“Freedom cannot endure unless every generation restates and reemphasizes its value” Friedrich von Hayek
‘Every State is known by the rights that it maintains. Our method of judging its character lies, above all, in the contribution that it makes to the substance of man’s happiness’, Harold J. Laski in his book ‘The Grammar of Politics’. Thus the State is not a sovereign organization because it is able to get its will obeyed by the people. We obey the State and give it our allegiance because of what these are supposed to serve-happiness, dignity, larger freedom and rights, equality, accountable services, protection, etc.
The State therefore has three levels of obligations vis-à-vis our human rights: the obligations to respect, protect and fulfill. The State should refrain from violating or interfering with the rights of its citizens, including the prohibition of certain acts by the Government or its agents and employees that may undermine the enjoyment of our
rights. The State has the obligation to prohibit and prevent individuals, or groups of individuals, from violating each other’s rights. This would imply ensuring adequate access to legal remedies in case of violations by third parties and not conniving with or allow any third party to destroy people’s rights. The State has the obligation to put in place laws, policies, structures, enabling environment and all those things necessary for people to enjoy their rights.
In our march towards a new, democratic society; in our commitment and allegiance to ‘Never Again’, one would expect that those who know what it means to live under a dictatorship for 22 years, a non-free environment where rights were mocked at and shackled, would be the greatest and unapologetic adherents and proponents of human rights and larger freedom. These people, who fought dictatorship with their blood, sweat, lives, property, suffered privation, torture and imprisonment, are not supposed to take the regained and ‘emancipated’ freedom for granted. They are supposed and expected to know better.
However, one does not have to look into the crystal ball to be frightful of the future, of the possibility of creeping back to those dark days when some duty bearers, in their overzealousness, are weakening our enjoyment of rights and freedoms in New Gambia, our free society.
In the greater society, the hoarse voices against human rights are threatening, worrisome and confounding and should be taken seriously. They are people calling for the curbing of human rights; others who believe that the rights are ‘too much’; people who are calling on the President to ‘have a nice smile and a gun in his hands’ and those who are yearning for the ‘halcyon’ days of Jammeh, when dissenting voices were silence and ‘everyone lived in peace’.
If we are not to forget our unique experience, we have the responsibility to stop these rights violators and ‘hoarse voices’ in their track. Freedom is lost when free people lack the ability to preserve or fight for it when it is attacked, denied or violated; freedom is lost when free people surrender their rights and lay them at the feet of one individual; freedom is lost when free people take their freedom for grant. In all these circumstances, people find it difficult to regain the lost rights and freedoms.
Our democracy is not in danger; we have some people, who, by their open hostility or inadequate appreciation, are endangering our rights and freedoms or our enjoyment of them. We need a strengthening and enlargement of our freedoms and rights, not any ‘democratization’ of our new-found democracy or Gambianisation of human rights.
Certainly rights are correlative with functions, with the fulfilment of certain responsibilities. We have rights so that we are able to make our contributions to the social end. Thus, we have no rights to act unsocially or to do as we like or to act against the public welfare. But even if we do, even if we act irresponsibly or violate the rights of others, we still expect the State to respect, protect and fulfil our rights, to follow the due process and observe the rule of law. Individuals can think with their hearts and be emotional and emotive; we expect the State to think with its head and heart, to always remember its obligations. As Vaclav Klaus said in his speech ‘Celebrating Freedom’……
“We see the importance of morals and morality for the functioning of human society, but the rhetoric of moral righteousness on the side of various immodest public intellectuals is not part of it. Such rhetoric reveals their strong authoritarian tendencies. They want to impose their values on others and are convinced that they know better than the rest of us what we need, what we want, and what is good for us. They want to protect us from ourselves.”
Preserving freedom is a dailly struggle; it can be won and lost for lack of diligence and vigilance. As Ronald Reagan said in a speech in November 1977: “Freedom is something that cannot be passed on genetically. It is never more than one generation away from extinction. Every generation has to learn how to protect and defend it.”
Venite Cave.
Let us beware. Power requires restraint, just as Freedom of speech is not absolute.
Great educative piece Prof Njundu – only spoilt by quoting the FASCIST Ronald Reagan who was famous for saying “Prof Angela Davis will teach again in California OVER MY DEAD BODY”. Thank God he is dead – and Prof Davis is today teaching in California. Of course Reagan also invaded Nicaragua to overthrow its leader but that leader is back in power today.
As for today’s Gambia, I am glad you say: “Our democracy is NOT in danger”.
PS: DR. SARR: I am fed up of looking in the dictionary whenever you use the DEAD Italian language. Can we please have some Wollof or Swahili proverbs/sayings next time (a YES Lamin?)
Everyone I know that speaks Latin is dead or dying. Have to practice on someone Dida. Can I have some freedom, please.
LoL, yes! (Dr. Dr. Henry Carroll is frail?)
Or even Serer, a language am yearning to learn and use.
Quoting white people (whoever they might be) and code-switching to languages of prestige can most times be an unconscious action. The roots of such practices are indeed well researched and known.
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Just keep a dictionary beside you and stop complaining before somebody beat the living daylight out of you. lol
Why are you learning Serer? Hoping their pretty and rock solid ladies will agree to marry you? More hope for a handsome Ethiopian LUNTANGO.
PS Lamin: Stop psychoanalysing my Dr. She is fine with all her faults!
Oh that one? She is a jewel.
Am psychoanalyzing her to understand how to retune her to becoming black again.
sssshhhhh don’t tell her. Keep it to yourself.
Here is your answer Dida: Press two fingers on your nose cavity to stop the air flow and repeat after me:
I’VE GOT ME ONE ALREADY. lol
On a serious note I just honestly love the sound of the language.
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The question I want to ask you as a supporter/sympathizer of this government and the Ousainou brand of politics is this:
Have you ever heard of any civil servant tendering his or her resignation on moral, ethical or religious principles in The Gambia? Only Sedat Jobe comes to my mind. You see the problem is not one of over zealousness. The problem is a poor culture of institutional operations. And this has permeated nearly government institution in our country. Even the presidents office is not professionally managed. So how can the people who are suppose to be architects of the institutional cultures be absolved of blame?
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That’s a vexing question especially that it’s coming from you.
Lamin, coming back to Prof Njundu’s point (we do tend to stray off topic!):
“RESTRAINING THE OVER-ZEALOUS” in New The Gambia’s DEMOCRACY which “IS NOT IN DANGER” is the key message. For example, the police we were discussing under hot-headed Madi’s piece were “over-zealous” and must the “restrained”. But we need to see this “over-zeal” as individual misbehaviour of individual police officer. We shouldn’t like Madi, condemn the whole government or the Police Chief at every opportunity.
Dida,
the home village of the president has been electrified allegedly by Akon. The new modern state of the art house been build is supposedly sponsored by a NAMELESS donor. Again. Do you remember the NAMELESS DONOR of the pick-up trucks? Good!
What does his behavior in office with regards to accepting “gifts” tell you?
This is called NEPOTISM fella. He is unduly benefitting from his position. Would Akon have electrified his village for him if he was not the president? He has not electrified mine. I know a better place that needs a 24 hour electric supply that could better use solar panels and batteries to safe lives.
It’s called the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) in Banjul. Or the Tanji coastal fishing project to stop thousands of tonnage of fish from perishing.
So if I castigate Adama, it’s a genuine attempt at correcting the catastrophic wrong turns he has taken, all whilst Ousainou is watching and claiming to be his political god father.
Am sure even your good self have done a better job of coaching your basketball team back in the days.
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I have always said failure if leadership in Africa is also a result of greed for insatiable levels of consumption by those entrusted with our bread and butter. They live extravagant lives at the expense of the dying peasantry.
See how Adama use dress before and now. And even his wives. He claims they are gifts from “tailors and designers”. I know gardener sat the state house who has been donning the same uniforms for the last five years with a salary of 1200 per month.
Don’t make my blood boil Dida. Am fed up with those trying to tell me this government is different from the clueless government of Dawda and the tyrannical regime of Yaya the butcher.
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More on the police later.
POLICE & POLICING IN THE GAMBIA
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The duty of the police is to maintain peace, law and order. These are very broad concepts that time and space won’t allow us to define and dilate on in depth. However, the idea behind institutionalizing the maintenance of social order is an imported one in Africa. Don’t forget, it’s birth is also a result of a class struggle and a system of racial hierarchy.
So the problem actually is, the concept and practice of policing in our societies has not undergone proper cultural domestication. Just as the many governance structures and colonial institutions we have inherited from our pals.
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That’s the first point.
That also calls for a thorough interrogation of what needs to be done to see to it that the police force serves the society and not individuals in power at a certain period and time.
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So you see how institutions and their heads cannot be let of the hook for the failure of there individual employees. Dida am guessing you see how complex these issues are. That’s why I say to build our societies, we have to go back to the drawing board of social engineering. Emulating and copying western ideals have completely failed us. Which is no surprise.
Finally am not absolving the individual police officers for breaking the law and disregarding codes of conduct. Am only saying you can go after the smaller fish whilst the bigger ones………you fill in the space.
Indeed Lamin, “COMPLEX” is the word and that is why I prefer the SIMPLE FACTS that:
1. In New Gambia there is no, and there won’t be, Jammeh’s extra-judicial killings;
2. In New Gambia there is no, and there won’t be, torture;
3. In New Gambia there is no, and there won’t be, disappearances of persons;
4. In New Gambia there is no, and there won’t be, unlawful detention beyond the lawful 72 hours without court appearance.
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These issues kept me sleepless for the best part of a decade Lamin; not least fighting on behalf of lawyer Darboe and others, not just in my writings but also through Senator Durbin in the USA, my MP, UK Foreign Secretary and the EU High Representative. Now, at 62 and on my private pension and the State Pension due in 3 years time, I FEEL TIRED …. and that is why I avoid the “complexity” you mention.
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Making your “BLOOD BOIL”. So I apologise. You see, things like “Barrow building and electrifying his village”, the debate over “per diems” and “corruption”, etc, etc, do really seem so small compare to the 4 issues I listed above. But I appreciate that what may seem small side issues for me are of major concern for you and others … and I again apologise if I may be triavialising them. NEVERTHELESS, I repeat:-
1. In New Gambia there is no, and there won’t be, Jammeh’s extra-judicial killings;
2. In New Gambia there is no, and there won’t be, torture;
3. In New Gambia there is no, and there won’t be, disappearances of persons;
4. In New Gambia there is no, and there won’t be, unlawful detention beyond the lawful 72 hours without court appearance.
GOOD DAY BRO. As for my coaching skills, the first thing I would have done is kick JR Smith’s backside OFF the second game … but if I was the coach he would not have committed even the first game blunder (any JollofNews reading ex-Marina Basketball Team members to confirm this? – or they are too busy making money in the New Gambia, Lamin?)
Dida I was never at Marina.
I played b-ball in the regular league and captained for my high school for three years. Then played in the national team for two years.
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I respect your decision not to delve with me into “complexities“, however, running the affairs of a nation is a complex business and I don’t trust those at the helm right now to leave them to their own devices.
You might be getting time and again on the surface, but I will be deep down there to trash it out with those willing.
Cavs must SMOTHER Curry; Flatten the SoB!
3-0 for the GSW.
The King is definitely Curry.
Is James buckling under pressure?
Curry is PART of a TEAM … The King is the King WITHOUT a team!
I’ll give you that one for consolation.
Lamin,
“What does his behavior in office with regards to accepting “gifts” tell you?
This is called NEPOTISM fella. He is unduly benefitting from his position. Would Akon have electrified his village for him if he was not the president? He has not electrified mine. I know a better place that needs a 24 hour electric supply that could better use solar panels and batteries to safe lives”.
So hard to speak the truth. This piece is lofty. Only BABU SOLI and BAX would second the motion you’ve laid on the table.
The rest: Dr Isatou Sarr, Bajaw, Tafel, BABU SOLO would sleep with the snoring Adama Barrow in the airport lounge or cafeteria to deny any wrong doing. Oh, our “learned intellectuals”.
Babu, what are you talking about. Accepting gift while in power is NOT nepotism. That is corruption/bribery. Nepotism is using your position to favor/hire those relative, friends and associates of yours. It is favoritism. I can excuse Lamin use of the wrong word, he prefer to write in Wollof. But you Prof should know better.
LoL Doc, you kill me!
Babu Soli
When is your hollow head going to absorb what i told you earlier that i am not a member of any political party or grouping. I am not a supporter of Barrow as an individual but a supporter of the coalition government that toppled the heartless despot. If these allegations put forward by Lamin are the truth, then i will no doubt condemn such actions wholeheartedly. Our nation can’t afford to replicate the dark past history of mismanagement, corruption and secrecy. I stand for the truth Babu unlike yourself who can’t condemn Jammeh for a single wrong.
Babu, I accept your point. Why don’t we do the same and agree that Yaya has committed grave atrocities and plundered our economy to the point of death.
Thank you for the rectification Dr. Sarr. It should’ve been “……..corruption and nepotism“.
But thank you also for confirming to me once more what I have suspected all along.
You see, you’ve attached more cultural and intellectual value to English than Wollof. I can’t blame you for that for any semblance of our true self-dependence is like a dagger in your heart Doc.
Am glad I can express myself in one of my languages, Wollof. And I can experience my life within its numerous faceted contexts.
You on the other hand can’t say the same because you detest blackness.
Come off your high white horse.
There are specific rules in deductive reasoning and logical thinking. There is really no place for “FALSE SYLLOGISM” in an honest exchange, that is, if that is the intent.
Doc is going wild.
Just like Dida, I have no energy in Ramadan to go complex. Lol
But have fun.
Like, Doc,
A … because
B &
C. ….. Or Gambian syllogism:
A …
C … My Auntie Dr Sarr says so!
So … don’t be so hard on Babu Soli Doc!
Ok Dida, Babu gets a pass this time, because Lamin got him in trouble.
Me…? What have I done again? How did I get Babu in trouble only for the omission of a single word.
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Common stop seeking cheap attention like a child.
Dr Isatou Sarr,
Why don’t you take your time to read my postings? Haven’t you seen the double inverted commas which means I have quoted from someone, this time from Lamin?
You relied on that source to make your point Babu. As a teacher you are familiar with the phrase
“Ergone credible fons”
Next time check your source for context and accuracy.
Doctor, this is a BANTABA, not a PhD Seminar!
Doc, my expertise is preparing 13/14 year-olds for 7 A-grades at GCSE when they are 16 (I will settle for 7Bs!). Once they have done that well at GCSE, they have learnt the secret of study – and the school prepares them for University with 3 As or Bs at A-Level. Any offers? (Latin NOT included!)
Lamin, Jollonews 6th June 2018
I have always made my points spotlessly clear. But you see, there are many on-line subscribers who don’t read my entire postings, or just glimpse at the name to debunk anything. Such unscholarly attitudes are not professional. Before refuting any content, I think one should go through.
On several occasions, I have said that I won’t accuse President Jammeh nor hold him responsible for anything “wrong” until the outcomes of the reports from the numerous Commissions of Inquiries that your bitty and CORRUPT government has set up to look into Jammeh’s past, are known. Unless those reports are known, I exonerate him, or may I say, give him the benefit of doubt. Here is someone whose case is before the courts, the commissions, the tribunals……someone who is not defending himself neither being defended. This is the culture of democratic feat I learnt here, in Holland over the years!
Barrow’s case is different. Here is someone who made fanciful electoral promises. He LIED to the Gambian people. May I say that Barrow is doing exactly the same thing he accused President Jammeh of? This is my point, Lamin, and we are all living testimonies to these crude/deliberate abuses of position.
Presently, he’s in The Mecca enjoying meat/bone, beef steak, Attaya, dates, with a large entourage of pilgrims (to receive fat per diem emoluments on return) while our poor people are suffering without adequate electricity/water supplies, exorbitant prices of basic/essential commodities, rising thefts and banditry, shoddy health services (where available, in private clinics, at unaffordable costs).
Do we have to wait until he relinquishes power or disgraced from it that we have to speak? Or do we have to cling onto the Jammeh argument to justify all that Barrow and his clique of SELFISH and INCOMPETENT do? These are my questions to the generation of future leaders, the younger ones, the patriots, the learned, the selfless, the dedicated……..
lamin,
Don’t mind Dr Isatou Sarr. She brags on innocuous points to make a mountain out of a molehill!
Babu,
I take you to be a smart fellow. At the same time, some of your utterances leave me totally baffled. I just don’t know how to reconcile the two contradictory projections.
I mean it’s blatantly clear that Yaya has blood on his hands. We also know he and his wives were living far far beyond his and their means.
Make the switch Koto Babu.
Right Lamin, blood in his hand is the worst thing in mankind.
BABU SOLO,
You see how you can LIE. How can you “sit on the hill and insult the ground” a common Mandinka proverb. How can you love the coalition and disregard Barrow? That’s the hypocrite’s trumpet. Blow it!
Do other people have to inform BABU SOLO about the HUNDREDS of mismanagements, embezzlements, squandering of the poor people’s money, deliberate NEPOTISM, CORRUPTION, CORRUPTIBLE PRACTICES, PATRONAGE and INCOMPETENCY that have taken place and continue to take place just 1.5 years into office of this VERY BAD and SELFISH EGOCENTRIC administration?
If you are waiting to be informed then you are blind, deaf and dumb!
Continue to defend the atrocities of your INEPT administration, we’ll continue to expose them till we see them OUT!
Babu Soli
Quoting from Lamin above ”I take you to be a smart fellow. At the same time, some of your utterances leave me totally baffled. I just don’t know how to reconcile the two contradictory projections.
I mean it’s blatantly clear that Yaya has blood on his hands. We also know he and his wives were living far far beyond his and their means.
Make the switch Koto Babu.”
If you can’t second this truth from Lamin about Jammeh having blood on his hands while living with his wives in an extravagant life styles far beyond their means, then how can you justify your ramblings against this administration. I can hear the sound of a hypocrite’s trumpet from Soli Kunda.
I’m taking this all in utter bemusement.
By the way Doc, I enjoy your Latin. I did Scipio and the Gallic Wars! For what it’s worth!
“Amusement” surely Andy! Re. Doc – “Ut nemo moveatur in tribulationibus istis ipsi enim scitis quod in hoc positi sumu”. Hakuna Matata Mzee!