Mr Jagne,
Thank you very much for your perspectives on the
military in The Gambia. I agree with you that good
governance, is the key to safeguarding stable
democratic institutions. At the same time, military
professionalism is also important. I think that a
fundamental problem for many African regimes is that
once they are in power, they become complacent. As a
result, because the only other strong institutions
around is the military, it can easily intervene.
I will keep you posted on the progress of my work.
greetings,
Momodou Lamin Loum.
--- jagnem <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 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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