Charles Cobb Jr.
24 March 2003
interview
Washington, DC — Wedged into the heart of Senegal, the tiny west African nation of Gambia is often overlooked. But the Gambia has had a difficult history, particularly during the past decade after young military officers overthrew the government on July 22, 1994, bringing to an end the longest serving democracy in Africa.
After a new constitution was adopted in 1996, elections were held, and by 1997, the country had officially returned to civilian rule. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, the former chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) that had seized power, won the presidency and continues in that position.
Despite the lifting of the ban on political parties, "Decree 89" was passed which disqualified the ousted former president, Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, the former vice president and all former ministers of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) from contesting any political office. The decree was repealed last July, but the government can still impose "reasonable restrictions" on political activity.
The Gambia's human rights record has also continued to come under fire, particularly since April 10th and 11th of 2000, when security forces used live bullets to break up a student protest. Last year's U.S. State Department report on human rights practices called the Gambia's record "poor." Freedom of speech and the press is "significantly limited," according to the report.
Omar Jallow, interim leader of Jawara's Peoples Progressive Party, served for 17 years in the Jawara government, including terms as deputy minister of foreign affairs and minister of agriculture. He has been on a visit to the United States, where he was interviewed by AllAfrica's Charles Cobb Jr. Excerpts:
What brings you to the U.S, especially for such a long period of time - one month?
First, I came to meet with Gambians here - some of whom have settled here, some are students pursuing higher education and some are political refugees on exile - to sensitize them particularly about the bad governance by the present regime, the rampant violations of human rights and the very serious and systematic erosion of people's power through frequent amendments of our constitution and other major laws of The Gambia.
For example?
For example in the past three to four years since the new constitution came into force, it has been amended 28 times and most of these amendments touch on people's rights. I'll give you a few examples: From time immemorial, village and district heads were always appointed or selected by their own local communities. Both the colonial authorities and the previous government encouraged this participatory democracy at the local level because it gave power to the people and provided a system of checks and balances between the traditional rulers and their people. But now the president has decided to usurp those powers that were vested in the local communities by taking it upon himself to appoint and dismiss all village and district heads.
What is President Jammeh's explanation of the need for this?
The president has not given any explanation. But we know that he has done this so that he can now use these leaders to manipulate and directly control the people.
Did this change go through the legislature to become law?
It went through the legislature and has become law. We are campaigning vigorously against this obnoxious law and will challenge it at the highest court of the land because we believe it represents a disenfranchisement of the majority of Gambians - 85% of the population.
The second erosion of people's power committed by the present government is the amendment of the country's Criminal Code. Before the overthrow of the elected government in 1994 and before this amendment, the High Court and Supreme Court were the only institutions of law that had the power to interpret the constitution. They were also the only courts that had the power to try people charged with treason and other crimes that carry the death penalty or life imprisonment. Now there is an amendment that gives such powers to the lower magistrates courts. This we see as a clear example of the manipulation of the judiciary. Because the government finds it hard to manipulate or impose decisions on the judges of the higher courts, they give these powers to the lower courts whose inexperienced lawyers and magistrates they can easily manipulate and control.
In addition, they further amended the Criminal Code to make sure that anyone charged with an offense that carries life imprisonment or the death penalty cannot be granted bail. Before this amendment, the decision to grant or deny bail rested entirely with the judges of the higher courts. Fort instance, if I go back to Gambia now and I am arrested and accused of any crime carrying the death penalty or life imprisonment, I cannot be granted bail and can remain in jail for up to ten years while the case drags on, depending on the whims of the prosecution which is directly controlled by the executive.
Yet another erosion of people's rights and power concerns the establishment of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the institution responsible for the conduct of elections. We believe it is wrong and improper for such an institution to be headed by five commissioners all of whom are appointed by the president and can be sacked by the president, who is himself a player in the game refereed by these same commissioners. And the president has already demonstrated his interference and manipulation of the IEC by sacking two of the commissioners including the chairman because they wanted to regularize some of the irregularities within the institution and its functions.
Also, there has been a spate of systematic politically motivated dismissals of civil servants over the past few years. The civil service is the bedrock of any meaningful development of any country. If there is genuine democracy, governments go and governments come but the civil service stays because it is supposed to be there to implement government policies and programs. But now it is a policy of the president to dismiss any civil servant, no matter how competent or professional, if he thinks that such a civil servant is not towing the ruling party line. Now appointments and promotions in the civil service are not determined by professionalism or competence, but by loyalty to the president and the ruling party.
In addition, we politicians are subjected to endless intimidation and harassment, although our constitution guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of association without hindrance or oppression. Unfortunately, some of us are often barred through "legal" means from holding political meetings or from traveling within the country to campaign. We have been subjected to detention and torture and our families have been continuously harassed because of our political activities.
All these difficulties are being compounded by the gross mismanagement of the country's economy, which has brought the country and the majority of Gambians to their knees. So we thought if something is not done early, The Gambia could slide down the path of countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia. This is why our party thought I should come to the Diaspora to sensitize Gambians and to brainstorm with them on how to organize and pool our resources to make sure that there is peaceful and meaningful democratic change in The Gambia. We thought we should learn from the mistakes of the conflict-ridden countries around us.
You have been describing a kind of systematic effort on the part of the president and his party to accumulate power and authority through the changing of law, the changing of the constitution. At the same time, you talk of organizing Gambians both inside and outside The Gambia against this effort. So, the question that occurs to me as someone outside The Gambia is, when I look at the current government, am I looking at a dictatorship, a government that aspires to be a dictatorship or just another ambitious politician, but still governing a country in which people like you still have room to organize and effectively oust without say, resorting to civil war?
You are looking at a dictatorship. Knowing dictatorships, the more people succumb to them, the more despotic they become. That's why we are standing up to them to prevent them from derailing the whole system.
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