The so-called firing spree has been on since the AFPRC cum APRC regime
assumed power on July 22nd 1994. The first phase of the spree was justified
by the regime as a necessity to purge the public service of supposedly
'corrupt and unpatriotic' elements in the 'public interest'. However, the
current phase of the firing spree that the regime is pursuing is in
fulfilment of a pledge made by the president during the election campign to
get rid of all perceived UDP supporters from the public service. In pursuit
of this stated objective, the government is not only giving the sack to
public servants suspected or confirmed to be UDP smpathisers but also those
who did not take the offer of free Jammeh T-shirts during the campaign or
fail to turn up at APRC rallies or even the victory celebrations!.
Public servants who were mostly affected by the latter two categories were
based in the provinces.
As far as the APRC leadership is concerned, public servants are nothing but
more than pawns in a game of chess. Performance-oriented-reward system from
Jammeh's perspective does not count, what counts is what the NIA (that draws
up the firing list)thinks of a particular public servant. As a result of the
NIA's malignant influence in our society, it has over the past seven years
inculcated a culture of informing and misinforming upon one another in the
public service as a means of some acquiring accelerated promotions and
supercessions over others. Civil servants who refused to play in this game
of lies and deceit are sooner rather than later given their marching orders.
The Office of the Secretary General of the Public Service, the Personnel
Management Office and the Public service Commission have been reduced to 'I
have been directed to' institutions.
Inspite of the president's contradictory pronouncements on sacking of public
servants, his government has recently fully manifested more than ever
before, the whole irrationality of the mass firings, later, some
reinstatements and thereafter, even more unjustifiable sackings. The reasons
for this hysteria of sackings have nothing to do with competence or delivery
issues, as some pro-APRC elements would want others to believe. The reasons
have been uttered from the horse's (Yahya's) mouth. The decisions are base
on maere hearsay or fabrications spun against hardworking, honest and decent
public servants by staff of the NIA or their chain of state misinformers.
From all the intents and actions of the regime, there is conclusive evidence
that the sackings are ochestrated in bad faith and not by any iota of desire
to bring about an effective Public Service. The sole rationale behind these
callous dismissals is to deprive the victims of any immediate source of
income  thereby rendering them desperate and frustrated given the number of
dependents, that they are responsible for feeding, clothing and sheltering.
Imagine the impact of a sole breadwinner with an average count of 15 direct
dependents to look after having to loose his or her job unceremoniously. All
what he or she  gets is a letter of dismissal with no reason for
dismissal,no payout or pension for a long tenure of service.It would have
been unquestionably justifiable where the cause of any public servant's
dismissal is proven corruption or incomptetence against him or her. Even if
such should be the reason, procedures to be followed are specified in the
Public Service regulations. But a government that arbitrarily flouts the
supreme laws of the land should not be expected to adhere to regulations of
any sort. What is happening to public servants in the Gambia is an
indication of the type of unjust society we are degenerating into, a society
in which the demise of the good is celebrated, in which incompetence and
sycophancy is rewarded and the industrious, honest and hardworking are
frustrated, removed, abducted or even tortured in every sense of the word.
Is this the kind of Gambia we want to encourage?
We should remember that as a result of colonial regulations, Public servants
have no unions or associations to represent or fight for their interests or
rights. So they are at the mercy of a despotic regime that the APRC
government is.The reasons why most of the Civil servants who are unjustly
sacked do not publicly complain is foremost, they know that the people know
their plight and moreover they do not wish to expose themselves and their
families to the trauma of being detained and tortured by the Notorious
Illegitimate Agency (NIA). They would rather move on.This are enough good
reasons to move on. Ultimately,this brain drain syndrome adversely affects
the level of state productivity, more than all else.

The yoke of oppression shall one day collapse!

BMK

.rom: Beran jeng <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: The Firing Spree Continues
>Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 16:21:07 -0500
>
>Joe,
>
>You seem to be more concern about the civil servants being fired than
>themselves. Most of these civil servants transitioned from the Jawara
>administration to the Jammeh administration. They will not protest or make
>their voices heard regarding the so called firing spree. As a matter of
>fact,they are probably begging and lobbying to get their jobs back. As Mr.
>Saine enquired about in his last posting,"Ngorr and Jom" has long been gone
>in Gambian society particularly ,in the urban areas.This has been the case
>since Jawara.
>President Jammeh is implementing what he campaigned on that he will fire
>civil servants who oppose his regime. You may not agree on how is going
>about doing it but that is exactly what he is doing.Mr Darboe also said
>during the campaign that he will fire civil servants who showed support for
>the APRC. He might have taken a different approach!
>Jammeh put the electorate on notice about his intention and was given a
>clean bill of health by the electorate. It is time we hold our people
>accountable for their decisions and actions.
>
>Beran
>
>
>
>
>>From: Joe Sambou <[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: The Firing Spree Continues
>>Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 20:29:53 +0000
>>
>>Culled From The Point
>>
>>Civil ServantsTwo Re-instated Another Fired
>>
>>Following the sacking of six officers at the customs department last
>>Tuesday
>>two of the officers have been reinstated while another officer was also
>>sacked, competent sources told The Point. The two, Alieu Ceesay Principal
>>Collector Administration and Seedy Kinteh of the Mobile Brigade were said
>>to
>>have resumed work yesterday.
>>
>>Our source added that no reason was given to the two officers regarding
>>their abrupt dismissal and subsequent reinstatement. When this reporter
>>contacted the two for confirmation Mr. Alieu Ceesay said, “Well I am in my
>>office at present and I don’t want to comment on my dismissal or
>>reinstatement.” Mr Kinteh was said to be at work but away at the time. In
>>the latest of the sacking spree at customs, Pa Matarr E. Touray has been
>>fired on Wednesday. He corroborated the story when contacted, adding that
>>he
>>received his letter at four O’ clock that day. He noted that no reason had
>>been advanced.
>>
>>However, senior customs officers who spoke to The Point welcomed the move
>>of
>>reinstatements and further called on the authorities to rescind their
>>decision on the other officers who they said were wrongfully dismissed.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>_________________________________________________________________
>>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
>>
>><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>
>>
>>To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
>>at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>>To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
>>[log in to unmask]
>>
>><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
>
><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>
>
>To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
>at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
>[log in to unmask]
>
><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>


_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>

To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>