OPINION
The role of parliament and the opposition
By Biraa Go



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October 29, 2005
In the past ten years, we can all testify that Gambian political maturity
has grown but the principal role that elected officials and the mass media
should play have not yet reached the level of safeguarding the nation's
fundamental interests.

We have to help each other by raising our eyebrows and questioning
ourselves at al moments so as to fulfill our duties and protect our common
interest as a nation.

The qualitative standard of pressure groups, political and mutual interest
organisations at all echelons of our society should solidify their roles
by also increasing the quantity of competent and scrupulous actors in all
sectors of development.

The excesses of authoritarianism and corruption in our beloved ship call
The Gambian is going to drown us all if we together do not arrest it at
once.

We have committed a grave error by accepting the most undemocratic
constitution in the short history of our nation. We need to make a
thorough review of today's constitution that has allowed the creation of a
dictatorship that is stifling our country with an erratic leadership.

We cannot claim that the political organisations in the Gambia are young
and inexperienced, on the contrary, the majority of the main actors have
been in the field since the sixties and seventies and definitely need to
renew themselves which we all understand that it is not an easy task for
them also giving the selfish nature of a lot of our people.

It is very unfortunate that the so-called ruling party is not a
consciously organised organisation that grew from a well-defined platform.
Rather, it is composed of a group of fortune seeking individuals gathered
by a bunch of lawbreakers who legalised their status quo by taking the
country hostage through the force of arms and the corruption of our
security forces without whom the coup d'etat of 1994 could ever have
succeeded coupled with the inaction and senseless division of the
political leadership.

The birth of NADD has triggered a new momentum in our quest for justice
and freedom and is now spilling over to the ranks of the few patriots who
have found themselves in the APRC. The cooperation between the selfless
patriots of the Gambia should now take a new phase in which we don't see
each other as enemies of individual but rather understand that when the
boat sinks most of us may perish and that we have to challenge the
unscrupulous forces of undemocratic "Globalisation" collectively.

There are some fundamental issues we have to correct immediately and the
principal actors are the opinion builder in and outside of the country and
the elected representatives of the people. Any elected representative who
fails to answer to the people's call for justice and the common strive for
prosperity should be impeached from office or voted out.

A Movement for a Just and Democratic Constitutional should take root now
and not wait for NADD to take political power. This is the responsibility
of all Gambians regardless of political organisation because the
deficiencies in the current constitution are so enormous that we are all
duty bound to collectively effect it's review and correction without being
a hostage to anyone or group of people and for the interest of all. The
discrepancies in the national constitution have even spilled over to
political organisations whose members have given all their rights to one
individual or one could rather say that this person has gathered them
around his persona be given them chomps of the national cake that has
become his personal property. Since the current National Assembly Members
who are free to conduct job duties are quite few, the citizens must now
take up the responsibility to do it themselves with the handfuls that are
available.

The president Must be summoned as the head leader of almost all
institutions to answer to questions of mal-governance which not abating at
all.

- The millions of dalasis that are not accounted for, the hiring, firing
and re-hiring of government officials' without any reason, some of whom
were found guilty by official enquiry commissions.

- The harassment and dismissal of government workers by civil servants and
politicians including the president's involvement in based on police
matters. (Not supporting the ruling party).

- Party funding through dubious means by foreign actors including
governments the likes of Taiwan.

- We must investigate the reasons behind the purchase of a presidential
jet by the Taiwanese government because we have all witnessed how the
president, party officials among others were engaged in lobbying (lobbying
is officialized/legalised form of corruption practiced by all world
governments) for a seat for Taiwan at the United Nations at the last
General Assembly gathering.

- Why did the Secretary of state for agriculture Yankuba Touray promise
the people of kiang West that President Yahya Jammeh would release the
jailed ex-majority leader Baba Jobe if they vote for the APRC and nothing
came out of this statement?

- Why is it that the Bridge-Barrage project was abandoned any without any
thorough consultation, President Jammeh just announcing that that Gambia
and Senegal would embark on a bridge project at the same location
(Yelitenda-Bambatenda)?

- Why is Lang Conteh jailed for an 8 months term after making history in
stealing national funds (the theft of the century) and the records of the
nation's principal financial institutions just go missing while we still
have the same Central bank governor (who also happened to have been the
minister of finance including the current minister of infrastructure) and
State president.

- Why should we allow the president alone to decide the fate and
membership of the Independent electoral commission?

The list is too long if we want to enumerate the facts regarding
mal-governance in the Gambia.

We just appeal to all compatriots to take the task and demand justice at
list for the sake of our children.



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