Jammeh, APRC And Democracy 
Point News (Banjul) 
July 26, 2000 


Banjul - The amazing thing about President Jammeh and all the groups that revolve around him is that they seem to fear Democracy, although they claim that in terms of support they have the whole country behind them.

Now and again, when it suits the occasion, they will claim that the Gambia is second to none as far as democracy is concerned. But when they feel the heat, they blame it on democratic aspirations, more so, when they are confronted with pronounced aspirations for respect for inalienable rights such as the right to associate, the right to freedom of expression etc.

They also reject or play down the corollaries that go with democracy, that is, transparency, accountability, the rule of law and good governance. Although we do not need to talk about elections now, even that, the opposition says, makes them nervous even though they (Jammeh and co.) retort they have mass support all over the country.

Visualising the other night's airing by Gambia TV of Jammeh's meeting with the APRC Youth Wing (the opposition claims they are former J22 members), we were dismayed by the anti democratic pronouncements people like Soma Jobe, David Jones etc. made nationwide. For someone to call for the policing of public offices is unacceptable in an environment where people's integrity and dignity should be respected.

To say, in one breath that the Gambian people had democratically elected the APRC, and in the second negate that by calling for the suppression of the National Assembly is, to say the least, the contradiction of contradictions.

To say, in a country where the rule of law is mandatory, that you have fired 8 civil servants whose only crime is they see things differently, and replaced them with members of the APRC Youth Wing, we say calls for a redress of the highest order.

And to crown it all, the President threatens to bury people six feet deep if they disrupt the peace and stability of the country. Where is the Judiciary? Is it on permanent vacation? Is the Judiciary not the institution that deals with people accused of flouting the laws of the land? Jammeh! Jammeh! Mr. President - to accept at State House, in this millennium, this day and age, these days of frustration and waning confidence - those pronouncements and to amplify on them with a deadly tone tantamounts to disregarding a people committed to freedoms, and the liberties that every nation deserves. 


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