Concerns are being expressed over the state of freedom of expression in the Gambia. The paper has decided to publish some of the press releases being issued on the subject.

Foroyaa wishes to add its voice on the subject so that government and the people will come to cherish freedom of expression as the corner stone of peace in a country. It is also important to point out that the framers of the Constitution made respect for Freedom of Expression as the corner stone of an open society in The Gambia. Let us revisit some of these provisions and then draw lessons on how freedom of expression is exercised in a democratic society.

Section 216 subsection 3 of the Constitution, which is part and parcel of the directive principles of state policy states that: "The State in pursuing policies under subsection 2 shall be bound by the fundamental rights and freedoms in the constitution and shall be guided by international human rights instruments to which Gambia is a signatory and which recognize and apply particular categories of basic human rights to the development process".

Furthermore section 214 sub-section (5) states that "the government with due regard to the principles of an open and democratic society, shall foster accountability and transparency at all levels of government." It is therefore very clear that any elected government should foster accountability and transparency. This means the president, in particular, and members of the executive, in general, should be subjected to scrutiny for what they say and do.

Interestingly enough, the Constitution is not quiet on what should be done by Media Practitioners. It spells out a special role for the media under section 207 sub-section (3) which reads:

"The press and other information media should at all times, be free to uphold the principles, provisions and objectives of this Constitution and the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people of the Gambia".

In an open society, nobody is above security and criticism. Responsible scrutiny or criticism must be based on facts, good faith and the promotion of fair play and justice. Responsible response to security and criticism is to accept the truth and redress one's action and refute what one deems to be untrue. Words should battle with words in shaping public opinion. This is the challenge of a democratic leadership.

If one wants an open society, the security arm of the state must be made as neutral as possible and comes in only when state security is threatened.

A government of a genuinely democratic country must have an executive leader who will not conduct himself or herself in a manner which brings his or her office into contempt or disrepute. Such a political leader must guard his or her words and actions. Such a government would establish a press core at the office of the president capable of handling all criticisms by issuing press releases to shape public opinion.

It should be able to establish a strong information Ministry which should be able to provide information on matters of public policy, programmes and projects. The weakness of the Gambia government is that it does not have such a strong press core at the office of the president nor is the Ministry of information equipped to address all issues of public polity.

Instead of battling words with words, it is transforming matters of public opinion into state security matters. There is need to revisit the approach of the government with regards to the way it handle contradictions with the media practioners. Change of policy is desirable.