By Madi Jobarteh
On Tuesday, Minister Ismaila Ceesay went on Coffee Time with Peter Gomez to rain invective on Alagie Saidy Barrow and my humble self, describing us as dishonest, cowards, idle, ungrateful, liars and bitter. Ismaila Ceesay said I am hiding behind activism to push a political agenda but that I am afraid to enter politics. Listening to the quality of this man’s arguments makes one wonder if the PhD degree he claims to possess is indeed real, especially when you consider what Martin Luther King Jr said is the purpose of education. That,
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character–that is the goal of true education.”
Clearly the rantings of Ismaila Ceesay do not only show that the man lacks both intelligence and character, but also, he is a man under pressure from myself and Alagie. And I promise him that this pressure shall continue unabated so long as he remains on a path of calumny and dishonesty purposely to serve his selfish interests at the detriment of our homeland.
As typical of dishonest people in power, they are notorious for trying to divert attention by defaming, misrepresenting and caricaturing individuals who demand transparency and hold them accountable. The role that people like Alagie Saidy Barrow, Pa Samba Jow and many others including I play in this society is that we wish to ensure full transparency and accountability of the Government to the people of the Gambia.
Unable to defend the corruption and incompetence of this Government, Ismaila therefore chose to target voices of transparency and accountability with the intention to discredit and silence us. He is not the first minister to do this and will not be the last to do so. His insults and rantings intended to demonize and discredit me only expose his dishonesty and betrayal of the people of the Gambia. But Ismaila cannot silence me or anyone, for we are determined to uphold and defend the Constitution in exercise of our civil and political rights to speak up and participate in the scrutiny of the Government and its officials like him.
It was the celebrated US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis who said more than 100 years ago that sunlight is the best disinfectant. He said this in highlighting the benefits of openness and transparency in government. Just like sunlight kills germs, he said, so also transparency would root out corruption in government. The role and contribution that others and I play in this society is to make sure that there is open government, knowing fully well that there cannot be accountability, efficient public service delivery and protection of human rights in the absence of transparency. For that matter, I shall not relent nor stay silent in the face of blatant abuse of office, corruption and incompetence. It is that voice that Ismaila wishes to silence but he cannot in any way.
No one can deny that the incidence of corruption in the Barrow administration is deep, widespread and endemic, and yet fully encouraged. This is confirmed by official reports from the Auditor General, the National Assembly, The Gambia Police Force, and presidential commissions of inquiry, not to mention reports by investigative journalists, and established by the courts. Exposing and combating corruption and holding public institutions accountable is a national duty – whether one is called activist or not. After all, it is not Ismaila Ceesay who defines who or what activism is or not.
Ismaila Ceesay is too small to caricature and discredit Madi Jobarteh. He can choose to sell his soul and indeed power has already exposed his true character as a man without faith and conscience. No educated person aids and abets corruption and injustice and enables bad leadership. Therefore, what Ismaila demonstrates is the malaise inflicting this nation since independence. That is, the weakness and failure of our intellectuals in charge of our institutions of governance and development in betraying their own people by imposing on them a corrupt, incompetent and oppressive system which they defend with disinformation and dishonesty. But Ismaila has come too late in the game, hence he is advised, for his own interest, to return to the original ideals which underpinned the creation of the Citizens Alliance – of which he became the chief betrayer, sadly.
Gambians decided to end self-perpetuating and autocratic rule and corruption since 2016. In 2017, the new Government launched a transitional justice program with the slogan ‘Never Again’ to abuse of office, corruption, human rights violations and bad governance. If Ismaila and his ilk think the country should relapse back to those horrible days, then he is dreaming.
So here is my message to Ismaila Ceesay: those days are over and long gone when public officials think they can impose their false narratives on our people with arrogance and impunity. Public office is a noble institution which must be occupied by the best sons and daughters of this land who shall be challenged to prove themselves with honesty and humility. If that is an inconvenience for Ismaila, then let him vacate public office.
I wish to call on all Gambians to speak out to defend democracy and human rights and expose abuse of office and corruption. Let us remember the warning of that German priest during the Second World War, who observed that his failure to speak out against injustice left him alone and helpless when eventually he also became a victim of injustice and found that there was no one to speak for him. Kofi Annan once said, if we do not speak out, individually and collectively, today and every day when our conscience is challenged by intolerance, corruption and injustice, we will not have done our duty – to ourselves, or to succeeding generations.
For The Gambia, Our Homeland
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Madi Jobarteh