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Momodou
Denmark
11644 Posts |
 Posted - 03 Mar 2007 : 03:01:43
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FOCUS ON POLITICS
THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE, BUMPY (continued)
By Suwaibou Touray
Continued from: http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3214
In the last issue, we were dealing with the Gambia’s road to independence which we described as bumpy. We stopped where we said the British were prepared to groom leaders who would administer the country in British style, after their departure. Countries like Ghana attained independence irrespective of the desire of the British. But the British at that time preferred to leave power in the hands of people who they have observed would not be hostile to British interest. This was why they were dragging their feet, and this was also why by 1965, the Gambia remains a constitutional monarchy, not a Republic, just like in the case of Moshoeshoe in Lesotho, Southern Africa.In 196 Chief Leabua Jonathan was appointed Prime Minister but the queen of England kept the powers of appointing a Prime Minister, approving bills, etc.despite the presence of the Lesotho king
It was equally the same thing in the Gambia, and this was why the 1965 constitution states in section 32 that” “there shall be a parliament which shall consist of her majesty and the House of Representatives”. It was also the duty of the Governor General to appoint a Constituency Boundaries Commission to determine the boundaries of constituencies. The other observation in the 1965 constitution which showed clearly that the Gambia had not attained independence in 1965 is found in this “the executive authority of the Gambia is vested in her majesty.” This further gave powers to the Governor General to exercise executive authority on behalf of her majesty the queen of England directly or indirectly.
Further more section 63 of the 1965 constitution also stated that “there shall be a prime minister who shall be appointed by the Governor General.”
As you can see, there are many sections that went to show that the Gambia in 1965 had not attained full independence from the British crown. For example, section 70 indicated” that “The Prime Minister shall keep the Governor general fully informed concerning the general conduct of the government of The Gambia and shall fumish the Governor General with such information as he may request with respect to any particular matter relating to the Government of Gambia”.
According to Section 60, “The Governor General may at times prorogue or dissolve parliament. “Subsection (4) reads “In the exercise of his powers to dissolve Parliament, the Governor General shall act in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister provided that if the Prime Minister advises a dissolution and the Governor General considers that the Government of The Gambia can be carried on without a dissolution and that a dissolution would not be in the interest of The Gambia, he may refuse to dissolve parliament.” The fact of the matter however at this stage was that the British were supposedly grooming the new Gambian government on the modus operandi of the Elizabethan system of government, that was why Ian Macleod was skeptical as to whether The Gambia could go it alone and become a viable state. That was just a delaying tactic.
In short, there are a thousand and one provisions to show that The Gambia, under the 1965 Constitution, was a constitutional monarchy where the leaders still owed allegiance and obedience to the British monarch. This is precisely the reason why we maintain that The Gambia was on the road to political independence in 1965, but did not fully get there. Some further political and constitutional developments had to take place before The Gambia could become a sovereign republic.
THE FIRST STEP
The first step that was taken after 18 February, 1965 was to consult the Gambian people to find out whether they were ready to become a sovereign people. This is why a referendum was held on 30 November, 1965, to find out whether the people wanted a Republican Constitution and move away from constitutional monarchy. It needed a two third majority of registered voters to stand. 61,568 voters supported ‘yes’, 31,921 voters voted ‘no’ The two thirds majority could not be achieved. Hence, The Gambia could not become a sovereign republic because of the ignorance of the voters.
Whilst the Gambia marched towards full sovereign status, there emerged the issue of association with Senegal because it was felt in some quarters as to whether the Gambia could go it alone as a nation, looking at its size, population and resources. Since the PPP under Mr. D.K. Jawara defeated the United Party under leader Mr. Pierre S. Njie and became premier, it then behoved on its leader to negotiate the final stage of decolonization with Britain.
On the issue of association with Senegal, a joint Senegalo-Gambian ministerial committee was set up which asked the United Nations to study the possibility of such an association. This was during the time when P.S. Njie was chief minister.
According to Dawda Faal, The United Nations report rejected integration between the two countries as unrealistic and recommended closer association in stages, but at this stage, it was D.K Jawara who was the prime minister, who sent his ministers to negotiate closer union with Senegal and the U.N sent legal and financial experts to advice them. Faal indicates that they then agreed that the two countries coordinate the development of the Gambia River Basin, sign a defence pact and share diplomatic missions abroad.
As far as Senegal was concerned, a merger was welcomed but the Gambian leaders feared that the Gambia, small as it is, may be submerged by Senegal economically, politically and even culturally. They then opted for independence.
According to Robert July, Gambia’s smallness posed the problem of economic viability and for Dawda Faal, the PPP Government was faced with what he called the stark economic realities at the time which must have made them to be less insistent that independence from Britain must come at once. This must have been the reason why The Gambia was the last British colony in West Africa to attain independence.
But for Halifa Sallah, the problem has been with the politicians at the time who were not fully prepared for national liberation and therefore undermined each other. This was why another referendum had to be called in 1970 which made Gambia to achieve a sovereign republican status on 24th April 1970. Thus 1970 constitution states categorically in chapter 1 “that the Gambia is a sovereign republic”, and Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara on 24th April 1970 became the first president of the Republic of The Gambia.
Continued: http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3262
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 025/2007, 2-4 March, 2007
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