Below is the FOROYAA Burning Issue of - Issue No 32. The topics in the
issue are:
1. Editorial - Local Government Administration Starts On The Wrong Foot
2. The Changing Face Of Politics In The Gambia.
3. The Post Election Alliances
4. Focus On The Gambia's Economic Situation
5. A Nominated Member Cannot Be Deputy Mayor
6. CSE Should Be Aware
7. Has The President Assented To The Media Commission Bill
--------------- FOROYAA NO: 32/2002 6 - 9 June, 2002 ------
NO: 32/2002 6 - 9 June, 2002
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Editorial
Local Government Administration Starts On The Wrong Foot
The new mayors, chairpersons and councillors are being sworn in without
any uniformity. This means that they are assuming office at different times
thus giving different dates for the end of their term of offices. This is due to
serious lapses in the lawful exercise of duty by the Department of State for
Local government and Lands. In short, the transitional provisions of the local
government Act should have stipulated when the first sitting of the councils
should have convened after an election and who should publish the
proclamation in the gazette to meet the requirements.
For example, the transitional provision could have stipulated that the first
sitting of a council after an election should be held within 14 days. Either the
executive or an independent authority could have been mandated to make a
proclamation stating the actual date and place for the holding of the first
sitting of all councils. This would have created uniformity in the assumption of
office by council members.
In the absence of the transitional provision, the Secretary of State is
empowered under section 147 to put things right.
It states "The Secretary of State may make regulations which could have
been published to standardise the assumption of office by members of
council.
However, when these should exercise direction and control see little
relevance in searching for the law providing for their actions and depend more
on the arbitrary might of public office. They cannot see loop holes not to talk
about correcting shortcomings. This is the tragedy of governance in the
country. This is why the whole local government election was a mess.
FOROYAA has yelled to the top of its voice to show all the shortcomings.
Who is there to listen?
Suffice it to say if those who should guide the affairs of institutions close their
ears and eyes to public outcry maladministration must become the order of
the day. Take the election of a nominated member as deputy Mayor of KMC.
How
could such a flaw have been made if there is thorough understanding and
respect for the Local Government Act. This is why FOROYAA indicated that
the Local government Act should have been allowed to come into force and
its content made
known to all before the local government election. The lesson is clear those
who failed to abide by wise counsel are bound to walk the path of error and
maladministration.
We hope the correct steps will be taken to ensure redress. FOROYAA will
continue to do its best to point out the pitfalls for any decent administrator or
policy maker to take note of it. It is however the sovereign Gambian people
who should keep vigil and judge their representatives fairly when they appear
to seek their mandate. They have the final authority to ensure redress if those
they elect refuse to conform to the principles of democratic governance.
Changing Face Of Politics In The Gambia We are focusing on the economic
situation of the Gambia. In the lasst issue, we have given stastistics of the
deficits in our external trade which we say has been the trend in our
economy since the first Republic. We maintained that the same trend
continued up to today .
Follow the analysis.
The Changing Face Of Politics In The Gambia.
The face of politics in the Gambia is changing since the presidential elections
of October 2001. it is important for the Gambian people to keep track of the
developments.
First and foremost, it is important to find out what has happened to the
parties of the first Republic which came into existence after the demise of the
PPA of the late Sherif Sisay and the United Party of the late P.S Njie. The
NCP of Mr. Sheriff Dibba and the NLP of Mr. Cheyassin Secka, were the first
to come up in the 1970s. the GPP of Mr. Assan Musa Camara, PDOIS and
PDP of Dr. Bolong Bojang came up in the 1980s. during the 1992 presidential
elections the PPP, NCP, GPP, PDOIS and PDP put up presidential
candidates. In 1994 there was a coup detat, political authorities were banned.
Attempts to defy the ban led to the arrest of members of the PDOIS
leadership. Before the 1996 elections the ban was lifted only for PDOIS and
PDP. The regime claimed that the parties which were banned took part in the
destruction of the country. These parties claimed that the regime was afraid
of their popularity and influence in the country. This gave rise to political
tension. New political parties emerged to contest the 1996 presidential
elections, that is APRC, UDP and NRP. PDP of Dr. Bojang joined the APRC.
From the parties of the first republic only the PDOIS participated.
The banning of the parties of the first republic from contesting undermined the
APRC government. Exposures intensified. Interestingly enough, the regime
lifted the ban on the parties of the first republic to live room for them to
participate in the 2001 presidential elections. The coverage of the elections
made the country to be politically vibrant. The GPP and PPP leadership
joined the UDP leadership to promote their political platforms. The NCP ran
its own campaign. PDOIS and NRP were also on their own.
After the presidential elections many Gambians expected a very tough
National Assembly elections which would lead to a National Assembly that
would not be under the influence of the executive.
One expected Mr. Dibba to win in Central Baddibu, Sidia Jatta, Hamat Bah
and Halifa Sallah were seen as prospective victors in their respective
constituencies. Many incumbent APRC candidates were already struggling
to keep their seats.
The parties of the country however did not proceed to give rise to the
consolidation of the parties of the first republic and second republic. On the
contrary, the results of the presidential elections destabilized many political
parties and their supporters. To be on the side of the political opposition is
not an easy task. It leads to political, economic and financial insecurity for
many people. This may pressurize people to forge alliances in between
elections.
The Post Election Alliances
As preparations were being made for the National Assembly elections some
alliances began to emerge.
The NCP leadership decided to form an alliance with the APRC, as president
Jammeh has said in New York he made the NCP leader Speaker of the
National Assembly. The PDP leader did not register his party nor did he
become involve with any political camp. The UDP, GPP, PPP alliance started
to look for candidates for the National Assembly elections. Some candidates
even declared their candidatures. Eventually the alliance made a declaration
that it will not participate because of fraud in the registration of voters.
The NCP /APRC alliance left PDOIS to be the only party of the first republic
to operate independently of the government or any other alliances. The
elections received approval by the International Observers. To consolidate its
international image, amnesty was given to Ex-president Jawara. Speculations
were rife as to whether he would accept or not. When his children visited the
Gambia without making contacts with his political supporters rumors spread
that ex-president Jawara was going to retire from active politics.
Ex-president Jawara is now in the Gambia. Non of the PPP members have
told the press what he intends to do. He is silent while people are speaking
their minds as to whether he has been given the recognition they expected or
not. What ex-president Jawara feels is yet to be known. Different opinions
within the UDP has surfaced in the Gambia press.
What is clear is that the alliance between the NCP and APRC and Mr.
Dibba's open support for president Jammeh in New York and Ex-president
Jawara's coming and the declaration that he is here as a private citizen has
marked the end of a period in Gambian politics. Only PDOIS is left out of the
parties of the first republic which has not forged any alliances or is confronted
with leadership struggles.
For sometime the APRC leadership pretended to approve PDOIS as a party it
can hand over office to, but the president had to attack the PDOIS leadership
when the national assembly elections became tough. This has made people
to acknowledge the fundamental difference between PDOIS and APRC which
many refused to acknowledge until recently.
As we head towards the 2006 elections the new political reality must come
to be understood by all. Many people are angry today with the people they
supported all along because of the feeling that they have been betrayed. The
new Gambia must never feel betrayed by any leader. It should be clear that
leadership is not a right given to a selected few but a duty that any
competent person should be ready to perform.
The people should therefore have independent minds and review the records
of each person who appears before them to seek their mandate. They must
not follow political figures on the basis of sentiments. They should not waste
their emotions on people who have a right to think, feel and act they prefer to
do at any given time.
Leaders come and go. It is the people who should be mature so that those
who come and go will leave them without their capacity to make informed
choices. The duty of a sovereign people is to remove leaders who cannot
address their concerns. We cannot insist on people becoming what they
don't want to be. We must look for people who are what we want them to be..
Focus On The Gambia's Economic Situation
Another way to solve this dilemma is for the state not to allow the public
sector to degenerate to a non production level. What do I mean by that? A
non production level is a situation where by the state would strictly abide by
the slogan "Private Sector Led Growth" policy to the extend that they pay
total lip service to the growth of the public sector.
This can best be described as dangerous precisely because in such a
scenario where the private sector did not take initiative or advantage of, to be
involved in the productive sector badly needed by this country's economy to
revamp, and the state stood idly by, instead of engaging such a crucial
issue, then this country would remain an under developed country, since no
country can be considered to be developed that cannot feed itself and
remains indebted to the core.
Be rest assured that without the productive sector being developed, there is
no sure way that record employment can be eradicated nor can any
eradication of record interest rates as well as non stop recessions. We must
have an investment based economic policy to get rid of the boom of dust
cycle of the last decade.
Without the productive base being developed, our government can for a
certain time be able to secure loans here and there to build roads, schools,
hospitals etc but will never be able to eradicate dirty and un hygienic streets,
sub-standard water, the elimination of white elephant structures, general
poverty, lack of educational materials in schools and even a vanishing
country-side.
As you can see, the productive sector of an economy is so crucial to the
general welfare of the Gambian people. Building this mostimportant sector is
producing goods that can in the long run if not in the short run be able to
compete abroad, which of course would enable us to create the wealth that
would support a healthy nation.
In my own opinion there is no need for our economist to argue as to whether
a private sector led growth policy is better than a public sector led growth
policy. I think what is of fundamental importance to us is to see that they
develop side by side, and allow each to contribute to the best of their
capacity.
We have already highlighted the problems we are encountering, and this
problems are happening at a time when we say we have given the private
sector the leading role to develop but we have also seen very clearly that
despite all that, they are nowhere closer to our expectations. Couldn't it not
be that given our type of situation, depending entirely on a situation where a
few individuals with investment capacity would have it as their primary object
to make maximum profit from such investment and as quickly as possible
may in fact not be workable in our type of situation.
Now if we look at the other side of our economic coin, we would see that the
state is not only creating the so called enabling environment for the private
sector but they are as well discouraging the public sector from developing. In
other words they are some what eradicating the basis for the existence of the
public sector, which in my humble opinion can do a great deal to create
productive institutions, companies etc and even enter into joint ventures with
national and international investors.
But the state of the Gambia as we shall see later is paving the way for the
eradication of state owned institutions and companies by privatizing them.
We have also seen that, even though certain sectors of the public have been
sold
out on the pretext that they are not viable, meaning they are not making profit
to the expectation of those heading the state, when they are sold out, they
still in most cases do not serve the purposes that were originally intended;
and instead would start by laying off the workers etc.
The GPMB is a case in point. The GGC which has bought GPMB has not
performed to expectations, it laid off more than half the workforce of the
GPMB, it continued to give promissory notes to the farmers and had not
gone into any form of processing.
The public enterprises, have expanded their activities to cover transport,
electricity and water supply, banking, insurance, manufacturing, livestock
trade, ferry services etc. if they are encouraged and the same enabling
environment is open to them, instead of divesting them, they could have
expanded their services to other sectors.
Why is it that they could not do the necessary expansion needed? The
reasons are many but the main thing is that the profits accrued from them
are not necessarily utilized by them to do more investment. Going by the
statistics, we know that in 1990/91, the public enterprises have made a joint
profit of 32,267,000. (thirty-two million dalasis) even though we also know that
a few of them did not make much profit. In that year, the GPTC recorded a
profit of 367,000 dalasis, Gamtel made a profit of 23.9million dalasis, Social
Security also made a surplus of 45million dalasis, the Gambia Ports
Authority made a
profit of 90 million dalasis, the then GUC made a loss of 8.1million dalasis,
GPMB made a loss of 18.4 million dalasis, but if we subtract the losses from
the total profit and surpluses they have a joint profit of 32 million dalasis.
Where does this profit go? Does it go to government to use it to provide for
more services? The answer is in the negative. It means that this figures
therefore do not have any developmental value because the government then
and now do not see the need to utilize this monies to reinvest it in the
productive sector or to give it back to the GUC or GPMB to invest it so as to
become more viable.
For example GPA could have rendered services to ferries, it could purchase
many fishing vessels by now. The duck yard could have become much viable
through this. With the vessels it could have further purchased patrol boats
etc. the navy too could have benefited from this vessels to secure our waters
from poachers etc. the enterprises could have linked to each other with other
productive sectors of the National Economy. The first republic failed to do this
and the second republic is also over sighting it.
Statistics have also shown that the GPMB had accumulated reserves of over
100 million dalasis by 1977/78. this means that it's annual turn over of about
150 million dalasis had exceeded that of Gamtel but by 1983, all its reserves
had
depleted and a few years later, its liability to the banking systems were over
100million dalasis. In 1985/86, it had a trading loss of about 37 million
dalasis. This has been the trend since then.
So instead of indiscriminate privatization of public enterprises, on the pretext
that they were not viable, linkages should have been encouraged or
established for onward expansion into other areas. This would have enabled
the system to create more employment possibilities, more foreign exchange
earnings and more revenues for the state but all that had gone through the
drain.
And the lack of the above possibilities is what led to trade deficits and budget
deficits which of course naturally led to more indebtedness of our country.
Before we go on, we should ask ourselves the questions; what is the motive
behind the privatization of public enterprises/corporations?
A Nominated Member Cannot Be Deputy Mayor
The Kanifing Municipal Council have elected a nominated member as Deputy
Chairperson or Mayor. According to the Local government Act "A council
shall elect a Deputy Chairperson from among the councillors who shall serve
for the term of the council unless removed from office and may be eligible for
a re-election for one further term of office only. "
In fact section 26 sub section (2)adds that "The election of Deputy
Chairperson shall be the the first business transacted at the first meeting of a
council held after a local government election.
It is abundantly clear from the local government Act that a nominated
member cannot be elected Deputy Chairperson or Mayor.
Section 28 subsection (3) of the Local Government Act states categorically
that "Nominated members of the coucil shall not have the right to vote at
council meetings."
However, Deputy Chairpersons or Mayors do have the right to act as
chairperson as Mayors in the absence of the chairperson or mayor. Section
20 sub section (2) of the Local Government Act states that "Decisions of a
council shall be by simple majority of the elected members present and
voting and in the event of an equality of votes . The chairpersonor mayor or
mayoress shall have a casting vote."
The deputy chairperson should therefore be a elected member who has the
right to vote not a nominated member who has no right tovote. We hope the
council will redress the situation.
CSE Should Be Aware
Since road construction is linked to infrastructural development which is
associated with improving living conditions in society, FOROYAA had deem
it fit to conduct interview with some of the original settlers of the Kanifing
administratve area with a view to enable the CSE and Department of State
for Works and Communication to have an indept view of how the land area on
which the high way under construction used to drain water during the rain, in
order to free the people of the area from floods water in their compounds and
their roads FOROYAA contacted Ebou Badjie, Alkalo of Tallinding who told
FOROYAA that when the first road was being constructed there was big
drainage dug on the west side of the road from Lamin bridge to the West field
Junction leading to the swamps of Old Jeshwang an, area called KAMALO;
that water from Tallinding travels through that canal down to West Field down
to KAMALO; that in the same canal towards Tabokoto end emptying itself
into the small stream between Tabokoto and Abuko leading east wards to
swamps; that part of the water from Livestock drains to the same stream
between Abuko and Tabokoto where the petrol station is; that from the other
end of Livestock that drains towards the Lamin stream, the water from the
east of the road easily found itself into the swamps; that a lot of natural water
ways are blocked by certain compounds towards the swamps. This
explanation has been supported by Modou Badjie commonly known as
Hoyaa whose family compound is claimed to be the last compound of
Tallinding towards the road junction of the Churchill's Town Shell petrol
station; that in those days Badjie Kunda had no compound on the east of it.
The third interviewee is Landing Jarju Alkalo of Ebo Town who gave an
account of how they were moved by the colonialist from the swamps to where
they are today.
The old man claimed that nature had created outlets for water in the area. He
claimed that even before that drainage canal on the west of the road after its
construction had two ways; that the first way was from the market area was
moving by the Sallah Kunda way meeting the one from Bartess leading to the
swamps by the now Babung Fatty Junction; that the other was from the
Serrekunda mosque end leading to the Super Bird and travelling to the
swamps. He claimed that in those days there were no compounds on that
part of the east of the road.
Landing further claimed that when the road linking Churchill's Town Shell
petrol filling station and West Field was constructed there was that canal
from Tallinding to the stream between Tabokoto and Abuko and to the Lamin
stream. He
claimed that at that time he used to be mason on convents in road
construction.
He further indicated that for the other part of Serrekunda, Dippakunda and
Bundung the water from ther east drained into the Bakoteh stream; that he
took part on the construction of the Bakoteh Bridge under the foremanship of
one Amadou Jallow. he said that the Lamin Bridge was constructed a year
earlier than the Bakoteh Bridge by Landing Kotoring Janneh and others. he
said later during the reign of PPP gutters were dug from Central Serrekunda
to the swamps of Kamalo and the other petrol station going to Tallinding
Primary School. He indicated that it stopped at the school; that it is now
blocked by some
compounds. He had called on the authorities in both the KMC and Central
government to consider widening and increasing the depth fom somewhere in
Talliinding on the West side of the road as was done previously. He called on
them to increase the size at the junction from where the water from
Tallinding, Serrekunda and Churchill's Town Shell filling station as the water
that converges there is too much to avoid over flowing of the gutters and
flooding the roads. He indicated that thegutter on the west of the high way
from Tabokoto Shell should be lined with concreteto Westield Junction; that if
that is done water will have easy flow from the communities avoiding
stagnatino of water in the area; that this would reduce the level of Malaria;
that on the east of the road there must be an access road for water on the
Babung Fatty road and the road after the Super Bird to the swamps.
Mr. Momodou Sallah said he can remember as one of the elders living in
Serekunda today who could give acount of how the water from Serrekunda
used to travel to the swamps to better back his accounts here in writting. He
claimed that when it comes to road construction interviews like this are very
important as before the draught the Gambia used to experience heavy
rainfall; that it is good that the state consider interviews like this as nobody
can determine nature; that a lot of areas having compounds during his early
ages were never thought by anybody that they would be compounds today.
He said to know the erosion of the area one has to know the topography
before the existence of new Jeshwang, Churchill's Town and their link to the
entire settlement in the KMC.
Has The President Assented To The Media Commission Bill
According to section 100 sub-section 3 of the constitution: Where a Bill
passed by the National Assembly is presented to the President for his or her
asset, the President shall, within thirty days, assent to the Bill or return it to
the National Assembly with the request " that the National Assembly
reconsiders the Bill; and if he or she requests the National Assembly to
reconsider the Bill, the President shall state the reasons for amendment of
the Bill.
The Media Commission Bill was passed on. There is a debate as to whether
the president will assent to it or send it back to the Comments to reconsider
its unconstitutional and draconian provisions.
The public is still waiting to access whether the regime does learn from
enlightened debates or not.
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