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Momodou
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 Posted - 20 Oct 2007 : 15:48:19
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FOCUS ON POLITICS
POST- 1987 GENERAL ELECTIONS; PPP ELECTION MACHINE EXPOSED
With Suwaibou Touray
We have been focusing on politics in this column. We have analyzed the political history of The Gambia from pre-colonial to Post-Independence era.
The narration of events is meant to help our young people to know the past so as to understand the present in order to enable them to shape the future.
In the last issue, we had dealt with the petitions filed by the two opposition parties, i.e. NCP and GPP. We have stopped where we said the official news was no more credible because at the time, radio Gambia always engaged in announcing the so-called cross-carpeters from the opposition, who according to the Nation may have been their own members just to create psychological confusion instead of informing the people about the true state of affairs of the country.
Let us continue from where we stopped.
Issues that emanated from the 1987 General Elections refused to die down as they continue exposing the PPP election machine. The commissioners are the direct representatives of the president in the provinces. As a result they wield a lot of influence and were much feared by the people. The word commissioner sends chills of fear down the spine of the ordinary peasant. It was synonymous to the cry or groans of an angry lion in those days. The PPP used the commissioners to remind the peasants of their harrowing colonial experience. In certain instances, to simply utter the word “commissioner “to the people smacked looming trouble. They were used as a tool, more or less, for mis- education and as a measure to control or deter the thinking of the masses.
The Pakau Njogu Incident
During the election campaign of 1987, there was this story of a rift between the village head (Alkalo), Ismaila Bah of Pakau in the Upper Niumi and the commissioner of the North Bank Division, Mr. Demba Comma, which ended in the suspension, and dismissal of the Alkalo.
According to the Nation’s story, Mr. Bah said he never speak at political meetings. He said one Modou .I. Bah, a native of his village expressed his interest in standing as a candidate for the Gambia People’s Party in the 1987 elections, but as he said it seemed that some people did not agree with him. He said he too tried to dissuade him not to stand as a candidate. Mr. Bah appeared to be very conscious of his role as a community leader. He said,” we Alkalos have no right to interfere in such political matters, He said he was overwhelmed by the high profile visit comprising a cabinet minister, the chief of the Area, the PPP candidate and a member of the chief’s court to say that they intend to hold a political meeting at his village.
According to the Pakau Alkalo, some days later after the meeting, the commissioner of the Kerewan Administrative area, Mr. Demba Comma, accompanied by some people, also called to see him about a report the commissioner said he received concerning the village well, which he the Alkalo was alleged to have deprived some villagers from using. He however said it was fortunate for him because the master of their school was present who intervened to explain everything; that the allegations were false. The Pakau Alkalo narrated that it was at that juncture that the commissioner told him that he wanted to see him (Alkalo) alone. He said with the two of them, Comma asked about the progress of the politics in the area. He said he told him that the politics was on but since he is an Alkalo, he had noting to do with it. “I am here as an Alkalo” he said.
“I am here in support of Government directives and under Jawara,” he added.
The Alkalo said the Commissioner then urged him to do all he could to see that the PPP wins at the general elections. He said he told Comma that as an Aklalo, he was not supposed to be openly involved in politics, but as he said, Comma even gave him a poster of Jawara, which was hung in his house. The Alkalo said to his utter amazement, the commissioner called a meeting in his absence and announced his replacement by one of his relatives on the pretext that he was not performing his duties properly. He said Comma made a verbal election and asked people to raise their hands for his successor but as he said only 4 people in the whole village did so. He said the rest of the community raised their hands for him but the powerful commissioner still ignored their decision and replaced him. The Pakau Alkalo explained that to his surprise the commissioner sent message for him to go and meet him at his office. He said he decided to go with his son. He said to his utter surprise, the commissioner urged him to resign from the position of Alkaloship because as he said his service to his village was unsatisfactory, and that he should not continue to be in the village; that his presence would cause controversy and differences among the people; that the villagers would lose benefits from the Government which they are entitled to since he could not get on well with the government. He said he was however confused as to how he was in conflict with the government, neither could he understand the actions of the commissioner who replaced or dismissed him before all the villagers only to later asked him to resign.
The Alkalo said he then told him that he would not resign, “because I did not put myself there in this position as Alkalo. It was with the approval of the villagers”. He said he protested and told the commissioner that “It was my people who support me but the decision to replace me was yours, not the people.” According to the Nation, the fights that broke out were all based on elections. The Aklalo said nobody was beaten in Pakau itself, but one man in Kerr Demba Holleh village in Upper Niumi by the name, Alieu Saine, was severely
beaten up by those who accompanied the PPP candidate (a cabinet minister) to the extent that he had to run and hide. The Alkalo revealed that the PPP thugs beat Saine because he was a supporter of the opposition candidate in the constituency.
The dismissed Pakau Alkalo said the incident was reported to the police. He said another person, a woman, became a victim when she went to visit her relative at Kerr Afa; that when she returned home, she coincidentally met the PPP having a meeting at the village and she was asked to reveal the name of the writer who wrote on the wall to which she said she did not know; that she too was beaten up. The Alkalo explained that the woman was so traumatized and helpless that she had no option but to report the matter to a village soothsayer (marabout) who advised her to be calm and be patient. He said the marabout later told the woman that he too was powerless to do anything but gave her some money. He said he learnt that the lady was pregnant; that all the said beatings happened in the presence of the PPP officials.
It was at this period that, the PDOIS intensified their campaign to enlighten the people in both rallies and in their writings. They accused the PPP of being an election machine; that this was why it buys votes, engage in corrupt registration practices, pits the people against each other, used arm twisting tactics, fabricates allegations against opponents just to win votes; that their victory never reflected popular support.
The PDOIS maintained that what is true was that the old brand of politicians still managed to pit poor farmers living in huts or workers living in congested houses sleeping on beds full of bed bugs against each other. It is true the PDOIS said that such innocent people do insult each other and fight only to witness the people they fight for living in comfort in storey buildings, enjoying privileges and driving very expensive vehicles at their expense.
By December 1987, Banjul was faced with city council elections. According to the book “Story of the PPP”, the NCP and the GPP this time have chosen to contest in an alliance. The PDOIS refused to participate based on the fact that the councils were under the grip of the ruling party. The PDIOS also boycotted the country- wide Area council elections because according to their manifesto, the country-side is still robbed of democratic institutions; that what obtained at the time were sham elections of district chiefs and village heads where the president and minister of Local Government determine who was to stand and how long he/she was to be in office.
The PDOIS said the Area Councils collect money from the people without rendering services proportionate to the sums collected. They said they would not take part because the same old colonial arrangement prevailed.
In the BCC elections, the NCP and GPP decided to contest in an alliance. According to the “Story of the PPP” booklet, the PPP won eight out of nine wards and losing one Banjul Central ward to the NCP/UP. It further states that for the provincial elections, the NCP, having taken enough hiding, chose not to contest, leaving only the GPP alone to contest and sponsored independent candidates in about a dozen wards and encouraged them elsewhere.
See next edition as we penetrate into the year 1988.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 121/2007, Tuesday 16 October 2007
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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