Honourable Speaker, I came from Wuli yesterday. It was a colleague who
          phoned to say that the National Assembly was meeting today. If I
knew that
          the agenda was the repeal – I hate to use the word – Decree 89, I
would not
          have come. Let me quickly explain myself!
          When the honourable member for Jarra West, Honourable Kemeseng
Jammeh,
          introduced a private member’s bill in 1999 for the abrogation of
decree 89,
          my position was that there was no need for a bill to repeal decree
89. That
          position has not changed, Honourable Speaker.
          I still maintain that a bill to repeal Decree 89, so to speak, is
          superfluous.
          Honourable Speaker, section 4 of the 1997 constitution is very
clear on the
          issue. The said section stipulates very clearly that any law which
is
          inconsistent with it (the constitution) to the extent of their
          inconsistency  it is null and void. Honourable Speaker, Decree 89
is
          inconsistent with the constitution because it negates citizens’
fundamental
          rights and freedoms as stipulated in section 26 of the
constitution of the
          second republic.
          Section 26 not only gives right to citizens to vote but also to
stand in
          elections and be voted for, as well as to belong to political
parties of
          their own choice.
          The president has proposed the repeal, so to speak, of the obvious
Decree
          89 which, for virtually five years, has flouted the authority of
the
          constitution, the supreme law of the land, in the hope of watering
yet
          another seed of political opportunism. Decree 89 negated various
sections
          of the constitution, particularly sections 4 and 26.
          Honourable Speaker, no law can stand above the constitution.
          I have said it here and several occasions and I am going to state
it once
          again, that we in this country are engaged in the process of
building up a
          model democratic nation in terms of governance and management of
the
          resources in the supreme interest of its supreme people. In this
noble
          enterprise, we will not allow any political charlatans to stand on
our way.
          If they do, the impregnable sovereign might of the Gambian people
will
          smash them to ashes. This country is now sick and tired of
political
          mystification of all sorts.
          Honourable Speaker, some members have spoken of the so-called
repeal of
          Decree 89 as if it is that which gives right to people to belong
to parties
          and participate in the political process of their country. It is
the
          constitution which has given that fundamental right in its section
26 and
          was negated by Decree 89.
          As law makers, we have to be objective when we talk about issues
of
          fundamental importance. Decree 89 banned an amorphous group of
people some
          of whom faced commissions and were found guilty of embezzlement
and were
          fined and consequently banned. Others never faced any commission
and were
          banned without establishing any guilt. For instance, as far as I
am aware
          the leaders of the political parties NCP and GPP were never taken
before
          any commission and were banned without a prior establishment of
any guilt
          in that regard.
          Honourable speaker, in the enterprise of constructing a model
democratic
          nation without parallel anywhere in the world, obnoxious laws like
Decree
          89 cannot be tolerated for they serve as an impediment to the
expansion of
          the democratic space, they are not conducive to the creation of a
          propitious environment for the emergence of an informed citizenry,
          empowered and highly motivated to assume the task of nation
building.
          Honourable Speaker, it is never too late for reason to prevail. I
am
          consoled that reason has now prevailed to help us forge progress
ahead.
          Thank you very much!


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