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Voting Darboe- A prerequisite to Our Economic and Democratic Advancement-Opinion
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Voting Darboe- A prerequisite to Our Economic and Democratic Advancement-Opinion
Voting Darboe- A prerequisite to Our Economic and Democratic Advancement
By SS Daffeh UK
Debt burden, financial mismanagement, corruption, Poor human rights record
and bad governance and ill conceived public policies are some of the
greatest impediment to development in the Gambia today. If we are looking
for credible solutions to these problems, then we should look no more for
the UDP/NRP/GPDP has provided us with solutions that are second to none.
Produced below are some of the things the UDP/NRP/GPDP government will do
for the benefit of us all if elected;
Tackling our internal debt and job creation
In 2005 alone, we paid D723million as interest payment on our internal debt
most of which were accrued through treasury bills. If this amount stands
only for interest, you can imagine what the principal is like. Despite such
a huge borrowing, virtually nothing has been done to improve the productive
sectors of our economy, no employment venues have been created for the
growing class of our unemployed youths, our public Corporations continue to
crumble into pieces and yet the APRC continue to acquire more loans in the
form of treasury bills and external borrowings from the big powers. The
question we should be asking ourselves is where is the money gone?
The UDP/NRP/GPDP if elected, will force the central bank to cut down on
treasury bills so that the lending our commercial banks are doing in this
area could be utilized in supporting and creating new business enterprises
and encouraging youth entrepreneurship in all sectors of the economy
including tourism. This will not only lead to an eventual drastic reduction
on our debt burden for greater percentage of our internal borrowings is done
through treasury bills but more importantly, it will be an employment
opportunity magnet for our unemployed youths.
Tackling our External debt
The World Bank, the IMF and the G8 have recognized in their meeting in
Scotland last year that they need to write-off third world debt in order to
allow the global economy to grow. They stated good governance, respect for
rule of law and human rights, a robust public finance management and fiscal
discipline as pre-requisites for any country’s qualification in this scheme.
Countries like South Africa, Senegal, Mali, Ghana etc have all been tested
and proven to have satisfied the requirements and today most of them are
benefiting from this benevolent scheme. The Gambia did not meet any of the
requirements above hence, the reason for our exclusion.
The UDP/NRP/GPDP if elected will endeavour to restore donor confidence by
ensuring that all these requirements are fully met and sustained so that the
Gambia could eventually access this privilege. The Donors have nothing
against us. They know how important it is to allow the global economy to
progress. In 2005 alone, we paid D226million as interest on foreign debts.
Even if we have 20% of our foreign debt written-off, that will leave us with
lots of millions. That money could go a long way in financing our Persistent
budget deficits. This can only happen if we vote Darboe.
Restoring Donor confidence
In the Geneva round in 2002, £118 million was pledged as grant to support
Gambia’s poverty reduction programmes. The pledge was tied up to good
governance and proper fiscal discipline in the public service, conditions
which the APRC failed to meet. This angered the donors who then decided to
withhold the funds.
UDP/NRP/GPDP does not consider the conditions attached to this fund as
draconian and therefore if elected, will seek to satisfy them in the
shortest possible time in order to enable us to attract the funds for
immediate investment in the field of job creation and other poverty
reduction priorities.
African Growth and Opportunities Act
The US government through its African Growth and Opportunities Act has
created a special fund to support the economic growth of African countries.
Again conditions are attached which are not draconian. They include respect
for human rights, rule of law, good governance, press freedom and proper
financial discipline in the public service. The Gambia initially qualified
but after careful review that decision was revoked. Just recently, Ghana
benefited $50million [fifty million Us Dollars] under this scheme. What we
need to ask ourselves again is what can petty Gambia do with $50Million
grant? The answer is, a lot.
The UDP/NRP/GPDP if elected will pursue an ethical governance policy that
will have respect for human rights, press freedom and rule of law at its
core. In addition to that, sound foreign policy that does not glorify pariah
states at the expense of our democratic credentials will be adopted to
showcase the Gambia as a vibrant democracy in the international arena. This
will enable us to win back or even surpass our lost respect and credibility
in the world community. All these are in tandem with the requirements
enshrined in the African growth and Opportunities Act and therefore will
earn us back our eligibility status to access this fund.
Widening the state Revenue Base
UDP/NRP/GPDP if elected, will also seek to widen our revenue base in order
to enhance government’s capacity to fund its own projects. Instead of
raising taxes on basic commodities thereby putting the consumer’s purse
under strain, they will, where possible, look out for untapped areas for tax
purpose. There are still a lot of areas where government can attract tax and
these areas are still untapped.
Crusade against Corruption and Fiscal Discipline in our Public Service
The Gambia has lost a lot through corruption and mismanagement in the twelve
year reign of Yaya Jammeh. Notwithstanding this, perpetrators of this
heinous crime have being glorified by the APRC. They are normally awarded
top jobs in government rather than being prosecuted. A typical example can
be found in Yankuba Touray corruption saga. He was indicted by a
quasi-judiciary authority with an equivalent authority to that of the Court
of Appeal, for siphoning D2 Million. Instead of the state asking for
restitution of the said money and its proceeds if not a prosecution, Touray
was made Minister. It was the same in the case of Justice M A Paul, a high
court judge, who was also indicted by a parliamentary committee for
financial impropriety. He is still serving the judiciary at the bench as a
High Court judge. All these make a mockery of the need to stamp out graft in
the public service and an insult to the hardworking tax payers who risk
going to jail if they fail to pay tax.
At the central bank alone D700 Million went missing in the recent past. One
close confidant of the president who happened to be a manager in the central
bank pleaded guilty in a plea bargain, for siphoning D225million and was
landed an insulting 9 months imprisonment sentence. Another close confidant
and former majority leader in parliament deliberately evaded tax to the tune
of D90million just because he believes he is above everything and therefore
untouchable. These travesties are not congenial to the ethical governance
policy the UDP/NRP/GPDP seeks to pursue if elected and therefore will not be
entertained.
UDP/NRP/GPDP recognizes the gruesome damage corruption has done to the
Gambian economy and therefore will endeavour to tackle it in the most
efficient manner if elected. By stopping or even scaling down Corruption in
the Gambia will save us a lot of the much need millions for investment in
the productive sectors of our economy. That is what Lawyer Ousainu Darboe
and his team seeks to do. They have the political will and the human
resource behind them but they can only do it if you vote Darboe.
The Constitution provides that public bodies must be subject to an annual
audit exercise. This requirement was only honoured once in the Twelve year
reign of President Jammeh and even on that occasion, State House which has
been annually allocated funds in the budget was not covered. The outcome was
quite chilling. Top government officials were indicted. Example, the Former
mayor of kMC Rtd. Col. Abdoulie Conteh was asked to explain the
disappearance of D1.5Million from the council’s coffers in 1995. His
explanation was that he bought gravel to construct a road in Serrekunda
[Kolongba Road] but the gravel was washed away by rain. Remember this was in
1995, a time when the Dalasi was reasonably strong. D1.5 Million worth of
gravel got to be an enormous quantity. You need a tsunami to wash that off
entirely. To cut a long story, the report was consigned to a dustbin and the
Auditor-general not only lost her job but was dragged to court on frivolous
charges which were later dropped when the political fury over the scandal
died down.
The UDP/NRP/GPDP if elected will ensure that our anti-graft laws are not
only enforced but made robust to enhance government’s capabilities to
detect, prosecute perpetrators and to recover stolen monies and their
proceeds. The UDP/NRP/GPDP is very much aware of the fact that once in
government, their electability in subsequent elections will depend on how
effective they are in transforming Gambia from the present status quo to a
more prosperous one. If they fail to deliver, then the people will look for
other alternatives. That is why it is important we aspire for change through
the political process and not otherwise.
.
Safeguarding the independence and credibility of the Judiciary
Our Judiciary is at the moment in a deplorable state. It is diabolically
weak and inefficient. The state players have a nasty utter contempt for the
court system and the rule of law. This has been manifested in their numerous
flouting of court orders and the unceremonious sacking of judicial officers
who fail to succumb to executive bullying. In the recent past a lot of
executive interferences have been vitiated on the judiciary. We have seen
the unceremonious and unconstitutional dismissals of Justice Hassan Jallow,
former president of the Supreme Court, Justice Robin cooker of the High
Court and the resignation in style of Justice Mam Yassin Sey, also a High
Court judge.
Lack of security of tenure of office has done a lot of damage to the
credibility of our judges. If you deliver a judgment as a sitting judge,
that the government does not like you will either have your contract not
renewed on expiry or be dismissed forthwith. This frustration is having a
big toll on the quality judgements our courts deliver particularly in
constitutional related matters. This is an anomaly that is shying away
foreign investment into the country. Public confidence must be restored in
our Judiciary if we are to attract the much needed foreign investments.
There are lots of potentials in the Gambia but investors are just too scared
to put in their millions because there is no security for such investments.
The only man in the race who has the wisdom and expertise to do it is
Darboe.
UDP/NRP/GPDP if elected, will reverse this trend. They will strengthen our
judiciary and safeguard its independence and credibility in order to restore
public confidence. Security of tenure for judges will be guaranteed. Judges
will be appointed and award permanent contracts by an independent Judicial
Service Commission which will comprise of representatives of the bar, the
bench and other civil society representatives. They will also make sure that
judges are dismissed only after the right constitutional procedures are
followed.
The capacity of the Judiciary both human and material will also be
strengthened to ensure that our courts not only deliver quality judgments
but are also capable of conducting speedy trials as practicably possible so
as to accord business efficacy to commercial and corporate cases and to
prevent the backlog of cases from building to an unprecedented level as they
are now.
All these are for the benefit of us Gambians, and what it takes is vote
Darboe! Vote Darboe! Vote Darboe!
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Posted on Sunday, September 17, 2006 (Archive on Friday, September 29, 2006)
Posted by PNMBAI Contributed by PNMBAI
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