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Gambia: Coups: Mockery to Democracy
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The Independent (Banjul)
OPINION
March 27, 2006
Posted to the web March 28, 2006
Madi Ceesay
Banjul
Yet Gambians got up with the news of a foiled coup attempt on Tuesday the 21 of March 2006. It is indeed unfortunate. Coups should be things of the past now. They are nothing but mockery of democracy in Africa. Coups have contributed a lot to the retrogression of the continent of Africa.
The general populace in Africa should now stand on the way of coup makers. We have seen it happen several times and nine out of every ten turn out to do worst than the government they toppled.
July 1994 was a turning point in the life of The Gambia. It was this day that a thirty year rule of the PPP regime of Sir Dawda Jawara was toppled by young soldiers who justified their act with a simple statement that the president had not only overstayed but he was corrupt as well.
Our young soldiers at that point in time posed themselves as democrats who were willing to do-away with corruption, nepotism and flamboyant lifestyles and put in place non corrupt, transparent and accountable system of government. Eleven years later, one should access the early coup statements and see whether what were actually honoured. For instance, the high level corruption in our country today is not a hidden secret, as two prominent ruling party bigwigs are lingering in Mile II Central Prisons for economic crimes and other closed related corrupt practices.
The corruption level was so high that the government of Jammeh was forced to set up an anti-corruption commission. That is one of the good things the Jammeh regime had done. It shows that instead of denying the existence of corruption within his government he was bold enough to accept the fact. The anti-corruption commission tried several past and present secretaries of state, heads of department and so on but the most interesting thing about the commission is that it was very discriminatory in the way people were arraigned before it. With all the hues and cries, the commission seems to be a dead horse.
We have seen the appearance of the likes of the Vice President before the commission but what stopped the President from appearing doubts many a Gambian. I may not be a lawyer, but it is stated over and over that nobody is above the law. Unfortunately, that is not the case in our country where the President seems to be above the law. Jammeh should have been courageous enough to appear before the very commission he had set up because he also fell with those executives that served the government from 1994 to date.
It would have been good for the President because it will set light on things like how the Kanilai farm, the Zoo, the jet and other things that the opposition cast doubt in the minds of the people would have been cleared. But these questions were never answered since he did not stand before the commission.
The coup of 1994 for me is a mockery of democracy. This is because before the coup, chieftaincy and alikalorship were elective positions but these positions over the years were turned appointive. Is that not a set back for democracy? Our constitution of 1970 has ever been silent on a presidential term limit, which is another set back of democracy.
With the coming of the coup I was so much happy when I heard the young soldiers saying that Sir Dawda ruled for 30 years and that he had overstayed. What comes to my mind was that we have men who have changed the government in their own way and those are the people who are talking of overstay in office, no doubt a corrective measures will be taken to avoid another overstay in office. That can only come our way with a presidential term limit. But more than ten years in office our country is not on the list of countries with presidential term limits. That is an indication of a mockery of democracy? Along the line from 1994 to 2006, our constitution has been butchered several times to the point of making it a bull without a horn. The possibility of a second round of elections was amended to a simple majority, the type you hardly find in Africa today.
What in my opinion broke the back of the camel is the flamboyant life style condemned in 1994 by the military junta. For those who are still alive would bear me witness that the Mercedez Benz used by the PPP ministers at time as official cars were all packed at the then Public Works Department (PWD). The junta refused to use them on the pretext that those are luxurious cars. But they later gave them to civilian ministers to use them for official errands.
On the contrary, those soldiers who are with difference can today boast of acquiring a prestigious limousine saying such acquisition was a sign of progress for poor Gambia. The acquisition of a limousine means nobody can look low upon The Gambia and that everybody is talking about it.
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Is it not a mockery of democracy if poor Gambia can spend so much on a single car while leaving majority of its citizens crippling with abject poverty? This is a time when most of our roads are not easily accessible. Yes, one acknowledges that some amount of development has taken place but we are not yet at a point where we have regular power supply to guarantee our manufacturing industry to flourish, our major road in very poor situations, our road networks within the capital are also horrible.
To sum up, it is hard to chew but the fact remains that Gambians are poorer today than eleven years ago. Poverty is biting citizens at a fast rate. It stands at 69%, which is worrying. More Gambians are jobless today than before. Our roads are worst today than twelve years back, a fact no truthful person can deny. The Kombo Coastal and Ferefenni Laminkoto Roads are not up to 10% of the road network.
The present regime can be commended for its timely intervention in the health and education sectors. However, it is my conviction that they add quality to quantity because the number does not matter.
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