APRC: A model of a democratic institution

The idea about democracy revolves around letting the decisions that seek to drive a nation to its vision be truly those of the people (people’s power). It seeks to let the people truly dictate the course of their own destiny. In exact terms, the idea is to let them make the decisions, themselves.

For a country like The Gambia, under the stewardship of so popular and influential a political party, the Alliance for Patriotic, Re-orientation and Construction (APRC), it is fitting that its members are made to identify themselves with the ideals of the nation. This is exactly what the recently convened national conference of the APRC party sought to achieve, alongside other inherent issues.

The birth of the APRC, back in July 1996, heralded a new dawn in the history of this country. Last week’s national conference, coming at the climax of preparations for the commemoration of that revolution itself, is described by many as the most important of its kind in the history of The Gambia.

The theme of the discourse: ‘institutional strengthening of the APRC in the context of national development,’ clearly explains an entrenched effort to not only enlighten the party’s faithful, but also to arm them with what it takes to accomplish its mission and vision, vis-à-vis the aspirations of The Gambia. It demonstrates that the party’s leadership is true to its promise of giving ownership of authority to the people.

The conference was unique in that it portrayed the party in a light never seen in the history of this country. The smooth atmosphere in which it was convened, with the high level of interaction among delegates (disregarding public influence), strongly marked the high degree of discipline that prevails within the fraternity, with a credit that must be reserved for the leadership.

This quality of discipline, as a matter of fact, is what the conference also seeks to maintain. To this end, Mr Manlafi

Jarju, the APRC’s general secretary, highlighted three most significant points: unity; respect for authority; and, most

importantly, loyalty to the ideals of the party’s constitution. Without an embedment of these in the hearts of the party’s

membership, he argued, there is no way that they can be assured of success.

It will be wrong to say that the APRC has no worries. But it is quite clear that its worry has absolutely nothing to do with its political opponents (by all indications not for the next decades to come), but what Honorable Sulaman Joof, the National

Assembly member for Serekunda East, described as “intra-party feud.”

All the other speakers at the occasion seemed to agree with him, and their advice was reserved for the youth. Mr Majanko

Samusa, who spoke at the conference on behalf of what is the biggest constituency of the party, which also form the bulk of

the voting block in the country’s political terrain, was frank with his colleagues. “We the youth do not know what we are missing. We are privileged to have gotten a leader that is, himself, a youth. And all his development effort has been directed to us.’

Like all the speakers on the occasion, Mr Samusa chose a single issue to highlight the massive difference APRC has made for Gambians. Education, to him, is one of the areas where successes have been registered by government. He drew comparison to his childhood days when they had to trek 10s of kilometers to the nearest school available for the lucky few then. “You had to have attained at least 10 years for you to be considered for enrolment,” he said. Unity, he stressed, is vital if we are to make a maximum benefit out of these successes we are currently registering.

The most loyal constituency of the APRC has always been the women of the Gambia. President Jammeh himself has never lost sight of that, and they, the women folk, are even more ready to maintain that spirit of loyalty for as long as it would take his government, with him at the head, to remain at the helm of affairs of the nation. When the lady deputy national mobilizer of the party took to the podium, one could sense the display of enthusiasm in the hall.

They reechoed every bit of word she uttered; they swore that their loyalty was to the president as it was to the party and the nation. Aji Fatou Sallah reminded her colleagues of the plane tickets to Mecca and Jerusalem, and the numerous scholarships “for our children”; something she said was unprecedented in the history of the country.

“Everybody who has seen yesterday,” she went on, “regardless of our age or affiliation, can tell the difference today, and certainly this is even more pronounced among us the women.” For SoS Yankuba Touray, the vocal national mobilizer of the party, there was no need for doubting the women of their support.

“They do not just stop at saying it, but they also demonstrate it in their action.” And for the Gambian vice president, APRC is intact, and there is absolutely no cause for concern. But she equally feels that the level of stability the party

currently enjoys ought to be strengthened.

“We can only achieve our goals through patriotism,” she cautioned. The theme of this year’s July 22nd celebration:

‘Independence and National Pride’ was a good reference point for Dr Njie-Saidy. She would not conclude her statement without mentioning the R- word: respect for the three key pillars of the party – opinion leaders; the rich and the educated.

The discussions proper, during the second day of the session, demonstrated the true democratic nature of the APRC. As one delegate put it, “it was a get-together that accorded the common member of the party a rare opportunity to have a say in the

way the party is run. This is what set us apart from other political parties” This delegate swore that whatever ‘result from the 2-day conference will be the true reflection of the people we are representing.’

As at this moment though, APRC stands out as a model of a democratic institution not only within this country, but in the rest of the democratic community.