Dear Editor,
This is a commendable stand by The Gambia government. The situation in Gaza is getting out of hand. It is reported that some Palestinian children are dying from malnutrition and over one thousand children are amputees, recovering from the mindless and indiscriminate bombing Israel has been subjecting Gaza to.
Abdou Sara Janha
Banjul
Dear Editor,
Adam Barrow believes that Allah anointed him president of The Gambia. Unfortunately he is not a dynamic leader and the people around him are clearly not very good. Corruption is at its worst. Who would have thought that a person could screw up worse than Yahya Jammeh. Adam Barrow was an estate agent. Let us stop exaggerating his background. He tricked moderates into thinking he is capable of reversing the decay by Yahya Jammeh. It is clear he is not capable. The reason is absolutely not because he’s too moderate or modest. It’s because he’s not willing to face hard truths about corruption, drug abuse, homicide, lack of discipline, lack of security, youth unemployment, debt, inflation and so forth. Almost one in 10 Gambian said they have either been physically assaulted or are the victims of a burglary over the last two years.
We are trapped in a vicious cycle of economic, intellectual, social, and political death under NPP. There’s inferior housing and inferior education which leads to inferior jobs. We spend a lifetime in this vicious circle. Giving birth to children who see no hope or future but to follow in our miserable footsteps? The current government is trying to deceive our people with a false solution, a phoney solution, a deceitful solution. Gambian youths are dying everyday yet the so-called politicians are saying the youths are happy The youths are dying!
Mike Smith
London, UK
Togo: A failure of the AU and Ecowas
Dear Editor,
The situation in Togo highlights once again the failure of both the AU and Ecowas. Right in front of their eyes they have allowed the travesty of the Gnassingbé dynasty to continue to prevail unabated. The Togo situation exposes the faulty grounds on which AU and Ecowas stand as they ignore thereby aid and abet bad leadership to perpetuate until chaos erupts and then they intervene to keep the peace.
The AU and Ecowas must realise that by their founding instruments and subsequent protocols that they are not an emergency, crisis management, or fire fighting organisations. No. Rather they are created first and foremost to build and maintain unity, good governance and prosperity in the region within a democratic dispensation. This is why their instruments and institutions mandate them to not only build peace and security but also to prevent chaos emanating from elections, abuse of human rights and governance. The AU and Ecowas cannot therefore sit by to watch a member state being led by a tyrant who keeps on flouting all republican, democratic and good governance norms with impunity!
This unfortunate situation calls for an urgent review and overhaul of both the AU and Ecowas to transform them into fit-for-purpose institutions. Faure Gnassimbé has no legitimacy to rule Togo. Togo is not a Gnassingbé kingdom. If Faure cannot adjust to democratic and human rights norms and standards the AU and Ecowas have a duty to bring him in line. So far, Faure just like his father Eyadema has demonstrated that he is not interested in the Togolese constitution nor will he abide by AU and Ecowas protocols on elections, governance, peace, and security. In that case the AU and Ecowas must be seen taking clear and well calculated measures to remove him from power in order to prevent conflict and ensure democracy is established in Togo.
The argument about state sovereignty just to prevent the AU and Ecowas from acting on Togo is untenable. Togo is a state party which has ratified binding treaties that obligate both the AU and Ecowas to subject a member state to accountability. Therefore both the AU and Ecowas have the authority to prevent tyranny from prevailing in Togo and any other member state in line with established treaties, charters or protocols. Faure has to go, and it is the AU and Ecowas which must tell him to step down. Failure to do so, AU and Ecowas should use all measures including military action to remove this tyrant. Nothing good can come out of Faure because the man is a dictator who thinks the country is a family property. Such irrational thinking and illegitimate entitlement makes Faure unfit to take part in any democratic process or the future of Togo. Faure has to go. As Africans, we must be fed up now with unconscionable leaders and their stooge intellectuals. We must demand their total removal. Our people have suffered for far too long from corrupt politicians and their corrupt intellectuals occupying the state. How many more have to die for common sense to prevail on us that there should be zero tolerance for tyranny and corruption!
Madi Jobarteh
Kembujeh
