Editorial
We cannot allow laws undermine our politics and electoral process
By Mathew K Jallow, Associate Editor
A line in a stanza of Book 9 of Homer’s “The Iliad”; reads: Injustice, swift, erect, and unconfined, sweeps the wide earth, and tramples o’er mankind. The Iliad, an epic story written by Homer and set in ancient Greece nearly three thousand years ago, is chronologically old, yet it is as relevant to our time as it was in Homer’s day. If there is one thing that truly represents injustice and violation of human rights, Femi Peters case is the perfect example. In any way one looks at it, Jammeh's regime was set on a fishing expedition to muzzle UDP’s strongest and most outspoken voices.
UDP's Femi Peters
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Denying Femi Peters his liberty and subjecting him to a year’s prison and a fine, over the use of a bullhorn, is a ridiculous violation of his inalienable rights. The use of incarceration as a means of punishing violations against society ought to be rare and must be reserved primarily for those whose behavior poses a danger to society. In the exercise of his rights and liberties, as guaranteed by two sources of authority; the divine and our Constitution, Femi Peters was within his rights to use a bullhorn at a political meeting he participated in and his use of the instrument did not hazard society. Any legislation that is designed to limit freedom of expression and override our divine rights and Constitutional guarantees, cannot be legal and, therefore, unenforceable. That is what the piece of law that required UDP to obtain a permit to use a bullhorn is, and Mr. Peters was right in his refusal to trample on his own rights. If the law stands, the regime may promulgate more news laws, which can be used to undermine our Constitution and continue to erode our civil liberties and rights. The law relating to the use of bullhorns at political rallies is also a free speech and a freedom of information issue, and since amplification instruments are used to broadcast information to a wider audience, prohibiting its utilization could disable Mr. Peters from broadcasting his political message to more people, and could also deny his audiences the right to hear his message. Agreeably, the use of bullhorns can be a public nuisance, but it is not for Yahya Jammeh or his regime to determine that for the people, and criminalizing it makes no sense, rather it will put more of our liberties and freedoms in jeopardy. The opposition UDP firebrand was, therefore, right in defying any law designed to hamper the free exercise of their rights. However, there is another important dimension to the Femi Peters saga; how the opposition is treated unfairly and denied even the most basic resource available to it. Around the time the Femi Peters case started, the military party of Yahya Jammeh, the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) had a delegation led by Kanifing Municipal Council Mayor, Yankuba Colly, and using state and Kanifing Municipal resources; manpower, vehicles, gasoline and funds, to tour the entire country for three weeks propagandizing for Yahya Jammeh and his regime and probably used some form of voice amplification devices for which it is doubtful they obtained permission from any authority. We cannot allow two different laws to undermine the health of our politics and our electoral process; one for the opposition and another for the military regime's party, and if the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) means anything at all, other than being Yahya Jammeh’s puppets, they could intervene and put a stop to his electoral disparity. But, of course, we know that is never going to happen, because like EVERY state institution in the country, their authority is limited to whatever Jammeh permits, and any deviation from that norm, could mean an automatic loss of their jobs and livelihood, and possibly even a stint at what Yahya Jammeh has proudly called a HOTEL; Mile Two Prison, where Gambians continue to die of severe malnutrition, lack of medical care and many other ailments and diseases. Unfortunately, for our country, the only institution that is really busy working nowadays is the judiciary, as everyday, scores of individuals face a justice system that is corrupt to the core, judges who have no understanding of the law and many unscrupulous lawyers who are taking advantage of a sad situation to milk poor, innocent victims; who, more often than not, are being used as pawns to intimidate and dispirit Gambians into complying with the dictates of Yahya Jammeh and his corrupt regime. Mr. Femi Peters is a victim of this design and was swept away by Jammeh's ambition to totally emasculate Gambians; and in so doing, he has become a victim of Jammeh’s hunger for power and the poster-boy for the defense of our inalienable rights. A famous John Milton quote reminds us: Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties. Femi Peters, the man in the middle, is a daily reminder that Gambians must come to our senses; hopefully, our malcontent and disillusionment may morph into an open rebellion against Yahya Jammeh's deadly regime. Niger did it. Guinea-Bissau did it. Guinea did it. So what are we waiting for?
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