The People’s Movement For Democratic Gambia
289 Odoherty Rd
Brighton, MI 48116
Tel: Office – 810 522 5497
Cell – 810 844 6040/810 772 3605
May 22, 2015
Join/Support Independence, Republic & Democracy For The Gambia
On February 18, 1965 (about ½ a century) our nation was granted independence and formally a republic on April 24, 1970. The 2 key words here are ‘Independence’ and ‘Republic’.
Independence is self-determination that was stolen by colonialism in the first place. Republic is our equitable ownership.
Naturally if we have a shared ownership over a piece of properly that cannot be conceivably divided – we ought to find a common management. That brought in democracy – our equal participation in the management of our common undividable property.
The roots of our political problems can be traced close to our founding. Independence, Republic and Democracy in the context of a nation state were foreign to our traditions and cultures. For these to take hold, it would require an unadulterated national effort to develop the requisite human capacity to run and sustain ‘A FUNCTIONING DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA. Our founders failed to empower (build our capacities) because that will curtail their powers.
Over the years many tried to solve these problems with lots of appreciable efforts but with little/no success. One proof of these are our inabilities to effect meaningful democratic changes. With the current structures and concentration of powers at the executive election has become a cul-de-sac while legitimizing tyranny. Military take over and/or violence may change government but the outcome is likely to be anything but democracy. What else should we do? Wait for divine intervention – another possibility but the outcome may not be any different from military coup. This is so because the successor will inherit a system s/he is likely to further.
Functioning democratic institutions are largely non-existence besides names/labels. Governance apparatus are centrally dictated from the presidency. Almost every page of ‘The 1996/97 Constitution’ gave the executive an active role including appointment and discharge of village heads – this alone has decapitated democracy and more so decentralization. There are neither separation of powers nor decentralization.
The political party processes hardly addresses these issues as the foremost problems holding us back. For instance, instead of NADD for a singular opposition candidacy election it should have been NADD for ‘Democratic Reforms/Overhauls’ that includes ‘Management Of Electoral Processes’. With that we could even drop the last ‘D (Development) in that name to make it NAD. These failures contributed to their own underperformance and eventual wilting. This has either compounded or complicated (or both) the role of the uninformed or politically passive population to be the true custodians of governance. And until there is population that not only expect democracy but also demand one there can never be a functioning democracy. Such population can only come about starting with capacity building.
In short we will need traditional political party politicking to determine who is the next President, Governor, Chief, Village Head, etc. at some stage but at the moment we need ’A National Movement’ to demand institutionalization of the basic of Independence, Republic and Democracy.
We can achieve this with a politically informed and vigilant citizenry capable of amassing enough political leverage. That leverage can be combination of factors such as organized/mobilized civil society, backing of global powers, visionary leadership, financial resources, etc.
On August 3, 2011 we incorporated a-not-for-profit organization (The People’s Movement For Democratic Gambia) in The State Of Michigan. Our purposes are advocacies for Gambia’s Independence, Republic and Democracy (IRD). Certainly this is politics but not party politics. As a group we will not root for any candidacy and will work with all parties on issues that affect Gambia’s IRD. For practical purposes these concepts were elaborated in the draft ‘The Working Paper’ document.
At the time many asked why not join existing organizations rather than start one. Others opined that you looking for name/recognition or leadership or simply greedy. These are genuine concerns/questions.
Few rebuttals to those concerns/question! Burama was an active member of a political party until he believed the traditional party politics is a cul-de-sac and internal changes were/are hard to bring about. Burama also had invites from other parties and organizations to join their ranks. In addition have participated in efforts to come up with better initiatives to advance our cause. Failure to join/remain in any existing group so far has every little to do with personal ego. All the parties/organizations out there are about helping someone’s candidacy at elections that we argued are simply cul-de-sac. Some also asked if what we are advocating is not what PDOIS has being doing for about 30 years – and probably there is an overlap. In our view PDOIS is not wrong in that but they’ve boxed it with ‘vote for us’ and journalism. Right or wrong that has muddied the message with our passive political populace and an imbalanced political landscape.
Furthermore, many see ‘Yahya As The Problem’ and we see it as “Yahya As A Product Of The Problem’. This does not mean Yahya is not a bad guy – he definitely is. These are fundamental differences hence our prescription for solution(s) are different especially at initiation.
Forming an organization (‘The People’s Movement For Democratic Gambia’) is not a goal in its own right. It’s neither to annul any group nor an argument that political parties are irrelevant. Instead we’re to advocate our founding creed – Independence, Republic and Democracy along with capacity building for sustainability. We believed divisions and suspicions created through traditional political party politicking made it hard to sell what we share in common. Yet for it to succeed politics and politician have direct and leading role. We simply want to facilitate to get all to these communalities that are undividable.
An organization is necessary because we would need resources to do what we tasked ourselves. These resources will likely come from diverse sources that would require both appropriate accounting and subject to prevailing tax laws.
We would like to inform you that we have come along the path of Basic Organizational Development – Incorporation, EIN, and Business Account with Bank of America and filed application for IRS Tax Exemption Status. We have also developed internal systems are informed by our ‘Policies and Procedures Manual’. There are still lots of work to be done; we need you join/support and hope you see value in what we stand for.
That said we are looking for few:
1) Individuals/groups who subscribed to these concepts and willing to advance them in a leadership capacity. This will help expedite the processes as currently Burama is doing all. Please offer yourself – one way to give back.
2) For those of you who may not have time or not interested in assuming some active leadership role, you can still help with refining our concepts and approaches. You may also help us network and advocate better
3) This is not a cheap undertaking both in time and money. We have initiated program/project proposal development with potential donors. Experience suggests it takes times to secure funds from deep ends – we remained optimistic with our cause and proofs of our cause. In the meantime anyone who feels this is a deserved cause is welcome to support even with your coin change jar.
Bank of America
Account Name: The People’s Movement For Democratic Gambia
Account Number: 375014763372
Routing Number: 072000805
Any such contributions will alleviate the initial expenses (usually house keeping). All donors will be afforded documentary prove of expenses either on quarterly all yearly bases within applicable laws. We planned to make public our accounts through our tax returns on annual bases. The fund management is elaborate in our ‘policies and Procedures Manual’. Upon securing tax exemption donors can also have their donations/contributions tax deductible at filing.
In weeks to come we will notify public our intent to roll out our programs. It will definitely start with consultation with those who might be interested in putting these concepts into practice either on one on one bases, tele/videoconferencing, interactive online media presentation and/or use of other suitable tools. Depending on funding other out reach programs and net-workings will ensue.
Ultimately we hope to facilitate the formation of ‘A National Face’ that will consultatively development ‘A Democracy Vision’ that will be sold to Gambians and International Community alike. That vision will be our demands for change/reform/overhaul from Banjul authorizes,
Suffice to say, with such political leverage the people will be in positions of strength to not only demand changes but also expect such demands are met. Failures will be remedy with political consequences directly from the citizens or our global friends or both. With such efforts in motion, a new president is likely to conform and speed up the democratization not necessarily s/he want it but because the existence of a powerful counter-force.
It’s our view that such a people centered political undertaking has an in-built element of sustainability – increased politically capacitated citizens. The main downsides are its time consuming and expensive because it heavily rely on changing minds and hearts of people. On the other side there is no short term and inexpensive route to functioning IRD.
Sincerely yours
Burama FL Jammeh
Founder/General Secretary