By Musa Bah (The Scribbler)
As I have repeatedly written, the bane of the past 22 years was to a large extent our own creation. We in our naivety and our sycophantic behavior created a Frankenstein and lost control of him. And instead of trying, making efforts of stopping him, we continued for a longtime to sing his praise because most of us were ‘unconcerned.’ Now… we have been able to peacefully vote him out and have breathed a sigh of relief… satisfied? Well we shouldn’t be. At least I am not…. Not yet at least.
In my humble opinion, the change that we struggled for was not about just changing the person or name of our president. We needed to change the entire system, change attitudes, change mindset, and usher in a system that will bring us a truly democratic government. We wished and yearned for a government that will respect the rights of the people, a government that will do away with corruption and all form s of maladministration and introduce true democracy. These are ideals which we have to work for.
You see, human beings are weak. The line between a good person and a bad person is very thin, especially those in public office. We need to put in place institutions which will serve as checks and balances to hold the government to account so they never veer off the road of democracy… which in our case has been long. We need strong institutions, civil society organizations and patriotic and fearless individuals who will always speak out against what is wrong.
We can observe that the government of Chief Servant Adama Barrow has started well. They have shown every indication of being a government that listens to and cares for the wishes and aspirations of our people. We must help support them in that direction. We must endeavor to keep them clean and pure, untouched by the stain of sycophancy and political patronage… Remember, this type of behavior was what made Yahya Jammeh the most infamous ‘Sheikh Professor’… what can we do to avoid making Adama Barrow another dictator?
My comrade Madi Jobarteh has written telling companies, corporations and businessmen to leave our Adama Barrow alone… and has advised the government to discourage all forms of political patronage in the country. I totally agree with his sentiments…. Perhaps I will only add here that it is not only Adama Barrow, but even the other members of the coalition government should also be left alone. Yesterday, while in a vehicle going to my book launching, the radio was announcing the ‘honoring of Lawyer Ousainou Darboe… a musical show at his house or so. Then you have the Quranic recitations here and there, making our government officials chief guests and stuff like that… the billboards which luckily have been dismantled but who knows….
We must change our attitudes towards governments and begin to work for a better Gambia. Let me just give an example… those who named their children after Yahya Jammeh and Zeinab and such… would really wish that it were possible to change those names or that they could slaughter those kids, but it can’t be… so they are stuck with that stigma for life. As a budding writer, have repeatedly been told to write about Yahya Jammeh so I could get the millions he was dishing out. But I always said I cannot write to praise a politician who has not truly done much for my country and will one day go anyway.
Compatriots! Let us understand that governments come and go, but the Gambia remains!
Note: Musa Bah (thascribbler) is a full-time teacher at Nusrat Senior Secondary School where he teaches English Language and Islamic Studies. His sole hobby is reading and writing. He has read hundreds of novels of all kinds. Bah is also the author of Bechek, The Midnight Call and The Sledgehammer.
Source: http://thascribblerbah.com/