Culled from The Independent. The Political Comeback of the Gambia's Old Order The Independent (Banjul) COLUMN November 9, 2001 Posted to the web November 9, 2001 Alhaji/Serekunda Banjul, the Gambia Further to the unbaning of politicians of the old order, many of them resumed political activity with the hope of making a comeback not only to unseat the ruling APRC but more importantly, to re-gain their 'supreme status' over the Gambian people. The obvious question to ask is, do these people have anything to offer to the Gambian people? Have they shown remorse for their wrongs during their tenure in office? And why in particular, the PPP stalwarts insisted on Sir Dawda's coming once again, as their Secretary General and Party Leader? Many pronouncements have been made by some old guards of the PPP in particular, Omar Jallow - OJ for short, in favour of the 'comeback old', Sir Dawda. However, what the old order failed to realize is that the political landscape in The Gambia has changed and no one including the APRC can be assured of long-term broad-base support. Yes, there will always be mainstream allies and supporters or militants but the critical mass to determine who rules Gambia is not the block of mainstream party supporters or militants, could significantly exert on the electorate. This is what perhaps the old order believe is on their side but in reality, most Gambians have made up their mind that the PPP is a no return cause and Sir Dawda and his 'boys' should simply think of how to serve the country in another capacity. OJ in defense of Sir Dawda OJ attempted to defend the return of Jawara by branding him as clean and uncorrupt. A classic example he gave was that Jawara's Garden at Banjulinding, a property he acquired legally was confiscated. Yes Jawara had a Garden in Banjulinding ages ago but his mistake perhaps was, to mix decency with greed. What could now be considered 'Jawara's garden' in Banjulinding is in two parts, divided by a lane that runs into the Police Training School located in that area of Banjulinding. As you drive into this particular lane from the Serekunda-Brikama road, the part of 'Jawara's garden' on the left is certainly state land that was used by the erstwhile Department of Agriculture for research or experimentation on field crops. It is unfortunate that OJ as former Agriculture Minister and the last before the 1994 military coup could not either establish this fact choosing misinformation to deceive the electorate. This is not surprising because OJ has never been a serious Minister in Office and only bulldozed his way by talking loud and not delivering. I have no intention to go this far but if certain people insist on misleading and misinforming the population, then some of us will certainly reply at the right moment. OJ also castigated Jammeh's human rights record, but forgot what Jawara's regime did to innocent rural dwellers following the 1981 coup. To date, you can find innocent poor people in the rural areas who have been physically disabled to varying degrees as a result of PPP ill-treatment of suspects of the foiled 1981 coup. OJ should know that human rights issues have gone beyond physical attacks, maiming and killing of the weak and opponents, but of equal importance is the right of access to development and better improved livelihood. During your rhetoric, you still seem to insist on the old generation of human rights concept but hardly do you talk about fresh issues of the new generation in addition to the old. Why and when I turned my back on the PPP, was the time I saw parents burdened with the task of making tables and chairs for their kids to take to school and they would also have to take them home to keep in the duration of long holidays. This is an equally important human rights violation. Jawara faithfuls would do better to remember, that that erstwhile administration did not build the many schools the APRC built. Parents were made to built them through 'Tesito' which was a cornerstone of the then political dispensation. No schools no furniture for the school children. Comparing Sir Dawda and Jammeh Again, I will not attempt to compare Sir Dawda and Jammeh on their national development output as no one in his right mind will compare the two in this regard. Rather it would be teasing out the key moral differences - corruption, between the two. It is strongly alleged in some quarters that Jammeh is enriching himself, perhaps faster than Sir Dawda did over time. To my mind, this confirms that Jawara is thus not the alternative 'comeback old'. If it is proven that Jammeh is corrupt, his corruption is still better than Jawara's, although corruption in any form or type is immoral and socially unjust. The difference between the two allegedly corrupt Jawara and Jammeh is that the latter for now took no state land albeit his alleged involvement in a family land dispute in Bwiam. Another difference is that Jammeh unlike Jawara shares part of his alleged corrupt wealth with the poor and the needy. Giving direct assistance to the poor is morally acceptable. To my mind, if we are talking of a clean and incorruptible dispensation now this only applies to people like Sidia Jatta, Halifa Sallah and Sam Sarr. These are the people who sacrificed for The Gambia on the political front, by way of resigning from their jobs or losing them because they dared to become more vocal. Their political ideology is however an impediment to their potentials as Gambian politicians. Sheriff Dibba on the other hand, could be a reliable candidate if it were not for at times, his strong sentiments. Sheriff Dibba's miscalculation It is surprising that Sheriff Dibba a highly experienced politician is admitting what was widely believed; that he urged his militants or supporters to support the UDP under Ousainou Darboe. Ousainou's betrayal of him should not have surprised him if he had done his homework well. It was quite obvious to all objectively minded people that Ousainou was a flag bearer of the PPP. All the signs were there, that is, the active proponents at home and abroad of the UDP. Dibba should certainly have known that he shall never be endorsed by people who run the UDP behind the scenes. Perhaps again, he was carried by sentiments, considering that Ousainou defended him in the 1981 treason trial. But Mr. Dibba should remember that Ousainou did this for money off his back in prison!!! If he can recall, The Gambia Bar Association was not as vocal during the 1981 coup as some of their members did in the Second Republic. Again, the answer is simple. Some of these lawyers saw the opportunity to make their bucks! Hundreds of people were in detention and would certainly need costly legal aid or representation! Unfortunately for Mr. Dibba, time ran out for him. I suggest that he consider giving his service to the current administration. He has a lot to offer and working with the current administration could improve some of the way and manner in which they operate. There is no perfect system anywhere and there will never be one, except in Allah's Kingdom. If Dibba should ever accept to participate in nation-building at the apex, then he must have an open mind. It takes time to change a system especially in politics where there are a lot of interest groups. This is not peculiar to The Gambia. This is equally true in advanced democracies. Advise to President Jammeh Jammeh should be patient and learn to ignore those who are bent on distracting him from his work of statecraft. Remember, some of his detractors are 'specialists' in this area. They've learnt to cause trouble since secondary school days. They will remain just so within the civil service. Jammeh has a monumental task ahead and it is not going to be easy. The world economy is full of uncertainties and it will not be easy, considering that his disagreement with the West on a number of issues, which in some cases are quite justifiable. But the reality is that as a lone president Jammeh cannot change some of the things he would have liked. He needs the support of his colleagues to get his agenda through. This is a huge task considering that many of his colleagues also have their agenda, which are different from his own. What is important, although morally incorrect, is for him to secure his country's interest and get things done. On the relationship of the security agents as well as party militants with the public especially political opponents, once again, maximum restraint should be applied. Remember, the APRC is the ruling party and most of the burden is upon it to prove that they are justified to rule this country. The opposition is generally seen as a victim of ruling party aggression. This is a problem of perception, which should not be ignored. Please note that this is not necessarily the true picture but unfortunately. I agree that the NIA have a greatly important role to play in matters of state security but they must demonstrate optimal wisdom in their operations. True, we do not have security cameras pitched up our streets as in the West but have people who could do such security work in a nice way. In The Gambia, most people who worry about the NIA know these people unlike for instance in the UK, where until fairly recently even the MPs do not know the head of one of their intelligence service (M ). A couple of years ago, she was shown on television as a result of pressure from British MPs, but who knows how true the effort of the UK Government was in response to political pressure. So you have an edge here provided your security agents track their suspects with tact and respect. In this way, their professionalism would be appreciated. On development and progress of The Gambia, I believe you are on course. Jammeh has good intentions for the country attested to by very ambitious projects, But he must be careful not to be on a spending spree. I personally do not mind the borrowing of money to build the country provided that project funds are not mismanaged. The challenge to the diplomatic community The diplomatic community in The Gambia is the 'eye' of their respective countries and as such should be fair in some of the pronouncements they make. Western Diplomats in particular, EU's Mark Andre is well known to be on the forefront of the human rights and corruption problems in The Gambia. Although he and his colleagues including a Gambian Human rights lawyer at the Human Rights Commission in Banjul justifiably condemned the April 10 2000 killing of students and advocated for some form of justice, they are never heard talking in terms of bringing Jawara and his cohorts to book for the torture and death of victims of the 1981 coup, many of whom were innocent rural dwellers. If the West is still pursuing cases of atrocities committed during the Second World War, I see no reason why they should not advocate for justice for crimes committed by the Jawara regime some twenty years ago if their strong and outright damnation of Jammeh's atrocities are to be taken seriously. In the same vein, I call on Ousainou, the PPP/UDP flag bearer to make his position clear on this issue should he ever become a Gambian President. I am convinced many Gambians are prepared to forgive in line with our strong traditional and religious (Muslim & Christian) teachings, but the problem persists when it becomes common knowledge that those advocating for justice are not even-handed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>