Posted by 
Alagi Yorro Jallow.
Mamudu: As we all know, correcting injustice is a prerequisite for peace and unity as part of the process of healing and reconciliation. Therefore, the Government should recognize Democracy Day and invest heroes and martyrs with National Honors. The purpose is to partially atone for the previous damage done to Gambian people’s freedom and threats to their civil liberties and civil rights. However, unfortunately, in today’s democracy, we are enjoying pro-democracy activists paid for it with their lives, and only a section of the nation has honored and celebrated them.
The Gambia Democracy heroes and martyrs deserve recognition. Until we bring closure to the horrors of dictatorship, we will be hanging over subsequent generations and subsequent governments. The martyrs for resistance and struggle for democracy their families deserve to give them a posthumous honor for the price they paid; otherwise, everyone standing on the red carpet in the Gambia is standing on his blood.
Mamudu: It is now crystal clear that the 2016 Coalition leadership took their eyes off the ball. After achieving an unprecedented electoral victory of ending more than two decades of autocratic rule, the leadership failed to appreciate that managing success is even more taxing than winning an election in our State of euphoria. We vacillated when we ought to have acted with promptness. Some of us have sought to falsely consign the verdict of the December 1, 2016, historic day to irrelevance. We have lived in denial for so long. December 1 Presidential Elections challenge Gambians to guard our emergent democracy. As we remember December 1, we were challenged to safeguard our hard-won democratic freedom and prevent any hijack or abuse of the very principles of constitutional democracy.
Mamudu: December 1 stands as the authentic Democracy Day, sanctioned by the blood of martyrs who laid down their lives for this democracy. We know that even as enemies of democracy try to thwart the idea, the sacrifice of Gambians who took to the streets should never be forgotten. The onus is on the Government to immortalize the true heroes of the Gambia’s democracy. December 1 must be a National Day and be declared a National Holiday. The State should further champion deepening this nascent democracy by ensuring that living and dead heroes of December 1 struggle to ensure that they are not forgotten.
Mamudu: The people of the Gambia should honor and remember the heroes and heroines of the country’s democracy and commemorate the death of the late pro-democracy activists. Since December 1 stands as one of the most significant dates in the Gambia’s political history and a day not to be forgotten. One of the best national recognition the struggle deserves.
Nation-building requires the sacrifice of all citizens: all and sundry must therefore imbibe the moral rectitude to embrace the past. We must, therefore, recognize the heroes and heroines of Gambia’s democracy. December 1, events in Gambia’s history symbolize strong democratic principles and experience. Accordingly, President Adama Barrow and his Government must place records in the proper perspective by recognizing and declaring December 1 as a Democracy Day. Furthermore, Adama Barrow should remember its key figures that entrench the Gambia’s democratic experience for the past two years in furthering the cause of democracy and good governance.
Mamudu: Several Gambians were at the forefront and an active participants in the politics of the dictatorship era. We shared fellow Gambians’ fears, pains, and anxieties about the horrors of dictatorship; our efforts at building an enduring democracy have not always been smooth. President Adama Barrow and his Government has to halt the deceit, and repair the damage by taking the symbolic step of recognizing the sacrifices of pro-democracy activists and many other heroes and heroines of democracy-the artisans, human rights organization, students, traders, journalists, academics, various professionals, organized religion and the labor movement through conferment of the National Award with full honors, an honor first to men and women, young and old who paid the supreme price to pave the way for Gambia’s democracy, and then to the heroes and heroines who stood up against dictatorship, including those in the Fourth Estate of the realm who marshaled the written and spoken words against tyranny and the proclamation of December 1 as Democracy Day.
Mamudu: The Gambia government should also give the posthumous award to the families of all fallen heroes and heroines of the Gambia’s highest honor. This action is not to open old wounds but to highlight the nation. We cannot right the past, but we can at least assuage our feelings and will no longer tolerate such perversion of justice, corruption, and human rights violations. On December 1, Gambians decided to end dictatorship and chose national unity rather than ethnic eyes. We redefined the Gambia through the ballot box. It is possible to revive the spirit of December 1 provided we could imbibe democratic principles.
Mamudu: No Gambian can doubt the United Gambians of all tribes, social media activists, Facebook warriors, and all for the tremendous interest of The Gambia and our great people. Do not underestimate our prowess to change the bad Government of the Gambia, determination, and pledge for a better Gambia. We were great men and women, great enough to give frame to change towards a better future for all Gambians, currently in our history. We are the guidance of our nation and people.
Mamudu: We were there when an educated and wealthy class despised the Gambia and our people because we have robbed the Gambia of her treasures, or, at least, have got rich off the fruits of our people’s labor. We believe that if poor Gambians get freedom from corruption, our fountain will be dried up, and they will be obligated to seek business in a new channel with failure.
You do not remove a ruthless dictator by only carrying placards. You do not do that at the Elysee Palace, and they will listen to you. You do that at Buckingham Palace, and they will listen to you. You do that at the White House, and they will listen to you as the arrowhead of the struggle against a brutal dictator.
Mamudu: Lastly, the government and civil society organizations should propose a Hall-of-Shame for past Gambian leaders and enablers of dictatorship who were infamous for their brutality to sound as a warning note to would-be bad leaders.