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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Momodou |
Posted - 04 Apr 2022 : 17:07:17
Mr. Alieu Momarr Njai
Chairperson, Independent Electoral Commission
Election House,
KSMD, The Gambia
3 April 2022
Dear Chairperson Alieu Momarr Njai :
Why has the National People's Party (NPP) been allowed to continue violating the Elections Amendment Act?
The Right 2 Know Coalition-Gambia extends its greetings and compliments to you and the IEC. We write in the true spirit of partnership, with the aim of assisting your Commission better deploy its mandate at this critical time, as The Gambia heads for National Assembly elections. We have written to you in the past, the first of which was on 17th October 2016, and subsequently written to your good self on other occasions: 16 September 2019, requesting that you normalize the issue of diaspora voting, and respect the rights of the Diaspora to participate in the electoral processes; another letter was sent to you on 6 April, 2021 and again on 29 October 2021, asking you to ensure that the laws and regulations guiding the existence of political parties is respected. We will place it on record that we have never received a response to any of our letters. We hope that this time around we will receive a response. But we will not hold our breath. Nevertheless, we will continue putting our concerns on paper and publishing these issues for posterity. We believe that in time, and in the future, our observations may be a lesson for all and sundry as to how we (mis) managed our march on the path to democracy, and respect for the rule of law and upholding of political rights.
Mr chairperson, the IEC’s awesome responsibility of upholding and adhering to its legal mandate and principles of integrity and fair play, cannot be overstated. We realize the responsibility entrusted to it by the constitution and the various legislative frameworks that legalizes its existence. It is in this regard that the R2K Coalition-Gambia wishes to enquire from the IEC as to why it has turned a blind eye to a clear violation of the Elections Amendment Act, by the NPP, (the party of the incumbent). The NPP was registered and established as a bona fide political party on 31 December 2019, under your hand and stamp of approval. A year prior, your very office issued an ultimatum to all existing parties at the time, to hold Congresses, other wise risk being suspended for violating the Elections Act. Most parties scurried to fall into compliance. However, the National Convention Party (NCP), according to your very office, fell afoul of the warning, and were therefore suspended on 18 January 2019. We would also wish to remind the IEC that in 2016, it disqualified The National Democratic Action Movement (NDAM) and the Gambia Democratic Party (GDP), for the same infractions. The IEC triggered Section b 127 of the Elections Act and issued a six-month suspension on the NCP, for failing to hold a ‘unified congress’. The question now arises as to why the IEC would not also show consistency and apply the rules and regulations on other parties that have also flouted the Amendment Act.
President Adama Barrow’s party, NPP, has never held a congress. We raised this in our letter of 29 October and were told that the regulations stipulate that it must be within two years, (other unsavoury things were said about us in your half-hearted rebuttal, and the same distasteful response also came from the minister of information, Ebrima Sillah, and another NPP lackey- both statements were insulting but not surprising) and that the NPP was less than two years old. The NPP has now surpassed that 24-month mark, yet still has not held a congress. This gross infraction of the Elections Act is a continuing violation, as the IEC has allowed the illegality to endure unabated.
The IEC knew that the NPP never held a Congress yet went ahead and accepted the party’s nominations of candidates for the National Assembly elections. The IEC was aware that President Adama Barrow’s party, the NPP, never held a congress, yet turned a blind eye on the nationwide presidential campaign undertaken by the incumbent to boost his chances of electoral victory in the legislative polls, wantonly abusing state resources with impunity. The IEC was aware of these anomalies yet was complicit in assisting the NPP evade the regulations set in the Elections Amendment Act. These are the same laws the IEC has used to penalize less powerful and much smaller parties in the past. However, when it comes to bigger parties, particularly those belonging to the incumbent, the application of the rules is very different. Your motto of fair play, integrity and transparency, (which is oddly no longer prominently embossed on your webpage) seems to have faded away in presentation, practice and policy. Nevertheless, we endeavour to hold you accountable, to ensure that as the national elections regulator you deploy your mandate according to the laws of the land. We hereby call on the IEC to:
i. Immediately suspend the National Peoples’ Party (NPP) for at least six months (as was applied to other parties for the same infraction) for violating the Elections Amendment Act;
ii. Immediately declare all approved applications of NPP candidates for the 2022 National Assembly elections null and void;
iii. Immediately inform the NPP that it must cease all political activity until it holds a Congress according to the Elections Amendment Act, and the suspension is lifted;
Failure to do so will grossly undermine the credibility of the institution of the Elections Regulator and will further instil the lingering doubts in the minds of the public, and the electorate on the credibility of the April National Assembly polls. The 6th Assembly’s credibility, and legitimacy will be forever stained if the IEC refuses to abide by the laws of the land.
Sincerely,
R2K Coalition- Gambia & The Democratic Union of Gambian Activists (DUGA)-
*********************
Who:
R2K Gambia is a grouping of individuals with professional backgrounds ranging from geology, demographics, economics, international relations and law, communications, and academia. All members are human rights activists. We are located in the US, UK, West and Southern Africa. We are a non-partisan entity that focuses on rule of law and democracy, good governance, human rights, transparency, and the principles of access to information.
The Democratic Union of Gambian Activists (DUGA)- is an umbrella movement to unite Gambians in North America (US and Canada), Europe and Africa, mobilizing citizens to achieving the goal of a sustainable democracy in The Gambia. |
| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 07 Apr 2022 : 19:16:28
Jeggan Grey Johnson, Man of Conviction, a Dogged Fighter, a Vanguard, an Unforgettable Pro-Democracy Actvitist, and Human Rights Hero.
By Alagi Yorro Jallow
Fatoumatta: Like many Gambians, I received utter shock and disbelief in the minister's false claims and misleading statements. Mr. Ebrima Sillah of the ministry of Information, Communication Infrastructure, caricatured Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson in the media with another journalist Mr. Peter Gomez of West Coast radio that "Mr. Jeggan was nowhere to be found during the resistance and democratic struggle fighting President Yahya Jammeh's twenty-two years of maleviolent dictatorship."
I think minister Ebrima Sillah, either because of misunderstanding, political trickery, indistinguishable from malice, or assumed ignorance of Mr. Jeggan Grey Jonhson's prominent role in the struggle of democratic agonism, fighting for press freedom, and fighting for the plight and the enduring Gambian dilemmas in the Gambia and in the Diaspora or maybe a charge resulting from mistaken identity of who is Mr. Jeggan or what Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson contributed to the Gambian struggle ending Yahya Jammeh's rule. Therefore, Mr. Ebrima Sillah needs to make an effective apology or issue a rejoinder to recognize Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson's life sacrifice for the Gambia. In the last two and a half decades, Mr.Jeggan Grey Johnson and I had the cause to collaborate in various organizations and pursue different political reasons at other times. I can testify to Mr. Johnson's capacity for hard work, brilliance, and tenacity in loyalty to his cherished principles. Nevertheless, even if we differed politically today, I had no cause to doubt his sincerity in charting his chosen path. He will forever remain a model of what a citizen who places the good of his country above his interest could be. Forgiven his talents and abilities, Jeggan could easily have focused on his family's welfare rather than embroiled himself in the several struggles he dedicated his life to.
Fatoumatta: It is undoubtedly not fortuitous to appreciate and recognize comrade Jeggan Grey Jonhson's struggle and active collaborator in fighting for press freedom, justice, human rights, civil and political liberty, and the underprivileged's dignity. Mr. Jeggan Johnson's role in fighting for democracy and human rights was iconic in the ceaseless battle for a better and greater Gambia.
For those of us who worked and collaborated with Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson, he will not ask, "where were you"? However, I can tell you where Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson was. He was certainly not a hypocrite nor an enabler. The struggle against Yahya Jammeh was long and arduous, but Jeggan was a pioneer. As Yahya Jammeh began turning against his supporters and henchmen who had ridiculed Jeggan and his human rights friends for being "losers and irrelevant," Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson would tell them most humorously," the revolution is consuming its Children."
Mr. Jeggan was there on the ground since day one. He was there on the ground since Gambians were denied their fundamental human rights. He did not join the bandwagon. He was the bandwagon fighting oppression and impunity. He is a human rights and democracy hero. Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson was a fearless individual whose conscience was his capacity to live by rational principles congruent with fundamental human dignity.
Fatoumatta: We have records of those vocal critics of dictator Yahya Jammeh's evil dictatorship. Those paid the ultimate prices that gave birth to the very democracy we are enjoying and allow those denied their freedoms and liberty yesterday to exercise their God-given rights in the modern Gambia.
Today, many of those parading themselves today as heroes of democracy and champions of human rights and social media cyberwarriors. In the front row of this government, they were actually in bed with the miscreants aiding ad abetting the dictator. Some were complicit, a conspiracy in their silence and impotent cowardice, and others fled into self-imposed exile. Others went to seek international appointments with multinational and transnational organizations( African Union, United Nations Agencies, and World Bank). They fought vigorously to make sure the democratic struggle to end dictatorship was reversed. They said and did despicable things for political gain and filthy lucre to survive. However, nobody remembers it again. They now grandstand and lecture us on democracy and the resistance to kleptocratic rule. Today, we know the villain-turned-heroes. You will marvel at the conduct of the demagogues, sycophants, and pseudo-intellectuals who have become latter-day saints of the democratic order in this government of President Adama Barrow.
Fatoumatta: Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson has ever been consistent and constant in the fight against the tyranny of President Yahya Jammeh in the Gambia and the Diaspora. Therefore, to remind Minister Ebrima Sillah that Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson was the Secretary to the Steering Committee, the Media Executives of the Gambia Press Union Adhoc committee challenging the obnoxious National Media Commission Bill, both national and international, in campaigning for the unconstitutionality of the media law before the diplomat community and other stakeholders, in addition, Mr. Jaohnson was part of us as plaintiff to challenge the draconian media law before the Supreme Court of the Gambia. He was also an active member of the ad hoc committee of the Gambia Press Union to secure legal and defense funds for lawyers to go to court and fight for press freedom in the Gambia. (I still have meetings of those minutes by Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson submitted in our periodic meetings and have on record all minutes proceedings of the historic meetings with late Justice AK Savage and late Mr. Finton Singhateh, Secretary was representing the Gambia government and the Steering Committee) that leading to the killing of Journalists Deyda Hydara and exiled of other prominent journalists, including Minister Sillah. However, Mr. Jeggan Gey Jonhson was a committed fighter for democracy, a dedicated civil society activist, a courageous and outspoken defender of whatever ideals and principles he believed in, and a patriotic citizen.
Fatoumatta: Since 1998, I have worked with Mr.Jeggan Grey Johnson. He had been fearless and unrelenting in speaking up to promote the cause of justice and what he perceived as the best interest of the citizens of the Gambia. He participated actively at the forefront of the various Gambia Press Union and democratic struggles against dictatorships in the Gambia. He was always available to visit detainees, notably when journalists were arrested, harassed, and detained in police stations and at the notorious National Intelligence Agency (NIA) offices several times. However, he never allowed himself to succumb to tyranny or be pressured into submissive and pliant silence.
In the struggle against Yahya Jammeh and the perpetuation of dictatorship, Jeggan was never found wanting. He was at the vanguard of the battle, even at the risk of his life and liberty. It is impossible to credibly tell the story of the emergence of the democracy we enjoy in this dispensation today without emblazoning Mr.Jeggan Grey Johnson's name in gold. He was a doughty fighter for freedom and the rule of law. However, he was rock solid in his commitment to press freedom and the rule of law, the media fraternity, and the several other civil society groups in which he played active roles.
Although some of his family members served in Jammeh's government, Mr. Jeggan refused to never accept top government appointments in Yahya Jammeh's government. However, he has been a constant feature and part of our public consciousness over the last two decades of this unbroken democratic dispensation. This is because he epitomized the true definition of the citizen; a patriot who was ever conscious of the fact that his life could not be complete or his humanity meaningful if he did not take an active interest in and join likeminded fellow citizens in seeking always to promote the common good of his community and country.
Fatoumatta: The liberty and freedom that the Gambia has enjoyed today resulted from a long and consistent struggle in many parts of the country in different forms. In the run-up to the fight against President Yahya Jammeh's twenty-two years of malevolent dictatorship and the struggle for democracy, the rule of law, and a free press, it was not easy for the Gambia to attain democracy and freedom, nor was it easy to unify different people of different political divides and different ideological persuasion into the idea of one people, nation and one destiny. Nevertheless, many eminent Gambians played significant roles in raising the pro-democracy movement and struggle. It was the notion of a struggle to fight for our freedom that finally resulted in the democratic gain of the third republic of the country. In that regard, one cannot overstate the inestimable role of certain activists and freedom fighters in all the liberties we enjoy. As a result, we have democracy and liberty. We are free today only because of the efforts and sacrifices made by our country's freedom fighters and activists.
Over the decades, the meaning of what democracy and freedom for the Gambia looks like has oscillated. While, at one point, we needed activists and pro-democracy strugglers from the constraints of tyranny, now the nation is desperate for freedom from the deleterious outcomes that have sprung from that liberty. The Gambia is presently going through a calamity of sorts, a bizarre time of endemic corruption, a warped identity crisis, a condition wherein chaos, despair, defeatism, fear, confusion, catastrophe, cynicism, and the amnesia and assumptions from which they often prosper.
Fatoumatta: In a time that calls for present-day independent journalists, freedom fighters, the rebirth of courageous activists to stand up and speak on the need to sanitize the nation is required. Into that locus saunters a man who, from 1998 to date, is not new to activism, politics, or governance. Ever since, Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson has been fraught in a battle to gain the Gambia's tattered democracy and liberty to continue standing up, speaking out, and striving for his nation. To an extensively growing Gambian community, watching the travails of Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson over the last several years, he is considered the kind of The Gambia needs unpretentious activists because he played and continues to play a pivotal role in speaking out about the canker eating up the soul of a promising nation. The spirit and sense of nationalism that Mr. Jeggan Johnson represents broaden perspectives with specific possibilities that invite or demand that people act for their beliefs. Mr. Johnson exudes in his struggle to protect the freedom of the nation he loves.
Like the Freedom fighters who stood for the Gambia in her time of need, Jeggan understands that the best way to attain freedom is by writing history with 'a presence,' 'a vision,' and 'a collective voice.' If the original freedom fighters had not contributed to the freedom struggle, there would not be the Gambia democratic today. This warrior appreciates that and knows that the nonviolent persistence he is so doggedly pursuing is much more potent than regimes, state security, and even armies. Moreover, it will eventually become a remembered history of victory and transformation that will change the Gambia and the world.
Fatoumatta: I can attest that Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson took a principled stance against Yahya Jammeh's dictatorship in the Gambia and has lived an impactful struggle for democracy and press freedom in a noticed life. Though I do not always fancy any hardline or adherent positions of people with possible personal agendas, it can not be over-emphasized that Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson's name has been in our national consciousness for many years. Therefore, I am shocked and dismayed to read that Information and Communication Mr. Minister Ebrima Sillah and former private radio journalist insinuated that Mr.Jeggan Grey Johnson has never contributed to the democratic resistance and struggle to end Yahya Jammeh's evil dictatorship. Nevertheless, Mr. Johnson has been good at what he did. Let me remind Ebrima Sillah that Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson was the Secretary of the Steering Committee to fight against the obnoxious National Media Commission Bill and a GPU member taking a prominent role in challenging the Gambia Government before the Supreme Court in 2004.
Fatoumata: Many people are gradually getting used to a social inclination whereby they intend to force their thoughts, actions, and beliefs on others. It is so common here. They want to decide what is good or bad for others and even how to live and relate. It would be best if you liked/hated who and what they want/hate, believed what they believe, followed whom they follow, and accepted whatever they accept. This life, with its many issues, is not linear. There is no need to stereotype anyone. Behind ignorance, you know nothing about a topic or anyone lies the iceberg of what you are starkly ignorant of developments. For context, this is neither a validation of being right nor wrong. Just live your life and let others live. Stop the temptation of wanting to validate every issue and every person.
Fatoumatta: Let others live without your validation. Mr. Jeggan Grey Johnson's life vividly demonstrates that it is not the life that matters but the courage he brings into the Gambia's liberation struggle. It is not how long he lives but how well and productively that matters. |
| Momodou |
Posted - 06 Apr 2022 : 13:08:54
IEC DECLINES TO COMMENT ON CALLS FOR NPP’S SUSPENSION
APRIL 6, 2022
By Omar Bah
https://standard.gm/gambia-news/iec-declines-to-comment-on-calls-for-npps-suspension/
The Independent Electoral Commission has declined to comment on calls by Right 2 Know Coalition-Gambia, a civil society group, for it to suspend the governing National Peoples Party for failing to hold a congress within two years as required by the Elections Act.
In 2019, the IEC suspended the National Convention Party because it could not hold a united congress under section 127 of the Elections Act.
The group, which consists of human rights activists, had therefore demanded the IEC to explain why it has turned “a blind eye to a clear violation of the Elections Amendment Act by the NPP.” They said the NPP was registered and established as a bona fide political party on 31 December 2019, under the hand and stamp of approval of the IEC but had failed to hold a congress as required by law.
But when contacted for comments, the IEC chief electoral officer, Samboujang Njie, not only refused to comment on the matter but also picked a quarrel with us. He said: “I will not talk on this matter because the last time you called our spokesperson who granted you an interview but that did not satisfy you and so you decided to call the chairman because you were not comfortable with the reaction you get from the spokesperson. You don’t work like that because anything anyone of us talks to you about here, we have already discussed it among ourselves. So being a journalist doesn’t mean people should talk to you. We have a right not to respond. So I am not talking to you on this matter.”
Samboujang is referring to an occasion when The Standard called IEC chairman on UDP’s allegations against the commission after we were unsatisfied with the response of the electoral body’s spokesperson, Pa Makan Khan.
Minister Sillah’s reaction
Meanwhile, while the NPP as a party has not made any official response to the issue, Information Minister Ebrima Sillah yesterday said on Coffee Time with Peter Gomez on West Coast Radio that NPP is spiritedly engaged on winning the majority of the National Assembly seats and they would not want to be distracted by Jeggan Grey Johnson and his team. “When holding people accountable, which is normal in a democracy, you should do it with discipline but when you are writing a position paper and you are calling people lackeys and all kind of names associated with those people, you don’t expect them to treat you with respect and hope that they will take note of that because they are nobody’s children here. When we were doing this struggle here, the likes of Jeggan were nowhere to be found. I am surprised people like DUGA, very credible people, are allowing themselves to be in cohort with some of these people who were nowhere to be found even when we caged the lion in this country. They would only come to Dakar and whenever the lion roars, they would run away. These people were nowhere to be found when we were doing this struggle, so we have got our democracy. There is no perfect democracy anywhere. I have no problem with anybody caricaturing me but when writing in my capacity as a minister, at least if you want me to reply to you with respect, write to me with respect. These are people who have shown allegiance to the opposition,” Sillah told West Coast Radio.
UDP reacts
Contacted for comment on the Right 2 Know Coalition’s position, the UDP spokesperson Almamy Taal said the IEC has disregarded anything they feel uninterested to them and they are getting away with it.
“In fact, Jeggan Grey Johnson and his colleagues had secured a ruling against the IEC from the Supreme Court on diaspora voting but they are refusing to enforce it because they choose to behave as they are above the law. So as Gambians, we should all be outraged that the Supreme Court had made a determination on an issue and the IEC has chosen not to comply with it,” Mr Taal said.
“If the IEC could ignore a court’s determination, how can political parties have any influence on the IEC in this context? Even the courts are only effective when other interests are affected, not the interest of the government or political parties,” he said. Taal said people will take complaints to the IEC and they will do nothing about it.
“The whole system called IEC is what needs to be profoundly reviewed because without that we will continue to have a lot of problems,” he said. |
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