Mr Loum, this might be a too late a response to do you any good, but i'll send
it anyway.  I personally don't believe in our country having a military, all i
know is that when we had the field force, the country was more peaceful.  On
the contrary though, not having a military will mean that neighboring
countries become an everyday threat to the sovereignty of the Gambia.

I believe that the only way we can resolve these two contrasting problems
(i.e. having a military increases the risk of coup attempts, and not having
one threatens the nation's sovereignty) is to educate the army enough to
realize their role in national government and state affairs (which is to
protect and serve), and not to misuse the resources they are empowered with.


Also civilian presidents should remember the reason why people voted for them,
which was to serve the interest of society.  A holder of a public place has no
power, but those that has been accorded to him by the public.  Even if you are
not honest (which is understandable, as the human is a greedy species),
showing little appreciation by improving the wealth of the nation, or even
keeping it at par, only serves a leaders interest (i.e. keeping him in power).
 But our leaders tend to forget that their leadership is not guaranteed,
rather , it depends on whether he has fulfilled the social contract the he
agreed upon to serve the interest of the public.

In conclusion, i would strongly suggest the maintenance of an army in the
Gambia, but our leaders should also realize that they need to deliver to the
people to maintain peace and stability, and by the word deliver, i mean the
improvement of the living standards of the general public.  If government is
unable to this, it has violated the social contract, meaning it should hand
over authority.  But today, if you asked a man to choose between power or
respect, almost always the answer will be the former.  But in any case power
is maintained if one wins the hearts of people and the respect of society,
which is what most leaders are unaware of (especially in 3rd world countries
today), hence the recurrence of political unrest in these countries, Gambia
being one of them.

I hope this makes sense to you because i realized that i have been rambling on
the issue, let me know how you feel about the issue yourself, and also any one
interested.  Thanks for taking your time to read this posting.

Respectfully
Moe Jagne
Class 01
Wabash College

Moe Jagne
I-House
9 Harry Freedman place
Wabash College
Crawfordsville IN 47933

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