Several weeks ago, The Independent wrote an editorial bitterly complaining
about the utter uselessness of the Gambian parliament, a sentiment I and I
suspect most list members whole heartedly share. Institutions are made or in
the case of the Gambian Parliament desecrated by the people who constitute
it. That got me into asking just who is serving in the House of
representatives? Are these the most talented politicians that even our very
lacking nation has to offer? If talent and drive is not a significant trait
in most of these lawmakers, what do they bring to the table? Do they even
feel the need to learn about the simple modalities of government in
particular their roles? Except for a very few the answers are no, nothing and
no. Even as I come from Georgetown hundreds of miles from Sukuta I am simply
not convinced that Musa Susso , currently with a felony drug possession
charge hanging over his head is anywhere near the best person to represent
the good people of that district. There are people with better credentials
and more imagination who can do a lot more for the people of that
constituency. This is the case in more than 90% of the districts and that is
what accounts for the mediocrity and outright oath violations we see in
Parliament. I would agree with those who say that it is an acceptable hazard
of democracy that once in a while less than capable people would infact get
elected because of the open and participatory nature of the process. But that
is quite  a departure if an institution that is designed to constitute a
significant check on the rest of the government becomes entirely
dysfunctional, complicit and corrupt. In that case the very essence of our
organized society is defeated. The Gambian people at the moment have no real
say in what happens to them in their own country. They are made to contend
with M.Ps who for the most part are representing themselves through a
combination of stupidity and selfishness and an executive that is far worse.
Just this week one member of parliament went on a harangue about what he
believes to be the real reason for the alarming failure rate of high school
graduates. He laid the blame squarely in the hands of the examination
council! He chided them for not fully appreciating the English proficiency of
Gambians which he arrogantly called the best on the continent. It would have
been funny if the M.P was rehearsing for a high school drama as opposed to  a
floor speech in the House of Representatives. And he is collecting D7000
including other allowances every month for being this profoundly stupid.Don't
ever count on this dud to make a trek to a school in his district to talk to
the teachers, students and parents in a bid to better understand the slide in
standards. If you even think the guy would remotely consider banding with
other lawmakers  to either lobby the government or fashion legislation to
make a difference in education, I got a good deal for you on the Bay Bridge
in Arundel County.For the most part these are a bunch of crooks masquerading
as legitimate politicians. They are not the kinds of people who under any
circumstances would be at the forefront of generating ideas or even
supporting ideas to make Gambia a better place. At their current sitting they
are busy pretending to work by asking ministers who altogether constitute an
entirely separate category of evil inconsequential questions that neither
illicit truth nor does it stop bad policy from passing the House. The whole
question and answer session is an absurd exercise in futility. Whereelse can
a 16% decrease in tourism arrivals be considered "slight' even as that figure
is compared to last year which was the worst in the history of the industry.
Yet that was exactly what the minister in charge tourism said yesterday in
the House.They will conspire to pass a fiscal 2001 budget that is essentially
a numerical pourpori reflecting misplaced priorities, waste,fraud and abuse
and would not improve the life of a single ordinary citizen especially those
that are literally skipping meals to pay the taxes. The President has
appropriated millions of Dalasis for his purposes  even as hundreds of
thousands of poor people languish in severe hardship.Together the executive
and the parliament are operating a syndicate with the collective objective of
running the country into the ground. They have up until November to
perpetrate their evil. Our task as ordinary citizens of Gambia is to to work
for the evolution of a system that would greatly enable the best driven and
most talented to be in charge. We must make it a duty immediately following
the November elections to strongly lobby the incoming government to expedite
their institutional reforms. To stabilize and cement our democracy, we must
all work to strengthen it's internal pillars to insulate it from unscrupulous
politicians. To that end our political system has to be reconfigured to
attract and nurture the best among us through open, fair and competitive
contests. Once we do that the ordinary citizens would be afforded an
opportunity to choose from amongst a variety of ideas all of which would have
a fair hearing. From there we can embark on a path that many a modern nation
has. We too can then have our big ideological battles between left-wing
liberals and the moderate to conservative folks within the context of a
liberalized political system that treats all fairly. Watching a Sunday
morning roundtable on GRTS on which Halipha Sallah makes his case on the
wisdom of the government organizing and running milk cooperatives as a way to
boost dairy production and a counter argument from an opposite point of view
from a free marketeer who believes gov't isn't good at running things
especially commercial ventures.This is where the future of a better Gambia
lies. We simply have to take our country from these criminals and murderers.
The cost of their imposed leadership both in blood, soul and direction are
already extraordinarily high. They would get exactly what they deserve under
our laws. Most importantly their wanton creulty has inadvertently tasked us
all to evolve a system that would forever prevent a brutal interruption to
our otherwise working existence.
Karamba

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