Caught in the Act of Cronyism
The Independent (Banjul)
EDITORIAL
July 15, 2002
Posted to the web July 15, 2002
Banjul
Our National Assembly has been indicted and may be even unwittingly
betrayed by the only man a majority of its members have secretly sworn to
serve wily-nily. Jammeh's decision to refrain from giving his presidential
assent to the Media Commission Bill leaves the National Assembly
especially those who have come to assume something of a bootlicking role
for him nowhere to hide their faces. They have been defaced unmasked for
who they really are - wolves in sheep's clothing - vultures attired in dove
white, caught in the act of cronyism.
As confirmation of Jammeh's move reached us we could not forget that
forgettable day in May, when in the true nature of the partisan posturing of
the Assembly Jammeh's goons had argued lamely sometimes that the Bill
was a perfect document that would see to the establishment of a model
Media Commission to set the standards. Save for the few in the opposition
camp, who were more instructively and convincingly vocal in their detracting
stance than their political opposites were in blindly endorsing it, the majority
that mattered in the Assembly relished and hailed every sense of it as
wonderful to 'regulate' and 'improve' the standard of journalism. What an insult
to Gambian journalists who have a Union of credible and seasoned men and
women whose indefatigable drive to send Gambian journalism into a quantum
leap is undeniable.
Over-zealotry from Jammeh's obsequious cronies in the National Assembly
has come to naught - at least while the Bill is deftly handed back to them. It
is all unfolding like a class drama, showing an irate and flushed teacher,
giving disparagingly red marks to his grudge-faced pupils for a badly done
assignment. The only difference here is that nobody is learning anything,
although if the contrary should be the case it has to be the National
Assembly, which should be learning to differentiate between what should be
reserved as an APRC congress agenda and what should be above
partisanship. We could imagine the obvious embarrassment to APRC
members of the Assembly who have been caught in the worst kind of naked,
senseless, tactless, and pointless cronyism that even Jammeh has to ignore
this time, purportedly for something more prudent, more nationalistic in
complexion. Now the dejected majority of 'APRC for all seasons' are left to
rock their own abandoned boat - abandoned albeit temporarily by Jammeh.
The power of numbers may tell in the Assembly but it is the power of ideas
and unadulterated reasoning that is more blessed. Why can't they see that
the Bill is harbouring some obnoxious provisions that would eventually kill
journalism the way it is practised around the world? The only reason is that
there is a mad rush in the corridors of the Assembly to please Jammeh and
be his 'yes man' regardless of how this pans out for the collective interest.
'This Bill was designed in the spirit of reconciliation and friendship with the
press' an APRC member of the Assembly had enthused in a typical antic of
over-zealousness. But the truth is that the extreme contrary will result if we
become a nation of complainants, not before the courts but before the
Commission, which would have non-journalists sitting in it. Clearly its drafters
and its myopic proponents in the National Assembly are guilty of either blithe
disregard or blatant ignorance of the need for journalists to breathe freedom
freely as the air to nourish our democracy and give it a clean bill of health.
By now the 'yes man and women' in the National Assembly should be
learning that to be APRC FUNDAMENTALISTS they should be prepared to
face more embarrassing situations like this after cow-towing and crawling
under one man and his whims, leaving the nation's interest a casualty of their
own inability to see beyond their nose. Jammeh's decision is a statement, a
clear message that nobody should interpret for our Assembly members. They
should know by now where their gaze should be - on the nation's interest and
not on anything resembling one man, especially if that man's next move is
unpredictable as a motion in the dark.
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