By Da One
Functional institutions are meant to add to the quality of life of the citizenry. On the one hand, they provide necessary social services to enrich our experiences in otherwise boring and sterile life. But on the other hand, society also needs rules, laws and regulations for an orderly and predictable existence to breed peace, harmony and tranquility.
Unfortunately, the introduction of the institution that is now transformed to The Gambia Police Force (GPF) got off on a bad footing. First, it was designed to put the population in check for fear of reprisal against the colonial vampires and the local elites they educated in their language and system of operations. That status quo has not changed because, as Sulayman Bokar Bah has argued that the bourgeoisie (those with unhindered access to resources and amenities of pleasure) are a poison to our mental and economic liberation.
To compound the matter, the corruption and abuse of power within the police force has become self-sustaining and taken a life of its own. It reproduces asexually, exponential to the growth of poverty and marginalization in society. In other words, the more poverty increases (which is a fact in The Gambia) the more people in all demographic categories become alienated. As a consequence, the small bourgeoisie becomes fearful of its own shadow and increase police presence in communities to enforce conformity to a status quo of poverty, submission to power, and eventually surrender to destitution.
The conditions in detention facilities at all police stations in our country are below the standards ascribed by international human rights organizations. Filthy and unhygienic cells, poor food rations, exposure to abuse and torture, illegal detentions, etc., are all modus operandi of an institution that has always been a tool of oppression for every executive in power, from Dawda Jawara to Yahya Jammeh and to Adama Barrow. In the guise of maintaining law and order, the application of the law was and still is selective and uneven. Their actions are not dictated by the dictum of equality before the law, but rather by strings and favors that could translate to cash and other privileges.
During the rein of the three regimes The Gambia unfortunately has had since attainment of since independence, executive interference in the work of the police is a daily occurrence. It’s not uncommon for a minister, a parliamentarian or even a well-connected business personality to order for the arrest, detention and prosecution of underprivileged citizens. Many of our fellow Gambians have lost their dignity and even lives to such a deplorable administration of injustice. Our standard of moral obligations, as citizens, are so low that the majority prefers to look the other way or just remain muted in the face of the gross violation of human rights by the police force of our country. The gangrene should not be allowed to fester any longer.
Recent strives in the country have cornered the GPF to stoop so low to the level of resembling a militia to protect the political interests of the president and his inner cabal. Refusing to grant permits for peaceful protests speaks to their paranoia of participatory democracy. Resorting to force to disperse citizens who were peacefully expressing legitimate grievances and concerns of life and death is nothing short of criminality and trampling on constitutionally guaranteed rights. How else could that hyper reaction be justified when the organizers have stated their readiness to sit down and engage the Brikama Area Council for negotiations and trust building to solve problems that are perennial within the municipality?
Again, what the GFP should do is to engage in reorientation to serve those who pay for their salaries. To transform itself to a credible police force in a genuine democracy, it most first desists from brutalizing citizens who pays for their feeding, clothing and shelter.