Functioning democracies have strong legislatures, an independent judiciary
and executive branch operating in a structured arrangement enabling each to
serve as a check on the other. Consequently the people are able to foster and
enjoy a free society that is predicated on giving each and every citizen an
unhindered opportunity to succeed in his or her own right. Ideas can only
flourish and consensus can only emerge when all especially those who seek to
be leaders can be heard and the people at large are able to make judgments
based on the information and interaction they have on their perspective
leaders.

Contrast these simple but profound attributes of a democracy to what we
currently have in Gambia whose President calls himself an elected head of
state when all evidence points to a man who rigged, tortured and murdered his
way into an office he could never legitimately earn. Does anyone seriously
believe that this regime is doing all it can to mold Gambia into a vibrant
democracy where the long suffering population would at last have the good
fortune of being led by people who cares about their plight and has the
ability to inclination to try to resolve.  Listening to this President and
his senior staff is enough to make one's stomach churn. They scurrilously
avoid acknowledging the myriad of problems that the nation faces choosing
instead to trump bogus 'achievements' apparently convinced that the people
can be talked out of their own perilous predicaments. Faltering schools, a
crumbling health care system, and a failing economy all present and clearly
manifested are never thrust into the national body politic. Instead the
ministers and other cronies spend all their time posturing to try to stay in
the good graces of their president whom they no is only interested in
unflinching display of symbolism and personal loyalty to him. As a result
they spend most of their time either hectoring perceived dissidents within
the government about the need to tow their line or foolishly attempting to
lecture the rest of the population reeling under grinding poverty that they
ought to be grateful for all the good that this administration has brought
them. They do all this with such a degree of churlishness and Chutzpah that
one can only conclude that these people who ordinarily may be nice people
have taken leave of their conscience. Take Tombong Saidy for example. He
knows all about a free society  and the indespensable role of a fair and
vibrant press in furthering democracy because he has lived in and worked one.
It is not unreasonable for anyone to assume that having had the good fortune
of being in charge of the nations broadcast outlets he would all he can to
establish once and for all a strong independent media tradition anchored on
the fairness doctrine. He can by making ethics and fairness the two cardinal
rules in reporting so that issues of national import are presented with both
proponents and opponents points of view. Sadly Mr Saidy has morphed into the
equivalent of a propaganda commissar  who is running a government information
mill only interested in propunding official lines. Consequently  young
reporters who may otherwise have been molded into effective public servants
are seriously compromised because they resemble megaphones that just amplify
packaged information as opposed the usual professional streaks of being
probative and skeptical. The news on GRTS ,list members, comes across as
shallow and unprefessional because of the incessant preoccupation with being
politically correct. Would Mr Saidy have survived for as long as he does if
he insisted on running a professional media outlet? Probably not . But he
would have attempted to do the right thing and that is all an honest citizen
could do for both himself and his nation.

Our legislature to the extent that it can be called one is a mockery of a
deliberative body. Packed with the President's cronies, the orientation
mirrors that of the government . Business conducted in the house is done only
as a matter of routine with no likelihood of  influencing whatever
hodge-podge of a legislation the government sends over. The few valliant
opposition that may want to do good have no capacity because of their numbers
or the arcane rules that say any piece legislation has to have majority
support before it can even be initiated for debate. The presidents cronies in
the house are not serious legislators who ultimately want to do good. Like
the President they are driven by want for self perpetuation and if that means
dragging the nation into the abyss then the good people of Gambia would just
have to prepare for the trip to ruin.

Our judiciary is also constantly being undermined. Judges are illegally fired
and the President has routinely violated the flawed constitution he puports
to support. Worng doing by the government would never be adjudicated in a
nation whose head is complicit in a series of aggregious crimes. You want to
have important national questions such as accountibility for monies
contracted in the name of the nation that have simply dissappeared into
overseas accounts, you are out luck in Yayah Jammehs Gambia. He has utterly
corrupted the system.


karamba

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