Gambia: The SIS and the Dire Need for New National Standards in The Gambia

 A 'guess blog' on President Barrow and the State Intelligence Services (SIS) or the NIA by my erudite brother  Saul Saidykhan


***          ***
We Gambians love our one line labels. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter if there’s any substance to them. Last week, President Barrow through executive fiat, changed the name of the notorious secret State outfit from the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to State Intelligence Service (SIS.) Understandably, the reaction is mixed. Some who merely want to forget everything NIA and start afresh welcome the flip without much ado. Others pooh-poohed the legality of the Barrow order base on the 1997 constitution currently in force never mind that constitution was designed and tailor-made by a crooked and murderous autocrat to suit his selfish interests. It bars experienced Gambians from running for or holding certain public offices based on age – no matter how capable they may be or some other exigency. Tellingly, the constitution is silent about the real problem – criminals, misfits, and wholly unqualified candidates running for public office. Why any genuine democrat would want to maintain or defend much in such a constitution boggles the mind. Granted, it is in our collective interests to make sure that no president beginning with Adama Barrow gets used to the idea of issuing executive orders by bypassing the seeking of the people’s consent through their representatives going forward.

There are numerous reasons why most Gambians are celebrating the burial of the old NIA because its sins are as numerous as they are horrendous. However, this shouldn’t surprise anyone because from the onset, the signs of this potential catastrophe were there. For the record, from its very inception, many NIA employees confused the word Intelligence in the name of their employer for the evaluation of their individual cognitive ability even if when they lack a 11th Grade education as many of them do. It is incontestable that low educated people have lower analytical skills relative to higher educated people.  In serious countries, or at least in countries that are determined to progress, Intelligence Agencies are manned by competent people trained in areas like Law, Criminology, Audit, Accounting, Forensics, and general Detective work. These are Professional people. Such people don’t need to beat every suspect bloody or almost murder every suspect to solve a case. On the other hand, when our political leaders breath down the neck of our non-professional Intelligence Agents who often possess low analytical skills demanding closure to certain cases, in my view, they bear both moral and legal responsibility for the unholy short-cuts these Agents take to get the answers they want. In the minds of the Agents, the ends justify the means. How else are the Agents supposed to solve cases that are beyond their level of thinking?  If they cannot out-think the people they’re up against, what other option do they have in their corner beside coercion?

Bottom line, changing NIA to SIS is only the beginning of the profound transformation needed to take Gambia to the next level in terms of Intelligence-gathering.  The name change will not amount to one hill of beans unless the entire standard for admission into the SIS is upgraded. Going forward, no one who is NOT a professional should be hired by the SIS agency. The agency itself should be merged with the National Drug Enforcement Agency and the anti-Child trafficking arm of the Gambia Police Force for Cost Savings and greater efficiency. A poor country like ours that depends on donors for survival should not only use its resources judiciously, it should demonstrate its appreciation to its partners in such practical ways. This would help engender confidence that we are a people who are sensitive to our own condition. There have been enough headlines in Western papers about officials of African governments that routinely seek development aid staying at $500 per night hotel rooms when the Western governments they seek aid from don’t allow their officials to lodge anywhere more expensive than $170 per night. Our new government should be cognizant of this, and avoid embarrassing us!

The SIS would need trained dedicated Detectives, Lawyers, Accountants, Auditors, Scientists, Medical professionals, Specialized labs, and Technicians. Where necessary, the Service could hire consultants with specialize skills in areas it lacks In-House talent. The SIS  should use the same template serious crime- fighting agencies in modern democracies around the world use.  There’s no need for any special creativity. We should seek help from partners to train our personnel in the pertinent areas.
As for the current staff of the NIA, many are  either criminals, murderers, rapists or accomplices of such unsavory characters. Without exception, the entire current staff should be suspended with pay with immediate effect and every Agent subject to scrutiny. Of all the criminal organs of the Yaya Jammeh tyranny, the NIA was the most flagrant violator of Gambians’ civic rights. Regardless of the political semantics, those found culpable -in terms of serious crimes, which is likely to be the majority, should at the minimum be fired, and barred from holding public office in the future, and the few that are clean can be allowed to apply for positions in the SIS base on the new criteria. The NIA is simply a cesspool that’s crying out for thorough cleansing. However, if truth be told, what has happened thus far is, we have placed foxes in charge of our chicken coop. This is very unsettling. What we really need are people who shunned the brutish autocrat Yaya Jammeh  or tried to take him out by whatever means, not those who cuddled him and remained loyal to him till the very end even as he committed all the horrible atrocities against Gambians. How in the world are the accomplices of a murderer supposed to clean up his mess considering they were part of its creation? Only an outsider can do a clean and thorough job of sanitizing the filth left over by the vermin that is Jammeh.  Every single one of our Service Chiefs is dirty – from the police, to the army, navy, Para-Military, and prisons, it’s the same story. We need people who had nothing to do with the criminal killer gang to clean our security system.

However, when it comes to establishing standards, the SIS is just the first step. The Barrow administration need to set Standards across the board for ALL professions beginning with those that are critical to public safety like Healthcare and Civil Engineering/Architecture.  Again, this is what serious countries do. Our current lack of standards is costing us an unquantifiable amount of loss in terms of human lives and material resources. I’ll just cite a case that shows how a serious country handles its business relative to how we do so. Over ten years ago, a friend of mine in Maryland hosted a Gambian medical doctor who was hoping to relocate to the US. He had studied medicine in eastern Europe and had all his diplomas, transcripts and English translations. The Gambian brother’s papers say he is a qualified medical doctor. However, being a serious country that values the lives of its citizens and residents, no American State will issue a license to any doctor unless that doctor is evaluated and Passes certain basic competency tests. And that’s where the problem began. My friend drove this man to THREE different places where he would fill out numerous forms only to eventually fail the basic competency test he was given for admission to their Internship/Residency program. Frustrated, the brother packed up and returned to Gambia. Today, that “doctor” is world-famous for the wrong reason: As Gambia’s Health Minister, he claimed to have seen “with my own eyes” how Yaya Jammeh cures AIDS patients with his green leaf BS concoction! Even after Yaya Jammeh fired the brother, he was allowed to continue running a private clinic where scandal and incompetence are the norm. Why that should surprise anyone, I don’t know.  The key lesson here is our government didn’t care about the safety of our people like governments in the US do for their citizens and residents.  The contrast couldn’t be clearer. As far as I know, it’s a matter of choice.  We can choose to do something about such things or we can keep marveling at how super-human the Toubab are. Easy fix really!
The danger in the lack of standards is just as bad when it comes to pharmacies and the supply and sale of medicine to the public. People like myself with very limited knowledge about medications or in some cases people without any formal education at all can sell some powerful medications to whoever has money to buy their product especially in remote areas of The Gambia. The Barrow administration needs to quickly set standards to ensure that ONLY qualified Pharmacists are licensed to operate drug stores in the country. A grace period of a certain number of years could be given if need be, but for public safety, this needs to be implemented for public safety.
Another area that requires stringent standards is in the Civil Engineering/Architecture area.  As a middle-aged Gambian who has spent most of his life in America, the tragedy of frequent building-in-progress collapse I read online in African papers almost weekly is something I find inexcusable. These building collapses are avoidable if: 1. The government ensures that ONLY qualified Civil Engineers and Architects are licensed to plan and build modern houses, and 2. They follow required specifications to the letter!  These are the reasons these needless tragedies don’t happen here in the US because the governments from local to State levels have set Engineering/Architecture standards and there are clearly defined sanctions for ALL violators.

The lack of Standards in other professions and areas of Gambian public life is self-evident. In law, currently, all anyone needs to do is show up with a diploma and transcripts from any college anywhere in the world, and besides some routine checks that are NOT fool-proof, one could get admission to the Gambian Bar within a matter of months. Unlike serious climes where every applicant is required to sit for and pass a rigorous exam regardless of which law school he or she graduates from, the Gambian Bar merely admits applicants based on the basic four-year law degree. It is imperative that the Gambia government require the Gambian Bar to adopt the same professional quality standards as obtain in civilized climes around the world.  This will help bring Gambian lawyers in line with international standards. Currently, despite all the noise and chest-pounding some make in Gambia, most Gambian lawyers are considered nothing more than Law Clerks outside Gambia because they lack an internationally recognized credential. This needs to be fixed. The most glaring deficiency of the standards issue is in the area of ethics. This is no accident. You see, the one feature ALL professional licensure exams -  be it Law, Medicine, Accounting, and so on, have in common is, they COMMIT the professional to uphold certain moral and ethical standards as a fiduciary responsibility to the public.   And they have two invaluable benefits to society: 1.  They separate the grain from the chaff -thus upping the ante in terms of the overall competence of the profession’s practitioners, and 2. They keep the professional honest by specifying the disciplinary action he or she will face in case of professional misconduct after passing the exam.
Any conscientious person who has observed the Gambian legal profession the past twenty-two years can’t help but indict the generality of its members for gross dereliction of responsibility to Gambian society. Except for a few lawyers, this is one group of professionals that kept quiet when tyranny reigned that shouldn’t have. We have seen what their colleagues in authoritarian climes like Pakistan do.  Worse, many Gambian lawyers took advantage of the Jammeh tyranny to prey on desperate Gambians by charging unconscionable fees for cases they KNOW they’ll lose! So, the victim’s family loses their money or land to the lawyer and their loved one goes to jail anyway. No surprise, most Gambians are too intimidated to complain. We need an International Standard Bar Exam that will exempt ONLY those that already have equivalent credentials from overseas and Gambian lawyers with experience over a certain number of years. Again, if we want to progress, let’s do what serious countries do.

In education, we should be looking eastward for models in Asia where the best school systems are in the developing world. Given that our public-school system has all but collapsed, and been supplanted by an anything-goes system that is purely profit driven, we need to copy the template used by the Malaysians, Chinese or Indian Public School Systems and implement it fully. It’s good for Jammeh to build school buildings in places where there were none, but it takes more than buildings to make a school. The teachers themselves need to be adequately paid and  trained. Lack of  books, stationery and  furniture which have all been problems in the past should be addressed.

Gambia: DING! DING! COCO RIKO!!

Posters, billboards, murals and paintings do NOT make or break good or bad leaders. Laws and/or and Institutions DO. Especially one in this case promoting Inauguration and not an individual. They're everywhere, even in established democracies. I'd be concerned about using state resources to sponsor or erect such things. No wastefulness.

IF our fear is that these would give birth to a Dictatorship or Bad leader, we must not understand and respect Democracy and how to safeguard it. That alone is a confirmation that we need time to mature into our democracy.

IF they tell you 'this was how Yaya became a dictator', tell them it's NOT true. We never had the chance to stand up to Yaya. Yaya Jammeh came and left the Gambia a Dictator. WE DID NOT MAKE HIM ONE. We didn't bring him. Was he aided? Sure. He came with GUNS and the first thing he did was SUSPEND the Constitution - an instrument that gives and guarantees our rights and freedoms. Remember all the many Decrees? He never even for once pretended to be a democrat.

The progressive Gambia and Gambians must NOT allow the trauma from the last two decades paralyze us. We BROUGHT in and MADE Adama PRESIDENT. He's not entitled to it. IF we feel he's not serving our purpose, we CAN and WILL take him out.

Let's swiftly occupy ourselves with instituting LAWS and BUILD INSTITUTIONS that will nurture and safeguard our Democracy.

Gambia: LET THE PURSUIT OF JUSTICE BE SWIFT

The scanty details of unofficial accounts of citizen murders by the State at the direct command of Jammeh and his gang of murderous, licensed ragtags started emerging, dashing hopes of families looking to see their loved ones and confirming to the nation what we had suspected for two decades. This scares me to death. That is why I am unable to gather myself to extend condolences to anybody. I share their pain, and I am willing to hang on to the smallest of hopes that their loved ones could miraculously come home.

AGAIN, this Administration would have a lot on their plate. We get it. But the one thing Gambians are NOT going to be patient with you on/about is the Pursuit of Deserved Justice. IT MUST NOT BE DELAYED OR SEEN TO BE.

The #Justice and #Interior Ministries must act in earnest and swiftly embark on the journey to hold to account people associated with or suspected of being complicit or have knowledge of ANY or ALL sorts of crimes - Economic but especially murder. The first in that assurance would be effecting arrests or at least questioning of suspected individuals or people of interest, or publicly announcing and naming the institution of a body STRICTLY for this.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission can wait, as we seek justice. I do not believe the Gambia is that divided that we have to prioritize Reconciliation. There was a 'known' handful of people that terrorized the country and they were not hiding. Because their actions were not representative of any tribe, religion, region or political parties but ONE man (Jammeh), makes the scope and definition of what we expect, reasonable and fear of division less concerning.

We would be serializing (if possible chronologically) known, public murder cases or suspicious cases that had been mainstream discussions over the years. This would not by any means be legal prosecution and condemnation by social media but a reminder of how urgent and necessary it is to set the ball rolling. And I am hoping President Adama Barrow and Interior Minister Mai Ahmad Fatty are listening.

The First 'known' victims of high class assasination by the AFPRC junta on November 11, 1994 are:

- LT Bassiru Barrow
- LT ABDOULAYE FAAL KNOWN AS DOT FAAL
- LT SEYE
- CADET SILLAH
- SLT BUBA JAMMEH
 - SO MANY OTHER RANK AND FILES
- SLT MOMODOU MANNEH
- SLT MOMODOU LAMIN DARBOE
- ONE WARRANT OFFICER

Let the pursuit of Justice Be Swift.

Pata PJ

First Published 2/3/2017

Gambia: WHY ARE YOUR YOUTHS CRYING?

If you consider yourself a youth, develop yourself and earned a position in that country. That era of Yaya Jammeh picking you up from nowhere to dump you in a Ministerial position cos he wants to give a semblance of youth representation is probably done with.

It is a fact everywhere, that ministers are mostly political appointees hired (not elected) to see and execute the visions of a president. That though, I believe has to be accompanied with maturity (not just age), experience and tenacity. Age and youthfulness isn't enough.

WE watched our aging Men/Women for 22 years fought a, political liberation in the most terrible climate. Now they're filling political appointments we started crying? I guess some of us may be too young to know how ascension to certain positions work during the First Republic and in any serious government. Youthfulness is Not Enough.

I'd encourage we put our foot on the neck of the President and his administration to create enabling environment and opportunities for us. Handing us employment isn't enough and not sustainable. Be encouraged and engaged in politics, social/community work, entrepreneurship etc, that do not have to be 100% reliant on the govt. I'm not saying the Govt can't employ capable youths but I'd be ashamed to cry and protest against an OJ getting an Agricultural Minister position instead of me cos he's old. He earned it. Did I?

Let's stop the crying and competing with old but experienced and deserving folks for appointments. Go earn yours!

Pata PJ

first published 2/2/2017

#GambiaHasDecided! ARE OUT OF THEIR MIND. HOW ABOUT #GambiaISDeciding?

Really? So we're having a Hash tag off of the decisions Gambians made ALREADY, turned into 'a Civil Society initiative promoting Democracy and Rule of Law'? Since when? Al buka malu!

It's a democracy, right? Freedom of speech, right? Move your toes cos we're marching. Here is mine:

You crusty, impatient, leechy gang of opportunistic few better go take several seats!! I'm going off the limb and charge that you've taken advantage of the political impasse that had a potential to go awry, by piggybacking on the already secured position of Gambians secured by 'active participants' who gave the fight their all, and stay in and thru the face of it!

#GambiaIsGoingToDecide
#GambiaIsDeciding
Why didn't we see these hash tags? We didn't cos those wanting to make sure Gambia Decided where busy risking their lives thru it. And even when the #GambiaHasDecided with greater degree of hostility and fluidity, amidst all LEGITIMATE threats, STAYED IN BANJUL. The Democracy and Rule of Law you're claiming to promote, was secured and defended before the damn hash tag! In the villages and trenches of the rural Gambia, in the streets and van tops of urban Gambia. We SAW those. We KNOW them! Fatoumatta Tambajang was there but we didn't see any of the founders of the new Civil Society Initiative anywhere. Not even Lawyer Taal once challenging any single unconstitutionality of anything. Today you are warning against cherrypicking?

It's freedom of speech, right? So, Your letter to President Barrow is wack, corny and foolish! Ridiculous too that it was written by a lawyer. First, you claimed that you have conflicting reports that the Vice President's ineligibility as one account puts her above 65. What is the other account that is conflicting? I'd assume you'd accord the Govt and Madam VP the presumption of innocence and good faith, if not the benefit of the doubt, that the alternative account that she's less than 65 is equally accurate before you jump to breach of Law. Especially when you're told that they'll provide proof! And until today, NOBODY showed any document bearing age of Mrs Tambajang.

But I'll let you bask in the newfound freedoms.

However, listening to the press conference of president Barrow, did he not say they have the document ascertaining that she's indeed within age bracket and they'll make that available? Oh let me guess... Cos Gambia Has Decided, #GambiaHasDecided also decided that they'll go on record to be the first 'pressure group' that writes to the President? Pssssh! Take several seats, my friends.

The president told Gambians that they'll provide the doc and I pray they do that at their own time. You bunch are becoming ridiculous. The real fight to get us here was tougher and lonely. That was when hash tags where valuable, not after a short pilgrimage to Dakar! Those that fought it DO NOT CARE. Matter fact, same way I'd advocated for someone to put a bullet to Yaya's head and supported the December 30 Attack that was unconstitutional and I did not care, from today, I DO NOT CARE if nobody respects or cares about an Unjust, discriminatory law! I pray president Barrow doesn't!

FOH!

Contrary to what you alleged, he didn't deflect the burden of proof to anyone. He said they are certain that they acted within the law and any who has anything contrary, could forward before adding that they have the proof to put out. 

Pata PJ

First Published 2/1/2017

Gambia: NIA? OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLE

RENAMING the National Intelligence Agency (NIA)  to any fancy name does not change the fact that it was/is/shall remain that most notorious legal entity synonymous to murder, disappearances, torture, rape and everything fucked up, but intelligence. Even worse retaining the same personnel including THE BOSS!

That institution should have been KILLED the night President Barrow gets sworn in, or at least made it look so, and totally vacate any location they're known to have been housed. This old wine in new bottle shit isn't going to work.

As if that is not enough, you all sat and thought State Intelligence Services (SIS) was the best available? Like none are aware of that criminal religious, terrorist group in the Middle East. Make that an Abbreviation/Acronyms, wear the batch and fly into the United States and see. You're dead at sight.

NIA JUST GOTTA GO, out of respect for the country and its many victims.

Pata PJ

First published 1/29/2017

Gambia: A GOVT OF GOODWILL; GOOD START

The mirage is that this is the change Gambians yearned and fought for. It's not going to be perfect or even great overnight, it's baby steps. Barrow is getting comfortable in his role. The pool of talent around him is admirable.

President Barrow's maiden press conference is refreshing and encouraging. I cannot remember President Jammeh ever subjecting himself to the press for question-answer sessions. Not to say Jammeh and his 22-year rule should be the yardstick, I'm acknowledging and appreciating the noticeable shift in paradigm.

This is a goodwill government led by citizens of infinite resolve and goodwill. I am NOT going to be DEFENDING Barrow and his Administration cos you do not need that in a government committed to democracy and progress. But I WILL be SUPPORTING the government by way of offering criticisms especially where I believe they 'misstepped' (intentionally or otherwise), and give them ample benefit of the doubt and positive reinforcement in what they set out to do.

It's a citizen's obligation to own and maintain watchful eyes. It's a safeguard against complicity. I'm worried about and interested in nurturing and safeguarding our budding democracy and newfound freedom than obsessed with fear of descending into another dictatorship. The trauma of the terrible defeated dictatorship will not paralyze and send me into a frenzy, to 'destroy' the pricey gains we've attained.

I choose to thrive on our prospect of progress and hope, instead of confined by the fear and experiences of our ugly past. The Gambia will positively move forward cos we want to, and have the capacity to. The stars are aligned.

Pata PJ

First Published 1/28/2017

MRS GAMBIA; IT'S ALL LOVE

As a mother in her third Matrimonial household, you'd understand this more than most. So please bear with your THREE sets of children.

Your FIRST set are all grown and experienced in Life and The World. They get and reasonably understand 'these things'. They're more patient, diligent and forgiving.

Your SECOND set are an impatient but understandably frustrated and cautious bunch. They endured hindrance in the worst form brutal dictatorship. That experience from an abusive,, drunken father shaped their being. They're cautious.

Your THIRD Set are 'Chaats'. Young, Energetic, Aggressive but Inexperienced. They're happy and grateful that you have just remarried but they grace it with mixed feelings. They love to see you happy and moving on, but want step-daddy to understand tale tell signs of hurting you would have them all up in arms.

Mrs Gambia, please do be patient. After all, all three sets are acting from a position of LOVE & CARE.

Pata PJ

First Published 1/27/2017

Gambia: CDS and AMBASSADOR KINTEH

For some of us, the fight to oust tyranny and dictatorship was primarily for freedom and justice. It wasn't like we did not care about Jammeh's corruption or fiscal rudeness, but personally, I'd left that to others.

The struggle to abort that brute and his barbaric, murderous system was prolonged by Gambians that pillared them. Politicians, Men of the clothe, Diplomats, Technocrats and Security forces DID that FOR Yaya and AGAINST Gambians.

Lt. GENERAL Masanneh Kinteh, you may be an immaculate Officer with a distinguished military career BUT Gambians see a lot of deficiency as CDS when that Institution was used as weapon of terror by a handful, instead of protecting them. You stand to be accused of being complicit.

BUT

AMBASSADOR Masanneh Kinteh. You served as the eye and nostril of the same oppressive system. You helped cleanse it's image and tell the world that it was the people's choice. That Yaya changed and bettered their lives. That the cries of the oppressed and repressed were not legitimate; they are soiling the glittering image of the all-my-tea Babili and 'all peaceful' mother Gambia. That's the shit that hurts us. That's the shit that had us in our predicament. That's the shit Gambians undo and are apprehensive in having you and your ilk around to contaminate. ALL Ambassadors and any in decision making positions, especially in places that helped entrenched him, You DISGUST US! Very little to do with your political affiliations.

And we're here to remind you, but especially President Barrow that our watchful eyes are on them and incorruptible memories hold indelible cache of trauma and pain. They cannot launder their images. We may NOT be able to stop you from 'serving' your country but we're forever here to tell you all that you bedded a murderous bastard in a bug infested bed.

Pata PJ

First Published 1/26/2017

Gambia: TOO SOON TO FORGET

IF the President's Vice President pick for whatever reason is unconstitutional, anybody but Barrow can take that blame. Especially that he does not operate in Isolation. There are enough legal minds in that room with uncompromising niche for legality for high school errors.

ANYBODY PICKED THE PHONE TO VERIFY/CONFIRM?

My issue is this: the group that got us here, are ALL responsible citizens who committed their lives and service to Democracy, Rule of Law and the Constitution. To the point that they gave almost everything for that. Including handling a Rebel who was bent on setting the country ablaze a few weeks ago. To think that that set of people will all say 'Fuck it! We're not respecting any laws any longer' is unfathomable.

But here is something that is crazier: ALL speculating about Madam Vice President's age HAVE one source: GOOGLE.

One thing that's been a cornerstone of Barrow on his team is their commitment to rule of law and respect of the constitution. AND transparency, especially with information. Halifa is always going to be here to accord you the chance to ask.

Long, tough years ahead BUT this is what we fought for - Ability to ask and express self, and get answers.

Pata PJ

First published 1/23/2017