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Momodou
Denmark
11670 Posts |
 Posted - 19 Dec 2020 : 17:18:42
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The more things change in the Gambia, the more they seem to stay the same
By D. A. Jawo
The common saying; “the more things change, the more they stay the same” seems to be quite well applicable to the Gambia at this very moment. This is because we are not only every day seeing a replica of the things that the Yahya Jammeh dictatorship had been doing, but some of them are even more blatant.
When Gambians enthusiastically came out in their large numbers on December 1, 2016 to vote in the presidential elections, their objective was not only to get rid of a dictatorship that had turned this country into a pariah state despised by the civilized world, but to also change its socio-political trajectory. The question therefore is whether we have achieved that objective, and the answer, it seems, is in the negative. We have not only seem to be very far away from achieving that objective, but instead we seem to be heading the opposite direction, repeating virtually everything from the Yahya Jammeh playbook.
We have been witnessing, for instance, the frequent meetings at the State House, using state facilities and resources, by people mobilized from the regions to eulogize and sing praises of President Adama Barrow, exactly as used to be done by former President Jammeh.
We have also seen how the annual “Meet the People’s Tour”, which is paid for from pubic funds, being virtually transformed into a full-blooded political jamboree, with all the speakers being carefully chosen and being encouraged to urge the people to support President Barrow’s National People’s Party (NPP), and spending most of the time receiving people purported to have crossed-carpeted from the opposition parties, instead of talking about the problems of the farmers and the rural dwellers. President Barrow himself making all sort of promises, assuring the people, wherever he went, that he would bring them all the developments that they failed to get during the Jawara and Jammeh regimes, although not telling them where he is going to get the funds to achieve that. We have also seen cabinet ministers and some senior civil servants, instead of concentrating on their areas of official responsibility, talking and behaving like they are on the campaign trail on behalf of the NPP. A good example is the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Hamat Bah, who has constantly been calling on the people to join the NPP and support President Barrow’s political agenda, behaving exactly like a campaign manager instead of a cabinet minister with specific official responsibilities. One would even wonder whether he has now abandoned his own party in favour of the NPP, apparently just because he wants to maintain his privileged position. We also heard the Governor of the North Bank Region, Lamin Saidykhan, for instance, during one of the meetings in his area, calling on the people to join the NPP bus and support President Barrow’s political agenda before it is too late, clearly violating his political neutrality as a senior civil servant.
We have also seen how several government vehicles have been mobilized to transport several hundreds of people, mainly militants and supporters of the NPP, to accompany the President on the ‘Meet the People’s Tour’, no doubt being fed and accommodated at the expense of the state while they are purely engaged in political matters on behalf of the NPP. Most of them have been putting on NPP ‘Ashobi’ with President Barrow’s photo on it, making the atmosphere look more like a political campaign than a constitutionally mandated official tour.
Another clear copycat of the Yahya Jammeh style is the use (or misuse) of the public-financed Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS), using several hours of airtime to broadcast both the State House meetings and the other political functions by President Barrow and his NPP, when the activities of the opposition are hardly covered by the GRTS; exactly as used to be the norm in the Yahya Jammeh era.
It is certainly unfair for the NPP to be given unlimited access to the public media and deny such privileges to the opposition who are also taxpayers. A good example is the on-going congress by the United Democratic Party (UDP), which was virtually ignored by the GRTS. This is one area that Gambians had constantly complained about during the Jammeh regime and as such, many people are quite let down that the Barrow regime, which came to power with a promise to change the political trajectory would now be engaged in such unfair tactics. In Senegal, for instance, every time President Macky Sall and his ruling party have a public event, they would pay the private media for coverage instead of using the public media, and why would President Barrow and his NPP not do a similar thing rather than using public facilities for his personal political benefit?
Just as someone recently said, we are presently in the ‘political transfer window’ in this country, with people criss-crossing from one party to the other in anticipation of the 2021 presidential elections. It is however not quite surprising that most of the transfers are heading to the NPP, apparently because it has more access to resources and other incumbency advantages. In addition, it appears that the biggest victim of those carpet crossings is the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), which seems to have virtually been depleted of its senior ranks by those carpet-crossings.
One may however tend to ask why it is the GDC, which seems to be the biggest victim of such defections to the NPP. The answer probably is that both the GDC and the NPP seem to have virtually the same recruitment constituency; mainly the Fulas and Serahules. However, the NPP being the one with more resources and other advantages is no doubt much more attractive for those seeking money and other privileges. Therefore, at the rate it continues to lose its members to the NPP, it is hard to see how the GDC can continue to exist as a credible party or even survive by the next presidential elections.
However, while President Barrow and his NPP seem to be on Cloud 9 with these carpet crossings, let us hope that they would not lose sight of the high possibility of the bubble getting burst sooner rather than later. It is quite obvious that most of those joining the NPP are being enticed by either money, employment opportunities or other privileges, and therefore, it may be just a matter of time before the NPP gets bloated at the very top and they would soon begin to elbow each other out in jockeying for positions in the executive. It would therefore not be a surprise if in fighting begins to creep in among the top echelons for positions of authority, with each new member expecting more attention than they could get, eventually leading to disaffection and a possible slowdown of its growth and development. While the party has access to a lot resources and funding from business tycoons competing for President Barrow’s attention, for quite obvious reasons, the NPP may not have what it takes to satisfy the greed and high expectations of all those rushing to join its ranks.
Another issue of concern to many Gambians is the decision to invite former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to come and help the Gambia get out of the constitutional impasse we seem to have carelessly boxed ourselves in. It is quite obvious that the rejection of the Draft Constitution by the National Assembly was orchestrated from State House, and it appears that, as a result of pressure being applied on the government by development partners, President Barrow now desperately wants to find a way out of it. There was absolutely no justification to encourage his supporters in the National Assembly to vote against the Draft simply because he objected to certain clauses.
However, rather than seeking foreign intervention, the first thing that he should have done was to call the leaders of the different political parties to a round-table discussion about the issue. This is a Gambian problem, orchestrated by Gambians, and there is no reason why we cannot resolve it amongst ourselves without foreign intervention.
While President Jonathan’s negotiating skills are not in doubt, however, the best approach should have been for the government to engage the different stakeholders to discuss the issue. Obviously, if President Barrow had engaged the leaders of the political parties and other stakeholders on the issue that would have clearly demonstrated to them that he values their contributions to national development. However, by seemingly sidelining them and going all the way to Nigeria to get someone to help resolve the problem, then he seems to be sending a clear message to them that he does not have much regard for their ability to maturely deal with national issues. This is therefore likely to have a negative impact on the attempt to find a solution to the problem. It is in fact quite possible that if anything is removed or added to the original Draft, some of those who voted for it the last time may this time round vote against it, and that would send us back to square one. It is therefore necessary that President Barrow and his government handle the issue with the utmost tact in order not to upset the apple cart.
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 19 Dec 2020 : 22:35:00
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https://standard.gm/joining-a-political-party-and-leaving0/
By Alagie Saidy-Barrow on December 17, 2020
Have you seen how people all of a sudden become a “nobody” when they leave one political party for another? You hear things like: Njundu is a nobody! Njundu does not even have a voice in his imaginary household; how can he influence anyone? Njundu does not have the lemonade God gave him because he let Nfansu Ceesay borrow it; how can he share anything? He has nothing. And I think two of the “biggest” insults in our vocabulary is calling someone a “nobody” or calling them a “commoner”! And when you switch parties, these are some of the adjectives thrown your way.
I guess you’re only useful to the party while you’re a member. The day you leave, you’ve become as useless as a cassette tape is to bi jamani dingdingno lu. They will start saying that you are in fact a nobody or that you were actually only a nominal member and that you brought nothing to the party. God help you if they know something personal or embarrassing about you, they’ll call you know who and start spreading calumnies about you in a Baddibu minute.
I don’t know why people get all pissed when someone leaves their party for another. Our politics is oftentimes about what we can get from the promise of the national cake as Hamat and Seedy call it. Some of us can pretend all we want that our politics is based on values but even Seedy Njie will not make that claim. Credit to him! People go where they think they’re likely to access the cake. That’s what politics of patronage encourages!
You’ll never see a Kemeseng Jammeh or a Sidia Jatta walking away from their parties for some cake somewhere! A Femi Peters (RIP) never ran after a cake. An Omar Touray (RIP) never ran after some cake. Ditto Shyngle Nyassi (RIP). Their political party membership was not based on calculations of return on investment in the national cake; rather, theirs is/was anchored on values that underpin their membership in their respective parties. But with these “I was with Yahya yesterday” and “today with XYZ or Barrow” or “I was with APRC and supported evil because I was getting paid and now I am with XYZ”, should anyone be shocked when they hop on the train with the Cake?
If you entice people with individual agendas to your party because you claim “politics is all about numbers”, then it should be understandable when someone else entices them to their party with the promise of a bite at the cake. And as elections get closer and the stakes get higher, you will see even more high profile departures. Again, it is the way our politics is done and has been done since the days of Jawara (RIP). Until these foundations are dismantled, a lot of Waka-jumping, cross-carpeting, defecting or whatever we call it, will continue to be based on “what do I stand to gain” as opposed to the values and programs of the political parties.
I’m sure there are thousands more people who are in political parties because they believe in the values their party espouses. That’s what everyone I know will claim of course! But so long as we continue to politic based on what benefit an individual stands to gain and not based on shared values, I for one will not blame the political opportunists. They too just want a sip of the national lemonade and a bite of the national cake! They may be shameless opportunists but many of us also embrace our opportunists in our midst even if we pretend otherwise. Ours are no better than the Seedy Njies and Hamat Bahs and Henry Gomez’. It’s politics of patronage.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 19 Dec 2020 : 22:39:17
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https://foroyaa.net/can-a-national-assembly-member-resign-from-his-party-and-join-another-party-without-losing-his-or-her-seat/
QUESTION OF THE DAY on December 18, 2020
No law exists that forbids such development but a law exists that forbids an Independent National Assembly member from joining a party. Hence the mind of the lawmakers is clear. Any party that suffers such a fate should file a case with the courts to get a declaration on the legality of cross carpeting. The multi -party system is essential for democracy, peace and stability.
The new Elections Act should empower the IEC to hold by elections wherever a National Assembly member cross carpet to another party. This should never be tolerated in a new Gambia.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 19 Dec 2020 : 22:47:13
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https://standard.gm/jimara-nam-speaks-on-reported-defection-to-npp0/
By Tabora Bojang on December 17, 2020
The opposition GDC National Assembly Member for Jimara has confirmed to The Standard that he has not yet defected to the National People’s Party despite his presence at the president’s meeting in Sotu-masare. According to Alagie Sowe, he is in consultation with his people on the matter before formally declaring whether he will go.
As defection of politicians from opposition GDC continues, including its former national president Dr Demba Sabally and sponsored Kuntaur Area Council chairman Saikou Jawara, reports surfaced online this week that Sowe has also joined the NPP.
However, Sowe said it is not right for anyone to suggest that he has shifted allegiance to the NPP at this stage. “I was elected under the GDC ticket so if I am to leave the GDC, I think it is important to do consultations and I request for them to give me the time to make consultations,” Sowe said.
The lawmaker, who has been a strong critic of the Barrow administration, expressed shock over remarks by Jimara chief Alhagie Kanimang Sanneh to declare at the meeting that he [Sowe] has joined the NPP.
“I told them that if I was going to shift allegiance, it would not be at this meeting but I will have to consult my people and from there, I will call a general meeting and announce my defection,” Sowe said.
Asked what would happen if his people disagreed with his proposal, Sowe responded: “I will stay and continue with my party because the majority carries the vote.”
Asked what impressed him about Barrow, Sowe said: “Actually, he is doing very well especially in Jimara. Since independence, only four communities have electricity but when he came, within four years, he extended it to six other communities and I believe joining the NPP would help me better serve the needs of my people. It is important to see the best interest of Jimara.”
President Barrow, when addressing the meeting, urged Sowe to follow the footsteps of Jimara natives like Saihou Mballow, Prince Sankano and Dr Demba Sabally who have joined him.
“It is a shame that he [Sowe] should be opposing me as a president when we have all hailed from Jimara. If it does not embarrass him, it does to me,” Barrow told the people of Jimara.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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