Thanks 4 the Gambia Bro
Karl
>From: Prince Obrien-Coker <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Is Our National Assembly "Lubricated"?
>Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 11:27:19 +0200
>
>Sisters and Brothers,
>
>Events are dramatically unfolding in the so-called "Crude Oil Saga". It has
>since emerged that Yaya Jammeh used some the proceeds of crude oil given to
>the people of the Gambia to finance his presidential campaign in 1996. This
>in itself is not at all surprising, since it is a well-known fact that Yaya
>Jammeh is depleting our merger resources for his personal exaltation. What
>is astonishing about all this, is the attitude of some members of our
>National Assembly.
>
>When a National Assembly is ineffective in its dealings, the nation is
>bound to go to "Kingdom Come". Since the Gambia claims to have a
>constituent assembly, it is the honest and impartial duty of every elected
>person to represent and safeguard the interest of his or her constituents
>in Parliament. But reports emerging are giving the impression that our
>National Assembly is more a partisan gathering to defend the selfish
>interest of Yaya Jammeh and not that of the people.
>
>What puzzles me, and I think many Gambians, is that most of these
>parliamentarians embraced Yaya Jammeh because he came out strongly against
>the corruption of Jawara's government. But now that the very Yaya Jammeh
>who spoke so vehemently against those corrupt practices is, himself,
>entangled in what he condemned, the people's deputation are dallying in
>factional politics.
>
>The Crude Oil Issue should transcend all political affiliations. It is of
>national concern. It is the duty of all those given the mandate to
>represent the Gambian people to see to it that all proceeds from that oil
>"deal" or any other deal, go into the national coffers. The National
>Assembly is the only institution, in our constitution, that can prevent
>what Christian H. Beddies of the IMF calls "inappropriate fiscal and
>monetary policies" and what the man in the street knows simply as thieving.
>
>Parliament is supposed to be the rod, ruler and rudder of good governance,
>but when its members are negligent of their duties, it can transform a
>nation to a circus of mismanagement, misappropriation, "miseverything" and
>instability. Worst of all, it can also produce a despot who, because of the
>inertia of some members of parliament, believes that he is a demigod.
>Leaders like Idi Amin, Nana Boukassa, Joseph Mabuto, Adolph Hitler and Papa
>Doc were made what they turned out to be, by the ineptitude of their
>parliaments. Judging from Yaya's track record, he is rapidly approaching
>those leaders. The only people who can peacefully prevent the Gambia from
>such degeneration are our members Parliament. These people somewhat
>underestimate the power the people invested on them. They somehow failed to
>realise that they are Yaya Jammeh's makers. Whatever Yaya Jammeh is doing
>or not doing, in the Gambia today, our members of parliament are directly
>responsible. It is hard to believe that these members of Parliament
>approved of everything that Jammeh does, including the slaughtering of so
>many young children.
>
>The loyalty of a Secretary of State (SOS) is not to be compared with that
>of an elected Member of Parliament (MP), albeit from the same political
>party. An SOS is and should be loyal to the one who gave him the post. An
>SOS is answerable only to the President or some obscure parliamentary
>committee, but not directly to the people. The SOS could be hired today and
>fired tomorrow, as Jammeh has so often demonstrated.
>
>An MP, on the other hand, is elected by the people to represent them in
>parliament. His allegiance should undoubtedly be to those who cast their
>votes for him. It had been the habits of past MP's to promise the
>electorate before an election and then forget them after entering
>parliament. The fate of those MP's should be a sound reminder to those who
>are in the National Assembly today. There were in the past year some
>unpleasant developments where MP's were embarrassingly indifferent to the
>plight of the people. The best examples that came to mind are the recent
>treatment of our hard working farmers by the government and the merciless
>slaughtering of innocent children. Right now, government officials are
>coercing these poor farmers to pay their rates and taxes with money they
>never received. To hear the APRC's Jarra-Central MP, Foday Lang Sarr,
>saying that his people were not interested in Yaya Jammeh's involvement in
>the crude oil affair, my heart went to the poor farmers in his
>constituency. The insensitivity that this MP shows towards his very people,
>seems to be typical of the National Assembly
>
>We can write and say anything about the ineffective and corrupt government
>of Sir Dawda Jawara, but farmers have never been so hard up in his time
>than what is at present happening in the Gambia. Yet I have not heard a
>single comment against the treatment of these poor and hard working
>farmers, from some of our members of parliament. In fact, more people have
>been killed in the six years that Yaya Jammeh is in office than the whole
>thirty years Jawara's corrupt regime. The National Assembly CAN and SHOULD
>put a stop to this Yaya's senselessness.
>
>In an interview with the magazine "WEST AFRICA" in January of 1997, Yaya
>Jammeh said "We are here to deliver the goods to the people and not to take
>from the people". A notion he repeated many times in that interview. In
>retrospect, one could see that Yaya was doing exactly the opposite of what
>he was telling the journalist and also about that time the questions of the
>Taiwan Millions were still unanswered. Now that the accusations are the
>same as the Missing Taiwan Millions, still some members of parliament are
>toying with the issue, in such a way that people are wondering whether some
>of these members are not partakers of the "oil money". Well, if it is so,
>then it would not be wrong to call our parliament "A Lubricated National
>Assembly", where most members are "smeared" with the CRUDE OIL.
>
>I, therefore, call on all members of the National Assembly to exercise
>their mandate on Monday 26th June, to get to the bottom of the matter. The
>activities of Yaya Jammeh's regime is sinking our nation into an abyss. It
>is therefore the duty of all Gambia loving member of Assembly to act
>positively to stop Yaya's destructive practices.
>
>THE GAMBIA DESERVES BETTER.
>
>========================
>
>4 THE GAMBIA
>
>For The Gambia, our homeland
>We strive and work and pray,
>That all may live in unity,
>Freedom and peace each day.
>Let justice guide our actions
>Towards the common good,
>And join our diverse peoples
>To prove man's brotherhood.
>
>We pledge our firm allegiance,
>Our promise we renew;
>Keep us, great God of nations,
>To The Gambia ever true.
>
>Prince Coker
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
>Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
