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Momodou
Denmark
11804 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Apr 2010 : 17:58:48
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Dailynews Editorial: What Goes Around...
Gambians have been in a state of shock at the recent conviction of Femi Peters, United Democratic Party Campaign Manager. He was found guilty on charges of staging a political rally without a permit from the Inspector General of Police. It is disheartening to see our sons of the land going to jail for merely exercising a right that is bestowed on all by the Constitution of the Second Republic. What a shame for our democracy!
Many were not surprised as many a times, we hardly see citizens face courts and eventually go free – particularly on charges similar to this. Our constitution guarantees FREEDOM of association and peaceful assembly for all citizens. Yet, none is free to exercise these. These constitutional stipulations are fundamental to our freedom and liberty as a nation of decent and democratic people. Why it would be a crime to exercise these rights, is a big question whose answer will give one an understanding of a kind of society we live in today. For all we know colonialism has gone centuries ago but replaced by new form of colonialism that we as Gambians are faced with.
This kind of colonialism entails, unlike the former in which the West occupied and suppressed us for centuries, the oppression of liberties and freedoms of a certain section of our "free" people by a privileged few in the name of "Rule of Law". This privileged few would include the government and its cronies, and the suppressed will be law-abiding, peaceful and civil population that do not fall in the favorite books of the ruling class. It is this kind of suppression of each other that has partly resulted in crises in many of post-independent African states. Rights are not privileges, nor are they given in favor; they are inherently acquired by people naturally as a result of being human. The architects of human rights know this well which is why they call it HUMAN RIGHTS. If one lives in this day and time of our generation without knowing or respecting this, we wonder what s/he should be called.
The crime that Femi is purported to have committed, in our view, should not warrant an arrest, much more a trial or subsequent conviction… it is a political party that applied for license to conduct a rally; not Femi Peters. That party has a leader and an executive membership. Though Femi happens to be a member of that executive, appending his signature to a letter of permit does not make him the one making the decision of holding a political rally. It is a decision based on unanimous agreement of the party executive membership. Why he should be hand picked for the "crime" beats the imagination of many!
With all due respect to our law courts, UDP and Femi Peters are different bodies. For all we know, he is a Gambian and family man who has diverse dependents. Sending him to jail might fetter a fundamental freedom of an otherwise "free" man in a "free" country. There is a saying in English that "what goes around, comes around". So we as Gambians are getting wary of going to jail for exercising our God given, fundamental rights.
In the same vein, we are equally getting wary of being sent to jail by foreign judges hired by our government to play the game the way government wants it. No right thinking Gambian judge would have the nerve to jail anybody for merely exercising their rights of assembly, association, expression, speech, thought, among a host of many. God bless our motherland.
Source: Dailynews
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 07 Apr 2010 : 22:34:26
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"In the same vein, we are equally getting wary of being sent to jail by foreign judges hired by our government to play the game the way government wants it. No right thinking Gambian judge would have the nerve to jail anybody for merely exercising their rights of assembly, association, expression, speech, thought, among a host of many. God bless our motherland." Dailynews
That is to assume we have laws of Gambia alive. First, Gambians need coming to terms that we no longer have instruments and pillars of free citizenship to bank on. It is with that realisation only when we become more determined to fight back to restore law and order. For now, just because there are no instruments of law to utilise in case of dispute, everything remains totally lawless and very unhelpful.
Gambians are faced with a situation where their belief of law is now misleading to believe we still have laws to fall on. Sorry, we don't have laws of Gambia any more alive. We have Yaya Jammeh if you understand that.
Let us stop self deception. A bandit (Yaya) who seized power by the most nasty lawless means will NEVER choose proper instruments of fair laws to prevail. |
Karamba |
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