and many others.

Kwame Nkrumah, a former Pan African leader argued that Africa needs dedicated, modest, honest and informed citizens to progress. The Gambia is undoubtedly on the move towards achieving this. Currently there are hundreds of young Gambians enrolled at the University of The Gambia, committed to becoming computer engineers, social workers, historians, lawyers etc. There are also hundreds more, in all parts of the globe struggling to become the dedicated, modest, honest and informed citizens that Kwame has been advocating for.

It was in 2004 when the 25 students left the Gambia for Taiwan, a country they know little about and a country that speaks a very different language. It was not an easy task for them, but with etermination and courage they were able to overcome lot of obstacles.

The students have been trained in crude oil exploration and other areas of the petroleum industry. This will obviously help The Gambia from spending huge amount of money in hiring foreign expatriates in that area.

As the group happily prepares to return back home, I would like to congratulate them and wish them best of luck in their coming endeavours. F-Matta, Cany, Asi and all the others keep it up, we are proud of you.



Kudos to a man of honor!

By Yero Jallow....................June 16th, 2008

Ah! My little sight
Don't trick me ever
For I saw a man of honor
So peaceful and humble
Like an egret or a dove
Before a cheering crowd.

This one of ours that I saw
A poet f time
A visionary educationist
Who by God's grace
Gave all his life to the struggle
Educating the pupils, educating.

Ah! My little sight
You know who I saw
When he profiled African culture
In his many cultural poems
Starting with Africa
And ending with Africa.

The cheering crowds echoed aloud
Darkness sneaked out ashamed
Over the new dawn that brought day
Contained in the magnificent book
Of powerful memories
'The River Gambia' of sweet talk.