Thank you Rahman. Best, Baba On Feb 21, 2017 3:42 AM, "Abdou Jallow" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Great piece as always. I hope the new leadership in Banjul will learn from > the wisdom of such a great article. Keep it up Baba > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Feb 20, 2017, at 4:19 PM, Baba Jallow <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > *In Search of Political Beauty* > > By Baba Galleh Jallow > > Pitted against dictatorship in every country are a small number of that > country’s citizens. It is not only that this small number is opposed to all > that dictatorship represents in a country, especially its blatant political > injustices. Rather, it is that this small number of citizens whom we may > call “the critical minority” loudly and publicly expresses its opposition > to dictatorship, often at its own peril. In a society characterized by a > culture of regulated political power, the critical minority is accorded the > recognition it deserves for its essential contributions to public welfare, > or at least allowed the freedom to have its say without censure. In a > society characterized by a culture of unregulated political power, the > critical minority is criminalized, hounded, forcibly silenced, killed or > forced into exile. > > Whether located inside or outside the country, the critical minority > relentlessly voices its opposition to injustice and calls for a culture of > humane politics in their homeland. The critical minority is not inspired by > hatred for the head of state as is often alleged. Rather, they are inspired > by a deep-seated and well justified hatred of political injustice because > political injustice is subversive of human progress and human nature > itself. Political injustice plants anger and propagates the seeds of > needless animosity and mutual disrespect within communities; it generates a > culture of political and social hostility, suspicion and hypocrisy that > rips society apart; and it cripples the human potential to grow in > life-enhancing ways. For this reason, the critical minority speaks out in > anger, but always in anger inspired and moderated by love of nation, by a > desire to bring the greatest good to the greatest number of the nation’s > citizens. It speaks to the nation, which is to say it addresses both the > government and the people; and it speaks for the nation, which to say it > seeks the betterment of both the government and the people. What the > critical minority seeks is the general welfare of the nation, which is to > say the general welfare of all citizens of the nation. The fairness, the > justice and the rights advocated by the critical minority cannot help but > benefit every part of the nation, which is to say every single individual > who is a part of the nation. A possible exception is that small number of > people who in dictatorial regimes have selfish personal interests that are > not compatible with the interests of the nation. > > The critical minority persistently insists on right and justice on the > home front, and hopes that their relentless advocacy, explanation and > analyses of the harmful effects of injustice is helping pave the way for a > healthier, more vibrant, dynamic and just political dispensation than > embodied by the status quo, however moribund or dynamic that happens to be. > When the voice of the critical minority is heard and understood by a > critical mass of citizens in a country, revolutions occur; not necessarily > “revolutions” imposed through the barrel of the gun, but revolutions that > pour out of houses and compounds onto the streets, revolutions of the mind > manifested through an indomitable expression of political will and > determination such as the one that ousted Gambia’s exiled dictator. Because > of the transformative potential of their voices, dictatorships deploy any > justification to silence the critical minority, to prevent their voices > being heard and understood by a critical mass of citizens. > > The critical minority is critical of the head of state only to the extent > that the head of state equates himself with the State, which is a national > public institution larger than and irreducible to the rank and status of > any single individual. The head of state cannot be a personification of the > State by any stretch of the imagination. The State as an institution > belongs to and is subject to the Nation, the people, all the citizens of a > country. Before the state there was the nation; and so the state is > inevitably and inescapably an outgrowth, a by-product, and a sub-component > of the nation. Both the State as an institution and the head of state as a > person are embedded within the Nation and cannot possibly exist or operate > over, above or outside of the Nation. In other words, neither the State nor > the head of state can be above the laws that regulate everybody’s lives in > the Nation-State. Sadly, in dictatorships of the kind we had in The Gambia > from 1994 - 2016, the head of state pretends to be bigger than the nation, > which is much like the yoke of an egg trying to be bigger than the cell > within which it is embedded - a natural impossibility. The quixotic > attempts of African dictators to become bigger than their countries explain > the mystery of their political self-flagellation: they feel the pain but > are too weak to concede that caning the nation is caning the state because > the state is embedded within the nation. Every injury inflicted upon the > nation is an injury inflicted upon the state. And so the dictatorship > engages in mindless self-destruction even as it mindlessly destroys the > nation in pursuit of its own selfish interests. Political violence > perpetrated by a state is always a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. > It destroys both its victim and its perpetrator. And while the victim may > survive to tell the story, the dictatorship perishes and vanishes like ash > in the wind. > > In a dictatorship the head of state, who in Africa often renders himself > coterminous with the State, cites any excuse to do what he wants to any > citizen of his country, including brutal extrajudicial murder as in the > case of the late Deyda Hydara of *The Point* newspaper. Deyda dedicated > his life to helping prevent the Jammeh dictatorship from destroying our > country and therefore destroying itself. He was among the critical > minority, but while his voice was unrelenting in condemning injustices, > Deyda’s tone was always moderate, his words always measured, without anger, > without malice, and literally pleading for reason and commonsense. Deyda > was shot dead by agents of the Jammeh dictatorship not because he posed any > threat to national security, or even to the security of the dictatorship, > but because he persistently advocated for the preservation of both the > nation and the State through a politics of truth, justice and empathy. Like > all members of the critical minority, Deyda was simply in search of > political beauty, and his life was taken by those whose selfish interests > ran counter to the beautiful politics he advocated. One only needs to > revisit his “Good Morning Mr. President” in *The Point* newspaper to see > that Deyda loved his country and Deyda only wanted Mr. President to do what > was best for himself and for our country. But Mr. President, drunk with the > banality of power and blinded by hubris, decided that he not only needed > Deyda’s advice, he wanted him forever silenced. > > The search for political beauty in The Gambia continues after the fall of > the cruel Jammeh dictatorship. The challenges the critical minority now > faces are less daunting because of the democratic environment, but they are > nonetheless formidable. For while Jammeh is gone and the coercive apparatus > that propped him up is being cut down to size and put on a lease of sorts, > the various negative cultures and practices engendered by his brutish > regime continue to lurk in the shadows of Gambian politics. The culture of > sycophancy that surrounded Jammeh and offended the sensibilities of all > decent Gambians is rearing its ugly head again. The Barrow administration > must beware people who sing their praises simply because they are in > positions of authority. Over the past fifty years Gambian politics has been > reduced to an arena for the boisterous hankering after favors, both > monetary and otherwise. Government officials are loudly hailed not for any > profound achievements they have made, but for the mere fact that they hold > certain positions and can reward those who sing their praises. The Gambia > government now and in the future must be proactively vocal in discouraging > such unhealthy practices. > > The culture of public media sycophancy in particular needs to be actively > and vigorously checked and discouraged in the New Gambia. The public > media’s job is to report the news and comment on unfolding events as > objectively as possible, not to serve as praise singers for the president > or his ministers, or for visiting dignitaries. During the Jammeh era, GRTS > journalists were literally reduced to his personal griots. Living and > working in an atmosphere of political bullying and terror, they not only > religiously called the dictator by all his superfluous titles of His > Excellency the President Alhaji Professor Doctor Yahya AJJ Jammeh Babili > Mansa at every mention of his name, but ascribed to him virtues and > attributes he never had or could ever have. They loudly proclaimed that a > man they very well knew was a cruel tyrant and killer of innocents was > actually a pious and kindhearted man of God whose love of country and of > the nation was unrivalled in the history of The Gambia. GRTS liked to hail > Yahya Jammeh, an intellectual midget of mythical proportions whose > understanding of African and world history was shallow at best, as the > greatest pan-Africanist philosopher and patriot ever to walk the land of > Africa. Everything Jammeh ever said was uncritically reported and repeated > by GRTS as the truth and nothing but the truth. Everything Jammeh ever did > was reported as the right and the just thing to do, even when it was clear > as daylight to individual reporters that he was telling lies and doing > things repugnant to human reason and natural justice. That kind of > unashamed media sycophancy is not only damaging to the personal psyches of > the journalists and reporters concerned, but also to the national psyche. > It spreads a culture of corrupt morals and outright lies and induces > corruption in the minds of a political leadership. It is a critical > component of the reason why power is said to corrupt. It must be > discouraged from the New Gambia. We may not entirely blame GRTS under > Jammeh’s brutal dictatorship; but we will blame GRTS if they do not > radically depart from that sickening culture of media sycophancy and serve > as the objective and unbiased reporters of and commentators on our national > news and personalities for the ultimate benefit and edification of the > Gambian people. We are confident that under the stewardship of Information > Minister D.A. Jawo and Director Ebrima Sillah, GRTS will be guided away > from the culture of media sycophancy that was its trademark under Yahya > Jammeh. > > What we need in the New Gambia is not the kind of cosmetic change of > leadership that happened in many African countries after independence, when > African leaders simply stepped into the boots and sat upon the vacated > thrones of the departed colonial rulers. What we need is a serious > rethinking of both our political culture and political practices. What we > need is honest, progressive and beautiful politics; the kind of beautiful > politics for which Baboucarr Gaye lost everything and for which Deyda > Hydara was brutally murdered. In order to find this political beauty, we > need honest, principled and bold Gambian professionals with the courage of > their convictions to do the right thing at all times. And who if doing the > right thing means losing their jobs, will lose their jobs rather than > compromise the supreme interests of the Gambian nation. The search for > political beauty continues. > > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To > unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web > interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/ > SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please > send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To > unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web > interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/ > SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please > send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤