> Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 21:30:45 -0500
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: [G_L] A REVIEW OF JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE by HASSAN B JALLOW
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Thank you Brothers, sounds to me the debate is getting us somewhere.
> PEACE
> and all the best in the new year.
>
> Farang.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lamin Darbo <[log in to unmask]>
> To: GAMBIA-L <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wed, Jan 2, 2013 5:32 pm
> Subject: Fw: Fw: [G_L] A REVIEW OF JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE by HASSAN B
> JALLOW
>
> ----- Forwarded Message -----
> From: Abou Jeng &lt;[log in to unmask]&gt;
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Wednesday, 2 January 2013, 15:08
> Subject: Re: Fw: [G_L] A REVIEW OF JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE by HASSAN B
> JALLOW
>
>
> Lamin,
>  
> Season's Greetings!
>  
> Thank you ever so much for your continued interest in the search for
> answers to our miserable national predicament. Your review of Alhaji
> Hassan's Journey for Justice is a testament of your commitment.
>  
> Your analyses raise a number of questions that I privately battled with
> especially in relation to my on-going enquiry into the origin of our
> national troubles and prospects for the future. I share your reading of
> both Kairaba and Journey for Justice within the context of a dominant
> PPP and the dysfunctionality it symbolised. Although I am yet to
> complete reading Alhaji Hassan's book, I'm beginning to convince myself
> that beyond the reservoir of information, both his and that of Jawara's
> Kairaba are ironically indictments of the scale of naivety of the PPP
> leadership and the dysfunctionality of its governance structures. The
> PPP had 30 years to rule, govern, stumble, rectify and change Gambia
> for good. It ruled and stumbled many times, but never rectified and
> probably changed very little or nothing at all. I remain disappointed
> though, that neither Jawara nor Alhaji Hassan has gone any nearer to
> taking responsibility for presiding over a process and a regime that
> actively suppressed national ambitions, devalued individual autonomy,
> and slowly and painfully steered our country into a big fat mess that
> came in July 22, 1994. Often, we are told that Jawara and the PPP
> brought peace, promoted human rights and allowed Gambia to be both free
> and safe. Well this may be true, but only in relation to a margin of
> 12% of the elitist population -- the chosen few. For the neglected
> majority, Gambia was far from peaceful, let alone free and safe.
>  
> True, there was peace without violence, but social and structural
> violence were steeped in Gambian society. Though less visible than
> direct physical violence, the type of social and structural violence
> that operated during the PPP held our country captive, deprived people
> the basic means of livelihoods, denied individuals the ability and joy
> to dream about their futures, forced families -- particularly rural
> folks -- to resign to a condition of 'harr yalla or mbey Allah batula,'
> consolidated falsities in our national and social relations, distorted
> the capacity and potential of the country, promoted laziness in minds
> and deeds, and above all, implanted a hopeless sense of existence. For
> instance, what was peace when over 60% of children and teen-agers had
> to walk for miles to get to the nearest school? What was peace when 88%
> of the population was impoverished and neglected? What was peace when
> there was no equality of life chances -- where the talented majority
> from impoverished social backgrounds were forced to have their dreams
> crushed or at best sought comfort in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for
> Godot, while the generally talent-starved few grabbed all facilities
> and privileges? What was peace when a majority of the population was
> less likely to celebrate their 55th birthdays? What was peace when 80%
> of the population had no access to basic health care, clean
> water and more likely to die from a mosquito bite than a teen-ager in
> London would from a knife attack? What was peace when the majority of
> the roads were virtually impassable? What was peace when the prospect
> for a better life was extinguished at birth? What was peace when the
> people in the coastal towns of Tanjeh, Gunjur, Brufut etc had no
> meaningful commercial benefit from fish stocks? To my mind, part of the
> problem seems to be that the PPP was more interested in ruling than
> governing. Yet both Jawara's and Alhaji Hassan's books give a
> romanticised -- and in some ways nostalgic -- impression of a party
> political system that was good at governing and proud of ruling.
>  
> But for me though -- and this is where I tend to differ from many
> people -- the dysfunctionality of the PPP era is at the centre of our
> present national crises and dilemmas. No matter how distant the PPP
> days seem now, the APRC's crises of governance are fundamentally linked
> to the dysfunctional PPP and the criminally-under-ambitious collective
> psyche of Jawara and his cabinet. So to better understand why Jammeh
> violates Gambians, it is important to understand what the PPP did or
> did not do. Let me elaborate. One of the primary functions of
> a Government is to maintain law and order as well as provide the
> platforms and resources from which people can pursue their dreams and
> shape their destinies. An important part of this for post-independence
> nation-states is the conception and consolidation of a national
> narrative and identity. This provides the reference point upon which
> the mechanics of a future can be outlined, one that allows people to
> negotiate their spaces for freedom, individual personalities, family
> structures etc. Neither the PPP as a dominant political entity nor
> Jawara as a larger-than-life President came any closer to shaping a
> national identity or narrative. Such a flaw in the PPP's leadership and
> governance culture meant that Gambians had to fall back to a localised
> cultural set up whose philosophical underpinnings -- muunge and maslaha
> -- were and remain deeply disempowering. And history is replete with
> examples to suggest that when individuals in society are not at ease
> with themselves or do not have a formidable reference point to align
> their daily struggles, aspirations and futures, they would ultimately
> remain culturally shackled, politically
> unfree, normatively dysfunctional and collectively resigned to whatever
> tragedy that befalls them. This will only change when dreams become
> ordinary. 
>  
> The omission of a national narrative or identity for Gambia
> becomes even more serious when you compare with our Senegalese cousins.
> When Senghor came to power, he set out as one of his first priorities,
> to formulate a narrative for Senegal and an identity for the
> Senegalese. The former took the shape of building a Senegal that:
> (1) took pride in itself; (2) desirous to be innovative and
> enterprising; (3) open and free. For the individual Senegalese, Senghor
> implanted: (1) spirited discipline -- 'fasjom'; (2) hard work --
> 'dandolleh'; (3) duty of care -- 'terral ak terraleh'. When combined,
> the national narrative of Senegal and the identity of the
> Senegalese provided reference points for the people and the country to
> negotiate what they wanted and how they were to achieve these. This is
> why every Senegalese tends to behave and act like any other Senegalese
> (hardworking, open, free, and articulate, as well as proud of being
> Senegalese) partly because they share a sense of purpose, direction and
> ambition. Gambians had no such leadership and philosophical
> offering post-independence. Jawara governed as if he was operating a
> Kebab shop. There was also no sense of urgency, purpose or
> direction (one newspaper advert carried a press release from Jawara's
> office in 1967: 'Could the person who left reading glasses in the Prime
> Minister's Office please go and collect them'). The pace of life was
> slow and both the leadership and the people had this grand illusion
> that God loves Gambians more than any other. When bad governance and an
> impoverished political imagining arose in the late 70s and early 80s,
> the best the PPP came up with was the mantra of 'Tesito'. Of course
> this was an ill-conceived throw-back at the scale of austerity in the
> wake of social and economic destabilisation. And so to this day, nobody
> knows what Gambia's identity or national narrative is. Jawara may say
> 'Friendship With The World'. But that sounds more like the opening note
> of a bad karaoke song than a national narrative. Some may say what's
> the fuss? Well the fuss is unless we have an identifiable national
> narrative and identity we will continue to live in falsehood. And it is
> our falsehood that makes us culturally shackled, politically unfree,
> normatively dysfunctional and collectively resigned to whatever tragedy
> that comes our way.
>  
> So, it is good that you have, Lamin, raised questions and alarm bells
> from both Kairaba and Journey for Justice especially in the nature of
> the dysfunctionality and lack of vision of the PPP. With all the
> disagreements I have with Halifa as regards our current constitutional
> setting, I think he was very instrumental in exposing the falsities
> that dogged the PPP and the hopeless direction of our country under
> Jawara particularly at the beginning of the 1980s onwards. The price
> Halifa and his colleagues paid was the barrage of an increasingly
> dismissive Jawara who painted Foroyaa as an instrument for mischief
> rather than an outlet engaging important national
> issues. Unfortunately, there seems to be attempts to gloss-over the
> catalogues of sins under the PPP in both Kairaba and Journey for
> Justice. Increasingly also, BB Darboe has been doing the rounds with
> the online outlets, telling people how great times were under the PPP
> and how much great was still ahead of Gambia. Well he has a point.
> Times were great for the chosen few, but utterly miserable for the
> neglected majority. And when it was put to him that corruption was
> rife, BB became tetchy, angry and even raised his voice to lecture the
> interviewer on the ethics of journalism. Like Jawara and Alhaji Hassan,
> BB is also yet to take responsibility for our national mess. But the
> denial seems even broader and can sometimes be very proximate. I have
> uncles and cousins, aunties and neighbours who served in the highest
> echelons of the PPP regime. My grandpa too was very close to Jawara and
> served as a Chief from 1952 upto his death in 1985. All of them saw the
> PPP as the regime that made Gambia a Shangri-La. Fanciful! Fortunately,
> the history they are attempting to re-write is not so distant a
> history. Some do remember and many lived through it. It was far from
> pleasant. It is also unfortunate that the resurgence of these PPP
> ayatollahs are coming at a time when Gambia is vulnerable and its
> people going through a painful process of soul-searching. But I only
> hope that people do not start to visualise the PPP with nostalgia
> or possible alternative however imaginary. Informative as these
> books are, history won't be so kind to the PPP irrespective of how bad
> the APRC messes up. The PPP and its leadership were good at ruling but
> miserable with governance. They remain a fundamental part of our
> on-going national problems. For a disgruntled me, I just want someone
> to say sorry and leave us alone!
>  
> Many thanks once again, Lamin.
>  
> With warm regards,
>  
> Abou
>  
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ------------------------------------------------
>  
>  
>  
>        
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 7:09 AM, Lamin Darbo
> &lt;[log in to unmask]&gt; wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>                            Book Title:      Journey for Justice,
> 632pages, AuthorHouse
>       
>                             Author:       Hassan B Jallow
>  
>  
>  
>                       Review by LaminJ Darbo
>  
> Rather poignantly, Journeyfor Justice commenced at the end of Hassan B
> Jallow’s (Hassan) all-lifecareer as a Law Officer, specifically as
> Chief Law Officer in his capacity asAttorney General and Minister of
> Justice. That this magisterial work also closedwith the overthrow of
> the PPP government underscores the significance of theseismic event
> that was 22 July 1994.
>
>
> From chapter one, “July 1994 – Coup D’etat”, the reader isconfronted
> with the question of PPP’s fitness to preside over Gambian public
> affairsIn the main, and in so far as the coup d’etat, those questions
> centre on who, withingovernment, knew what about the events culminating
> in the by then predictableintervention of the military in Gambian
> governance.
>
>
> Occupying the middleten years separating independence to 1984 and 1994
> to 2012 – the publicationyear of Journey for Justice - therecord
> suggests that Hassan’s tenure as Chief Law Officer easily makes him
> themost productive and distinguished Attorney General so far. There is
> nothing per se magical about the years inquestion, only that Hassan’s
> president had the good judgement to leave him inpost for a decade, and
> he himself the ability and vision to productively engagewith his
> responsibilities. Herein the significance of Journey for Justice as
> avital perspective on a contentious period in Gambia’s public life.
>
>
> From the onset, therelurks in the background the disturbing issue of a
> government so divided, and,or, incompetent, as to prove incapable - on
> any objective analysis - ofadequately protecting national security.
> There was the controversial issue ofHassan’s assignment by then Vice
> President, Saihou Sabally (Sabally), to meet thePresident, Sir Dawda
> Jawara (President Jawara) at the airport on return fromoverseas.
>
>
> Inextricably linked tothis assignment was the unsettled question of
> what Sabally, and Hassan, knewabout the political thunderstorm that was
> to hit their government on 22 July.Sabally skipped the airport meeting
> on the excuse he had “to go to Farafeni toattend the funeral of a
> relative” p.17. Inexplicably, Sabally spent that very nightof 21 July
> in Banjul and was in his office at the State House quite early
> thefateful next day. “It is now established that Saihou Sabally was
> back in Banjulthat night, or early morning and in his office in the
> morning of July 22nd1994” p.17. Why was Sabally’s movement specifically
> red-flagged when Hassanneglected to offer an explicit view on the
> question?
>
>
> On his part, and thisaccording to President Jawara in his
> autobiography, Kairaba, Hassan brokeaway from the presidential convoy
> without explanation. He neither briefed his Presidentabout the state of
> affairs in the country, nor followed his convoy to StateHouse. And even
> whereas Hassan dealt with the briefing issue, he avoided thecritical
> protocol oversight of abandoning the presidential convoy as it headedto
> the island of Banjul, that potential trap in times of public
> uncertainty andconflict.
>
>
> In the chaotic earlymoments of military intervention in Gambian public
> life, some ministers admittedhearing inklings of something akin to 22
> July a whole two weeks prior. Ratherextraordinarily, others heard
> nothing! Even when the noose was tighteningaround Banjul, the boss of
> the National Security Service was assuring Cabinet ministersall was
> well. In Kairaba, Sir Dawda claimed he was unaware of the presence
> ofthe American naval vessel, US La Moore County in Gambian territory.
> He pointedthe finger of suspicion at Sabally! However viewed, this was
> quiteextraordinary, and the evidence, admittedly circumstantial,
> appears to suggestthe PPP Government was actively self-canibalising in
> its sunset months, weeks,and days!
>
>
> And so it happened thatministers in the country, along with some
> security chiefs, were held captivecommencing that fateful day when a
> thirty year government spectacularlycollapsed like a house of cards.
> President Jawara and other senior figures wereafloat on national waters
> headed for lands beyond our shores. What aninglorious, and some may
> say, fitting end, to three decades of a generally do-nothingand
> tremendously corrupt government. It was in this climate that the
> AFPRC’s irreverentSana Bairo Sabally, if only briefly, set to work
> traumatising former ministersand the unlucky that crossed his path.
>
>
> In Chapter two, “Early Years”, Hassan dealt with hisBansang beginnings
> through high schools at Saint Augustine’s, and Gambia High,in Banjul,
> and to Tanzania to “read for the LL.B. degree at the University
> ofDar-Es-Salaam” in 1973 p. 42, from where he graduated “with an LL.B
> (FirstClass Honours Degree)” in May 1976. His educational journeys
> continued throughthe Nigerian Law School in Lagos in October 1976 from
> where he “passed the Barfinals” in May 1977 p. 47. In September 1978,
> Hassan entered the UK on aBritish Council scholarship to study “for the
> Master of Laws Course atUniversity College London” p. 58, returning
> “exactly a year to the day” he leftBanjul, and having specialised in
> public international law. At the tender ageof 28, Hassan graduated from
> rural childhood in Bansang, high school and urbanchildhood in Banjul,
> and higher education at institutions in the great andexciting cities of
> Dar-Es-Salaam, Lagos, and London. His permanent career wasto commence
> and end at the AG’s Chambers where he worked since 1976.
>
>
> In Journey for Justice, Hassan discussed the African (Banjul) Charteron
> Human and Peoples Rights and its interface with OAU politics (chapter
> 3),and dealt with The Special Criminal Court Act 1979, at chapter 4.
> Chapter 5 dealtwith Kukoi and his 30 July 1981 incident, and chapter 6
> dilated on the politicallyexpedient Senegambia Confederation. In
> chapter 7, Hassan became SolicitorGeneral, and entered the big league
> as Attorney General and Minister of Justicein chapter 8. As Chief Law
> Officer, Hassan embarked on systematic reform of law(chapter 9), and
> did what he could to enhance operations in the chronically
> inefficientGambian judicial system (chapter 10).
>
>
> In chapter 11, Integrity in Public Life, Hassan extensivelydiscussed
> the single issue that ultimately sunk the PPP, i.e., rampantcorruption.
> Chapter 12 dealt with governance and not only undertook a
> comparativeanalysis of the 1970 and 1997 constitutions, but lauded the
> democraticcredentials of President Jawara and the PPP, and in chapter
> 13, Hassan discussedhis “Early Political Duties” as amember of the
> Cabinet. Chapter 14 dealt with overall party political tapestryand
> elections, and in chapter 15, he tackled the famous and watershed Fifth
> PPP National Congress at Mansakonko,and chapter 16 dealt with his
> Government’s last general elections in 1992.Chapter 17 dealt with the
> gathering storm that already undermined the castle ofsand that was the
> PPP Government as its incompetent hubris was about to catchup with
> destiny. As earlier mentioned, Journeyfor Justice ended, at chapter 18,
> with “1994Coup D’etat – Postcript”.
>  
> Viewed in the round, Journey for Justice is an excellent bookespecially
> in terms of the sheer volume of cogent factual information. From
> apurely intellectual perspective, the analysis equally passes muster,
> but here thereader must remain alert to Hassan’s understandable
> partiality. In the face ofoverwhelming evidence of runaway corruption,
> Hassan consistently questions thevalidity of any such contention.
> Indeed, the Bishop of Banjul, the Rt ReverendMichael Cleary, attacked
> “bribery”, “corruption”, “greed” and “an appallinglack of
> accountability ... fast taking root in the country” p594-6. In
> hiswords, there were “disturbing signs that the good name which the
> country hasfor upholding justice is being rapidly eroded. Hardly a week
> passed by withoutreports of a financial scandal in government,
> parastatal bodies or businesscircles”. 
>  
> Outside PPP circles, BishopCleary’s view was the consensus in the
> country.  and the evidence supporting it wasoverwhelming. But Hassan
> thought otherwise. “As a lawyer when I spoke ofcorruption I did so in a
> technical legal sense which is different from the offencesof theft or
> embezzlement of public funds and property”. p597. He continued:
>           
> Iam mindful that the opposition NCP and others made much noise about
> corruption
> andits rising levels. But when challenged to identify specific cases to
> the policeor
> theAttorney General they were noticeably short of any concrete
> information. One
> developedthe impression that the opposition, in order to discredit the
> Government,
> merelylatched onto this popular anti-corruption slogan p.597-8
>  
> Contrary to Hassan’scontention elsewhere in Journey forJustice, it is
> irrelevant whether Government leadership was involved incorruption or
> not. Indeed, there was evidence of leadership-level corruptionyears
> before 1994, including in the Sanna Manneh saga. In any case,
> theGovernment had oversight responsibility for the public purse! There
> wascompelling evidence that Hassan’s government had no serious
> commitment to rootingout corruption.
>
>
> For example, when theAsset Evaluation Commission was launched by Fafa
> Mbai as Attorney General, hewas hounded out of Cabinet and himself
> dragged before the Commission. Accordingto Hassan, of the complaints
> lodged with the Commission, only Fafa’s came fromthe State House. “I
> believe all the complaints submitted to the Commissionerother than the
> one in respect of Fafa, which was forwarded by the office of
> thepresident, were filed by two individuals whose identity eventually
> became amatter of public knowledge in Banjul. With the result that they
> became theobject of private criminal prosecutions. And great dislike”
> p.300..  The two were charged with the now viral offenceof “giving
> false information to a public servant”, a PPP-era law!
>
>
> Who lodged Fafa’s file withthe President’s Office and why were two
> citizens prosecuted for doing the biddingof the Commission within its
> established operational framework? This was aperverse abuse of the
> Commission framework which was based on information fromthe public.  It
> stands to reason thatmembers of the public who volunteered information
> must be protected and asAttorney General, Hassan was duty bound to
> block the malicious privateprosecutions via the agency of the police
> power of the state.
>
>
> In explaining why thescheme was ultimately scrapped, he had this to
> say: “As time went on theCommission began to be faced with a
> credibility problem as the society, rightlyor wrongly, began to
> perceive the exercise as being manipulated and used as apolitical
> weapon targeted principally against the urban elite of a
> particularethnic group”. p. 300 Hassan offers no personal thoughts on
> this allegation ofwitch hunting but there was no question it was
> founded on utter fabrication.The victim “urban elite of a particular
> ethnic group” controlled the governmentand masterminded the sacking and
> subsequent humiliation of Fafa.
>
>
> Regardless of Hassan’sperspective, the PPP era was inseparable from the
> widespread corruption thattook such firm root in the country that
> ill-gotten gain was flaunted as thenorm. When the Special Criminal
> Court Bill was tabled in Parliament in 1979,then Attorney General M L
> Saho stated: “It is not alarming to say that thiscountry will be
> destroyed if this cancer is not arrested now. Me make noapologies for
> this Bill ... No stone would be left unturned in the fight toprotect
> the interest of the public from the rapacious mafia withinour society”
> p. 298. In 1980, “one Member of Parliament expressed the view thatmore
> stringent measures such as hand amputation ought to beintroduced” to
> stem the tide of runaway corruption. “A Parliamentary
> Secretary,addressing Government accounting personnel, was reported by
> the Gambia NewsBulletin of 10th July, 1980 to have suggested the
> firingsquad for embezzlers” p. 298.
>
>
> It was in this climateof mass disaffection with a do-nothing government
> that Kukoi emerged in 1981,and in which Fafa M’bai, Attorney General in
> 1982, shepherded the Evaluation ofAssets and Prevention of Corrupt
> Practices Bill” which “came into force on the31st of December 1982 as
> Act No. 17 of 1982” p.298. We know whathappened to Fafa and his Act
> when the “rapaciousmafia” went to work on him.  It is noteven
> persuasive to contend that the “society” perceived “the exercise as
> beingmanipulated and used as a political weapon targeted principally
> against theurban elite of a particular ethnic group”. It was clearly a
> case of jaalo singo bey forango kang and this particulardevelopment was
> an utter stain on PPP’s willingness and, or, ability toeffectively
> discharge its responsibilities as overall manager of our public purse.
>
>
> Aside the PPPGovernment’s principal and ultimately fatal albatross of
> runaway corruption, therewere other instances of illiberal conduct that
> continue to negatively impactGambian public life some two decades after
> its demise.
>
>
> As Attorney General,Hassan embarked on extensive and useful law reform
> (see chapter 9 generally)but also came across as a man wedded to the
> law and order school, as someonewith a conservative philosophy of
> justice. It was ill-advised of the Governmentto sanction the “private
> prosecution” of the two individuals who providedinformation to the
> Commission regarding certain corrupt individuals. They appearto have
> acted within the framework established by the Government. And what
> wasthe charge? The now notorious offence of “giving false information
> to a public servant”that Professor Jammeh’s APRC government is
> utilising with reckless abandon againstthe innocent (see p 299). 
>
>
> There was also thesmall matter of Sana Manneh’s prosecution on
> allegations of criminallibel for fingering four ministers as corrupt.
> “I felt that this libelwas not an entirely private affair with the
> victims being left to instituteprivate legal proceedings to defend
> their integrity. They had been libelled intheir official capacity and
> it would be unfair to leave them on their own. Idecided to institute a
> case of criminal libel...” see p. 302-10 generally. Soundsfamiliar?
> Absolutely! Criminal libel/defamation is now apotent weapon against the
> journalism profession. Ala Hassan, Sana Mannehultimately won “on a
> technicality”. What is law without its “technical”baggage! As we say,
> process is everything!
>
>
> In the legislativedomain, there was the treason regime that excluded
> the overt act requirementand introduced the elastic conspiracy element
> thus creating vast room forabuse. “Thus it was that on the 26th of
> March, 1986 I moved theHouse for a second reading ... There was no
> debate on the Bill, I supposethe members were satisfied by my
> explanation of its contents. It wentthrough Committee stage and its
> third reading, received the Presidential Assentand came into force as
> Act No. 8/86” p. 234. Extraordinary considering theHouse just passed
> the ultimate political offence without a word of debate! Whendealing
> with a parliament of this nature, an Attorney General placed as
> Hassan,was duty bound to utilise a heighten regime of self-restraint.
> That was notevident in the treason legislation when parliament
> completely dropped the ball!
>
>
> On the issue ofpersonal law affecting Muslim inheritance, he oversaw
> the legislative scrapping(see section 30 of the Wills Act 1992) of the
> laudable Court of Appeal decisionin Saidy v Saidy “that a Muslim
> whomakes a will in the English form in contravention of the Islamic
> rules ofinheritance is deemed to have opted out of the Islamic law of
> succession”, andthat “his will must thus be given effect, despite the
> conflict with hispersonal law” p. 247.
>
>
> Other instances of thisapparent law and order fixation manifested
> themselves in the relationshipbetween politicians and the army. In June
> 1991, there was a mutiny by a“contingent of soldiers of The Gambia
> National Army” staged at MacCarthy Squareover payment of allowances for
> peacekeeping operations in Liberia whichincident the government
> regarded “as a gross act of indiscipline” p 426-27.  Colonel Ndow Njie
> was consequently retired p.428, Major Maba Jobe was put in charge, and
> Nigerian soldiers under Major Dadawere brought in. “In a separate
> development, the IGP Sidney Riley called me onMonday 5th August 1991 to
> tell me he too had been requested to leave...” p. 429. President Jawara
> didn’t bother to inform his Cabinet about Rileyand the Nigerians!
>
>
> A similar mutiny, andover the same complaint of unpaid allowances
> occurred on 03 February,1992.  Hassan was away in Bansang butwhen he
> returned, he agreed, on a phone conversation with Sir Dawda “on theneed
> for firm action to be taken this time against the mutineers.
> Somedeterrent action was called for to discourage a recurrence and put
> an end tothis serious and dangerous indiscipline within our armed
> forces” p. 479-80. “Fourmonths after the Army incident in February, the
> Acting Army Commander MajorMaba Jobe was compulsorily and prematurely
> retired from the Army at the tenderage of 30!” p. 481. I wonder how the
> Government thought that “discipline” wastheirs to impose on the
> restless and officially armed segment of society.
>
>
> Journeyfor Justice is some 632 pages of vital factual andanalytical
> tour de force. There isplenty of material on internal PPP politics,
> including candidate selection forgeneral and other elections. The
> frequent cross carpeting from other parties tothe PPP is the clear
> culprit for the disgraceful section 91 (1) (d) of the
> 1997Constitution.  And there is a lot of informationon the MansaKonko
> Congress and the confusion occasioned by President Jawara’s
> bizarreannouncement of not standing as a candidate for president in
> 1992. It was utterchaos with grown men behaving as though no person in
> the party was capable of succeedingJawara. In government, it triggered
> the ill-informed and sycophantic ao-called CivilService memo on
> presidential succession.
>  
> There was the ruthless parliamentarymanoeuvring that, via a
> constitutional amendment, expelled P S Njie, and BubaBaldeh, from the
> House in 1972, and 1985 respectively p. 389. And the unfairelection
> processes that allowed use of government resources for
> politicalcampaigns, and made the Permanent Secretary of Local
> Government as Supervisorof Elections. Hassan kindly gave us his
> thoughts on presidential term limits,and considered the Daily Observer
> at the height of its glory as “subversive”.Poetic justice then that
> Kenneth Best was deported by the political authoritythat replaced the
> PPP. He gave us information on the banning and unbanning ofMOJA(G).His
> recollection conflicts with that of President Jawara on the issueof an
> amnesty for Kukoi! There is extensive literature on the
> SenegambiaConfederation but absent a perusal of the governing
> instrument, Hassan’sassertion that it did not trigger a referendum must
> be approached with some caution.
>
>
> Singaporisation? p. 564.A dream pure and simple considering Gambia and
> Singapore attained statehood thesame month of the same year, with
> virtually identical chances of surviving inthe global milieu they were
> born into. Lee Kuan Yew documented Singapore’s extraordinaryjourney in
> his memoirs From Third World to First. WhatSingaporisation required was
> way beyond the mediocre capacity of Hassan’sGovernment. What utter joke
> that was!
>
>
> Notwithstanding that Journey for Justice ended with the PPP’soverthrow,
> Hassan exceptionally touched on the controversial recent
> prisonerexecutions in light of the PPP’s abrogation of the death
> penalty in 1993. Herecalled the parliamentary debates on the issue:
>
>
>           The member forNiamina, Lamin Waa Juwara, supported the motion
> and then
> propheticallyproposed that while Sir Dawda, an acknowledged humanist
> was still
> around, it was bestthat the abolition of the death penalty be
> entrenched into the
> Constitution, lestsome future leader of a different inclination were to
> reactivate
> its application.How prophetic indeed!p. 347
>    
> What a difference inWaa Juwara’s perspectives between 1993 and 2012!
>
>
> Not to succumb to WaaJuwara’s firepower in the prophecy department,
> Hassan, in final chapterreflections, mused on the teachings of the
> ArabSpring:
>          
> Thepolicy of opposition to unconstitutional changes of government,
> commendable
> andnecessary as it is, is not meant to provide a licence or sanctuary
> and security
> todictatorship. If one important lesson is to be drawn from the ‘Arab
> spring’ –largely
> playedout on African soil in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, it is this: that
> no amount
> ofintimidation, repression and security systems can forever deny the
> peoplesyearning
> forjustice, freedom and respect for human rights and that in the face
> ofpersistent
> systematicoppression and dictatorship, the people will, in the absence
> of effective
> avenuesfor redress, exercise their ultimate right of rebellion against
> dictatorship p. 619.
>  
> Howvery true!
>  
> Comparedto what replaced it, the PPP Government was quite mild compared
> to itsreplacement. Would we still have the PPP in one form or the other
> without 22July? It is entirely possible but that would be a degrading
> prospect for anindependent country. No matter how tragic our present
> condition, who says lifeis an easy passage. A government that collapsed
> so spectacularly without somuch as a shot fired did not deserve to be
> saved. Good riddance PPP!
>  
> Without question,Hassan belongs to that rare breed of Gambian lawyer
> whose preoccupation is not merelywith black letter law and its
> technical application, i.e., theft as offence,its elements, and
> questions of guilt or innocence.  From my reading of Journey for
> Justice, his understanding of law and its publicpurpose is far deeper
> and more visionary. This is not to say Hassan’sphilosophical window on
> public life as of 1994 represents my ideal standard. Thereis ample room
> for reasonable people to analytically disagree from reading thesame set
> of factual circumstances. And it is imperative we remember the PPP
> eraas belonging more in the contemporary sphere than in ancient
> history,especially for those Gambians who were in secondary school as
> of 1994.
>
>
> Nevertheless, Journey for Justice assures that Hassan’swill remain
> among the abiding public voices on the PPP era. He is a third of
> atriumvirate of higher level political operatives within the PPP
> Government whosesolid intellectual credentials will remain a challenge
> to contrasting views onthe era. The other one is President Jawara
> himself! Isn’t the third obvious?
>
>
> Although there isindeed a lot of it, Journey for Justiceis not merely
> about law. It is more of a political memoir with the law therein
> arguablyincidental to Hassan’s career as a Law Officer from 1976, and
> as Chief LawOfficer between 1984 and 1994. Do not merely congratulate
> Hassan for writing Journey for Justice. Purchase this significantbook
> on Gambian public life.
>
>
> I recommend it highly!
>
>
> Among other outlets, Journey for Justice can be purchasedfrom the
> publisher, AuthorHouse, and from Amazon
>  
>
>
>
>
> Lamin J Darbo
>
>
> 01 January 2013 
>
>
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