(Issue, Monday, 19 September 2016)
The
Gambia Press Union (GPU) has taken its campaign for access to information and
freedom of expression a notch higher by engaging the National Assembly, for the
first time in the union’s history.
The
two-day seminar organised by the GPU was geared towards making the honourable
members embrace the fact that freedom of expression and access to information
enhance national growth and development.
Held
on 9 and 10 September 2016 at the National Assembly complex in Banjul, the
forum was part of efforts at raising the GPU’s voice in the advocacy for the
enjoyment of the constitutionally-guaranteed right to free expression and the
lobby for access to information law in the country.
Presently,
The Gambia is the only English-speaking West African country without a right to
information law of sorts. Sierra Leone,
Nigeria, and Liberia all have promulgated laws on the right to information,
while Ghana’s is said to be before the parliament.
Sang
Mendy, GPU-GAMES project manager, said the seminar was part of a project dubbed
‘building capacity for advocacy’. It is
a one-year project being implemented by the GPU with the financial support of
the government of Denmark, through a Danish partner organisation, Gambia Media
Support, GAMES.
The
project is divided into four components which, includes having workshops with
key players in governance such as the judiciary, the law enforcement agencies,
and the National Assembly. Already, the
workshops with the judiciary and law enforcement agencies were held.
“All
these workshops are to look at how freedom of expression and access to
information can enhance growth and development of a country,” Mr Mendy
said.
“All
of them are designed to raise the voice of the GPU in its advocacy of freedom
of expression and access to information, with a view to get the state organs
and Gambians understand and appreciate the importance of expressing yourself
and how it can help enhance growth.”
He
affirmed that having the workshop with the National Assembly is particularly
important.
“This
workshop is particularly important, because all laws pass through you at the
National Assembly; so it is important to remind ourselves again of the
importance of expressing oneself and how access to information is important in
nation-building,” the GPU-GAMES project manager said.
“The
workshop aims to create a mutual understanding and a platform for continued
dialogue on a principal matter of press freedom.”
Mendy
explained that there will be a national consultative workshop with the
judiciary, the law enforcement agencies, the National Assembly and the media
with a view to mapping out a strategy that will enhance growth through freedom
of expression.
“We
are confident that we did not make any mistake in designing this project, as
everyone deserves the right to express him/herself openly without being
intimidated or victimised,” he said.
It
is a gradual process
The
Gambia has fine constitutional provisions guaranteeing freedom of expression,
but the enjoyment of this right leaves a lot to be desired.
Hon.
Alagie Sillah, National Assembly member for Banjul North, said The Gambia being
a young democracy has its own teething problems, but “we want to move our freedom
of expression to a level where everyone will enjoy it as a fundamental human
right”.
“But
it has to be done gradually,” he emphasised.
Speaking
on behalf of the NAMs, Hon Sillah noted that the human being has been designed
by nature to express himself.
“Even
if you don’t express yourself verbally, everything you do is an expression as a
human being,” he said. “We also have to
appreciate that freedom of expression goes with good governance because without
freedom of expression it will be difficult to have good governance; they
complement each other.”
According
to the ruling party National Assembly member, there are so many institutions
put in place in The Gambia to ensure good governance and accountability.
These,
he said, include the National Audit Office, the Ombudsman, and the Public
Accounts and Public Enterprises committees of the National Assembly.
“These
are all institutions to ensure good governance and accountability,” Hon Sillah
affirmed.
Give
or they fabricate
Hon.
Sillah gave an anecdote saying he remembered being part of an institution where
they were oriented to give information to the press.
“At
that institution, they always tell us: ‘when you don’t give the press
information they will fabricate it, and when they do you will be held accountable
and your job will be more difficult, because you have to start running after
them to defend yourself’ ”, he said.
“So
access to information is a must. The
press must be given adequate information to transmit to the public.”
At
the end of the two-day seminar with the National Assembly members, it is
expected that the participants will have some relevant take-home message to
argue logically about the need for access to information and freedom of
expression, during parliamentary sessions.
For
the GPU, the seminar was the first and the beginning of a long-lasting
relationship with the National Assembly.
