Lessons from other countries’ experiences can be valuable resources to aid us (The Gambia), in our search for the way forward. Clearly, judging form recent history, the system and experiences from our western neighbors, if exploited wisely can definitely minimize our developmental challenges. The very system and experiences that made millions of us to abandon our homelands for a better life would be a logical start.

Lessons of course cut both ways. Mistakes and systems that continue to fail should be a lesson for all countries to avoid and learn from. Ivory Coast, a West African neighbor finally got caught up with the political reality that has plagued other nations in the sub-region. In the absence of entrenched democracy and rule of law, it is just a matter of time for the other structures to crumble. Ivory coast, known for its infrastructure development, criss-cross modern highways and ivory towers—the Paris of West Africa ignored the most fundamental of all, an entrenched system of democracy and rule of law.

Ivory Coast should be a valuable lesson for the sitting President, Mr.Jammeh. President Jammeh’s government would like to be identified as a government committed to infrastructure development, and this is of course a tall order and a good commitment to have by any government. Although, what we learn from Ivory Coast is that development of these sorts can be meaningless, without a serious investment to an entrenched system of governance. Recently, we had a conference with NAM members from the Gambia visiting in Atlanta. One of the question posed was, with the situation in Ivory Coast and the fact that the sitting government came to power through the barrel of the gun, what guarantees or framework do we have in place to avoid the Ivory Coast situation? Mr. President, unfortunately they did not have a convincing answer, and this is one important question that our country should be asking.

Obviously, short-term political survival using brute force, or other methods tactical in nature, though a framework, but only postponed the inevitable. The development and political stability of our country lies in the investment and sacrifices that we are willing to make today as a nation. If I were in your situation, Mr.Jammeh,  first and foremost I would seek to amend the constitution by injecting the term limits to two-terms, and limit your self from seeking your party nomination next general elections. This would give you the credibility tools to engage political parties, civic groups, academics, and the military and religious groups to help you invest and bring about a well-needed resource for the development of our nation. The real question is how committed are you to the real development of our nation? Road constructions and other infrastructure initiatives can be done by anybody, but it takes a real leader that is willing to sacrifice and make bold moves to bring about real development. Entrenched democracy through the spirit of rule of law is the real foundation, if we are interested in the building of a sustainable and great nation----The Gambia.

Thanks

Musa Jeng

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