No Symptoms of a Level Political Playing Field


  
Email This Page  

Print This Page  


The Independent (Banjul)
COLUMN
September 24, 2001  
Posted to the web September 24, 2001  
D.A Jawo
Banjul, the Gambia  
During the nomination of presidential candidates on Tuesday, it was quite soothing to hear President Jammeh assure the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission that his party was going to abide by the rules of the game and that his supporters would not be allowed to disrupt the peace during the campaign and the elections.
That is indeed quite reassuring, and we can all hope and pray that the promise is kept. However, it now appears that the reality on the ground is telling a different story. We have all seen APRC militants and their 'hired' supporters on nomination day going about in their newly acquired fleet of vehicles as well as other vehicles commandeered from parastatal organizations causing unbearable noise and accompanied by provocative slogans about the opposition and their leadership. Those actions are obviously ingredients for trouble because if the opposition militants respond in a like manner, the end result would obviously be trouble.
What is however most disturbing is the negative part apparently being played by certain elements in the public services. We have all seen for instance how some senior public servants were out in the streets on nomination day donned in APRC colours and making monkeys of themselves, apparently all in a bid to curry favour from the party hierarchy. What a shame.
There are even allegations that some of these parastatals sponsored the 'T' shirts and other party paraphernalia which was generously being distributed by the APRC. Can you imagine NAWEC of all places, for instance sponsoring 'T' shirts when they cannot even satisfy the most basic utility needs of the people? This is in addition to the numerous parastatal vehicles that were seen transporting APRC supporters. Therefore, rather than the UDP presidential candidate threatening to take President Jammeh before a commission of inquiry when he is elected to power, he should instead undertake to prosecute those public servants and heads of parastatal organizations who used scarce public resources in their shameless bid to curry favour from the big men. That is more of a criminal act against the people of this country than anything President Jammeh has done, and it should never be condoned.
Another sector of the public services that seems to be playing not so positive a role in the whole political imbroglio is the judiciary, or shall I just say Magistrate Buba Jawo of the Mansakonko Magistrates court who, according reports, is allegedly behaving more like an APRC militant than an impartial arbiter in the way and manner he is alleged to be dispensing justice in his court. It is alleged that his revising court sessions in Mansakonko are mere kangaroo courts where the opposition laintiffs are often allegedly vilified and subjected to all sorts of humiliation while the APRC militants who are allegedly always mobilized to attend the courts are allowed to behave anyhow they like with impunity.
While it is disappointing, but certainly it is not surprising that no action has been taken against such alleged unprofessional behaviour by his superiors in Banjul. We have all witnessed the summary dismissals of magistrates whose only crimes had been because they delivered judgements that did not favour the APRC. Good examples had been the sackings of Borry Touray in Basse and Lamin Touray in Mansakonko, both of whom lost their jobs apparently because they made rulings that did not favour the APRC in their dispute with members of the opposition. There are even allegations that Magistrate Jawo has often being seen in the company of certain APRC bigwigs like Baba Jobe and Chief Yaya Jarjusey of Jarra West, which would certainly not be surprising in view of his alleged comportment in court. There is no doubt that if he had been suspected of any shred of sympathy with members of the opposition, he would have been removed a long time ago, but in view of his alleged hostilities to the opposition and alleged biasness in favour of the APRC, he is more likely to be rewarded with either promotion or a scholarship. As head of the judiciary, people expect the Chief Justice to take remedial action against such complaints of judicial bias, to at least pre-empt a possible erosion of public confidence against the judicial system. What is going on in Mansakonko is certainly not in the interest of judicial justice.
All these actions and the very fact that the GRTS also used more than two hours of tape to show President Jammeh's 'hired' crowds on nomination day while only allotting less than one minute to the opposition crowds is a clear manifestation that the political playing field is not level, and the outcome of any elections under such an environment cannot be free and fair. We can all therefore hope and pray that those who remote control the GRTS would respect the IEC media rules during the official campaign period and allow all the candidates equal and unfettered access to the public media. We also expect all the other sectors of the public services, including the security forces; at least for the period of the campaign to minimize their obvious biasness towards the APRC, otherwise, we shall never expect free and fair elections.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------