Jabou and Banna,
I do agree with you and I believe that no one here will disagree that ID
arevery important and some of the reason are already given by Banna. My only
problem is most of the incidents i witnessed on police demanding of ID cards
were more of harassment and itimidation than for security reasons.
Personally, I was asked for my ID and then I give in my passport and the guy
said "don't you have an ID". I said to him just give me my passport in peace
because i don't understand what kind of ID you want. Off course it did not
stop there but i just asked my self how many innocent people have to go
through this.The worse is on your way to the Provonces ,when i was on my way
to the provinces people without ID cards are asked to get off the bus.
The issue of ID cards for whatever reason is becoming an aparthied style of
ruling. Today my mum was telling me that i think when you come home you
should get this ID card because i don't want you to start getting into trouble
with these people. I told her that I have my Passport she said that does not
matter anymore. Well, I will get to prove that when i get home
I also, believe that the officers at check points need more training as to
how to deal with the people. They seems to be as confused as the government,
sometimes they just don't differentiate between a Passport and National
Identity Card or they are just playing their usual corrupt games.
The Struggle Continues!!!
Ndey Jobarteh
The Struggle Continues!!!
Ndey Jobarteh
[log in to unmask] wrote:
Mr Banna,
This is well said.Given the record of this present administration, one cannot
help but wonder what the real motive behind this ID card fiasco is. If the
only reason behind it is to check illigal immigrants, then it could have been
just a simple matter of utilizing the media to inform the general population
the reason behind it, as well as directing them to take some form of proof
of citizenship to their nearest police station to have an ID card issued for
a nominal fee.The whole affair reeks of apartheid era South Africa, where you
had to have a pass or else.
Jabou Joh
In a message dated 10/26/99 10:27:12 AM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
<< I think the possession of any form of ID would be primarily to the
holder's
advantage. People die in road accidents or in civil violence such as during
the 1981 abortive coup and they may end up in the morgue waiting for
identification. To this day some families in The Gambia don't have a clue
as to how their loved ones "disappeared" on the fateful days of July
30th-31st, 1981. Most of them ended up in mass graves! Some form of ID
does help, indeed, albeit not at the cost of a beating or "monkey-dance".
However, when the ID card becomes a tool for the harassment, intimidation,
and humiliation of innocent people its whole purpose is negated and the very
acquisition of one becomes a distasteful process.
On countless occasions during and after the Jawara government I witnessed
the persistent questioning of all light-skinned looking people to produce ID
cards while on cross-country public transportation, assuming that all such
people are Fulanis and all Fulanis are Guineans. On one such occasion, a
friend of mine who was a Staff Sergeant in the then Gendarmerie nearly got
pulled off a public bus going up-country because he was light-skinned.
Addressing him in somewhat broken pulaar in a not so polite manner, the
police officer asked him to produce his ID. Imagine the look on the face of
the officer's when my friend tendered his gendarme ID and spoke to him in
Mandinka, for he is a Mandinka. The greatest twist to this incident is that
the officer did not ask our other friend sitting next to the gendarme for
any ID, yet he was the Fulani. Perhaps because he was of a dark complexion.
We were quite sure that there were other West African nationals in the
bus, but who for a discriminatory reason were not paraded off the bus like
the poor Guinean Fulanis.
Recently, The Independent carried the story of a certain Muktarr Jallow,
who got seriously beaten by Immigration officers in Talingding. They had
suspected him of being a foreigner due to his Fulani traits and stopped him
as he was passing by their office to ask for his ID. They disputed that the
ID he produced for them was not authentic and set upon beating him
regardless of the fact that he was born in Talingding.
Most African governments are notorious for using such ploys to intimidate
political or ethnic minorities as is the present case of former IMF deputy
GM, Allasan Drame Outtara in Cote Ivoire. We also know that ruling parties
in Africa give IDs to nationalities from neighbouring countries specifically
to boost up their electoral votes.
The APRC government should treat people with respect, for respect is nothing
if it is not mutual. The arbitrary detention and humiliation of people
regardless of their political affiliation, ethnic origin or nationality go
against the grain of basic human respect.
_
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
____________________________________________________________________
Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
