The Government of The Gambia on Friday issued a statement on what it said is its position on major issues around the world.
The statement, read over GRTS by Dr Njogu Bah, Secretary-General and Head of the Civil Service, highlighted among others, the Gambia Government's position on major issues ranging from the current political situation in Ivory Coast, Guinea Conakry to the much-talked about and widely publicised Wikileaks website.
Also dealt with in the statement is the situation in war-torn Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, and the North and South Korea.
For the benefit of the general public, we reproduce the statement verbatim:
On Ivory Coast
"Our position on Cote d'Ivoire is that a peaceful solution that would be beneficial to all the people of Ivory Coast should be found. The two camps must put the interest of Ivorians above their individual and party interest; all political leaders must work for the interest of Ivory Coast and not the selfish interest of individuals and their foreign backers that are only interested in mayhem in Cote d'Ivoire so that they (the foreign powers) can exploit the natural resources of Ivory Coast at the expense of the citizens of that country.
The people of Ivory Coast must also understand that resulting to war to resolve the crisis would be a very legal mistake as no one would emerge the winner. The winners of course would be foreign powers bent on selling arms to see Africans slaughter each other; it will be Ivorians killing Ivorians. This would be a huge mistake as this would return Ivory Coast back to the stone-age. Ivorians should learn lessons from their past civil war as well as from their neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Gambia stands ready to support any action or steps being taken to find a peaceful solution to the crisis but would also hold both leaders Laurent Gbagbo and Alassan Ouattara and their supporters responsible for any negative consequences of the current crisis. It is high time that foreign powers respect the independence and sovereignty of African countries and stop interfering in their internal electoral processes. After all, former colonial masters cannot and should not be lecturers of democracy in Africa as they have never allowed Africans to vote during the colonial period to select who they wanted to lead them. That they are only interested in the natural resources of African countries is an open secret. If not, why are they so hostile to African migrants into the West? But it is also the responsibility of all Africans to open their eyes to these realities and defend their dignity, sovereignty and resources. This can only be done by working together as Africans; only we the Africans can lift the continents out of abject poverty, humiliation of our people and stop the wanting looting of our resources by these foreign powers to regain our lost glory.
On Sudan
On the issue of Sudan, our position is that the Government of Sudan should ensure free and fair elections which would allow the people of Southern Sudan to decide on their own destiny. Only free and fair elections can put an end to the war in Darfur and the entire South which has claimed thousands of lives, wanting destruction, entrench poverty and permanent displacement for the people of the South. It is also the responsibility of the people of the South collectively and individually to vote in order to put an end to their suffering and humiliation. The different fractions in Southern Sudan should understand that this is a golden opportunity to put an end to the carnage and suffering of the people whose interest they have been fighting to protect.
Therefore, all the fractions in Southern Sudan should disregard their personal partisan interest and unite with all the people of the South so that collectively they can choose whether they want to be independent or be a part of Sudan. This referendum is the only chance they have for a lasting solution to their suffering. For the Government of Sudan and the leaders of the various groups in Southern Sudan would be held into account for what happens during and after the referendum. The Government of The Gambia firmly supports the referendum as the only way to settle this long-standing disastrous dispute peacefully.
On the two Koreas
On the two Koreas, North and South Korea, we are neutral and we want a peaceful solution to the crisis. War would be a very catastrophic solution to this unfortunate situation as Koreans would be slaughtering Koreans. South Korea, a very highly developed modern country stands to loose as war would orchestrate destruction of their ultra-modern industrial complexes and revise their enviable socio-economic development. This would be very unfortunate for South Korea, in fact it will be a great setback to all the Korean people.
The government and leadership of North Korea should behave like members of the modern world in the 21st century, where human life is held sacred. Their unacceptable hostility towards the South is very shameful; we condemn their recent rash and provocative behaviour towards their Southern brothers and sisters as irresponsible as well as it is criminal. In the same vain, we urge the leadership in the South not to fall into this dangerous path to war. Both sides will loose if they opt to go to war. The only winners would be foreign powers that would be selling arms to both sides. The Korean people both North and South should say no to war. North and Southern Korean leaderships would be held responsible for any outcome of the current crisis.
On Guinea Conakry
On Guinea Conakry, the position of The Gambia Government has always been finding a peaceful solution to the recent crisis and this has been achieved through the recently concluded elections in which President-elect Alpha Conde has emerged the winner. But this is not the end of the story but the beginning as Guinea has been tainted by tribalism during the campaign. All Guineans should understand that their greatness, prosperity and well-being would only be determined by one factor: they working together as one country in diversity rather than working on tribal and regional lines.
At any given moment, Guinea must have one president who will always come from the Guinean people and then come from one ethnic group or the other, whether people like it or not. It is therefore the responsibility of the entire people of Guinea to vote based on their socio-economic aspirations rather than narrow and counter -productive tribal interest. We therefore urge all Guineans to forget and forgive their past bitter tribal differences and rally behind the elected government. It is only by uniting behind the elected government and working together as Guineans that Guinea Conakry would realize her huge economic potential and become a prosperous and highly developed country that would not only benefit the entire Guinean citizenry but the African continent and beyond. We here by salute the courage shown by Cellou Dalien Diallo by accepting the outcome of the elections, thereby averting another dangerous crisis that could have a potential to set the entire ECOWAS region on fire.
We urge all the political leaders in Guinea to work with president elect Alpha Conde in his very daunting challenge to develop Guinea and lift the long suffering Guinean people out of their present deplorable state. The people of Guinea have suffered for so long and now it is a golden opportunity to turn things around in a positive way. President elect Alpha Conde and his government cannot do so alone without the full participation of all the Guineans. The new Government and the entire people of Guinea Conakry should be wary of those hungry vultures that are pretending to be friends of Guinea but are only interested in plundering her vast mineral and natural resources to the detriment of the Guinean people in particular and African people in general .
Those so-called outside friends are nothing other than locust that would ravage Guinea’s vast resources.
On Somalia
On Somalia, our position has remained the same; that is the peaceful resolution of the conflict by the Somali people themselves with the support of the African Union. The current situation in Somalia is a clear manifestation of the tragic failure of the then OAU and now the African Union to leave up to its mandate and responsibility to the African people. This can only be attributed to the incessant interference by powers outside of the African continent and the lack of political will and sound leadership on the side of the then OUA and now the AU.
Unless African leaders take the total liberation and eventual unification of the African continent seriously and work together, there will be no solution to crisis in Somalia. It is very unfortunate that Somalia and her people are divided with such devastating consequences. The AU must decide what to do with Somalia; abandon it or bring it back to the African fold and take concrete steps towards implementing that decision as a responsible and credible organization that should be here to protect African dignity, independence and prosperity.
The people of Somalia must abandon their warlords and reconcile for the greater interest of Somalia and Africa. It is only when the people of Somalia see themselves as Somalis and Africans and nothing else that they would realize what damage they are causing to themselves, their country and their continent. We strongly believed that the AU together with the entire people of Somalia can rid of the warlords who are only serving their selfish interest and the interest of the outside powers that back them much to the detriment of ordinary Somalis in particular and African unity in general.
On DRC
On the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC, the DRC is a victim of the locust and vultures that have plagued that mineral rich African country for centuries. The DRC’s wealth; that is minerals and others alone can develop the entire African continent if it has not being taken hostage by locust and I mean outside powers that are only interested in the continuing plundering of our natural resources much to the detriment of the Congolese people in particular and the African continent in general.
All the foreign powers involved in the DRC are only interested in robbing the Congolese and African people of their vast natural resources. The entire Congolese people who are bearing the negative and catastrophic consequences of this plundering assisted by Pan-Africanist leaders, should rid their country of these locust and regain control of their resources and destiny. Only then would the people of DRC benefit from Allah’s generous gift to them and lift themselves out of poverty.
For them to succeed, they must bury the hatchet, reconcile and unite with the interest of the entire people of the DRC being the supreme goal. It is high time that African masses stop supporting foreign sponsored puppets, who mean only one thing; guaranteeing the continues plunder of African resources by the rich north through anti-Africa African leaders. These dangerous Africans back by financial resources from Western powers not only sweet talk African masses during political campaigns but also pray on the poverty and ignorance of most African electorates. It is not strange that some African countries still have presidents that are full citizens of some Western countries.
This is an indisputable fact and that is why, despite their promise to develop the country if elected president end up taking the country deeper into abject poverty. If voted out, them and their families leave the African continent with their loot and go and live in their country of citizenship. The youth of Africa who bear the consequence of poverty, under development and corrupt leadership, must stand up and work with genuine Pan-Africanist leaders who have the interest of their countries and people in particular and that of the African continent in general to rid Africa of this permanent locust invasion and occupation of Africa.
On Wikileaks
On Wikileaks, this has proven our believe and conviction that the West are only interested in the protection of freedom of the press and expression only where it concerns their criminal agents bent on causing instability in Africa and the third World but disguise as journalist and human rights campaigners and not a genuine protection of the freedom of the press worldwide.
Is it not shameful that Julian Assange is jailed without bail for only letting the world know what Western powers are not only doing but also saying about other countries? Remember that he did not make up or write those documents but exposing them. Imagine the nasty things their agents in Africa and the third world, so-called journalists write about leaders and countries with the sole objective of destabilizing them.
If the super-powers and develop nations are so afraid of a free press to the extent that Julian Assange can be held up in jail almost incommunicado and without bail, what about less powerful developing countries that have to content with instability and abject poverty.
Wikileaks saga is a lesson from God to all the people of the developing third world particularly in Africa that the West are nothing other than hypocrites in their so-called lectures on their declared values and democratic principles. Their intolerance to the freedom of religious expression especially Islamic and the imprisonment of Julian Assange has exposed the true nature of the West. With regards to democracy, they apply them only where it suites their interest. Only a very few Western countries are on high moral ground to preach democracy in Africa, very few and Greece is No1 as they have not colonize any African country and is the origin of democracy. Former colonial masters and slave traders in African slaves should shut-up and leave Africa alone. It is shameful that these un-democratic parasitic powers, who are the sponsors of corruption, violence and under development in Africa and the third world to the detriment of Africans and to the huge benefit of the citizens of the West, continue to accuse Africans and third world leaders that have refused to be their stooges as corrupt and dictatorial. They can fool people but they cannot the Almighty Allah.
The Government and people of The Gambia would always work with honest, sincere and peace loving people in Africa in particular and the rest of the world in general to ensure peace, love, mutual respect and prosperity for humanity.
In the same vain, we will not shy from our responsibilities to stand-up for the truth whatever it takes. We wish all of humanity a very peaceful end of the year and everlasting peace and love in prosperity and dignity in the years ahead.
We thank you for your kind attention."
