Alagi Yorro Jallow
Fatoumatta: A member of civil society, akin to a modern-day vigilante, must remain objective, fair, unbiased, nonpartisan, and independent, not affiliated with any group or religion. Their duty is to uphold the truth, defend democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and public freedoms, and to call out the excesses inherent in the exercise of power. They should hold those who govern to a higher standard, as it is the primary responsibility of political authorities to ensure freedoms and uphold the rule of law. Civil society must vigilantly guard democracy and speak out against its desecration. Therefore, a strong civil society is imperative.
No one denies that some members of Gambian civil society have a rich resume and impressive credentials as human rights activists who are attentive to freedoms and human dignity. Our democracy owes them a lot. However, some are better than their current posture as a condottiere of populists by freeing them from any responsibility, even in the face of permanent outrages and the most dangerous attitudes. Better. In the rebellion and struggle or resistance movements, the gorilla wing fights on the ground, and the political wing sells the platform of demands in the media, foreign capitals, and international forums. Occupying this role of an ally of a cause with one’s face uncovered is respectable, but being reduced to a sounding board by wallowing in an activist’s lacerated cloak is less so. You gain the sympathy of your masters and the cheers of your followers, of course, but you lose your dignity, and no honest person takes you seriously anymore. I have more respect for the allies and promoters of demagogues than the hooded water carriers with their significant phrases and their gestures that do not mask a moral regression. You have to be serious to hope to be taken seriously.
In recent years, civil society agents have anchored their convictions and hope to the agenda of dangerous politicians and elected officials who embody the worst that our country has produced since 1994. These agents have the right to join the cause of their choice. However, it is striking that they are still the only ones to think this subservience is discreet or even secret. Words, actions, and awkward gestures can reveal a person’s true character, particularly when their existence is sustained solely by electoral turmoil. For an extended period, the behavior of certain Gambian civil society members amused me. Many fled the brutal dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh, seeking exile in various African nations, Europe, and North America. Some found refuge in roles within multinational corporations, transnational organizations, and the United Nations to avoid Jammeh’s tyranny, while others remained powerless and silent, complicit in the dictatorship. Today, the very vocal individuals in civil society who thrive in a democracy have become purveyors of tension and critics, as well as champions of the very things they feared to confront during the despotic era of Yahya Jammeh.
Fatoumatta: I then had a certain tenderness for them, especially when one of them pompously proposed what he called “concepts”: “criminalization of the opposition,” and “civil transition,” which are, in reality, only muddy words of little interest. However, in any fight, you need a specific bearing at the risk of falling into vulgarity. As proof, calling on the justice system to give up prosecuting a parliamentarian because he has “many people behind him” seems inappropriate to me. During the vicissitudes of the submission of lists to the legislative elections, proposing the violation of the law in the name of “appeasement” is grotesque. It means assuming the importance of the political clique over the law, the superiority of its friendships over the Penal Code, and the breach of the principle of equity and equality between citizens enshrined in the Constitution. In a recent raucous outburst, another civil society activist, whimsical and rather excessive, demands to stop referring to the Penal Code in terms of the law in the Gambia. He would have to suggest Mein Kampf or Tintin to govern the Gambian norm.
A humble citizen in his living room can proclaim his hatred of democracy, but not a man who has his napkin ring in all the media in the country. It is sad to see a public figure being the promoter of his own moral decline and staging it in the middle of crowds on social networks. To justify himself, I saw a civil society agent say in essence: “I supported the fight of this opponent, then of that opponent. I’m in my role.” This attitude is a confession of support for politicians over the years instead of attaching itself to the truth and democratic values and principles.
These people and their allies, who claim to defend human dignity, in a coordinated and thoughtful enterprise, are advocating a decivilized society in which we would return to the state of nature and barbarism. However, justice is the bulwark of citizens against the absolutist temptations of power. It protects the weak from the assaults of the powerful, guarantees freedom and the rule of law, and cannot mean disorder and the rule of the strongest.
Fatoumatta: In their new political idyll, which they try to mask with a veneer of neutrality, these civil society agents are fooling no one. Under the pretext of defending human rights, we have before our eyes agitated in their anger never to leave the fatal scene of a counterfeiters’ ball.
