The Courts Are the Highest _Expression of Politics


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The Independent (Banjul)

OPINION
May 24, 2004
Posted to the web May 25, 2004

Ousainou Mbenga
Banjul

Subsequent to the publication of the article "mercenary judges' plight Gambian judiciary", there has been a stir in the judiciary and it's quite apparent that we have pinched some nerves. Therefore, it would be highly unprincipled of us to not weigh in on this "debate" to clarify our position as we struggle to resolve the contradictions in our beloved country under the lawlessness of the Jammeh regime.

To our "windshield wipers" who flip-flop on every issue regarding politics in the Gambia, nobody advised us to write the article. Mr. Bory Touray had nothing to do with a single word in that article, I am solely responsible and all my comrades were in unity with the content of the article.
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Secondly, some people only read what interested them and jumped to conclusion that we made a broad generalization of all Nigerian judges.

Those who did not read the piece thoroughly should revisit the article and will find out for themselves, that we made an exception of one judge, who in our view took the correct and just position in the case.

Thirdly, why is the Gambia Bar Association held responsible for our actions? We are a legal and bona fide political party in defense of one of our members, Lamin Waa Juwara. In its capacity, we believe the Gambia Bar Association can handle its own contradiction to the benefit of "justice" in the Gambia. Our task is to resolve the political contradictions as they unfold.

We see no reason to retract a single word in the article, especially when our comrades are still in jail and when Jammeh still hauls insults, worse than "uttering seditious words" to every Gambian. Keeping Waa Juwara away from his family, friends and comrades is worse than the attack alleged by M.A. Paul. Furthermore, this is not between us and the Nigerian judges, it's more between us and the tyrannical neocolonial Jammeh regime within which these judges operate at the service of their client state.

We also want to reaffirm our unity in struggle with the vast majority of the Nigerian masses who continue to suffer from the consequences of military terror and greed.

As a political organization, our quest is not to engage in a diatribe with M.A.Paul or any other judge for that matter, instead our interest is to raise the social consciousness of the Gambian masses to a critical point of action in defense of our democratic rights. We want the masses to grasp the essence of the drama that is unfolding in our country in which the courts play a pivotal role.

In his "wait till eternity" unapologetic letter, M.A. Paul refers to lawyers as "officers in the temple of justice " and that "they help to mould the public opinion as to what justice is".

Well, our informed public opinion about justice in the Gambia is negatively framed by the common practice of "guilty until proven innocent" as oppose to "innocent until proven guilty". In fact the vast majority of Gambians equate the Jammeh regime with "injustice" and lawlessness. If any "law" exist in the Gambia it is "the law according to Jammeh" and anyone who opposes his tyranny goes "six feet deep" or to jail without a fair trial.

JAMMEH SETS GAMBIA UP FOR THE KILL

With his "Alhamdulilai Prospects" for oil still in incubation, Jammeh and his herd of sycophants are drooling at the mouth and secretly setting up the stage for the plunder of these resources with an iron fist of terror unprecedented in Gambian history. It is for these reasons that we expose the relationship between Jammeh and these particular judges in the courts, who historically always shield the "ruling class" from revolutionary changes. We must pay close attention to the politics of the Jammeh regime to avoid traveling the path that Nigeria and other African countries took after the discovery of the "black gold", OIL.

In his closing remarks, M.A.Paul said, " I must live up to my oath as an adjudicator in the affairs of men. No amount of blackmail can deter or distract me from upholding the highest ideals of this noble profession.

Politics must be kept out of the courts".

The contradiction in the above statement is our principle point of contention; "politics must be kept out of the courts".

In the first place, M.A.Paul and all the other judge's appointments are political appointments. They were appointed by the regime, particularly by Jammeh to defend, protect and entrench his reactionary political base. We must demolish this myth that the court system is "apolitical", especially that of the AFPRC-APRC regime.

Who indemnified the culprits of the April 10 and 11 2000 massacre of the students? Jammeh gave the authoritative order and the courts made it into a legal force. Who legalized all the decrees since these "tin soldiers" came to power? The courts! The Jammeh regime has literally been surviving on decrees as laws; the constitution in the Gambia is a joke. The courts in fact advise Jammeh on how to perfect his oppressive state apparatus. Jammeh thinks he owns the Gambia, therefore, he owns the judiciary. These decrees were not legalized in the church or in the mosque, but were enforced by the courts.

Another myth that must be demolished to heighten our social consciousness is the long held belief that reasoning and critical thinking is only within the reach of "intellectuals" and the "elite". A Victorian English poet once wrote about the masses that: "Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die". This myth is constantly being reinforced inside and outside the educational system to conceal these tools that enhance social practice and progress from the masses.

This is the primary reason why, even the impotent "African elite" warn students, civil servants, soldiers and the masses to "stay out of politics", yet they want you to cast your "votes" for them, the soldiers to protect their regimes and the "civil servants" to implement their ruinous policies. The fact is, everything is political, everyone should be political, the only way this damn world will change, especially our world of misery and painful impoverishment.

The escalating uncertainty of our happiness and prosperity under the Jammeh regime must be reversed under the leadership of a unified resistance. We must be willing to fight back for our democratic rights, attainable only through political struggle. We must begin to think and reason and not only to "do and die". The wretched social conditions in the Gambia are as a consequence of backward POLITICS.

Our comrade brother Landing Savaneh in Senegal said it best: "ku politicul nu politic kela", meaning, "if you are not into politics, they will play political games (poli-tricks) with your life". Our comrade brother Waa Juwara was also asked of his opinion on the matter of politics and the courts and he hit the nail smack on the head: "politics got me in jail, only politics can get me out of jail".
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Consider the ominous sentencing remarks of M.A.Paul and tell us whether he "kept politics out of the courts": "As a deterrent to would-be offenders, I hereby sentence him to six months imprisonment without the option of fine with right to appeal". It was on the basis of deterring any form of protest against the oppressive Jammeh regime that Waa Juwara was "politically convicted" to set an example for the rest of us "would-be offenders". But Jammeh and his whole oppressive machinery should take heed: " you can jail a revolutionary; a freedom fighter, you can even kill a revolutionary but you can't kill or jail the revolution". The imprisonment of Waa Juwara or any "would-be offender" only fuels the resistance and raise the political consciousness of the masses.

Meanwhile, the appeal process to grant Waa Juwara bail is in a slow progress in the appeal courts with all the suggestions of delaying tactics to ensure that Waa serves the entire six months sentence. We hope this will not be the case; the appeal courts should let justice prevail and restore the confidence of the Gambians in the judiciary.




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