300 SECONDS with Marr Nyang
In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court of the Gambia ruled against the government. We spoke with Marr Nyang, founder of Gambia Participates, the organisation behind this monumental victory.
Early this May, in an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court of the Gambia ruled against the government, in favour of the people. We spoke with Marr Nyang, founder of Gambia Participates, the civil society organisation behind this monumental victory, which also uses data to fight for transparency in the Gambia.
YOU USED TO WORK IN A LAW FIRM, WHAT MOTIVATED YOUR TRANSITION TO CIVIL SOCIETY ADVOCACY?
I worked with a legal firm for 2 years as a legal researcher. In 2016, the Gambia had been under state capture for more than two decades with one person ruling. Revenue generating institutions were personalised by the regime. I wanted to be more productive and do something that would lead to a change and this was not going to be possible from where I was working. It however, built me and gave me the kick to get up and do something. So when I left, I started a movement which I called #Gambiaparticipates to raise the awareness of voters.
The then President said something very profound. He said that he would know everyone who votes for him. If you didn’t vote for him and your family member works in government, he would have them fired. It was brainwashing and misinformation to entice voters. People were scared. So I went out to marketplaces and saying “look, we have a very transparent and secret way of voting that when you cast your vote, no one will know who you voted for.”
We had the elections in 2016 and since then we have had our transitional government set to last for 5 years. My work is to make sure that we don’t go back to where we were, that corruption is actually minimised and those that are responsible for corrupt acts are penalised. I am also advocating for the enactment of anti-corruption laws.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT GAMBIA PARTICIPATES?
We work on government accountability; conducting research and collecting data which we use to hold the government accountable. At the same time, we also support the government with pro-bono work, to become more transparent and help them to be more innovative in the way that they present information to the public.
A new area in our mandate is conducting research, surveys and collecting citizens data for use in our advocacy and government support especially when it comes to Community Score Cards (a community based monitoring tool that enables citizens to voice their assessment of a priority public service). This is the information we use in our advocacy but we also share it with the government to inform them on how they need to develop in certain areas, for example water shortages or the quality of water received by residents.
HOW EASY WAS IT TO GAIN THE TRUST OF THE PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT?
Corruption is the reason we had a dictatorship in the first place, because when rulers are corrupt, they make sure to weaken democratic institutions so that there is no accountability. We said we needed to avoid that from happening again.
At the time, there were no organisations looking at the issue of anti-corruption. We were the ones unravelling the government's actions, following the money in partnership with a Nigerian organisation of the same name to ensure accountability by replicating their work of tracking public expenditure and making sure it's judiciously expended.
Our approach was very aggressive but we realised not much was achieved. The government saw us as the enemy, a group of people wanting to tarnish their work. So we became more diplomatic, developing two modes of operation. We can be diplomatic, but where things get out of hand we become more aggressive.
In response to this realisation, we set out to identify gaps in government. Once we fill those gaps there would be no excuse for corruption. Corruption happens when you have the budget being misappropriated. So we said why don’t we make sure that the people get to know what the budget is.
We started an initiative called "Know Your Budget" which took parliamentarians to their communities to explain what the proposed budget was, the budgeting process and what has been proposed by the executive. The citizens also shared what they wanted to see in the enacted budget so that the parliamentarians could go back and start advocating for the interests of their communities.
HOW HAVE YOUR INITIATIVES SUCH AS 'FOLLOW THE MONEY' AND 'KNOW YOUR BUDGET' INCREASED CITIZENS’ AWARENESS OF THE GOVERNANCE PROCESS?
One of the first things we ask in rural communities is, "do you know that the country has a budget"? 8 out of 10 don’t. Every week, we extract one thing from the budget to present it as an infographic. For example, we shared information on how much money is allocated to the office of the President, the Minister of Health, and the Legislator. This sparked conversations on social media such as “why do we give the President so and so when we have such and such issues”?
The Ministry of Health had been making a citizen version of the budget which was about 30 pages long. We worked with them to extract the key issues of interest to citizens and condensed it to one page, so citizens could see how much money was allocated to health, roads and other areas of interest.
IN INSTANCES WHERE YOU FIND THAT A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL HAS MISAPPROPRIATED FUNDS, HOW HAVE YOUR INITIATIVES LED TO THE OFFICIALS BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE?
In November 2020, a budget proposal was taken to Parliament. Parliament made an amendment to the budget adding 54.4 million Dalasis (USD 10,62,915) for parliamentarian loans during covid. We made an infographic showing how 33 million Dalasis (USD 644,783) could have built 40 boreholes to benefit 380,000 Gambians. The media picked this up but a month later there was no change and the budget went ahead.
So we went to the Supreme Court to petition that parliamentary action. We asked the Supreme Court to declare the action unconstitutional because Parliament did not have the power to create a new budget line.
In early May we made history, the Supreme Court declared the parliamentary action to be unconstitutional, striking off the 54.4 million from the budget and ordering any parliamentarian who had taken the money to return it as soon as possible. We used that strategic litigation to make sure that this time round there was accountability because we have been talking a lot and showing evidence demanding accountability but to no avail.
WHAT ROADBLOCKS HAVE YOU ENCOUNTERED IN YOUR JOURNEY TOWARDS ENHANCING TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE GAMBIA’S PUBLIC SECTOR?
Those responsible for ensuring transparency do not have the political will to do so. The constitution does not promote transparency. The Parliament, which we believed would champion the government in being more transparent, is not interested, if I can put it that way. They do not push for the government to be more transparent, even with all the evidence. It's unfortunate. The parliamentarians receive packages of 10,000Dalasis from the President, as well as cars and land - it's really unfortunate.
WHAT POLICY CHANGES IN THE GAMBIA OR AT A REGIONAL LEVEL WILL IMPROVE THE IMPACT OF YOUR WORK?
Currently we have the Access to Information Bill in Parliament, it has gone a long way and it will soon be legislated. There is also the Anti-corruption Bill which has been with Parliament for two years but we are optimistic that they will take our recommendations and make sure it's legislated.
There was a bigger hope when the people prepared a new constitution which was rejected by Parliament on political lines. Now the hope is that the earlier stated bills will push the government to be more transparent and responsive to their mandate.
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BIGGEST PERSONAL SUCCESS SO FAR?
One of the things I take pride in is contributing to ending a 22 year long dictatorship. We don't take the credit, there was a collective national effort that made it happen, but I am happy that I can associate myself with this. In this transition one of the things that I have accomplished is how we have, I’m not good at talking about myself - I always use we, what I have accomplished is building Gambia Participates which has become one of the strongest organisations calling for government transparency. Our work covers almost 200 villages around the country, advocating to ensure the budget covers their needs.
The biggest success is our most recent achievement, which is recovering the 54.4million, which became part of a national conversation. There has never been a case taken to the Supreme Court and ruled in favour of the people against the government.
WHAT PRACTICAL ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE WHO HAS BECOME DISILLUSIONED WITH THE FIGHT FOR TRANSPARENCY OR HOLDING THEIR LEADERS ACCOUNTABLE?
Governments are good at frustrating people, especially pro-democratic activists. In doing so, when they frustrate you, you become frustrated and leave the field. If you leave the field, that becomes an opportunity for them to do more and self-enrich themselves whilst the country continues to suffer from abject poverty.
So my advice is, when the government or institutions try to frustrate you, you retaliate by frustrating them. Frustrate them by making sure that whenever there is a corrupt case that needs to be pushed, push it and let the people know. No government wants to be 100% transparent, but the people can make it a little bit transparent regarding the contracts they have signed, the kickbacks they have taken from contracts, the post service delivery, and the mismanagement.
All of this is possible when people speak out. When the government tries to frustrate you, know that your work is having an impact, so continue frustrating them making sure there is transparency and they are being held accountable.
WHAT WAS THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO?
He laughs - I don’t listen to music but I love the cover song done by Dieyla called “Linguere” . Dieyla is a young female artist in Senegal. I just love the song with that of Dior Mbaye’s “Mala Fall.”