The 'Afinjang' Pilgrim Package - A Partisan Scheme?

The Independent (Banjul)
COLUMN
January 27, 2003
Posted to the web January 27, 2003

By D.A. Jawo
Banjul

Once again, another list of "Afinjang" pilgrims has been announced. A total
of 100 people are said to have benefited this year. Therefore, with the
fare of more than D43,000, and with a pocket money of not less than D5000
expected to be given to each pilgrim, we are talking about a minimum of D5
million for the 100 persons. Where does that amount of money come from?

There is no doubt that the ultimate aim of every good Muslim is to perform
the Hajj at least once in their life time. However, does it have to be at
any cost? We have been told by the Ulamas that there are strict
conditionalities to be fulfilled by anyone wishing to perform the Hajj and
they include being in a position to adequately cater for one's family as
well as meet one's other obligations before departing for the Hajj. Are we
really sure that all those who are benefiting from the "Afinjang" Hajj
package have met all those conditionalities? It is highly possible that
some of them may have left their families with certain basic deficiencies
such as inadequate food, leaking roofs or even lack of money to pay school
fees for their children, and yet so many thousands of Dalasis are being
paid for them to perform the Hajj.

If indeed there was a genuine wish to assist the people concerned rather
than just using the package to score some political points, it would have
made more sense to ask those people to identify their most urgent needs
rather than just giving them a Hobson's choice - to perform the Hajj or get
no assistance. There is absolutely no doubt that some of those
beneficiaries of the Hajj package may have had other more pressing needs
they would have chosen to take care of rather than going to Mecca.

While it is still not quite clear as to who actually sponsors
the "Afinjang" package; whether it is President Jammeh as some of his
praise singers would want us to believe, the APRC as was indicated in the
media or whether the tickets are gifts from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and
some other Islamic nations to the people of The Gambia, as claimed by some
people and happens in other countries, what is however quite certain is the
fact that one of the most important criterion for benefiting from the
package in the past had been membership or loyalty to the APRC.

Therefore, in view of such a partisan connotation associated with the
package, it is expected that only the supporters or sympathizers of the
APRC would benefit from it. In fact President Jammeh had often been quoted
saying that even though he wants to help all Gambians, 'but even God would
not help His enemies'. From that therefore, one can easily deduce that he
does not want members and supporters of the opposition to benefit from his
numerous 'gifts'.

In view of the nature and chemistry of such 'gifts' like the Hajj package,
for instance, one would expect a certain category of public service
employees, particularly those whose jobs demand absolute political
neutrality to be exempted from the list of beneficiaries. In view of that
therefore, it was a surprise to many people to read in the Daily Observer
of January 9 that the popular magistrate Abubakar King is one of the
beneficiaries of the "Afinjang" package this year.

While there is no questioning of the integrity and dedication to duty of
Magistrate King, but as a serving magistrate, he is not expected to be
involved in anything that has a partisan connotation. It is quite a well
known fact that in the past, "Afinjang" tickets were given mainly to
militants and sympathizers of the APRC and therefore, anyone who benefits
from the package would not escape being branded an APRC supporter or
sympathizer. Therefore, as judges and magistrates are expected to be
politically neutral, the inclusion of Magistrate King on the list may have
sent the wrong signals to many people, including his ardent admirers of
which I am one. The question that many of those people seem to be asking is
whether he would be able to fairly adjudicate in a case involving
supporters of the APRC and the UDP, for instance when he is expected to owe
a debt of gratitude to the APRC for giving him the opportunity to perform
the Hajj. How will he, for instance handle a case involving a UDP militant
brought to his court accused of insulting the president, which is a common
phenomenon in Western Division where he is posted at present, considering
the fact that he has been given a Hajj ticket by President Jammeh?

That indeed applies to all other public service employees benefiting from
the package.

As long as the package is being portrayed, whether rightly or wrongly, as a
President Jammeh/APRC-sponsored package, then it should have been
restricted to APRC militants and supporters but certainly the public
service employees should have been exempted. As people employed and paid
from the tax payers money, they should not be put in a position where they
would be seen to owe allegiance to a particular political party, as in this
case. It is quite natural that when they benefit from the assistance of one
political party, they are likely to owe a debt of gratitude to that
political party and in the event of them having to decide between
supporters of that party with those of any other party, they are likely to
be bias in favour of the former.

Another vivid phenomenon of this year's "Afinjang" Hajj package is the fact
that people from the Fonis seem to form the bulk of the beneficiaries. One
wonders why that is the case. Is it because President Jammeh, as
the 'funder' of the package comes from there?

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