THE WAY FORWARD FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE

By Halifa Sallah

In this write-up, Halifa Sallah discusses his proposal “Agenda 2011” and invites 
readers to join the debate to promote consensus building on how to arrive at 
the selection of one candidate for those who stand for change whose 
candidature is easier to promote among the overwhelming majority of voters in 
the Gambia whether or not he/she is a party leader
Third Anniversary Essay on Gambian Politics
The Way Forward For Democratic Change

As adopted by you, and conveyed to me you would like me to look at the 
issue of unity among the opposition for the 2011 elections. This requires both 
realism and
foresight.

One may now ask: What type of unity can actually lead to change?

First and foremost, it should be borne in mind that we live in a Gambia where 
59 percent of the population is living in abject poverty. It is evident that 
every year thousands of high income families drop into middle income status 
and thousands of middle income families drop into low income status and join 
the ranks of those who live from hand to mouth. The rural area where 60 
percent of the populations live also provides 80 percent of the labour force. 
This labour force is engaged in agriculture and contributes between 23 to 29 
percent of GDP.This shows how low the productivity of farming is and why 
poverty in the rural areas is entrenched.

The urban area where 40 percent of the population lives is extremely 
congested and unplanned. Industry contributes just 10 percent of GDP. 
Employment generation is negligible in this sector. Hence the vast majority of 
urban youths are unemployed. High rent and cost of living have given rise to 
urban congestion and poverty. Many families now depend on remittances to 
survive which have escalated to 1800 Million dalasis per annum. There is clear 
evidence that the country is crying for better economic policies which can 
lead to the reduction and eventual eradication of poverty.

It goes without saying that many people also are desirous of change because 
of the governance environment. The detentions without trial, Delay in the 
conclusion of cases while the accused persons remain under detention, the 
increase in the number of detentions under the pretext that certain offences 
are unbailable, the disappearance of persons, the maintenance of prisons as 
detention centres rather than correctional institutions, the removal of National 
Assembly members and judges by the executive, the insecurity of tenure in 
public service do create an atmosphere which makes it virtually impossible for 
the executive to be scrutinized and restrained by state institutions like the 
National Assembly or the Judiciary, Civil Society like the Media, trade unions, 
human rights associations, etc. The amassing of wealth by the executive and 
its disbursement in accordance with its whims and caprices is entrenching 
politics of patronage which is inherited from the past. It is abundantly clear 
that no opposition party that intends to rely on patronage can muster 
adequate resources to compete with the incumbent. The volume of charities 
emanating from the camp of the executive is sufficient testimony that the old 
brand of politics of patronage has reached its apex and only politics of 
awareness can bring about change in the country. We can no longer return to 
the past. The future has caught up with us. We have no choice but to move 
forward in thought and practice. One may now ask: What is the way forward? 

The answer lies in the concrete realities of Gambian society and nowhere else. 
It is a fundamental principle of social science that the internal conditions are 
the basis of change. The external conditions are just influential factors. A 
review of the internal factors would reveal that the country has many social 
constituencies to consider when we talk about change. There are the
beneficiaries of the present and former governments, there is the army and 
other security or disciplined forces; there are the other opposition parties and 
those who cling to some of them in anticipation of benefits when they become 
successful, There are the investors who have something to lose or gain in the 
outcome of elections; There are the public servants who are looking for job 
security. There are Gambians abroad who are in exile and would like to come 
back to live in peace and prosperity; there are the non Gambians who could 
either play a part or remain neutral in elections and finally we have the silent 
majority that have mainly been apathetic during recent electoral contests. 
The Agenda which could bring about change must be able to win over or 
neutralize the vast majority in each of these camps. 

First and foremost, Change can only come if the vast majority who are 
regarded as the silent majority moves away from their apathy and develop 
enthusiasm to be involved in the process of change. Most of them are 
farmers. They constitute 60 to 80 percent of the labour force. It is this labour 
force which provides 60 percent of house hold income in the Gambia. In my 
view, this sector of the population has not prospered during the past 15 years.

People generally talk about roads being built and other infrastructure being 
developed but the cost of traveling from Basse to Banjul has increased to 550 
dalasis. Few farmers have the means to travel on those roads. 

Furthermore, hundreds of Millions have been spent on agriculture during the 
past 15 years. Those acquainted with the Agricultural sector would recall the 
Farmer managed rice irrigation project, Peri-urban horticulture, Peri-urban 
Livestock, participatory integrated watershed management project, nerica rice 
dissemination project and so on and so forth. However poverty is still the 
order of the day in the farming community. In my view, a new administration 
will have to free all farmers from indebtedness who take fertilizer, seed nuts 
and farming inputs on credit, Lower the price of fertilizer and seed nuts by half 
and bring the primary cooperative societies back to life in each village and link 
them to a National Farmers Cooperative Union which will receive money to 
ensure a timely purchase of farmers’ produce without any relapse to credit 
buying. All the facts and statistics have been worked out to give adequate 
proof that this is feasible. It is also important to show how individual farm 
income would be enhanced and how cooperative farm income could also be a 
supplement to individual farm income by establishing farms like those of the 
president which would be owned by groups which participate in production. 
Agenda 2011 will state concrete statistics and details to give farmers the 
justification to support the agenda for a transitional Government of between 2 
to five years after the APRC is voted out of office.

We must be able to convince the young people who constitute 60 percent of 
the population that they have a future; That even though almost 300,000 of 
them are thrown into the labour market every 12 years the productive base of 
the economy has not grown to provide them with employment. Africell, for 
example, claims that it has 600,000 subscribers. Many of these companies are 
providing incentives to customers to attract more customers. If each 
customer purchases 100 dalasis worth of credit per week, the sum accruing to 
the company would amount to 60 Million dalasis per week or D240 Million per 
month. The state also has its own companies. It means that there are both 
private and public companies in the country which are generating billions in 
investment potential every year which could be encouraged to diversify and 
build up productive sectors that would generate employment for the youths. 
Agenda 2011 will seek to convince the youths of the huge investment 
potential which could be set in motion during a transitional period of 2 and 5 
years to generate employment. This will enable them to vote in free and fair 
elections after the transition so as to put in place a government which could 
expand the productive base of the economy and provide them with 
employment.

In short, the Gambia has a large service sector which accounts for 59 percent 
of GDP. The aggregate sales and purchase of foreign exchange which amount 
to 25 billion – to 30 billion annually confirms a high level of dependency on the 
travel trade especially tourism, remittances and foreign direct investments. 
There is a big gap between the accumulation of foreign exchange and its 
investment in the productive base to expand the economy and employment. 
The narrow tax base and huge expenditures on fanfare have culminated in the 
intensification of taxation on small scale enterprises which need protection to 
grow and help government to provide employment and self employment. The 
transitional agenda, Agenda 2011 will highlight the need to safeguard small 
enterprises from taxation and the productive enterprises in general from 
excessive taxation so that investments can expand to enable government to 
derive more taxes from the broadening of the tax base as well as to derive 
sovereign wealth from mining and the holding of shares in public /private 
enterprise partnerships as well as well managed public enterprises. The Private 
sector will be encouraged to invest their profits to generate employment 
rather than patronize the dinner tables of the APRC or its associates.

Furthermore, General amnesties, the Pardoning of prisoners like the Fultons 
and other prisoner exchanges with countries under whose statutes certain 
prisoners would not have been convicted would humanize our criminal justice 
system, promote respect for fundamental rights and freedoms and thus make 
the country attractive to visitors. This will enhance the productivity of our 
tourism sector. In my view, there is no investor, local or foreign, who could be 
opposed to agenda 2011 as summarized.

The others who are interested in the implications of a changed government 
after an election are members of the disciplined forces. One fortunate 
development in the Gambia is the involvement of many members of the 
disciplined forces in peace keeping. It means that a transitional government 
would not have to engage in training from scratch for most members of the 
disciplined forces. A transitional Government which comes into office through 
the consent of the electorate and further makes human rights a cornerstone 
of its governance agenda will make the disciplined forces of the Gambia very 
attractive for peace keeping duties. This will help the country to maintain a 
small and professional disciplined force which will be well remunerated and well 
prepared to move into and handle civilian duties or retire into civilian life.

Civil servants are also very much interested in the outcome of elections and 
any change it brings. The salaries are currently too low to enable them to 
build houses and maintain their families at a middle income level. Despite the 
low incomes, many public servants try to survive through tapping other 
sources of income which may not be necessarily proper. This however 
indicates that the resources which are received through loopholes could be 
identified and transformed into legitimate remuneration. Agenda 2011 will 
provide the basis for a professional public service. Public servants will not be 
required to identify with any political party or leader. They will not be allowed 
to work for any public trustee without just remuneration regardless of the post 
of the individual. There will be complete separation of party, political leader 
and the state. 

The Gambian Diaspora is responsible for contributing 1800 Million dalasis in 
remittances annually. Hence it is an important constituency which has a say 
on the future of the country. There are many Gambians in the Diaspora who 
would want to come back and live in the Gambia. Some are near pensionable 
age or have actually earned pension pay. Agenda 2011 calls for the creation 
of a Diaspora Investment and Settlement Agency. The Agency will assist 
Gambians in the Diaspora to invest in the productive base and facilitate the 
allocation of plots of land for people to build houses. The monies paid to the 
state for such plots should be reasonable and should also be utilized for 
infrastructural development and proper planning to ensure that adequate 
drainage facilities and so on are provided before buildings are erected to avoid 
the type of waterlogged roads which obtain in many housing estates existing 
today. The agency will be in a position to assist pensioners to relocate to the 
Gambia and live on their pension entitlements at home. 

Finally, the members of the former government and their supporters as well as 
the members of the APRC would be interested in what change would bring. 
The issue of corruption features prominently in present day discourse when 
one talks about past governments and existing ones. Those who are groomed 
in the field of political-economy are fully aware of the fact that corruption is 
the moral appellation for primitive accumulation. Lip service is often paid by 
new government to the fight against corruption only to usurp the wealth of 
their adversaries only to establish new conditions of corruption. Agenda 2011 
will put an end to this legacy of self-righteousness in governance and will be 
practical and innovative in establishing structures which will enable those who 
have accumulated illicit gains to make declarations of them and be offered 
immunity from prosecution as well as an opportunity to be a share holder in a 
public private enterprise which will manage what is returned so that they will 
have enough resources to be able to run their families. Community service will 
also be substituted for term of imprisonment for those who have capacity to 
contribute to the development of the society. Only those with degraded or 
degenerated conscience will be given custodial sentence to rehabilitate them 
to live according to the dictates of conscience. 

Suffice it to say, the Assets Management and Recovery Corporation have 
taken over many assets but have not utilized them to build up the capital 
base of the company to exceed the 300 Million dalasis in cash or kind it is 
expected to recover.

Agenda 2011 will bring about Complaints’ Commissions and the broadening of 
the mandate of the Office of Ombudsman to receive and look into all 
grievances, past and present, of those who have been deprived of properties 
without any visible action being taken for benefits to be accrued to the public, 
so that Justice can be done. Victimization will be a matter for the past. Mob 
and arbitrary justice will be ruled out. The supremacy of constitutional 
instruments and the independence and impartiality of institutions in regulating 
the fair protection of entitlements and dispensation of justice will also be 
affirmed. In this way even those who would have opposed agenda 2011 will 
come to accept its necessity and desirability. It will create a cornerstone for 
ensuring the dispensation of justice to all and the perpetration of injustice 
against none. This is the way to build a society, laws and institutions thriving 
on best practice to manage National and international affairs, in order to 
promote liberty, justice, dignity and prosperity. It should be borne in mind that 
this is not a recipe for any body to simply learn and put into practice. 
Leadership is not about imitation. It goes with the capacity to comprehend 
the science which is borne out of the interrogation of facts that must be 
relied on continuously to shape relevant policies and programmes.

Over the years, we have been giving concrete recommendations on how to 
shape national and international politics and economics. Now the whole world 
is coming to what we have always maintained; that governments are 
legitimately derived from popular consent and have no other mandate but to 
promote the liberty, dignity and prosperity of a sovereign people. The public 
sector and the public interest are what leaders are elected to manage and 
develop. The whole debate as to whether a government should be devoted to 
a private sector led growth or public sector led growth is a diversion and 
distraction which have enabled elected representatives to neglect the 
creation of sovereign National wealth through public enterprises or public 
private partnership in order to promote the general welfare of their people. 
Public trustees are elected to serve the public. In the recent financial crisis in 
the US, it is the public sector which bailed out the private sector in order to 
serve the long term public interest. In the process of governing, one must 
acknowledge the existence of competing private interests in the public space. 
Science is the tool which enables leaders to comprehend the nature and 
characteristics of such interests and further shape policies and programmes to 
answer to the dictates of times and circumstances.
Agenda 2011 therefore aims to produce a new breed of public trustees in the 
Gambia who will be able to create standards of best practice at home in order 
to be able to play an influential and modeling role in Continental and 
International politics.

Take the political economy of the so-called developing countries as an 
example. It is very common for leaders and academics from developing 
countries to refer to China and India as their development model. They do not 
evaluate these countries from their civil, political, economic, social and 
cultural angles in order to come up with a holistic view. Most analysts do not 
examine how the economies of such countries are interwoven with those of 
other countries. This is why the cold war between China and the US has come 
to an end.

Now there is competition for markets. Today China has invested trillions in the 
US bond market and cannot afford for the US to collapse financially. This is 
why countries like Iran and Venezuela must be alert that we do not have a 
West –East geo-political contest as it is often presented. The East now has 
financial interest in the West. Hence military confrontation is no longer in the 
interest of both. Hence the way to give nations power in international politics 
is to be an example of best practice in the manner of existence of their people 
in the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural domains. Nuclear and 
military might is no longer the basis to secure National sovereignty. It is the 
unity of a sovereign people around a government which has derived its 
legitimacy from their consent and which utilizes such authority to promote 
their general welfare that is the cornerstone of the invincibility of a Country. 
Hence instead of spending billions on arms and nuclear capability by relying on 
revenue from oil, Iran and Venezuela should focus on building their economies 
to improve the living conditions of their people. Heavy reliance on oil money 
could be detrimental when Nations shift from fossil fuel and rely on more 
environmentally friendly sources of energy to reduce further depletion of the 
ozone layer. In fact the sustained drop or stagnation of oil prices is an early 
warning signal that no economy can be sustained by relying on one commodity 
for its military expenditures and still hope to bring about sustained 
development and welfare.

Agenda 2011 will promote international peace and security founded on the 
unity of sovereign peoples around sovereign governments whose authority and 
conduct are connected with dependent on and determined by the authority 
and interest of the people. 
Now one may ask: What type of unity is feasible for the 2011 presidential and 
2012 National Assembly elections? 

It is necessary to digress to give a historical perspective to the answer. In 
2003, I was given the responsibility to bring the opposition together. I made 
two proposals. One option was for opposition parties to continue their 
campaign to increase their support base from 2003 to 2006 and then sit down 
to determine which party or political leader would be supported to lead a 
coalition during the Presidential elections and which seats would be contested 
by each given party during the National Assembly elections. I proposed that 
one option was to allow one party and its leader to be the flag bearer. I 
indicated that if this option is adopted all parties should go ahead and promote 
their own agendas and come to the negotiation table six months before an 
election to decide which party and its leader would be allowed to lead. 

The second option entailed the establishment of an Umbrella Party right away 
which would select a Presidential Candidate either through unanimity or the 
holding of a primary at which the party chairpersons, male and female of each 
ward as well as the youth leaders would select the candidate through a voting 
process. The candidate would belong to all the parties and would only serve 
one term and would not take sides in subsequent elections. 

The leaders accepted to form an umbrella party instead of waiting to select 
the Presidential candidate of one of the political parties six months prior to the 
presidential elections. A memorandum of Understanding came into force on the 
17 of January 2005. In order to ensure the integrity of the office of 
coordinator and Chairperson, Part II of the memorandum indicated that both 
positions are advisory and that “neither the Chairperson nor the coordinator or 
the deputy coordinator shall have voting powers.” Furthermore, Article 17 of 
the memorandum put an end to my mandate as coordinator upon the signing 
of the memorandum of understanding. The executive members who were the 
two representatives of the parties had to elect a new coordinator. 

On 17 January 2005, the mandate given to the coordinator at the Atlanta 
meeting in 2003 came to an end. Interestingly enough, I was elected again to 
be coordinator. NADD came into being and was launched. It could not put up 
candidates in its name until it was registered. There was no law providing for 
the registration of an alliance. The Constitution however made room for a 
merger of parties. The IEC also has power to make decisions on electoral 
matters where laws were absent.

The IEC was approached to register NADD while the Coordinator was attending 
a meeting of the Pan African Parliament in South Africa. Upon his return, the 
Coordinator inquired whether it was clear to the IEC that NADD was a by-
product of the coalition of parties. No clear answer could be given. The 
Executive committee had failed to be conclusive regarding the issue of merger 
before the registration of NADD even though the Memorandum has left no one 
in doubt that a merger had occurred. When the IEC was consulted they did 
indicate that they saw NADD as a merger of parties and even proceeded to 
draft rules to guide the formation of Alliances and Mergers. The draft rules 
were forwarded to the parties for discussion. The membership of NADD by 
some members of the National Assembly eventually led to court action. The 
counsel of the IEC argued that NADD was a merger but the Counsels for NADD 
held a different opinion. The issue of whether NADD is a merger or not was left 
hanging by the court since it was not used as a defence to retain the seats of 
the National Assembly Members who had become members of NADD. Despite 
the declaration of the seats of the National Assembly members vacant, NADD 
weathered the storm and won by- elections and led the APRC of Jammeh in 
the popular vote.
The arrest of NADD leaders by the end of 2005 gave rise to international focus 
on the Gambia. The coming of Obasanjo led to negotiation between The APRC 
and NADD. This gave rise to a memorandum of understanding which aimed to 
facilitate a peaceful coexistence of political parties and peaceful 
acknowledgement of victory of any party in elections. An inter-party 
committee was created with General Abdousalam Aboubakar serving as 
Guarantor of the agreement. NADD however did not benefit much from the 
agreement. Soon after the visit of Obasanjo, the UDP leader resigned from 
NADD and was later joined by the NRP leader. The NRP leader accepted a 
party led Alliance which was later joined by the leader of GPDP whose 
nomination papers were rejected by the IEC. What was left of NADD met and 
formed a selection committee. The selection committee registered a 
unanimous vote and prevented a primary which would have been necessitated 
by a single dissenting vote. All the members of the selection committee 
recruited from the different parties concurred and selected the Coordinator as 
the presidential candidate. The split confirmed that a party led Alliance or a 
divided alliance is not the way to bring about change in the Gambia. 

A divided NADD became extremely weak. The UDP party led Alliance also 
showed its weakness. Instead of adding votes from the NRP and GPDP, the 
UDP led alliance lost approximately 80,000 votes. In short, while UDP had 
approximately, 145,000 votes in 2001 Presidential elections, in 2006 it ended 
up with approximately, 104,000 votes. NRP had approximately 35,000 votes in 
2001.This did not feature in the votes of the UDP led Alliance in 2006. Hence 
putting the three parties together did not lead to more votes; on the contrary 
it led to a lower number of votes. There is no empirical evidence to indicate 
that the same tactic will yield a different outcome. This is the first lesson to 
draw.

Proposals were made for the opposition to form a tactical alliance so that they 
will not put more than one candidate in each constituency during the National 
Assembly elections. No agreement was reached on this proposal. 
Consequently, UDP ended up with four seats in the National Assembly and 
NADD with one seat. This is why draconian laws could be passed without any 
capacity by the opposition to block them. Some of the laws were so bad that 
the executive brought new bills to the national Assembly to repeal them.

After The Presidential and National Assembly elections more desertions from 
NADD occurred when the NDAM leader also forwarded his resignation and was 
later nominated to be a councilor by the APRC administration. The GPDP leader 
also distanced himself from the UDP led coalition. Political apathy gripped the 
electorate as the executive displayed its omnipotence in cabinet, the National 
Assembly, on TV, in business, in Agriculture, in medicine, in religion and other 
aspects of National Life. It was also able to draw religious leaders, traditional 
leaders, business tycoons and other opinion leaders to give solidarity to the 
programmes of the executive. Opposition parties became an endangered 
species whose existence was hardly felt in the scene. Few leading members of 
the opposition remain visible in their personal capacities and by their personal 
initiatives. The results of the Local Government elections became an 
indictment of Gambian democracy. It discredited politics and politicians on all 
sides of the political spectrum. Even the Independent Electoral Commission 
has lamented over the serious manifestation of voter apathy. For example, in 
the mayoral election in Kanifing, the number of eligible voters stood at 
128,451. Only 27,485 voters voted in a two way contest between the UDP 
and APRC. The UDP had approximately 8000 votes while the APRC had 
approximately 19,000 votes. 
In Banjul, out of 19,441 eligible electors approximately1000 voted for the UDP 
and 4000 for the APRC. UDP participated in the election for councilors for 
many wards but had only 3 seats. The Independent candidates won 8 seats. 
The results of the election confirm that both the ruling and opposition parties 
in the country are minority parties which lack the overwhelming support of the 
people. The APRC leaders must have got a shock of their lives when they 
welcomed the Thank you Mr. President campaign, which aimed to promote a 
life presidency. The campaign failed. Any careful observer could detect that 
the country is crying for a new democratic dispensation and political 
leadership which could inspire the people to take charge of their destiny. The 
victory of the Independent candidates confirms that a non partisan agenda is 
a way forward for political change at the executive, national Assembly and 
council levels. Where then do we go from here?

There are three options before us. Two of the options have already been 
tried. The UDP, NRP and GPDP have already tried the Party led Alliance. 
Instead of the votes of the alliance increasing the opposite was the order of 
the day. Secondly, the creation of an umbrella party by taking the initiative to 
merge all opposition parties into one political force, has also failed. The only 
option is the third one which calls for the formation of a broad coalition of the 
people who will demand to have only one presidential candidate to contest the 
seat and demand for all parties to sit and work out an agenda to make that 
possible and to isolate any party which refuses to accept the Agenda. An 
electoral Alliance under which one presidential, National Assembly and council 
candidate will be put to contest against the APRC candidates in the 2011 
Presidential, 2012 National Assembly and 2013 council elections must be 
demanded by the people and imposed on opposition parties or punish them for 
non compliance with their dictates. The candidates do not necessarily have to 
come from political parties. They could be distinguished members of civil 
society. We SIMPLY need honest, mature and dedicated PERSONS who would 
preside over a transition lasting between 2 to 5years to give the country a 
new start. This is the way forward.

The starting point of building such a coalition is to build a sovereign consensus 
around a National Agenda for change. If one agrees with the content of this 
summary of Agenda 2011 one could begin to have an input in its content by 
joining the network for those who want to contribute towards its refinement, 
enrichment and promotion. Any body who takes the initiative to mail this 
summary to ten persons could contact me to register to be a part of the 
network. The network would eventually decentralize into autonomous 
networks to expand their own membership to promote debate and sharing on 
the agenda.

I am convinced that, once most people contribute to and accept the Agenda 
as the programme of the transitional government which will be in office for a 
period of 2 to 5 years, national unity for change will become inevitable. The 
Gambian people know what it means to be governed by an executive, which 
cannot be criticized, scrutinized and restrained by constitutional instruments, 
institutions, civil society segments and an enlightened and empowered 
citizenry. They want precisely such a government which could be consolidated 
in a period of 2 to 5 years. It is my view that only such a leadership can give 
Gambia a new start in putting an end to self perpetuating rule and put in place 
an executive which is a by product of, controlled by and accountable to the 
will of the people. 

The candidate for 2011 should be a person who could be embraced by all sides 
of the political spectrum who are interested in change. If we are to move 
forward no political leader should insist to be the Presidential candidate. We 
should bow down to the dictate of reason and conscience. We should 
recognize that leadership is a duty and not a right. It should not be assumed 
or perpetuated against the will or consent of the people. This is of course a 
time for debate. If others have other viable agendas they should put it in the 
public domain and seek consensual legitimacy so that we agree on a way 
forward before the end of 2009.

To conclude I must admit that I have been taught fundamental lessons by my 
detention in connection with my attempt to put an end to the abduction of 
people by so-called witch doctors and the recent incarceration of the six 
journalists. I am convinced that there can be no sovereign Republic unless the 
individual sovereignty of each citizen is linked to the collective sovereignty of 
the Gambian people. This collective sovereignty should extend to Africa and 
humanity at large. In that way injustice done to anyone becomes the common 
concern of everyone. This is the way to safeguard the sovereignty of peoples 
and nations. No one is a patriot who is not concerned with the welfare of his 
or her fellow citizens. Those who recognize their duty to serve humanity must 
also be willing to march into prisons and graves in order for their people, their 
children and their children’s children to live and be free. This is the verdict of 
history and it is incontrovertible.

Finally, I personally want to practice what I preach. Those of us who have 
been commenting on what President Jammeh says and does should also be 
scrutinized and judged for what we say and do. Gambians want an executive 
that can be scrutinized, criticized and restrained by Constitutional 
Instruments, Oversight Institutions like the Judiciary and parliament and civil 
society organizations like the media, unions and other interest groups and the 
individual sovereign citizens through their petitions. We must equally safeguard 
our words and deeds so that they would not fall foul of public interest and 
public morality. The words and deeds of those who wish to replace president 
Jammeh should be bound by the dictates of conscience, morality, humility, 
decency and the National interest. This is the way to enable the public to 
take the agents of change seriously. The public should distance themselves 
from all those who claim to be change agents but cannot express themselves 
in an intelligent and refined manner. All those who display rudeness, crudities 
and insolence in their public discourse on national issues should be sent to the 
dustbin of party politics. Such people would only succeed in retarding the 
process of change.

To conclude, let me reiterate that President Jammeh has a mandate to be in 
office up to 2011 which will be his seventeenth year in office. I believe 
Rawlings was in office for 20 years. He made many mistakes but Ghana is on 
track. It has gone through a cycle of multi party change. Gambia has never 
gone through a democratic cycle of change through the ballot box. What 
president Jammeh should do is to engage the opposition parties in a dialogue. 
A prominent member of the international community could be engaged to 
preside over this mediation so that we can ensure that freedom of expression 
is guaranteed, that the members of the Independent Electoral Commission will 
be guaranteed security of tenure, a proper registration of voters is conducted 
which all parties will endorse, Free atmosphere created for the promotion of 
party programmes and policies, genuine electoral campaign and genuine 
Presidential and National Assembly Elections. He could buttress this by 
restoring the second round of voting, the repealing of all laws impeding 
freedom of expression and the setting up of a commission of enquiry to 
receive and look into all queries on human rights. This will augur well for 
peaceful transfer of political office and the peaceful co-existence of political 
parties. Gambia is going through the most decisive period in its political 
history. 2011 marks the end of the old period marked by the politics of 
patronage and its monarchical encumbrances and the beginning of the new 
period of the sovereignty of the people. President Jammeh is consolidating a 
culture of the coup. Agenda 2011 will be consolidating a culture of the 
sovereignty of the people. In 2011 these two forces will be locked in the most 
intense electoral combat that this country has ever known. We will carry out 
our own in a sophisticated, refined, enlightened and decent manner. I 
challenge him to turn his eyes away from all other forces and focus on this 
rejuvenated force which he is to confront in 2011.Let him try to march our 
sophistication, enlightenment, and decency and leave the people to be the 
final judge. History has started to put its pen on paper. The clock for the 2011 
race has already started to tick. All those who have interest in the race 
should begin to take their position whether they are going to support the 
culture of the coup or the culture of the sovereignty of the people. They 
should all be ready to put their energy, money and mind where their hearts 
lay. The side which will triumph will depend on the side the overwhelming 
majority of the people decide to support. The people of a country will teach 
the world who they are by the type of agenda they support. 

History will finally say what type of people the Gambian people are. We hope 
each of us will be absolved by History. The future will certainly tell.

The END

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