Dispensation of public duty in Gambia has never been subjected to more serious abuse than what the country’s law makers recently proved their destructive capabilities by introducing the most unreasonable penalty about public information sharing.
Gross abuse of state power
Power is said to be corrupt while absolute power corrupts absolutely. Gambians have seen better proof of that by the abusive misconducts of Yaya Jammeh since he used guns to dislodge a democratically elected government and now insists he will rule for one million years.
Wait a minute. Yaya Jammeh is not alone when you take head count of national destroyers. Some people call them enablers. They prefer to be called patriots. No matter what name comes up, the truth is that these women and men are resource risks and wilful destroyers of hope, truth, law, harmony, peace, health, society, justice, education, economy, commerce, finance, relations, youth, women, children, security, feeding, agriculture, young and old.
Evidence from numerous ways of Jammeh and his enablers suggests high levels of wilful damage to all the listed matters above and many more.
After many years subjugation of Gambian people to untold hardship and harmful encounters, it is most cruel experience that members of Gambia National Assembly willingly closed ranks with Yaya Jammeh to introduce harsh penalty of 15 years jail term and 3 million Dalasi fine for anyone in simple exercise of sharing factual public information.
Information and counter information
If the regime of Yaya Jammeh is confident about serving public interest, there is no need to slam harsh laws on those sharing factual public information. There are two sides of a coin. It got to head or tail.
Gambian law makers and the nation’s information outfit could have done better job by countering information with more factual properly balanced information. Using the legal system as barrier to public information flow is by itself unlawful.
Let the nation decide which side of the information balance lies true or false. Gambians and rest of the world deserve to be properly informed. Genuinely sincere governments will not hide behind laws to challenge publicly shared information.
Nothing stops Gambia government coming much cleaner and truly transparent about matters of public interest. In the absence of factual information from government anything from elsewhere serves good enough. Stop hiding behind legal thick walls and challenge any information with more factual and unquestionably realistic for that matter.
Name of country not anybody’s personal possession.
Although members of Gambia National Assembly are voted representatives, that does not give them exclusive ownership over the nation. As nation belonging to almost 2 million persons, each one has a stake. Each has all the rights to talk and write about national issues in the fairest of genuine comments.
Representatives at the National Assembly have no more rights over Gambia as shared entity than the last voter and tax payer. It is that right everyone enjoys to the extent that when things are seen one way round good or bad, responsible citizens take up issues about shared concerns. That is exactly what information sharing over the Internet is about.
Rather than seeing those sharing information about Gambia as giving bad name to the nation, representatives at the national assembly need turning the page for better view of the big picture.
Those who make bad laws and suppress citizens are the ones creating bad name for the nation.
President or National Assembly Member Gambia is not your personal estate. When you behave good information takes good form. Getting your names in bad news is not the same as name of Gambia. You are all individuals including the president whoever occupies that position.
Making and Breaking of Gambia
Now the moment of truth prevails. Those serving public interest on one side separate from others. In all the years, Gambia has been largely divided between makers and breakers of the nation.
By twist of irony, those very much known and clearly seen destroying the nation still wants to be called patriots. Those who stand for the truth and defending public interest are called bad citizens who deserve cruel treatment.
Right thinking members of Gambian public know quite well difference between makers and destroyers. Through fear of harmful encounter with state sponsored torturers and killers, people gossip about the situation but only with those they are confident will not pick on them.
Unjust law is arbitrary and violation of rights
Everywhere on this planet, unjust laws are never protective of public interest. These are laws meant to justify the wrong doings of a select few. Normally, those who are entrusted with public position and want to keep everyone quiet hide behind bogus laws. They take advantage of public position to persecute the very public whose tax keeps money in their pockets.
On this very bad occasion, Gambian law makes are seriously guilty of betraying public trust and in gross violation of rights by introducing an unreasonable, harsh, and most unjust law.
It is premeditated twist of justice by members of Gambia National Assembly to scare citizens in exercise of basic civil rights. This law like those who pass it can only be seen as temporal. Yet history will take accurate account of those who committed their soul to keep few people happy with majority crying blood.
You law makers of today may be gone by loss of votes or through passage of life but your work will remain as permanent source of reference for generations to come. Anyone associated with introduction of this unjust law will not make their family and friends proud long after they are gone. Passing of this law will not stop genuine defenders of truth and justice taking on the challenge further. Hiding behind laws of the land to exert pressure of good citizens is most detestable.
If you have nothing to hide what is the fuss about?
Using the twisted force of law to fight information indicates lack of reliable share of the same from the government or its trusted agents. There is clear indication that Gambia government has something to hide.
All being well and good, a healthy debate between two sides of the political divide would have been the best civil engagement. Something is wrong somewhere and somehow people of Gambia and concerned persons or institutions deserve knowing not fractional truth but whole share.
A responsible government will not hoard information and then hide behind national laws to pass harsh sentences including prohibitive fines. On this occasion, those entrusted with temporal position of political role are closing ranks in ways resembling they have something to hide. Political position is limited and temporal.
What does it mean?
This state of affairs amounts to betraying public trust and confidence. Law makers of Gambia need to rethink about separating personal ambition from public interest. Passing harsh laws does not serve public interest. By suppressing information trusted representatives turn oppressive and untrusted. In short, members of Gambia National Assembly by imposing unjust laws become public enemy by implication.
When law makers become law breakers by introducing unjust penalties, that is road map to state of anarchy.