Washington, DC — Gambia's president, Colonel Yahya Jammeh (rtd) bowed to both national and international pressure on July 22, and announced the lifting of the ban on former president Sir Dawda Jawara and other former politicians of the first republic.
The ban, enforced under Decree 89, was imposed shortly after Jawara's 30-year-old government was toppled in a bloodless military coup on July 22, 1994.
Under the provisions of the decree, all First Republic politicians who served under Jawara's People's Progressive Party (PPP) government were indefinitely banned from participating in politics.
This included two major first republic opposition figures - Sheriff Mustapha Dibba, leader of the National Convention Party (NCP) and Assan Musa Camara, leader of the Gambia Peoples Party (GPP). Both Dibba and Camara had served as vice presidents under Jawara before falling out with him and forming their own opposition parties.
Since its promulgation, Decree 89 has been widely condemned by members of the international community such as the Commonwealth, the United Kingdom and the United States governments.
A former minister for Agriculture in the Jawara government, Omar Amadou Jallow filed a suit in the high court challenging the decree. The case was ongoing when Jammeh announced the lifting of the ban.
Following Jammeh's announcement, which has come barely three months before presidential polls scheduled for October, former PPP government ministers and supporters quickly came together to resuscitate the party and invite former president Jawara, who had been living in exile in the UK since 1994, to come back home and lead them.
Jawara told the BBC's Tuesday edition of Focus on Africa that he was ready to go home and help "end the suffering of (his) people." He also said his party would be willing to join a possible opposition alliance against the Jammeh regime.
Reacting to news of Jawara's impending return, Foreign Secretary Dr. Sedat Jobe said the move would prove that the government "guarantees the security of every citizen." In spite of Jobe's assurances however, many observers are concerned that the former president may be arrested as soon as he sets foot on Gambian soil.
In a speech directly contradicting Foreign Secretary Jobe's reassuring comments regarding Jawara's security, Tourism Secretary Yankuba Touray, who is also the ruling party's propaganda leader or national mobiliser, told a recent public meeting that under no circumstances should Jawara return to The Gambia.
Touray, also a former soldier-turned-civilian minister, said Jawara could only return to his homeland in a coffin. He said a 1995 government white paper that banned Jawara and several former ministers from holding public office for periods ranging from 20 to five years was still in force. The white paper was issued following revelations of alleged corruption in a report by a commission set up to look into the assets of former government officials.
A public opinion survey conducted by the private bi-weekly Independent newspaper revealed a mixed reaction to news of Sir Dawda Jawara's planned return to Gambian politics. While some people welcome the news, others think that the country has had enough of the man who stayed at the helm of Gambian affairs for 30 years, and whose refusal to read the writing on the wall led to military intervention into the peaceful country's politics.
For his critics, while Sir Dawda claimed to be a champion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, his democracy left much to be desired. He had refused to limit the terms of the presidency and increasingly marginalized both his political opponents and his own army. At the time of his toppling in July 1994, he was being guarded by Nigerian soldiers who also headed the Gambian army and enjoyed all the fruits of high military office.
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The opinion poll also revealed that in spite of building markets, schools, roads and hospitals across the country, Jammeh's constant harassment and torture of political opponents and journalists and his frequently used threat to send people "six-feet deep" make him a less popular choice than Jawara.
Whatever happens, Jawara cannot hope to be elected back into his old job. The 1997 constitution says that only persons between the ages of 30 and 65 can contest the presidency, thus ruling out Jawara, who is now in his mid-seventies.
