-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Foroyaa Burning Issue
From: "Amie Sillah" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, July 16, 2004 8:42 am
To: [log in to unmask]
Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 56/2004, 15-18 July, 2004
EDITORIAL
Panorama, The Soldiers and The Armed Forces
Chief Of Staff The Lesson
It is important for us to draw lesson from the interview with Colonel
Baboucarr Jatta to help people know how newspapers operate. Most people
think that whatever is published in a newspaper is what is approved by
the editors. The fact of the matter is that newspapers become a public
voice by conveying divergent views. Newspapers have personalities of
their own and their independence is preserved by the independence given
to letter writers, correspondents and columnists to air out their views.
Independence is also preserved by the editors through the editorial
comments on what others say helps in self-reputation through criticism or
dialogue. One observation regarding interview with Colonel Jatta is the
lack of focus of the question. One finds it difficult to know whether the
columnist was trying to help us to know more about Colonel Jatta as a
person or the Gambia National Army. The preamble to many of his questions
were rather subjective, such as the comments that soldiers trained by the
British were more disciplined, soldiers carry brutalities. These general
statements only antagonize without helping the public know what is right
or wrong in the army and how to improve army civil relationship. If the
interviewer was focused he would let Colonel Jatta explain what is the
nature of training and state of application of human rights law by the
army. One could have asked for the content of the training. One could
have buttressed such ! a question by asking whether the soldiers are
exposed to constitution and human rights instruments. One could have
asked what the Act governing the operation of the army says about
civil-soldier relations. One could have asked whether institutions exist
to receive civilian complaints of abuse of authority and how many
complaints were received so far. To play a civil advocate in asking
questions is not to be subjective or judgmental but to help clarify
doubts and the acknowledgement of faults. If the questions are raised
properly at the end of the exercise the person interviewed should realise
the achievements made and the shortcomings, which need to be overcome to
have a way forward. No one wants to leave a stigma at the end. We hope
this will help the columnist in subsequent interviews. We must
however congratulate Colonel Jatta for engaging in dialogue with
newspapers, which is very vase for such senior military or security hand!
s.
THE PRESS CONFERENCE OF THE ALLIANCE
ML Sedat Jobe was not the Focus, says Halifa Sallah
FOROYAA: How do you judge the coverage of the National Media of the first
press conference of the prospective Alliance? Halifa: The public had
interest in knowing the reason why parties of such diverse principles,
policies, programmes and practices resolved to forge an alliance. I gave
very simple explanations. To my surprise the state media gave us maximum
coverage and those who listened to Radio Gambia did get the message very
clearly. However the non-governmental media, which the state used to
accuse of collaborating with the opposition, proved their impartiality
and total independence by giving very little focus to the fundamental
reasons for holding the press conference. An Observer reporter in
fact used our platform to transform rumours about M.L Sedat Jobe into his
hard-line story causing him to give a reply designed to give the
appearance that he is rejecting an offer, which has never been
contemplated or made. Such invention of the news at the expense of the
essence of our press conference constituted!
a violation of the ethics of the profession.
FOROYAA: What was the focus of the press conference?
Halifa: First and foremost, under a monarchy sovereignty or powers
resides in the king or queen. Under a Republic sovereignty or power
resides in the people. I emphasized that if a president tells the people
that they are not responsible for his election and that he will not
allocate national resources to promote their welfare unless they are
loyal to him then he must remove himself from the position of a public
trustee to a monarch. I emphasized that the people of Jarra West have
taught the Nation a lesson embedded in Chapter one of the constitution
that presidential, National Assembly or local government authority is
derived from the will of the people. People should know that they have
the power and the say to determine who manages the affairs of the
country. FOROYAA: What else did you wish to convey?
Halifa: I explained that the rationale for establishing the alliance is
two fold. It is common sense that in a presidential election the party in
office puts up one presidential candidate while the opposition puts up
many candidates who divide the votes; that in a second round of voting
the opposition parties can have one party selected as the leading
contender in the second round. In this regard, opposition parties may
contest in the first round and then form an alliance in the second round.
The reality however is that the president has done away with the second
round. Hence, it is prudent for the opposition parties to form a
technical or strategic alliance so that only one opposition candidate
would contest the elections. To do otherwise is to enable the APRC to win
through the division of the opposition. FOROYAA: What is the difference
between a tactical and strategic alliance? Halifa: A strategic alliance
is more foresighted than a tactical alliance. A tactical alliance can be
based on the agenda of removing Jammeh from office full stop, without
articulating what should take his place. A strategic alliance is not only
concerned about the removal of Jammeh but that what is to be put in its
place must be qualitatively and quantitatively better. FOROYAA: What is
the nature of the alliance?
Halifa: It is a strategic alliance. We want to put an end to self
perpetuating rule and empower the people so that each Gambian will know
once and for all that power belongs to them and that they should seat or
unseat leaders on the basis of their decision. We want to open up the
public media for parties to debate on the way forward. We want the
constitution and laws to be amended to empower the people. We want the
public service to be run on a professional basis free from allegiance to
a party. We want to put an end to the politics of intimidation and
inducement so that people will be convinced on the basis of a programme.
A presidential candidate would be selected to serve a five year term to
rectify all the ills and then leave office to allow a vibrant multi party
system to intervene. FOROYAA: Don’t you think the regime is worried
about an alliance including the people they overthrow, the PPP regime?
Halifa: Fear of what?
FOROYAA: Fear of restoration.
Halifa: The PPP did not ask for the alliance to restore it to office. The
alliance is not promoting the agenda of any given political party. It is
working on a rectification agenda to establish standards of governance
and economic management that all parties will be willing to subscribe to
and implement. After that, parties will enjoy the facilities provided by
an open society such as free media access to put their programmes before
the people after the five-year transition period. PPP have accepted to
submit itself to the dictates of the agenda of the alliance. The
coalition is not about restoration, it is calling for a new beginning
based on the lessons of everything that was wrong since the colonial
period. Its aim is to empower the people to be the architects of their
own destiny not to help any leader to become a carbon copy of President
Jammeh
Coalition Taking Shape
Part 2
Continuation
Responding to a question as to whether the Alliance has already selected
a candidate for the 2006 presidential election, Mr. Halifa Sallah said
that the Jarra West by-election came at a time when the alliance partners
were assiduously working to build up the foundation of a coalition, a
process which is still on-going; that since they subscribe to the rule of
law, they are presently building up the foundation on the basis of which
the alliance will operate and in accordance to which the members will be
judged; that they have not reached that stage yet. Questioned as to what
they will be doing as an alliance to ensure equal access to the public
media, Mr. Sallah said that they will use every means to carry their
messages, be it the media, rallies, meetings, symposia, etc; that they
are going to prepare or train those who will be carrying out the messages
of the Alliance to the people so that they will have the discipline and
maturity worthy of emulation and respect; that the Alliance is not taking
it as an ordinary task to manage the lives of over a million Gambians;
that they will not harbour the politics of confrontation; that they
will not allow the APRC regime to bring them down, that they will
elevate the level of politics in the country. Mr. Ousainou Darboe in his
intervention said that they hoped that the media, especially the public
media, will give them access to fair representation of their views; that
they hoped that no responsible public institution would allow itself to
be dragged to court in order for it to fulfill its mandate by attending
to legitimate demands that are constitutionally prescribed. Mr. Hamat Bah
said that all they are asking is for officials working in public
institutions to abide by all the constitutional requirements or
provisions relating to their work. Mr. Sallah said that their premise is
that they are going to be an alternative government and that they will
take any measure, legal, etc, to ensure the impartiality of the public
media; that they will demand respect from the government. Mr. Lamin Waa
Juwara said that given the ‘Mansa’` mentality that prevails especially in
government to the point that the president is saying that he will deny
access to public services to those who do not support him, clearly no
public institution and official is free to carry out its work outside the
dictates of a dictator; that it is too early for them to say what
specific measure to take but that they are working on the tactics to be
employed to ensure their free access to public services and institutions;
that they will not allow the APRC regime to benefit from their weaknesses
and divisions; that now they are coming together in a Coalition to
counter that; that they will be operating within the bounds of the law
and the constitution. On the issue of the statement made by the president
that some of the opposition leaders might not be living witnesses come
the 2006 presidential election, Mr. Halifa Sallah said that that
statement is a statement and that one should ask the person who has
issued the statement. He asked the question: ‘Who is going to be alive?’
He indicated that one can say that President Jammeh may not be alive by
then, and end up being right or wrong; that he does not think anybody
will ever be threatened by such statements; that these are the types of
statements they should rely on to show the Gambian people that Jammeh is
not fit to be a president. Mr. Sallah informed the gathering that the
opposition party members in the National Assembly have agreed to start a
newsletter that will publish what they are saying and doing in the
National Assembly on behalf of the people; that they work to ensure the
visibility of the alternate government; that they will be collaborating
and would work with anybody who wants to serve the people’s interests.
All the speakers agreed that July 22nd which the APRC intends to
celebrate in grand style this year is not a national event and that it
would constitute a gross misappropriation of national resources for the
state and parastatal bodies to fund it. They all said that celebrating
this event can never be justifiable as it was an act by a group of few
people who went and seized power behind the back of the sovereign Gambian
people; that the act of staging a coup d’etat is unconstitutional and
that the international community now including the African Union are
making rules that condemn this unconstitutional means of assuming
political power. Mr. Hamat Bah spoke on the need for electoral and
legislative reforms and the resolve of the opposition members to engage
the government on this course. He applauded the effective collaboration
of the opposition during the recent supplementary voter registration
exercise; and stressed the need for vigilance. Mr. M. L. Touray deplored
the widespread wastage of national resources by the APRC on irrelevant
activities that are not national events. He said the opposition is now
united to forge ahead to save the nation; that united we stand, divided
we fall. On the question as to whether there were any problems
encountered on the ground and also whether the low voter turnout in the
settlement of Soma could be attributed to the buying and selling of
votes, Hon. Hamat Bah in response, said that the people of Jarra West and
all those involved must be commended for conducting a peaceful election
without any violence; that he would not be surprised that there was vote
buying but that the coalition did not give any one any butut; that the
only thing they gave to the people was their message and the people of
Jarra West understood and accepted their message which resulted in the
victory. Honourable Kemeseng Jammeh added that the reason for the low
voter turnout, particularly, in Soma, Angle Futa, was because many
non-nationals were registered and who, this time around, were afraid or
refused to vote. He said that the Jarra West by-election is hoped to
serve as a pacesetter and anticipated the same for the forth-coming Old
Bakau Ward by-election. Mr. Lamin Waa Juwara buttressed the point that
the coalition is going to elevate the politics of this country from the
level of mudslinging, insults, character assassination, inducement and
intimidation to a form of decent and mature politics based on issues and
programmes. He said that the future is very bright for the opposition in
this country; that all big things start from small things; that the APRC
is very unpopular and that the coalition will emerge victorious. Hon.
Hamat Bah again commented on the coalition parties for their
steadfastness and scrutiny at the last supplementary voter registration
exercise; that for the first time, all the opposition parties of the
coalition collaborated by allocating to each other areas to cover all
over the country; that this scrutinisation of the process was effectively
done. Lawyer Ousainou Darboe said that they have no evidence, as yet,
confirming vote buying by the APRC party in Jarra West but that if any
such incidence is proven, it will be strongly condemned; that vote buying
or voter inducement is prohibited by the Elections Decree. He said that
the issue of vote buying and other contraventions underscore the fear
that many people have that the APRC can go to any length to abuse the law
in order to achieve its objectives; that it is now for them as an
Alliance to educate the people; that as Halifa Sallah has said at the
rally in Jarra Soma, casting your vote for any candidate means you are
entrusting your authority to that particular individual to represent you
either as president or National Assembly Member to speak or take decision
on your behalf. Mr. Ousainou Darboe said that, therefore, when one is
casting one’s vote, one should be very mindful where one’s cast one’s
vote; that this also applies to those ! selling their votes to understand
that they are selling their authority or mortgaging their birthrights;
that in that case they would have no justification to complain or say
anything about the country; that it is the responsibility of every
Gambian, and not only the coalition to educate every Gambian to desist
from selling their votes; that selling your voter’s card for nothing more
than D100 and then to languish in agony for five years is not reasonable
and wise. On the question as to whether the coalition is aware of any
arrests made during the course of the Jarra West by-election, Hon.
Kemeseng Jammeh confirmed that one of their polling agents was arrested
and charged for disorderly behaviour and then released. Waa Juwara said
that they don’t want the press to misquote them; that they are not
anti-foreigner; that all that they are saying is whether or not to vote
which is a constitutional requirement; that they welcome all foreigners
to come and stay as brothers and sisters. Mr. Halifa Sallah said that in
terms of the arrests, they had spoken to the authorities and that they
released the majority of them and kept one woman who was charged and
later released; that what is important is that this is a teething problem
as far as the coalition is concerned. Mr. Sallah said that they have made
it very clear to the security authorities that the type of politics they
are going to put in place will become so mature that there will be an end
to this type of arresting people because of political affiliation; that
they are expecting to continue engaging in dialogue with them so that
they will see the need to allow people to engage in politics in a mature
way without any form of intimidation. The Alliance coordinator said that
one thing they can say now is that the people of Jarra west have given
example of how that type of politics will be in future; that there may be
some errors here and there but the lesson is becoming apparent; that they
did not see any confrontation and that the police were trying as much as
possible to stay away from the scene; that they hope that in future that
is going to be the trend in elections; that they are going to give that
assurance and to impose it on the regime; that their maturity is going to
impose on the regime the requirement for them to also become too mature
and avoid any form of confrontation. The Jarra West representative
interjected confirming the cooperation of the police and IEC in diffusing
an incident that could have led to problems between the coalition and
APRC members in Soma. Mr. Halifa Sallah added that the IEC too needed to
be commended more since they are in charge and that the police should
listen to its instructions on electoral matters; that they are thankful
to both; that when the rule of law is followed problem is avoided, Mr.
Sallah said that the reason why he is intervening is because they don’t
want to personalize anything; that sometimes when you say this they may
end up victimizing this or that police officer for doing what is right;
that they are talking about the rule of law that will make everybody
free; that this is why the Alliance is talking about change in the
country. He said that the type of system which exists is that you can be
a security officer who is trying to do your work and in doing your work
as long as it doesn’t serve the interest of the ruling party they end up
victimizing you; that this is what they want to change; that people
should be free to do their work according to their oath! ; that you are
their to perform your duty without fear or favour, affection or ill will;
that it is unconstitutional to do the contrary. He said that they are
congratulating the people for doing their work; that they have not
favoured the Alliance; that this is the future Gambia they expect and
that if they failed to build it they will be blamed. The End
Hospital Staff On Strike In Bansang
Employees and staff of Bansang Hospital on Monday embarked on a sit-down
strike until their demands are met by the management. The strike has
caused a great setback regarding health administration in that part of
the country. Speaking to this reporter, a group of nurses indicated that
the strike is due to their demands, which were forwarded to the Chief
Executive of the hospital on several occasions without any positive
outcome. The strike did not only involve nurses but the entire staff of
the hospital including the labour force and the maintenance unit. It was
indicated to this reporter that the management was inefficient to improve
the working conditions of the entire staff of the hospital; that looking
at the number of nurses in the hospital, which amounts to over 100, only
17 among the lot were trained in the profession. The nurses indicated
that it is because of their poor working conditions that most of the
trained nurses who cannot tolerate the conditions decided to resign; that
some have been dismissed and others travelled to seek greener pastures
all because of the inefficient administration. The nurses indicated that
several letters were written to the C! hief Executive to address the poor
working conditions of the staff but that these fall on deaf ears; that
these conditions still persist and are in fact getting worse. Among the
reasons advanced to this reporter were:
(1) Recurrent malpractice and
exposure to liable manslaughter cases in their units;
(2) Reluctance of Bansang
Hospital Management Board to settle registration of her trained nursing
staff; (3) Malignant scarcity
of essential working gadgets and material resources. They emphasized
that their lives are put at great risk with these reasons advanced to the
Chief Executive regarding their working conditions and invited him to
grant them audience to discuss the situation and come to agreement but to
no avail. They therefore indicated that there was no other option
for them to be heard other than a sit down strike. The striking nurses
indicated that they are not aware of any active member of the hospital
management board who has shown interest in their plight or the hospital.
They indicated that a memo was sent to all DHTs in CRD and URD informing
them of their sit down strike; that this letter was written on the 11th
July 2004. The 3 ultimatums given by the nurses to the authorities
concerned are: (1) The
replacement of the chief Executive;
(2) A new administrator be
employed as this particular post has been vacant for years and
(3) To employ a certified
accountant to replace the present one who is not a certified professional
accountant. There was no work done in the hospital throughout the whole
day of Monday, the day the strike commenced. A lot of patients could be
seen with their escorts wondering aimlessly at the hospital unattended. A
lady from Kataba Village near Kaur, CRD North, was seen at the labour
room of the hospital, where she delivered and the baby passed away,
unattended. Speaking to this reporter, the Chief Nursing Officer, Mr.
Ismaila Njie said the nurses will resume work but blamed the Chief
Executive of the hospital for the type of administration that brought the
hospital in such a situation. Efforts to speak to Dr. Jobarteh since on
Monday proved futile as he flatly refused to talk to the press. Speaking
to this reporter, some Cuban doctors indicated that they cannot work,
because their work is linked to other Gambian nurses and doctors; that
there was no one to help them with interpretations. Up to the time of
going to Press, the strike was still on, and reports we have received
indicated that the Nurses have decided to treat those patients who have
been admitted before the strike. That otherwise they are not seeing
any referral. Even the Outpatient Clinic has stopped working.
Meanwhile we have also reliably learnt that both the Permanent Secretary
and the Director of Health are in the hospital but would not talk to the
Press. COALITION DEFEATS APRC AGAIN
Polling for the councillorship for Bakau/Fajara Ward closed at 4p.m.
today and counting has just ended. Gassama of the APRC polled 997 votes
while Rambo who is supported by the Coalition polled 2377 votes. Rambo
has been declared elected. MSN 8 helps ELIMINATE E-MAIL
VIRUSES. Get 2 months FREE*.
--
Chi Jaama
Joe Sambou
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