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Momodou
Denmark
11644 Posts |
 Posted - 27 Mar 2007 : 13:40:44
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FOCUS ON POLITICS
AFTER FIVE YEARS OF REPUBLICAN EXISTENCE, HOW DID THE ECONOMY FARE?
Continued from: http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3372
Before we move to the 1977 General elections, it would be ideal to analyse what transpired in terms of The Gambian economy from 1970 to 1975, the first five (5) years of republican rule under Sir Dawda.
Did president Jawara address the age old contradictions in an economic system which creates unjust privileges for a few, who come to fear that the awakening of the masses would drift them from such privileges and therefore thought that by oppressing or suppressing them was going to be the only solution to cow them.
From hindsight, one could imagine that, at this stage, almost all of the people were absorbed in the economic struggle; the struggle to acquire what in their opinion was due to them and indeed what was theirs to be retained even if it was illegally acquired.
A place like Banjul was already divided, not only between tribes, but also visibly becoming a class society. Material possession whether by desire or fact, dominated the outlook of many people, especially people who were newly emancipated from colonialism.
By the 1970s, very few Gambians had acquired "Capital" but land was not initially considered wealth, since it was abundant and the population small. One thing that must be borne in mind is that a privileged minority once created, would live in luxury without having to produce anything at all since, in most cases, they would have acquired or inherited capital or land through perceived legal right as was the case in Zimbabwe, where the vast percentage of the best arable land was permanently kept by the white people.
Once an economy takes this trend, it is very difficult to undo it, because the few who found themselves privileged also become the most respected and, as such, everyone would want to struggle to enter their ranks no matter what. As a result, those who are successful will have the unwillingness to accept the fact, let alone face the fact that there is indeed no justification for incomes acquired in this way. And if a society thrives in this unjust way of distributing wealth or income, it therefore widens the gap between the rich and the poor.
Secondly, unjust distribution can take the form of trade. The farmer who toils in the field and produces his/her groundnuts requires to be informed about the reality of groundnut not only what the trader would offer him but what his product is worth at the world market where the trader would ultimately make his profit. In this way, the farmer would be in a position to bargain for his product, but in the absence of this, the farmer is liable to what is called "Exploitation." He or she is dependent entirely on the mercy of the trader. Has that been tackled by the Government of the 1st republic?
In the same way a worker who does not know the worth of his toil or his skill would be dependent on the employer. The average Gambian household breadwinner earned only D75 dalasis per month whilst a bag of rice costs D43.05.
The worker has no control over his pay nor has he any say over prices of commodities which makes it difficult for him to cater for his family.
For example, a bag of sugar was increased in 1973 from D25 to D50 when the salary of the worker was not increased by a butut. This is called injustice and Gambians dubbed it "Monkey works baboon eat" system, because those who were given the responsibility to make sure that the society gets equitable justice and income increased 40 pounds to their salary giving them scope to live extravagantly at the expense of the toilers.
This was why in 1970, the workers unions had clamoured for a salary revision, because they felt that the colonialists had created an unusual disparity in terms of wages between the "Pen Pushers", white collar workers, and the skills persons and laborers. The Government also accepted and contracted a British national, Mr. Wallace, to come and review the capacity of The Gambian economy with a view to recommend at least two things;
1. To see if the economy could accommodate the upward adjustment of wages of both the white collar workers, as well as, the skills workers and laborers,
2. To review and recommend the reduction of the gap between the various categories of workers in the civil service;
The Wallace report did not only take time to come out but took even a longer time for Government to inform the people and workers of it's contents and whether or not it has accepted it. Mr. M.E Jallow, who is the Secretary General of The Gambia Workers' Union, had to meet president Jawara to avail on him to increase salaries of the minimum pay workers, as well as, propose new working hours for the workers.
The tension continued to mount and on the 28th July 1975, it was felt that M.E Jallow's meeting had not yielded dividend, motivating workers all over the country to go on a general strike to protest against what they called the delaying tactics being employed by the Government in revealing the new salary structure as recommended by Mr. Wallace. This was the first time in post Gambian independence history that workers from all shades, irrespective of ethnicity and partisan leanings were able to come together to struggle for a common cause. The strike took four days.
CORRECTION! SUGGESTION! COMMENTS!
In issue No. 33/2007, it has been mentioned that Mr. Saikou Sabally was the Vice President and leader of the House in 1975. The error is regretted. It should have read, Mr. A. D. Camara who was the V/President and leader of the House. However the comment attributed to Mr. Saikou Sabally in the said article still stands in my records.
Secondly in issue No. 23/2007, it has been drawn to my attention that Mama Tomani Bah was never involved or at least not actively involved in politics but instead was an Imam since 1938 and infact rose to the level of Imam Ratib of Banjul, so he could not have been active in politics to the extent of forming a political party. I have researched in the Archives but many records dealing with the 50s are not available. So I concede to the correction even though I have found it in an earlier edition of contemporary records. The error is regretted.
The third contribution is not a correction but a pledge to make an input which is more than welcomed. It relates to the Excerpts of Mr. Sanjally Bojang'a interview in which a contemporary of Mr. Bojang was mentioned. One Kunbuna Manga and the contributor who knows him very well wrote to say his actual name was Mr. Kunbuna Yirajang from Patcharr Village in the CRD. So Mr. Kuyateh, we look forward to your contribution TO share with us what you know about one of the members of Pa Sanjally's vanguard team. In this regard, I am also inviting readers to send any observations which I will investigate with a view to ascertaining authenticity because, as I said in the beginning, we are trying to rewrite our history together so that ultimately other historians would want to rely on this column to gather information.
Thirdly I would want Gambians to think for one moment of a man who paved the path to political independence of our dear mother land.
To do this, I would also suggest for people to stop, at least for five minute when they when they walk past the round about at the junction of Clarkson/Nelson Mandela streets in Banjul inorder to have a look at something which most people probably pass un-noticed. What is there is The Edward Francis Small MEMORIAL was constructed in 1990 but later vandalised by a lunatic. It is indeed an insult to our collective intelligence to remember Mungo Parks's plague and deprive ourselves and our children the opportunity of knowing and remembering the father of the Nation Edward Francis Small. Sir Dawda once thought of resuscitating all monuments of historical importance but not much came of it. Let's hope that the second Republic would not forget to implement the good thoughts of the first Republic.
Continued: http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3404
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No.35/2007, 26-27 March, 2007
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