Dear Editor,
What is politics in the first place? Politics concerns power: who exercises it, how they acquire it, whose interests they serve, and how they are held accountable. It determines who controls the affairs and resources of society, how decisions are made, and who benefits from the wealth of a country.
Politics is therefore far bigger than political parties, politicians, election campaigns, and the pursuit of public office. It concerns the freedom we enjoy, the taxes we pay, the education our children receive, the healthcare available to our families, and the opportunities open to our youth. It determines whether electricity is reliable, water is accessible, food is affordable, and justice is within everyone’s reach. Whenever decisions affect our rights, resources and opportunities, politics is at work.
The progress or decline of a country is deeply connected to the quality of its politics. How do its leaders acquire power? Are they freely and fairly elected, or imposed through force, manipulation, and intimidation? Can citizens question, influence and remove them? Does the law protect everyone equally, or does it shield those in power from accountability? Are citizens informed, organized, and engaged, or have fear, indifference and blind loyalty weakened their influence over public affairs?
These are questions Gambians must confront when examining our country since independence. We must assess our politics by the conditions in which our people live. What has political power delivered in freedom, justice, equality, and prosperity? Why do poverty, indebtedness, corruption, and deprivation persist? Whose interests has the state served, and who has paid the price for its failures?
We must also examine our own relationship with power. Have we demanded performance and accountability from presidents, ministers, lawmakers, and other public officials? Have we defended the public interest consistently, including when wrongdoing involves our preferred party or leader? Or have we too often behaved as spectators, praise-singers and defenders of the very conduct that undermines our wellbeing?
These questions do not excuse those who abuse public office. Responsibility for corruption, repression, and mismanagement rests with those who commit them. But they expose the danger of surrendering public affairs to officials and politicians without sustained scrutiny.
Politicians are ordinary citizens seeking a mandate to manage the affairs and resources of the country. Election does not confer superior wisdom, ownership of the state or immunity from criticism. Public office is a position of trust. Its occupants are paid from public resources and given authority to serve the people. Every salary, allowance, vehicle, and privilege carries an obligation to perform honestly, competently, and lawfully.
Some leaders may be principled and visionary, others may be dishonest, incompetent, or selfish. A country’s future cannot depend on trusting the character of whoever happens to hold office. It requires strong institutions, enforceable laws and citizens determined to demand accountability.
In The Gambia, corruption, inefficiency, abuse of power and disregard for the law have become recurring features of governance. Too often, promises made to secure votes are abandoned once power is obtained. Authority entrusted to officials to protect citizens becomes an instrument for silencing them. Public resources intended to improve lives, sustain private comfort and political patronage, while citizens struggle for basic services.
The consequences reach beyond poverty and poor services. When politicians exploit ethnicity, religion, and other identities to capture or retain power, they poison public debate and divide communities. When wrongdoing carries no consequences, impunity takes root. When loyalty is rewarded above competence and integrity, institutions lose their capacity to serve.
This is why politics cannot begin and end with voting. An election grants a mandate, but it does not relieve citizens of their responsibility to scrutinise how that mandate is exercised. Democracy requires people who question budgets, monitor services, demand information, organise around public needs, defend rights, and insist that officials answer for their decisions.
Every citizen has a stake and a role. Citizens can participate through community organisations, trade unions, professional associations, the media, peaceful protest, and political parties themselves. Those who belong to parties must demand internal democracy, transparent finances, and accountable leadership. Parties seeking to govern the country must practise the democratic standards they promise the nation.
We cannot afford to treat politics as the business of politicians while living with the consequences of their decisions. The wealth belongs to the people. The authority comes from the people. The institutions exist to serve the people.
Politics is too important to be left to politicians alone. Citizens must remain informed, organised, and engaged, before elections, during elections and every day after them.
NO TO 3RD TERM.
For The Gambia, Our Homeland
Madi Jabarteh
Kembujeh
