From The Independent

February 17th



The Interim Secretary General of the People's Progressive Party Omar A. Jallow on the invitation of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy in The Gambia -UK, addressed the Gambian community in London, on the current state of Gambia's democracy. 

The headquarters of the Ghana Welfare and Refugees council in London played host to an impressive gathering of Gambians who came to hear OJ present what later became an indictment of the current situation in The Gambia. 

The meeting was preceded by two hours of informal discussion amongst participants, during which time participants were able to exchange recent information about the country, particularly regarding the President's Meet the People's Tour. 

The meeting was chaired by Dr Thomas Jaye, a Liberian national and Programme director of the Community Development and Advocacy Council (CODAC), a London based Civil Society Organisation that advocates on a range of African related issues, including democratic enlargement, human rights and social justice. Dr. Jaye was ably assisted by Ebrima Chongan Secretary General of the MRDGUK. 

OJ gave an hour-long presentation, reading from a prepared text and interspersed with ad-lib commentary about the ongoing governance problems facing the Gambia. OJ also dilated on the economic hardships facing the country; the perennial human rights situation; the last opposition electoral alliance and the prospects for future alliances of opposition forces, the reemergence of the PPP and the role of the Gambian Diaspora in the political process. 

The meeting was then open to the public who were eager and prepared to ask questions, raised issues of concern about the current Gambian situation, make suggestions and provide advise about the way forward. 

On Governance: 

OJ gave a run down of the poor governance record of the AFPRC/APRC government, highlighting the government's legislative programme as an example of bad governance. He mentioned that since the 1997 Constitution was promulgated, forty (40) separate pieces of amendments have been passed, with each piece of amendment practically deconstructing and effectively replacing our system of laws with retrogressive legislation that only protects the sinister and selfish interests of a newly emerged class of self-serving political elite that is mainly preoccupied with amassing wealth and power at the expense of the majority of Gambians. 

He drew attention to the Local Government Amendment Act 2000, which he says destroys local democracy and disenfranchises local communities from electing their leaderships. OJ poured scorn on the ironic situation in which electorates are entitled to vote for national leaders in Presidential and Legislative elections, but are denied the right to determine their community leadership in local government elections. He lamented the withdrawal of the franchise for local government election from the people and the consequent transfer of that power to the President, as bad for democracy and a decimation of local ways of life. 

OJ also cited the recent enactment of the Criminal Procedure Act 2002, as merely another sinister move by the Jammeh government, in preparation to clamp down on political dissent. "Giving Magistrate courts powers that were until now the preserve of higher courts, amount to preparing the way for a wholesale assault on politicians and political activities" he said. He decried the new powers given to Magistrate courts to hear any case punishable by law, with the exception of treason; and the concomitant power to deny bail to anyone accused of murder, treason or any crime punishable by life imprisonment or death, as a deliberate attempt to subvert the judicial process for political motives. 

The interim leader of the PPP also made reference to the constant infringements with the independence and impartiality of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), by constantly and illegally interfering with the composition of its membership, and the dilution and destruction of the Civil Service, which he referred to as "the bedrock of any successful government", through unwarranted and politically motivated dismissals and appointments, as further examples of the AFPRC/APRC's poor governance record. 

He dilated on the massive brain drain that has left the Gambian Civil Service, which was recognised as one of the most professional in the continent, bereft of its most valuable asset, its well-trained and highly competent workforce. He observed that whilst working as a United Nations agent in East Timor, he saw how Gambians who have been dismissed for political reasons were in all practical ways running the interim government of that nation. He lamented that the skill and expertise of Gambians who should ordinarily have been running the Gambian civil service are now lost to the country and that this loss has had a crippling effect on the quality of service provision delivered by the Civil Service. 

OJ also mentioned the now notorious Media Commission Act 2000, which has been roundly, condemned both locally and by the international community, pointing to the dire consequences inherent in this piece of legislation for press freedom and for the freedom and liberty of journalists. 

On the Economy: 

On the economy, OJ referred to the government's failure to market the cash crops for four consecutive seasons, causing untold economic hardship for the rural communities that rely on seasonal cash crop farming and what he termed "the clear abdication of responsibility by this government for the economic and social hardships that threatens to bring the country to its knees". 

OJ blamed the current price rises of basic commodities and the accompanying hardships, on the government's poor handling of the foreign exchange situation. 

He said instead what we have in the Gambia today are threats from the president of forced repatriation of urban dwellers to the farms; unwarranted abuses and insults of the Gambian population and comical recriminations about who and what is responsible for the current economic conditions. He cited the government's fixation with roads and infrastructure development as misguided and at the expense of more beneficial development projects that should improve the lives and livelihood of the Gambian people. 

On Human Rights: 

On the government's human rights record, OJ, cited the numerous incidents of illegal, inhumane and undignified treatments of torture; illegal detentions without trial; political persecution; harassment; intimidation; punishment beatings and victimisation, which he referred to as continuing and unabated. 

He referred to the arrest at the end of last year of Ousainou Darbo, Yaya Jallow and shyngle Nyassi of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and of himself, which he termed "unconstitutional and unnecessary" as recent examples of human rights abuses by Jammeh's government. He also maintained that political parties, their activists and members, continue to suffer persecution and restrictions in the exercise of their constitutional rights to operate freely. OJ also stated that the denial of passports to Yaya Jallow and Shyngle Nyassi since 1994, effectively preventing them the right to free movement amounts to a gross abuse of their human rights. 

OJ vehemently lamented the fact that "recent and historical injustices" committed during the stewardship of the AFPRC/APRC government and which he said are soundly documented, have not been remedied. He recalled the cold-blooded murder of Ousman Koro Ceesay; the extra-judicial killing of scores of army personnel on 11 November 1995; the nearly three years of illegal detention of Dumo Sarho and the massacre of scores of young and innocent school children on the 10 & 11 April 2000 as grave injustices that remains unresolved. 

He ridiculed the government's legal machinations, which indemnified the perpetrators of the massacre, as contemptuous and a "slap in the face" for the Commission of Inquiry that was set-up to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the incident, its findings and its recommendations. 

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