Can one imagine what would have happened to The Gambia by now if all the attempts at military takeover succeeded? By now The Gambia would have been a country of mass graves. Democracy did what military might could not. It is that democracy we should nurture.
Who was on the side of coups and counter coups of the abdication of state responsibility is of very little significance now to a country which has placed power in the hands of the people after 52 years of self-perpetuating rule. The Gambian people are living in a country that they had capacity to change through the ballot box for the first time since 18th February 1965.
On the 2nd December 2016 all Gambians on either side of the political divide accepted that the will of the Gambian people is inviolable. On 19th January 2017, all embraced the peaceful transfer of power. This has happened.
What Gambians should do now is to nurture that peace and democracy not by breathing life to the power struggle of the past but rather to bury them and keep alive only the lessons that will not lead to the alienation or humiliation of anyone. The only relevant matter to pursue is to expose any harm done to an individual with a view to accepting wrong doing, apologising for it, healing the victim and allowing everyone to have new start. This is the way forward.
There were serious human rights violation under the Jawara regime and under the Jammeh regime. Since death has occurred under the current regime what we can say is that it should be contained so that protection of human rights would be a priority and violation would be contained.
If this wise counsel is listened to we will move towards the future assured that we have matured and could move on towards our better selves and a more fruitful destiny of liberty, dignity and prosperity.
