By Ousainou Mbenga
On January 17, 1893 Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii characterized the imposed U.S constitution upon the indigenous Hawaiian people, that subsequently led to the overthrow of her queendom, as the “bayonet constitution.” The “bayonet constitution” laid the ground work for the theft of the Hawaiian archipelago, first as an annexed territory and ultimate into a state within the U.S imperialist empire on August 21, 1959. Such aggressions have been the history of constitutional development of colonies that continued on present day neo-colonial territories.
In the case of The Gambia, the 2020 draft constitution crafted by the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) was the axe grinding agenda of the dismembered Barrow/UDP hegemony against the Coalition 2016 with its ultimate destruction and betrayal of The Gambian masses. The leadership of United Democratic Party (UDP) was at the helm of all the important government portfolios when the administration instituted the commissions of enquiries to guide the beginning of the sham and bogus “New Gambia.” The CRC might have been initiated with “good intentions,” but the “road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Evidently, the fate of their draft constitution was meted out at the not-so-good “National Assembly.” The current political manifestations in the country represent the blow back of UDP’s intentions for hegemony.
And just in passing, the Janneh Commission was on the opposite pole of “good intentions.” It turned out to be the most shameful exercise for tracking and exposing the looting by the Jammeh’s twenty-two years tyranny. In the end, however, the courts declared that the Barrow/UDP regime does not “have the mandate to enforce or execute” the recommendations of that commission. This despicable act proves our contention that, “the courts are the highest expressions of politics.” According to the Ministry of Justice on the expediency called the Janneh commission, over 1 Billion Dalasis is allegedly recovered in monies not including other unreported assets. So, where are all these resources kept and who has access to them?
To put it bluntly, the courts have undoubtedly given President Barrow and his National People’s Party (NPP) easy access to campaign money. Now, the Barrow administration, the carbon-copy heir of the criminal Jammeh regime deeps its fangs into the vault of the country to fund his campaign. While the regime ordered citizens to stay home to mitigate the spread the COVID-19, President Barrow, hypocritically, hits the dusty-campaign trails with his supporters contradicting his own government’s directives to the public.
For the moment, let us allow the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) run its rigmarole course. But hold not your breath to great expectations from the TRRC because the same government that could not “enforce or execute” the recommendations of the Janneh Commission will be the one to enforce or execute the recommendations of the TRRC.
Back to the “supreme law of the land”—the constitution. It is important for the masses of our people, who have always been mere spectators in the process of crafting our constitutions, to have a clear understanding of the recent and unprecedented nationwide and “diaspora” consultation initiated by the CRC. The outcome of the consultations has proved to be a historic “illusions of inclusion” of the masses in the so-called “democratic process.” How else could this constitution be characterized other than a “toilet paper” for the impotent ruling class of The Gambia? The history of bourgeoise constitutions gives the masses the illusions of inclusion in the decision-making process, when in reality the participation of the voters is designed only to renew the mandates of the kleptocrats in political offices. The “people’s will most prevail” will remain a myth under these neocolonial constitutions.
The masses of our people must understand that every neocolonial constitution was plagiarized from the colonialist’s constitutions of the Greek, British, French and American empires. The slogan of “government of the people, for the people, and by the people” is an illusion. The oppressed masses have neither been fully empowered nor adequately served by constitutions. The oppressed masses have historically been relegated to political-cannon fodder for unscrupulous politicians and their lawmakers. Once the elite replaces one another in office, the masses remained in the same wretched conditions of poverty until the next election cycle. Until we come to the necessary understanding that these “toilet-paper constitutions” are crafted to maintain the vanity of false sovereignty, we will forever remain fodders for blood sucker presidents and their lackeys. Until we carry the African revolution to its logical conclusion and craft a genuine constitution for the real masses, we will continue to make political storms that blow down the wrong trees.
Don’t lose any sleep or shed “crocodile tears” over these theatrics at the National Assembly that was bought and sold by the Barrow administration. These colonialists in black faces will always betray the people. All the signs of betrayal are written on the wall that we are on our own with the foreign and domestic enemies. They have fired the salvo that we couldn’t rely on these moochers or partner with these parasites to solve our problems. The New Gambia is a sham that will never be realized under the administration of President Barrow. Notwithstanding the setbacks since December 2, 2016, we must set ourselves up for a revolutionary comeback. Only revolutionary politics would save our beloved Gambia from the hungry hyaenas of the Barrow administration and its enablers.
Let us build the revolutionary alternative against neocolonialism and establish the “opposition” that former President Jammeh daringly claimed he never faced in The Gambia. President Barrow’s actions are clearly the manifestation of symptoms of the lack of a viable opposition to an incompetent and corrupt regime in a failed state.