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Momodou
Denmark
11634 Posts |
 Posted - 18 Dec 2007 : 21:07:24
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Foroyaa Editorial
16th December Can Never Be Forgotten
Freedom of expression is what distinguishes slaves from free persons, sovereign persons from subjects. The right to information is the foundation of the principle of transparency and accountability. How will an auditor perform his or her duty if one did not have the right to information from accounting officers.
How will judges make decisions if they did not have the right to information from those who are to give evidence. How can citizens make informed choice, if they do not have the right to information. A democratic people must be an informed people. This is why section 25 subsection 1 (a) states “Every person shall have a right to freedom of speech and expression, which shall include freedom of the press and other media” This simply means that all citizens can communicate their opinions through the media and run media facilities of their own. Political parties, religious groups, trade unions, women organisations, youth groups, cultural groups and so on and so forth could establish their own organs of communication to express their opinions.
The constitution did not stop there. It went further to charge professional media practitioners with the responsibility to make those in the service of the public accountable. Section 207 subsection (3) reads as follows: “The press and other information media shall at all times, be free to uphold the principles,
provisions and objectives of this constitution, and the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people of the Gambia” Deyda sought to create an umpire media establishment, which did not ally itself with any interest group but sought to monitor and expose whatever was harmful to the public interest. He could not be an enemy to anyone who was just and upright. The just and upright can never be afraid of scrutiny. Such people will always be able to fight malicious propaganda with the power of the ink and the pen or the power of the sound bite. Who felt threatened by Deyda to have the audacity to play the role of a god and terminated his life with impunity?
Where is the power of the person who hides and does what criminals do every day?
Which decent person will be proud to live with blood in his hands? How can a person eat with such hands and embrace one’s children knowing that you have terminated the life of another’s father. On Sunday 16th December, Deyda again turned in his grave to ask the living: What type of a society will create self appointed prosecutors and judges who sentence innocent persons to death without charge or trial. That type of society belongs to the era of barbarism and every civilised human being should be filled with outrage and that public outcry should be heard from pulpits and platforms and all of us should declare an end to impunity in unison. Like Deyda, the murderers will one day return to the earth. Unlike him, they will live daily in fear not knowing when their own deeds will catch up with them. Death is a necessary end .It comes to us all, the saint as well as the villain. That we must die is obvious. What we should be concerned with is what we live for and what we die for. Those who die for justice will never be forgotten. In fact they do not die abruptly. They continue to live in the hearts and minds of the living. On the anniversary of his death Foroyaa joins the whole nation to ask; Who killed Deyda Hydara?
Deyda Still Lives On
Friends and relatives gathered in Bakau to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of their husband, father, brother, sister, uncle, friend, etc.
Amongst the large crowd were a good number of media personnel. After the recitation of the Qur’an and prayers, speeches were delivered honouring him and in defence of what he stood for. Deyda’s corpse may have been buried but his spirit is very much alive.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issues
Issue No. 148, 17 – 18 December 2007
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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