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Momodou
Denmark
11634 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Sep 2020 : 15:21:43
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When Accountability Is Ignored, Impunity Reigns
By Alagie Saidy-Barrow
Many of us got swallowed up in the euphoria at the dawn of Barrow’s presidency and either missed the obvious or gave it a Nelsonian Eye. The obvious was the failure to take stock. The obvious was to hold ourselves and each other accountable for our actions and inactions over the twenty-two year dictatorship. Unfortunately, the prevailing sentiment was that Yaya Jammeh is our ONLY problem and since he’s not here anymore, everything will work out just fine. Those of us who called for holding his enablers accountable were called all sorts of names. From Masaneh Kinteh to Momodou Tangara, from Sheikh Omar Faye to Mamburay Njie, these dictator enablers were all given a pass and no one bothered to hold them accountable for anything. And slowly but surely, even the dictator enablers began to rationalize their actions and try to launder their public record. “I was working for my country” became the holy grail and catchy excuse. When we questioned them, we were called jealous! Barrow and his government could do no wrong and every decision he took was defended to the hilt. Oh, that includes those of you who defended the surreptitious donations he made to your friends in parliament!
Far be it from me to hold brief for Yaya Jammeh but the fact is that Yaya Jammeh alone is not responsible for the twenty-two years of dictatorship in The Gambia. Everyone of age in that time period played a role of some sort. I dare say that every single one of us could have done better by our people over those dark twenty two years. But some of us chose to ignore the abuses and pretend all was well until we get caught in the evil net or someone close to us gets caught in the net of the dictator and then we start to care. Then we join the “struggle” and cry foul. Some collaborated with the dictator until they got booted out and then joined the “struggle” and cried foul. Often, a lot of us never cared when we hear of someone disappearing or someone getting killed. So long as the disappeared or the murdered is not our family member, we continued to mind our business. It was easier to pretend and pretend many of us did hiding behind “we are a peaceful and religious people.” Many of us pretended as if Yaya alone is guilty and our friends, political party mates and family members are all good people who did no wrong. Accountability was put on life support and impunity became en vogue! When change came, we were more in a hurry to partake in the “national cake” than take stock of our actions and make the difficult but necessary decision of holding each other accountable!
The parliamentarians we blame for dashing our hopes are only going by what we encouraged from the onset of Barrow’s presidency. They too know that accountability is on life support and so long as they have the might of Barrow behind them, no one can hold them accountable. Our NAMs know that no one will hold them accountable. And so they can do as they please. But the sentiment of doing what you want, didn’t just start today! It started when we allowed Barrow to betray the very ideals and promise that brought him to power. We gave him a free ride! Now he’s taking the nation for a ride! No constitution will pass in this country if it does not pass Barrow’s smell test of whether he can ride on our backs for fifteen years! He followed Jammeh’s playbook and surreptitiously began forming his own political party and building his own legacy on treachery and deceit from day one and many of us enabled him to do so. But he knows one thing, he doesn’t have to account for anything anytime soon so long as we continue to excuse impunity because we simply want to blame Jammeh alone and excuse our friends for all that was wrong in The Gambia.
As opposed to being sad or disappointed and feeling dejected about the torpedoed draft constitution, perhaps this is an opportunity to retrace our steps and see where we started to derail. There’s nothing wrong with putting up one’s hand and saying “I got it wrong this time.” This is an opportunity to regroup and start with stock taking and holding each other accountable for our public deeds. It’s not to punish anyone or sideline anyone at all; it is for people to realize that dictatorship seldom, if ever, sprouts out of a vacuum. For any dictatorship thrive, it has to have willing servants and a submissive population. Ignoring accountability for our actions will continue to lead to impunity and opportunism will always conquer patriotism. When you hear typical Jammeh enablers decrying how bad “things” were under Jammeh over twenty two years, one is always inclined to ask them “ when did you know of the dictatorship? Was it before you became part of the dictator’s circle, while you part of it or after you fell out with the dictator?” Some of these dictator enablers have since morphed into religious zealots, political commentators, renowned “journalists” cum peace activists, political party hags, senior government officials, anti-Gambians and burn Gambia crusaders like that ***** Sam Lobster Sarr. We all know them but we excuse them because they are our friends and families! Until everyone is held to account, better tighten your belts for this is going to be one long and rough flight into the unknown!
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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When Accountability Is Ignored, Impunity Reigns
