FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda)
Halifa Sallah
28 April 2011
opinion
The Republic of the Gambia came into being on the 24th April 1970. The Republic is 41 years old today.
PDOIS is commemorating this day today in Wuli East where a by election is taking place for the National Assembly seat. We sincerely hope that the 42nd birthday of the Republic would be commemorated in a massive and progressive manner in a Third Republic ushered in by the undiluted votes of the new sovereign Gambian who is fully conscious of his or her power to determine the destiny of his or her country and his or her unrestrained and unrestricted right to live in liberty and prosperity.
Some days ago President Jammeh asserted that,”only the military can end the carnage in Africa.” However, history teaches that Siad Barre of Somalia was a military leader. The same goes for Idi Amin, Jean Bedel Bokassa, Samuel Doe, Joseph Mommoh, Lansana Conteh, Joao Bernardo Vieira, Blaise Compaore, Mamadou Tandja and the list goes on ad infinitum. More is needed to end the carnage in Africa than the mere building of military forces.
President Jammeh further lamented that “today most African countries could be re-colonised in a matter of seconds because they don’t have the requisite armed forces to defend their Independence.”
History teaches that the Soviet Union had one of the most, if not the most, sophisticated military machinery in human history but could not be saved from collapse from within. The weakness of a Nation lies in its own internal constituents and not on the strength of it external adversaries. No power on this earth had ever tried to impose a no fly zone on Libyan soil until Gaddafi started to wage a civil war against his own sovereign people.
The strength of a Nation lies not in the size of its military arsenal but on the awareness, unity and determination of its sovereign citizenry.
In short, no sovereign Nation could stand without a sovereign people. History teaches us that the twentieth Century was the era for the triumph of the right to self determination and Independence of Nations. Despite the military might of the colonial powers which far outweighed that of the colonised they could not impose their will on the people who were determined be free to determine the destiny of their Nations and achieve Independent status.I In short, no force on earth could subjugate a people who are determined to be free. No people could be dominated who are determined to attain and defend their right to self determination and Independence. This is a fundamental law of political science and it is incontrovertible.
The question now arises: Why are leaders like President Jammeh claiming that many African countries could be colonised in seconds? The answer is simple.
This is because most countries failed to move from building sovereign nations to nurture a sovereign people. They were satisfied with the creation of national boundaries, National executive mansions, National Anthem, National emblem, National flag and a National day to commemorate as Independence Day. They did not give importance to the second task of National liberation, that is, to nurture a sovereign people with the sovereign awareness that each one of them is the depository of the sovereignty of each country and is embodied with civil, political, economic, social, cultural and ecological rights that must be protected by all governments that wants legitimacy. This sovereign person becomes a sovereign social being whose religious, ethno-linguistic or tribal identities, gender, racial features, regional origin or other characteristics are submerged under ones sovereign identity as the National of a sovereign Republic.
It is such sovereign citizens who are the building blocks of a democratic society that could give birth to governments that depend entirely on the consent of the people to derive the authority to govern a state for no other purpose than to ensure the liberty and prosperity of the sovereign people.
The failure to protect the rights of the people to chose representatives without inducement or intimidation, whose primary duty is to build self reliant economies which would link raw material production, processing and the manufacturing of appropriate machinery for production that could guarantee employment, income for good standard of living, education, health, recreation and leisure is what has given rise to poverty and marginalization of the people.
The concentration of power and wealth in few hands which often take ethno-linguistic, sectionalist and partisan features has in most cases fueled power struggles and the overthrow of governments through coups or mass uprisings.
Thus failure to address the demands of the people for liberty and prosperity in many parts of Africa is what eventually led to perpetual instability and a gradual descend into the quagmire of a failed state. Of course such states could easily be controlled and dictated to from abroad since they have no internal cohesion.
PDOIS has made it its fundamental aim to consolidate the sovereignty of the Gambian people and make them truly free to become the architects of their own destiny.
As we commemorate Republican day we have the duty to remind the people that the Government of the First and Second Republic have trivialized April 24th, Republican day. We have the duty to make it the most important day in Gambian History.
As we commemorate Republican day we have the duty to remind the people that the Governments of the First and Second Republic have trivialized April 24, Republican day. We have the duty to make it the most important day in Gambian History.
Compatriots, the 41st birthday of the Republic is taking place at a time when Africa and the Middle East are undergoing the most challenging period of our post independence history. People under monarchies are demanding for Republics. Peoples in Republics are demanding for sovereignty of their nations to reside in them and for full recognition of their civil, political economic, social, cultural and ecological rights. Many countries are going through their storm and stress period because they either do not recognise or have the leadership that could identify the demands of the times..
In the Gambia PDOIS wishes to take this opportunity to state without any equivocation, on this national day that the current deficit in liberty and prosperity in the country is due mainly to the failure to carry out the democratic revolution to its logical conclusion of consolidating the sovereignty of the people. Our primary mission now is to achieve such a task.
Hence we want each Gambian to make ithe following his or her motto. “Sovereignty resides in me!” “Power belongs to me!” “Collectively, we are the guardians of our own destiny!” “Collectively, we are the architects of our own destiny!” This message should be retained in computer desktops and cell phone screens. It should be texted to friends and loved ones.
We should go beyond this recognition of our individual sovereignty to conceive ourselves as the building blocks of the sovereign Republic. Each of us must put our sovereign existence as part and parcel of the Republic to be supreme to our diverse religious, gender, ethno-linguistic and other diversities. In this way we would put our National interest before our parochial interests. This is the first task we should achieve during this 41st year of our sovereign existence. Any Gambian who is alive this year without recognizing that sovereignty or power resides in the people is not fit to live in a Republic.
The second lesson that should be drawn this year is that the sovereignty and power inherent in us as citizens of a sovereign Republic should be translated into decision making powers. This requires us to accept full responsibility in determining who is assigned the responsibility of managing the affairs of this country. Without being a registered voter one cannot participate in determining who will manage the affairs of the country. The voting card is a symbol of the sovereign power of the citizen. It gives each citizen equal say in determining how this country is run. Hence, every Gambian who has attained the age of 18 years should be a voting card carrying citizen. A person without a voting card is a powerless and voiceless citizen. The citizenship of such a person is meaningless. Each Gambian should recognise that the ballot is a symbol of his or her sovereignty and decision making power. To sell one’s voting card is to sell one’s power and voice to another sovereign citizen. This transforms the person into a voiceless and powerless self made slave. Such a person is not fit to be a citizen of a sovereign Nation.
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