BY PA NDERRY M'BAI


Gambia's fragile democracy is yet under test.  Come next month Gambians will
determine who to entrust the affairs of their nation in the National
Assembly which had been reduced to dictator Yahya Jammeh's personal
property.

JAMMEH AT A GUARD OF HONOUR
WE EXPECT YOUR SOLDIERS TO STAY
AWAY FROM ACTIVE POLITCS!!!!!
This coming by election means a lot for our impoverished nation,  which had
lost its democratic values,  since the advent of dictator Jammeh's rule.
The eleven year of the APRC misrule had been characterised by massive
electoral fraud, murder, abductions and arson attacks.  This government had
succeeded in instilling fear into the minds of voters to an extent that they
can safely predict the outcome of future elections.

It's on record that Jammeh had brags time and time that with or without
Gambian voters he will sweep any future polls.  To quote him right he once
said"whether you voted for me or not, the devils will vote for me."  This
statement of Jammeh is indeed very revealing.  Is he is implying that he got
the means to rig elections, as he had always been doing.?

The current political field is not the least level.  Under the current state
of affairs, there cannot be free, fair and transparent elections.   The
Independent Electoral Commission in short IEC, which should be seen to be
independent had been invaded by Ruling APRC supporters.  These APRC
appointees believe that it's Yahya who is paying them and not Gambia's tax
payers.   They compromise their work ethics just to satisfy the interest of
the incumbent Yahya Jammeh.

The electoral crisis started with the registration of non Gambians, mainly
from the Southern Senegalese Provence of Casamance.  The cross border voting
is still a problem in  The Gambia.  Persistent demands by the opposition for
the IEC to expunge the names of these foreign Nationals from our electoral
record book had fallen into deaf ears.   This had confirmed well founded
claims that the IEC is not capable of conducting  free and fair elections.

Second, the mere fact that the IEC is not willing to extend franchise to
Gambians living abroad goes to show that the Ruling Party is not keen in
playing by the democratic game.  While civilise and democratic nations are
providing legislative bills to empower its nationals abroad to vote, The
Gambia government is still passing bills to further undermine democracy.  A
classical example is  the bill,  which bared second round of voting.
Knowing that he had lost support countrywide, he decided to use his rubber
stamp National Assembly to ban second round voting.  The passage of such a
bill is not only an assault to our constitution, but to The Gambian people
as well.  Jammeh behave as if he owns the constitution.  From 1994,  to date
more than thirty constitutional  amendments had been spare headed by this
desperate regime.

With barely few weeks to the by elections, the APRC is embarking on an
unofficial political campaigns.  The IEC is watching by idly without
cautioning the ruling party to go by the rules of the game.  Access to state
media and other media outlets within the country will help candidates to
send their messages across.  This is not the situation today in The Gambia.
The State media had been reduced to Jammeh's propaganda tool. Reporters and
editors working with such media institutions are exposed to censorship and
intimidation by the government.  They are not given free hands to report
divergent views.  Their editorial line is clearly spelt out.  That they are
bound to dance to the dictates of the ruling government or else they will be
send packing.   Sensational propaganda news to sell the image of the ruling
government is usually the order of the day.  We cannot blame such folks to
some extent, because it's the system that created the environment of
censorship.  While they have the decision to work or cease to work under
such a  hostile media environment,  some of these folks are working
tirelessly to defend the ethics of the journalism profession.   One such
fellow is Peter Gomez,  a former broadcaster and news editor at the Radio
Gambia.  Gomez was fired because of refusal to distort political news.  He
rightly quoted Jammeh as having said that he  plans to introduce the Muslim
law,  Sharia in The Gambia.  This report cost Gomez his job.  But today,
Peter can raise his head high.  He was a victim of government heavy
handedness.

Beside the media censorship, the regime is also hell bent on inducing voters
who are  perceived to be opposition supporters or sympathisers.  Poverty
stricken farmers will not hesitate to sell their votes for a bag of rice to
feed their families in August.  August is widely considered as a  difficult
month in The Gambia.  This is the time, when food is scarce in many rural
homes in The Gambia. This is the time, when farmers are desperately awaiting
to harvest their crops.  This is the time, when farmers face difficulty in
paying their sons school fees.  The September by elections is really going
to be interesting.  It would determine the future of The Gambia.

The opposition is faced with a big challenge. It must work tirelessly to
prove to the world that it's capable of capturing the four contested seats.
Waiting until the 11 hour to cry foul is not the method to expose electoral
fraud.  Free, fair and transparent is just more than voting.  The factors
leading to the polls determine the fairness of any elections and not mare
voting.

We hope and pray that both the opposition and the Ruling government will
adhere to the electoral codes.  That the elections will be violent free.
That Yahya Jammeh will restrain his trigger happy uniform men to stop
meddling into active politics.  Our brothers and sisters in uniform should
remember that governments come and go, but the state remain unmoved. They
should be loyal to The Gambia and her people and not Yahya Jammeh as a
person.  Any attempt to intimidate voters, which had always been the
practise will not tell well on our fragile democracy.  We expect the
security forces to remain neutral and avoid being used by  the incumbent to
create mayhem in the tiny West African country.

There is growing discontent among the civil populace  today and any move to
intimidate voters will be greeted with strong resistance.  It's
irresponsible on the side of Jammeh to incite his followers to respond to
what he termed as"any opposition provocation."  Our cherished peace is bound
to be upset, if these irresponsible comments emanating from the president
cease to stop.  Such statements can bring flames in the Gambia.  Be it
Jammeh or the opposition should preach messages of peace and reconciliation
and not otherwise. Politics of violence will not move The Gambia anywhere.

Instead, it will bring more under development. God save The Gambia.  Our
nation is still undergoing transition and it's up to  Gambian electorates to
take the right decision to save the nation from Jammeh's misrule.  2006 is a
  golden opportunity for Gambians to decide the future of their country.
Remember, you have no chance to make a second "impression". The future lies
in your hands.

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