or Political Change

The Bends, the Curves, the Home-Straight, Keeping the Eyes on the Prize Towards a Strategic Home and Diaspora partnership for Political Change

— August 26, 2014 0 Comments 12

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Part 2 of 3

By Modou Nyang

 

In the contours of democratic political change in the Gambia the climax in the collaboration between home and diaspora forces is represented in the ushering of NADD into the country’s political lexicography. And now any subsequent partnership must aim at improving upon that milestone of political architecture if it is to help deliver the change that still eludes us in this past two decades.

 

The Gambia is not at a political standstill and its narrative cannot be etched anew at the back of historical perspectives. What is to follow if it is to be durable must learn from the past in order to construct a tenable future. Recent efforts in the diaspora at organizing the multitude of voices into a unified force seems all but inflicted with ignorance if not the total disregard of past lessons.

 

Diaspora Gambians are becoming more engaged and interested in the political life of their country and that is a good thing. From the ire and disgust shown following the killings of the nine prisoners in 2012 and now to every policy utterance in Banjul that deviates from the accepted norms and dictates of the laws of the country, young men and women are paying attention and sharing their views. For the first time in Gambian history protest marches were organized from London to New York, Atlanta and Brussels, Seattle and Dakar to show displeasure in Jammeh’s unwarranted killing of the prisoners. And now because it seems the only potent tool at their disposal protests marches and demonstrations is now the rallying call for the activists.

 

But protestations and manifestations especially in far flung lands away from the main theater might take too long if ever they will bear the desired effect of changing the status quo in Banjul. And herein lies the need to link the actions in the diaspora with those on the ground for maximal effect. The fact that people can confront president Jammeh in New York and hurl invectives at him without being reprimanded is a good enough reason not to ask the guy in the streets of Serekunda to do the same because he will not enjoy similar fate as his contemporary in New York. Preaching to the choir is never a savvy political device.

What the young men and women in the Gambia have at their disposal is to organize around existing political instruments to manifest their displeasure at what is happening in their country. In the existing political infrastructure, opposition forces have at their base the youths representing a critical element with the capability to galvanizing their country folks into action and taking back their country and refocusing its course.

 

But often in the diaspora activists dismiss as simpletons every talk about rallying the cause for change through legal democratic means. And the wonder in that is how come a protester in New York considers his actions more effectual than the one that organizes internally and close to home and to undoing the common problem.

 

Fact is, political change is brought about through the manifestations of the internal dynamics of a given society and such affects need to be worked on actively in order to attain the desired effect. Passivity is never a potent political tool and cannot be a wholesome substitute for active internal organization. What is required is the coupling of the two for optimal gain. This is why diaspora Gambians must build on their united efforts for protestations and move on to concretely charting strategies and activities with the ground forces.

 

Change can never be sustained at the back of the people. Hence the opposition forces must be encouraged and enabled in their work to organize the people. Only an organized people can withstand the most arduous of challenges thrown in their path to salvation. And this crucial work can only be implemented in today’s Gambia, by those on the ground working with the people. In the Gambia there exist no civil society body that is invested in the business of organizing the people around their civic rights and responsibilities.

 

Needless to say, the opposition parties are the only existing lifeline for democratic change in the Gambia and they most intensify their work in preparing and agitating the people for change. And for Gambians in the diaspora, even if only for a moment will pause the ecstatic frenzy for nothingness and direct their energy towards a holistic partnership with the ground forces, the current madness in Banjul will be confined to its right place: the dustbin of history.

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