By Dr Ousman Gajigo
Africa-Press – Gambia. My first installment in this series concerns police checkpoints in The Gambia. As everyone who travels around the country knows, these checkpoints are everywhere. What made this particular issue an entry in this series about seriousness is that in late 2024, President Adama Barrow made reference to it during his nation-wide tour, which was reported in several national newspapers.
The excessive number of military and police checkpoints is not a minor issue. I drive around the country frequently and have a good appreciation of the degree of the problem. Checkpoints are particularly burdensome in rural areas, where some unscrupulous officers take advantage of people’s limited knowledge of their rights. Their effect in urban areas is costly, and they cause frequent traffic jams. A lot of valuable time is lost because of them, leading to significant productivity losses. So, it is not surprising that the problem has reached such a degree that it reached the president’s level and he felt compelled to address it in a public speech.
Results
A serious leader of a serious government would not simply stop at making a public pronouncement. Nevertheless, a whole year has passed since the president’s speech, and there has been no improvement in the plight of motorists or drivers when it comes to these ubiquitous checkpoints. The behavior of officers has not changed. The number of checkpoints has not changed. The procedures followed by officers have not changed. The number of military checkpoints has not changed. In other words, the impact of the national address by the President of the Republic has been zero.
Seriousness deficit
Such an outcome would be intolerable for a serious government. It would be intolerable not because results did not magically materialise—this only occurs in a cartoonish dictatorship. It would be intolerable because of the embarrassment that would stem from the huge gap between words and results. Nothing is more anathema to a serious government than empty talk.
But the absence of results is not a problem for an unserious leader heading an unserious government. The fact that the president made a reference to this problem in a public address is considered an accomplishment by him and those around him. In other words, being seen to do something is more important than actually accomplishing results.
Proper attribution
The reason for the persistence of checkpoints is simple: there has been no security sector reform (SSR). Implementing a well-conceived SSR would have addressed the checkpoint problem and a host of other important security matters in this sector. Instead of implementing an SSR, the government simply wrapped itself in processes and public shows that were punctuated by a few consultation exercises and security sector policy unveiling. Again, this shows the prioritisation of shows and pageantry over substance and results.
It is important to point out where the ultimate responsibility for checkpoints lies. I would not blame the individual police officers setting them up. In some ways, they are also victims of a faulty and unserious government. The reality is that these checkpoints are not solving any security problems, and many officers would admit that to you. The checkpoints primarily serve as income supplementation for underpaid police officers manning them. They are false markers of security that accomplish little beyond making lives harder for citizens.
Seriousness
It is not difficult to imagine how a serious government could tackle this problem. The police operate under the Ministry of Interior, and the Minister is part of the cabinet headed by the president. The Inspector General of the Police (IGP) reports to the Minister of Interior. The IGP oversees the various police departments and divisions. In other words, the chain of responsibility to address the checkpoint issue is as obvious as the feasibility of its solution.
A serious president would indicate to the Minister of Interior the severity of the problem and the need to address it. The president would specifically demand time-bound results through a combination of actions and the institution of a system to deliver results. Without needing to say it explicitly, the minister would know that he would be held accountable if he failed to deliver. Success would be determined not by officials making a show of taking actions but by results on the ground that matter to people.
A serious president would have ensured that—either prior to his public proclamation or shortly thereafter—actions had been put into motion to really address the issue. Without any prodding, the president should have returned to the Gambian people after a reasonable time period to update us on what has been achieved in addressing the problem. But this has not and will not happen because of the lack of seriousness.
Operation Clear Roads
The second installment of this series concerns “Operation Clear Roads.” In early 2024, the government announced that it would remove unauthorised street sellers from roads and pavements. This operation covered key shopping areas in almost all urban centers. We witnessed thousands of street sellers being removed by security officers and structures being demolished.
Anyone who travels our streets knows that they truly lack order. We have a real problem of disarray on the roads that impedes traffic for both motorists and pedestrians. So, the existence of unauthorized structures on roads and pavements is a genuine problem that should be addressed by the government.
However, this issue made it into the lack of seriousness series for a reason. A real problem in need of a solution has been aggravated by the lack of seriousness from an incompetent government.
Understanding the cause
A serious government would have demonstrated an understanding of the underlying reasons why so many people were engaging in something that has almost become normalised. After all, the erection of unauthorised structures on sidewalks has been ongoing for quite some time. The severity of the problem increased recently due to growing urbanisation rates in the country. At its core is the severe limitation of public spaces where hawkers can sell their goods in formal structures. This is particularly the case for women selling vegetables, some of whom actually set their produce directly on the ground.
A cursory look at any marketplace in urban Gambia reveals a scene with utter lack of planning, which is another major underlying cause. Many of the structures in the affected urban areas are single-level buildings, including those built by municipalities or local area councils. More efficient use of space would have involved building higher structures, which would address the space constraints of dense urban settlements.
What seriousness would have entailed
In almost all cases, solving a problem requires understanding its cause. A serious government would have approached the street encroachment problem with a clear understanding of its origins. After all, it is not the preference of most sellers to conduct business in informal structures. By understanding the causes and appreciating that this is not a matter of preference for sellers, feasible solutions present themselves.
Our urban markets have space for well-planned infrastructure projects that could provide modern facilities for street hawkers. Such a project would actually be self-financing, since the rents paid by market sellers would be sufficient to service any debts incurred in constructing shopping centers. These could be public sector or private sector projects, but the government would need to play a key role in either scenario. However, this cannot happen without proper planning and laser-like focus on actual results. It goes without saying that this also requires the central government to consult and work with municipalities, city councils, and local governments. What would also be critically important is diligent and consistent enforcement of rules and regulations.
An unserious government in action
What did the unserious Adama Barrow government do in this case? It simply announced “Operation Clear Roads” with little notice. In this approach, there was no apparent acknowledgment of the underlying causes. There was no acknowledgment of the reality that sellers use unauthorised spaces not as a matter of preference but as a last resort. There was no appreciation of the fact that these are fellow citizens struggling to make a living. There was no acknowledgment that, despite not occupying permanent structures, most sellers were assessed local area council dues.
The manner in which sellers were removed showed that the operation was not well thought through. The problem was simply treated as an enforcement issue that could be resolved through massive use of force, including the deployment of armed soldiers. What was the result?
Predictably, the sellers returned to their old unauthorised structures on the streets after a few weeks. Even though there was a resumption of “Operation Clear Road” earlier this year, it made no long-term difference. There was apparently no reflection on why the first phase failed. The streets in all urban areas are now back to the state they were in before this ill-fated operation. We will have the same outcomes regardless of how many phases of Operation Clear Roads are implemented. An unserious government is only interested in putting on a show.
What has the government actually achieved through Operation Clear Road? It simply made life harder for individuals who already live difficult lives. It also made it harder for a future government to clear the roads. This is because, as a result of this government’s failure, a future government would face inevitable skepticism if it attempts to address the problem. Some might even settle on the belief that it is impossible to have orderly streets in The Gambia.
Having orderly streets is important and necessary in urban Gambia. But seriousness is an important determinant of achieving that result.
Source: The Standard Newspaper | Gambia
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