Political parties in Gambia since independence have been able to mobilise support especially during election years. But they command loyalty not as a result principally of ideological commitment but rather that of ethnic solidarity, patron-client relationships and personal loyalty.  Their internal organisation is largely undemocratic and where any form of administration exists, it is generally weak and ineffective. 

Liberal democracy and socialism, both based on systemic ideologies expressing particular social values have no real roots in Gambia. There is no real bourgeiosie to champion the cause of liberalism and democratic constitutionalism. Yet class consciousness is also so weak as to make  the identification of class enemies difficult. This is especially so in the country-side  where exploitation occurs not in production but in exchange.  There is simply no class of land-owners comparable to anything obtaining in say, Zimbabwe and many Latin-American countries. The trade unions are weak and divided and the workers' movement, unlike in Senegal, seems to  have condemned itself  from expressing political concerns.   

Whatever constitutes the left in Gambian politics has remained tiny,  ineffectual and hopelessly divided since the demise of Black Brotherhood and the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Foundation of the late 60s. The latter  collapsed under recriminations of treachery within its leadership, elements of which, while still operating from different platforms, only remember one another with caustic bitterness. Some were to resurface in PDOIS in the mid eighties, while others had already reappeared on the scene in MOJA in 1979, calling for the revolutionary overthrow of the Jawara regime. Yet other members of the Foundation simply became running bureaucrats of the Jawara regime, even as many others opted for exile in the United States. 

While PDOIS has remained active since 1985/86, MOJA has remained paralysed as a result of internal differences that emerged following Jawara's lifting of the ban in November 1992. These differences were still unresolved when in July 1994 the Jawara regime was overthrown. Needless to say, many of the members simply joined the Jammeh bandwagon, eventhough their organisation rejected coups as an alternative method of bringing about progressive social change. Added to the  reasons I gave earlier for the failure of the coup makers in delivering on their promises, is the fact that soldiers have a tendency to substitute themselves for the working class. 

       In societies where economic chaos, uncertainty and political disintegration threaten, the military usually ceases power not just because it believes itself to have the preponderance of armed force on its side. But largely because it always happens to be the best organised section of the population. Its regimen of discipline, robust chain of command, and tested professionalism ensures that it always posseses  the  organisational readiness to cease power and exercise it effectively. So in African countries where societal progress has not involved a strong tradition of orgnisation-building across ethnic and class lines and where traditional clan-based organisations failed to be conduits for political mobilisation,  the emergence of a power vacuum itself is tantamount to an invitation to soldiers to cease power.  

                                            THE CASE FOR A NON-PARTISAN ORGANZATION

Eventhough the 1996/97 elections ushered in civilian rule, the Jammeh regime is  quasi-military in character.  The July 22 Movement, as Kabir Njie wrote, was to be a reproduction of Gadaffi's  September 1 Movement. But Gambia, unlike Libya, is also a multi-party constitutional democracy, that elects a National Assembly comprising of representatives that the people "freely" elect. In short, oppositional politics is a fact of Gambian political life, and the APRC government can only be as legitimate as the degree of public consent its rule commands. But in a harsh economic climate, the killing and disappearance of Gambians amidst suspicions of cover-ups, permanent instability, and the heavy presence of the security forces in the daily lives of Gambians, widespread public resentments were simply forced underground.  The regime's waning popularity meant it can obtain legitimacy only through coercion and patronage. The July 22 Movement was an instrument for such coercion.  Jammeh himself bought instrumental allegiance by sending planeloads of influential people to the Hajj, in combination with an unpresidential display of largess.

With all these factors in mind, it appears to me that the only way for Gambians to break this cycle of abuse, to create a counter force against the adventurists designs of other coup plotters, to put an end to the vagaries of endemic corruption, to give  hope to the marginalised and give voice to the voiceless, to define concrete social values worth dying for, a non-partisan organisation of Gambians is necessary. Non-partisan because this kind of organisation should not pay allegiance to any kind of "mansa-president". It should remain independent while making a  critique of power minding only what it deems stands in the best interests of the nation at all times, inventing traditions and proferring a progressive cultural outlook. Because political parties cannot guarantee the freedom of Gambians whether or not they are in power, it will be the work of this organisation to see to it that dialogue with those in power is established and maintained at all times, criticising when necessary, and praising where praise is due. 
However, given our poor capacities to put words into action, such an organisation is best helped if it starts with a minimum program that immediately appeals to all Gambians. I have in mind the struggle for basic human rights. It is only when the government in power respects and works to observe the democratic rights of citizens, that a climate conducive to making steady progress in the economic and social well-being of the people becomes possible. Human Rights are just that basic.

Well, how ready are we? 

Here is a brief look at betrayed commitments:

ONE:
In early1995, about six months after the coup a group of Gambian intellectuals (let us not be scared of this word) based in the US (almost all of them Ph.D holders), made a pledge that they would from then on participate in national development. They wrote that they regretted their conspicous disengagement with Gambian issues during Jawara's reign. I am sure many of you may remember that apology. What they have done since then, I have no idea. The nation is now calling on them and all of us to listen to the grievances, concerns, and fears of the common people, articulate these concerns and transforming them into concrete action, imploring those in power to act accordingly. That should be the fumdamental role of intellectuals in any society. 

TWO:
A year or so ago, a Gambian lady by the name of Mam Betty Jallow who worked at the embassy in Washington D.C was dismissed from her work under circumstances which appeared to many on this list to be without merit. The issue over whether or not her dismissal was warranted generated a harsh and heated debate during which invectives were traded for a couple of weeks. It was finally accepted that those who wanted to pursue Mam Betty's case with an intention to accord her  some possible redress, pending that the termination of her services was unwarranted, should privately proceed and consult with the relevant Gambian authorities. It turned out that inspite of all the noise made in her favour, only two people linked up privately to attempt to consult with the SOS for External Affairs, Dr. Sedat Jobe.

THREE:
I think it began with a Top Ten from Mafy Jarjue, and then a second Top Ten from Ndey Jobarteh (aka The Struggle Continues). The former, extremely supportive of the Gambia government depicted everything in Gambia as just about excellent. As for the second Top Ten list everything in Gambia was just as bad, and getting worse. In between the two extremes, a huge gulf emerge in which Satan lived. Coupled with another hot Matarr Njie issue, Gambia-Lers knocked at each other mercilessly. No insults in our streetwise vocabularly were spared during the war of words. It went on until everybody got very sick. A herbal potion was invented and we called it National Reconciliation. Suggestions as to what could be done towards that end came in abundance, some from Katim, others from Alpha and many others. Abdoulie Saine's article was approved for distribution to the President and the press, calling for the setting up of a National Reconciliation Committee.   I later privately enquired from Dr. Saine,  Dr. Touray and Alpha Robinson on feedback on the suggestions. Except for the publication of an abridged version of Saine's article in New African, little else seems to have resulted from the high sounding proposals.

FOUR:
At about the same time, I enquired from Jabou Joh and Awa Sey on the state of health of the GESO (the Gambia Educational Support organization), an organization as politically neutral as any can be. Its basic aim is to help Gambian students in need of assistance and to also send educational materials (books, computers, etc) to needy schools. At the time I made my enquiry there were about 600 registered subscribers on Gambia-L. In its two-year existence, GESO membership was a pitiful 32!! - just 5% of the number of subscribers. So little is the practical consequences of so much patriotic cant.

I have been narrating these concrete experiences because I fear that we might make committments we may not be able to fulfil; and that would be tantamount to defiling the memories of all the victims of the April 2000 massacre. Ideas as to what is to be done may emerge from cyberspace. But action to unseat President Yahya Jammeh must of necessity be carried out in the streets in Gambia, even long  after he is gone. This will be so because there is nothing that says that the next President will be any better. Did we not all celebrate when Fafa finally fell?

We have a serious cultural problem, and we all know it. We cannot just burst into our history like a bunch of miffed periscope-eyed crustaceans that dart in and out of their holes as if to mock your human presence on their  beach. For far too long Gambians (and most Africans for that matter) have remained by-standers watching their future being stolen by lunatics who would just as readily subject moral ideas into service for their private passions. Gambians in Sweden would not get organised until the police threaten them with permanent humiliation. As if they suffer from some form of collective amnesia that temporarily makes them  forget they are black people! All of us will not do a thing until when after the blood of students set the wheels of change in motion. What right do we have for not decisively intervening in our own history? Is it not our own failure that allows others to draw the agenda for our lives, ironically now that we are experts in both how this world and the next are managed?  We seem to think that it is okay to engage with our reality only seasonally, as if we are all a frenzied bunch of peanut farmers.  If we want lasting change, then we have to change ourselves. Now.

There is a need for some kind of ideological commitment ; a commitment that is regenerative, that inspires, and that is fulfilling. I see no other alternative to the need to get organized. For the sake of our common weal.

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(This is not the first time I am putting forward the case for a national, non-partisan organisation on this list. I now see no reason why it should not be the last).



Before you go to bed tonight, think of this: There are nearly half a million Eritreans living outside their homeland. Their exodus has been occasioned by the 30-year war for Independence. They have a very strong sense of nationalism. Everyone of them earning a salary or living on welfare is obliged to pay 2% of their income directly to their government. This money goes to pay a large percentage of the salaries of public employees. They want to be economically independent and incur as little debt as possible from international lending institutions. 
The point I want to make here is that the Eritreans have looked into their reality and that of the world, and invented a fitting tradition for themselves. There is no reason in the world why we cannot invent one for ourselves.

"nJaaraama"!

Momodou S Sidibeh