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Momodou
Denmark
11633 Posts |
 Posted - 01 Dec 2010 : 20:13:31
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PDOIS’ STATEMENT ON THE LAUNCHING OF THE WOMEN’S FEDERATION
Women Should be Active Critical Thinkers and Not Passive Praise singers;
Issued by Central Committee
28 November 2010
Halifa Sallah
Women are not shadows of patrons. Shadows do not have voices. That is why they communicate by silence. A Women’s Federation should not give rise to a gathering of shadows that cannot criticize or say anything that is wrong with the condition of the women, especially their powerlessness and political exclusion, which is disguised by tokenism.
On Saturday November 27, 2010, the Women’s Federation was launched amidst controversy.
First and foremost, it is important to state very clearly that the PDOIS Women’s movement is an Independent movement which makes its independent decision and accepts accountability for its every action. Before the launch of the Women’s Federation members of the Central Committee of PDOIS were informed by the leadership of the women’s movement that they have decided to withdraw their participation in the launching of the Women’s Federation until they get clear information from the Women’s Bureau why the radio and television programmes they broadcast in connection with the events were transformed into a propaganda tool for the ruling party and its leader.
The women who were associated with the activities of the Women’s Bureau indicated that they have always been given the impression that the Women’s Bureau was independent and impartial which had motivated them to participate in many workshops and training programmes designed to empower women to participate in the decision making process.
They claim that they have never hesitated to point out to the other women that while the Constitution, The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa and the Women’s Act are geared towards the eradication of all forms of discrimination against women, the environment created by the ruling party is not conducive to effect their realisation. They indicated that they have told them over and over again that the office of Minister in the cabinet or position of nominated member in the National Assembly are not elective and do not currently carry any security of tenure. That one could have a female Attorney General, Speaker, Auditor General, Minister of Finance and so on one day and all of them could disappear the next day, at the stroke of the president’s pen without any explanation. They have argued that occupying such posts by women does not signify the empowerment of women; on the contrary, it is a manifestation of patronage since those who are selected see their appointment as a privilege and remain thankful even if they are removed.
The women further claim that they have left no stone unturned in telling the other women that even women occupying elective posts or posts of public servants that should have security of tenure are not secure. They have asked the APRC women representatives to explain how a person like Duta Kamaso could be removed from the National Assembly by merely driving her from the APRC party even though she is not convicted of any crime. They have also referred to the number of women speakers of Parliament who had been unceremoniously removed. The PDOIS women cited the case of Madam Mariama Khan who rose to the rank of Permanent Secretary and then climbed to the rank of Secretary General of the Civil Service only to be demoted back to the post of Permanent Secretary. She was finally subjected to questioning at the NIA after she left the service.
In short, the women leadership that stands for an Independent and Impartial Women’s Federation claim that it has made it abundantly clear to all their colleagues that signing conventions and enacting laws are very important but do not automatically lead to the empowerment of women. They emphasised the need for the political will to implement the content of the conventions, constitutions and other laws. They claim that they have called on their colleagues to stop the praise singing and work assiduously to transform the Women’s Federation into an Independent and Impartial voice of the women whose role is to shape the political will of all decision makers so that concrete and bold steps would be taken to eradicate all conditions and practices which militate against the implementation of the policies, conventions and laws aimed at the empowerment of women and the eradication of their poverty, discrimination and marginalization.
PDOIS acknowledges the position of the women who stand for an Independent and Impartial Women’s Federation and Women’s Bureau that would not be used as a propaganda tool of any political party or leader. Political parties are free to establish their different women organisations. However there is need for an Independent Women’s Federation which would deal with issues that concern all women, irrespective of party and other affiliations. PDOIS is convinced that grassroots participation in the administrative life of any country is inconceivable without the establishment of free associations of people aimed at monitoring, initiating, guiding and implementing policies to ensure the protection of the civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights of citizens and the promotion of sustainable development to eradicate poverty.
PDOIS stands for the establishment of such an Independent and Impartial Women’s Federation. PDOIS promises that if it is associated with any executive Governance of the Country it would be willing to give power to such an Independent and Impartial Women’s Federation to select a pool of women who are qualified to be appointed as Minister for Women’s Affairs. The executive shall select one of the women who are short listed to be Minister of Women’s Affairs. We are fully conscious of the fact that Section 74 of the Constitution makes the Ministers accountable to both the President and the National Assembly. We equally acknowledge the fact that Section 75 of the Constitution empowers the National Assembly to remove a Minister from office by casting a vote of Censure against him or her in case of misconduct, abuse of office, violation of the constitution or infirmity and the Minister shall have a right to self defence before any decision is made.
PDOIS subscribes to the principle of partnership in governance between men and women. It would be willing to sign a memorandum of understanding with any Independent and Impartial Womens Federation to have itself bound to the policy of having a male or female President working side by side with a female or male Vice President, respectively. In this way, a male and female will always pair up to execute the functions of President and Vice President.
Furthermore, PDOIS is ready to propose an amendment to the Constitution to ensure that there is security of tenure of Minister and National Assembly members. We stand for a constitutional provision which will require an inquiry to be done before any Minister is removed from office by the executive on the basis of the terms stipulated for a vote of censure by the National Assembly.
PDOIS also stands for amendment of the provision dealing with composition of the National Assembly. To guarantee security of tenure to National Assembly members, the executive will have no power to nominate any one to parliament. We shall propose for the National Assembly to comprise members elected directly by constituencies and members elected through proportional representation. We would propose two thirds of the seats to be filled by direct election by constituencies and one third to be filled by proportional representation. We would promote the demarcation of constituencies on the basis of population size and relevant geographical characteristics. We will aim to have 40 Constituency seats and 20 seats to be filled by proportional representation. We will propose that nothing less than ten out of the twenty seats to be filled by proportional representation shall be occupied by women. PDOIS shall also propagate that National Assembly members should be immune from arrests unless their immunity is waived by the National Assembly after a motion is introduced to show grounds of misconduct necessitating the withdrawal of immunity. They would only vacate their seat if they voluntarily resign from a political party or join a party after they were elected as Independent Candidates. National Assembly members who are dismissed by their political parties would automatically become Independent National Assembly members and their parties would only be able to remove or recall them by presenting a petition supported by at least one third of the registered voters in the constituency, to the Independent Electoral Commission, as stated under section 92 of the Constitution. The Independent Electoral Commission would then hold a yes or no vote to determine whether the person should be recalled or not. If the no vote stands then the member would serve as an Independent candidate up to the end of his or her term. This
will deter National Assembly members to be manipulated by their executives and link their political survival directly to the service they render to the people with sincerity and devotion.
On this score, we also wish to assure the public that we will endorse any proposal that is better, that emanates from an Independent and Impartial Women’s Federation. This is the type of engagement we envisage between a Women’s Federation and a government. We would also recommend these policies and programmes for legal reform to any partners in any alliance geared towards having a single opposition presidential candidate for the 2011 elections.
An Independent Women’s Federation will review all the conventions and the Constitution, and establish bench marks to monitor compliance and progress so that such findings will influence policies for further progress. That is the type of Women’s Federation we need in a democratic and sovereign Gambia not a populist Women’s Federation that sings praise and serves as cheer leaders and fans of male political patrons.
Women of the Gambia, this is indeed your century just as it is the century of all women in the world. Never in the history of humankind has more focus been given to women issues than now. This is not the time to squander a historical opportunity by sacrificing frank and incisive debates before the altar of trivial fanfare. In a country where over 61 per cent of the population is living in abject poverty with women and children bearing the brunt of the hardship, we cannot afford to allow fanfare to overshadow the need to face our problems squarely in the face. All agree that poverty wears the face of the woman. Our duty is to eradicate poverty so that prosperity and liberty will wear the face of the woman. This is the challenge of destiny. We have no right to jubilate until we could prove that we are equal to the challenge.
The President of the Republic gave the impression that women have equal rights to ownership of land as men. The issue is more complicated than he made it. This is why an Independent Women’s Federation is needed. Such a Federation will conduct independent research so that findings would be used to inform policies on how to advance the cause of the women which is the cause of humanity at large for each man on this earth today is a product of the womb of a woman. To better the condition of women is to better the condition of all children who grow up to be the future men and women of the earth.
Parties like PDOIS which does not speculate on the realities of the country, which does studies to understand the conditions of our people are fully aware that in the rural areas there is Kabilo or extended family ownership of agricultural land used by women. Women who leave their homes of birth to go and marry into another Kabilo or extended family inherit the land belonging to the women belonging to the kabilo or extended family of their husbands. These traditional ownerships of land are still with us. One needs to study their advantages and disadvantages before one could come up with policies and laws to address the problems of women. It is this scientific approach to policy and law making that PDOIS intends to inject in governance in The Gambia. It is such knowledge based governance and not sentiments that we need in the 21st Century.
Women of the Gambia, the building of an Independent and Impartial Women’s Federation is indeed timely. What you should realise is that such an association could only be relevant and popular if it is not transformed into tools for propaganda in favour of a party or political leader. Civil societies are instruments for grassroots participation in governance. They provide the voices from below which put pressure on those above so as to shape their political will.
The women of the Gambia should therefore seek to build an Independent and Impartial Women’s Federation and an Independent and Impartial Women’s Bureau that will enable women to become active and critical thinkers rather than passive and unthinking praise singers. The Federation needs to be a credible assessor that would weigh the conditions of Gambian women against the standards set by conventions, the Constitution and other laws aimed at enhancing the liberty and general welfare of women.
We in PDOIS would like to emphasise that you should not see the empty stadium as sabotage or lack of solidarity. Do not see the attempt by some women to depart before the conclusion of the programme as a sign of disenchantment. Take the development as an eye opener that the Gambian women are truly waiting for an Independent and Impartial Women’s Federation to pioneer their unity irrespective of their diversity so that standards of empowerment of women will be set both by law and practice that no government will ever dare to erode; A Federation that would have given solidarity to the GAMCOTRAP leadership during the most trying time of this organization which had done so much to combat harmful traditional practices without any political strings attached, as the scales of justice are put to a test. Governments and political leaders are destined to come and go. The women will remain as long as humanity remains on the face of the earth. The Women’s Federation does not need a father or a patron. What it needs is genuine partnership and solidarity from men. We are ready to offer the Federation such partnership and solidarity. As long as it remains Independent and Impartial it could count on PDOIS for selfless service to enable it to realise its aims and objectives. We hope all political parties would take the same stand. Each Gambian, man or woman, is a depository of the sovereignty of the Republic. We can only protect the sovereignty of the Republic if we safeguard each of them from intimidation or inducement. Each must be a dignified owner of his or her own mind and be a subject to no one on the face of the earth.
No man could be superior to the mother who nurtured him in her womb and gave birth to him. The task now is to use our collective intelligence to guide our collective destiny so that we could build a country, Africa and the world that would guarantee women and men, who are their offspring, liberty, dignity and prosperity.
To be empowered is to be a Sovereign person. The Sovereignty of Each Gambian must be recognized and respected. This is the road to liberation for all women.
The End
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