The
recognition of The Gambia’s first president, Dawda Kairaba Jawara, as part of
great African leaders by the African Union at its 29th summit of heads of state
was thoroughly deserved, justified and commendable. But it was a little too late.
It
has taken the AU 22 solid years after Jawara left power to fully grasp the fact
that the man had indeed contributed tremendously to the ideals and values that
underpins the formation of the Organisation of African Union, the forerunner of
African Union.
Admittedly,
the contribution of Jawara at home and at continental level may not have been
publicly known as other great African leaders like Nkwame Nkurumah of Ghana,
Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, and Leopold Sedar Senghore of Senegal for several
possible reasons but his contributions were no mean.
Jawara
made The Gambia to know what democracy is all about. He took the country from colonialism and
introduced and entrenched democracy and good governance principles.
The
fact he entrenched democracy in the small like The Gambia at a time when most
African leaders were autocratic and tyrannical on their own people was no mean
feat that deserves recognition.
His
respect for human rights, which AU also stands for, made it possible for The
Gambia to be chosen as the headquarters of the African Commission on Human and
People’s Rights. Jawara had made
particular efforts to promote the observance of human rights by entrenching
human rights provisions in the first republic constitution of The Gambia, the
1970 constitution.
He
created a national human rights institution that in 1989 became the continental
civil society flagship, the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights
Studies.
On
the area of peace, due to his love for a peaceful Africa, President Jawara
played a particular role, during his chairmanship of the West African bloc,
ECOWAS, to constitute and deploy ECOMOG to Liberia which eventually led to the
restoration of peace and stability in that country in 1990.
The
establishment and deployment of ECOMOG represented the first credible attempt
at a regional security initiative since the erstwhile OAU attempted with an
African continental force to intervene in Chad in 1981.
Recognised
at last, but even if not, Jawara has left an indelible footprint not only on
The Gambia or West Africa, but on the African continent as well.
To
the AU, we say it is better laid than never and to and the beauty is that the
recognition is not a posthumous one for the man is still alive and kicking
after more than 90 years.
“Let’s
learn to recognise and celebrate our heroes while they are alive than heap them
undue praises when they are gone for good.”
The
Point