How political survival is undermining the rule of law in The Gambia
It is clear, that just like the murder of journalist Deyda Hydara under former Gambian president Yaya Jammeh, current president Adama Barrow has no desire to look for the actual killer(s) of two police officers murdered in the line of duty with a third seriously injured.
The motive is clear, he wants to use this heinous crime as justification to clamp down on his main political rival, the United Democratic Party (UDP). Despite the lack of evidence, leading to the acquittal of the sole accused person Ousainou Bojang – whom many are now convinced has been framed, Barrow insists that Ousainou Bojang is the killer and that he has links to the UDP.
Initial details about this heinous crime were inconclusive, even the police were short on details, only confirming that an incident involving three police officers were not rumors. That did not stop the office of the president from chiming in with kinds of conspiracies but with one aim; implicate the UDP. We already covered the unfolding of the events in an earlier article that you can read here.
Sustaining that narrative towards political ends is the president’s sole intent, and he will not let go no matter how ridiculous and uncritical he sounds. Despite the fact that an innocent man’s life is on the line, he is willing to sacrifice an innocent soul if it earns him political points.
Leaders must defer to law, process, precedent, facts and sound professional judgment, not to their egos or desires, especially when such desires are in clear contravention of the law and the wishes of the governed. Adama Barrow has absolute disdain for these reasonable demands that modernity makes of leaders, so he thumps his nose at them.
The state kidnapping (yes, it is kidnapping) of Ousainou Bojang and his sister after a judge acquitted them of all charges is just the latest in a series of patterns that is plain enough for all to see that Gambian president Adama Barrow has no regard for the law, no concerns for human decency, or the rights of individuals.
Just a cursory look at Adama Barrow’s record will reveal to the discerning mind his contempt for norms, precedent, or what the people want for their country and its future. The patterns all converge on one point; entrenching himself in power with the inevitable outcome of a Jammeh style tyranny, or worse. Because in Adama Barrow’s primitive mind, power must be absolute.
On the political front
When the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) was set up through an act of parliament following his inauguration in 2017, he had no discernible power to stop its promulgation because he was surrounded by clear eyed patriots and the mood in the country demanded it. By the conclusion of consultations and the drafting process, all of those patriots were pushed out. Despite the citizens’ overwhelming support for the draft constitution, he was relentless in his underhanded efforts to deny Gambians what they yearned for.
The new constitution put safeguards in place to prevent abuse of power and make the citizens the true sovereign, which was against Barrow’s goal for self-perpetuation. So, the motive was simple; delay, obstruct, and derail. And he did, using spineless minions like Minister of Justice Dawda Jallow, Minister of Justice.
When the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) was also set up through an act of parliament in the early days of his government, the same clear eyed patriots ensured the passage of the bill that led to the setting up of the commission. But through the evidence gathering and testimonies, the process lasted months. When it was finally concluded and the recommendations were handed to him, it was clear he had no desire to implement any of those recommendations made by the commissioners with the goal of preventing similar abuses and rights violations from being repeated in The Gambia.
Albeit that being the desire of every Gambian, Barrow’s goals were different. Jammeh stayed in power for over two decades using tactics that the TRRC investigated and condemned, he may need to resort to similar tactics to achieve his own ambition of self-perpetuation. So, in his mind, he must have thought why shut the door to such an opportunity? That was one goal.
The other goal was to woo Jammeh’s base to his side. These included some of the same people recommended for sanction, so why risk alienating them when their support can be harnessed to help him stay in power?
The same motive is why the recommendations made by the commission set up to investigate the economic crimes of the Jammeh era, dubbed The Janneh Commission were never implemented. The same group of people in Jammeh’s orbit were the culprits of grave economic crimes against Gambians. Recovering what they looted could be used for the benefit of the cash strapped nation.
But in Barrow’s mind, their ill-gotten loot could be a source of political financing. Having the power to implement the commission’s report at his discretion, he decided to use that discretion as leverage against individuals and entities to make them compliant political loyalists. The threat of going to prison or suffering great financial distress should the government decide to recover looted state assets as recommended, is enough to subdue anyone.
On the institutional front
The various security forces are packed full of people either found wanting or complicit in gross rights violations and abuses, especially the notorious National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and elements of the armed forces that were co-opted into Jammeh’s kill squad. Keeping folks like that in the services and refusing to implement any meaningful reforms as recommended by experts through the Security Sector Reform (SSR) agenda, ensures Barrow has currency with which he can buy their loyalty.
The Gambia Police Force is headed by his brother-in-law. That tells you everything you need to know. The police take their orders from State House or highly placed political operatives of the president and his party rather than the constitution. The job of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) depends on the president. Numerous instances of presidential advisers and cabinet level appointees within the executive and legislature showing up at police stations to hinder police work in favor of a supporter or sympathizer of the president is an open secret.
Barrow’s disdain for the work of the Auditor General’s office culminated in police forcibly dragging the most recent former Auditor General out of his office after he, and his predecessor, kept uncovering factual evidence of mismanaged funds. He labeled their reports as “mere opinions,” testament to an unwillingness to address corruption within the civil service.
When he tried to “sack” Ya Kumba Jaiteh from the National Assembly because she was a nominated member, his advisers knew he had no such powers after a nominee was confirmed to the legislature, but he did it anyway. Everything they said after the fact was their attempt to justify the unjustifiable because they had to appease their boss. That is how spineless they are.
With that act also, Barrow was assessing the courts to see if judges will appease him like they did for Jammeh. Losing that case left him very bitter. His minister, Hamat Bah went as far as complaining about judges always ruling against the state at political rallies. He had no reflections on what the state could have done wrong.
All of the above can be categorized as motivated by political interests, but there are layers to it. The breakdown is to show that in pursuit of his political interests, his entire scheme weakens our country in ways we cannot mitigate.
When a government thinks its job is to tell people what to do by demanding their unquestioned surrender to every policy decision, while at the same time the government’s own officials and affiliates show blatant disregard for the law, the eventual outcome is always messy and many innocent people will pay the price.
We all saw the images and footage of ordinary citizens, including a baby, getting hospitalized. Victims of the state’s heavy handed response to spontaneous protests spurred on by their blatant defiance of a court ruling. Pursuing people into crowded markets and deploying tear gas into a crowded market full of women and children is just a small window into how tyranny sustains power. People living their lives and going about their daily businesses end up in hospital beds, traumatized and in distress from the actions of the government constituted to protect them.
The irony of it all, is that people are demanding the state due their job and find the killer(s) of two uniformed policemen killed in the line of duty. Colleagues of the same untrained brutes who now gladly take orders to brutalize citizens marching in demand of justice for their fallen comrades.
None of these actions make us any safer, or improve the lives of citizens in any way, they all stem from a petulant government lashing out because they cannot stomach the decisions of a competent court that refused to convict a clearly innocent individual.
The positive aspect is that Gambian people, especially the younger generation, are determined to not live their lives under tyranny or authoritarianism. Through spontaneous protest, they demanded and got the release of Ousainou Bojang from state kidnapping.
There will be lots of political moves aimed at appeasing this young generation as we march closer to the elections, my prayer is that they remember this incident and the many before it that forced them into the streets.
Understand that if you allow this man to remain in power, there will be many more incidents like this, and the more he consolidates power, the more vulnerable we are and the more extreme his reaction to dissent will be.
The time is now to end this administration while the democratic avenue is still a practical one, otherwise it will take more than a few broken bones to change this untenable situation the longer we wait.
In the wise words of former president Obama, “don’t get mad, [go register and] vote” this imbecile out of office.
Mankajang 