Presidents go, and presidents come; government is conserving continuity and making progress. Continuity of government is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government to continue its essential operations. The need for continuity of government plans gained new urgency in good governance.

All Commissions, Debts contracted, and Engagement entered into before adopted by the Constitution, shall be valid. Governments necessarily inherit the debt and legal obligations of the old order. Each government has wanted to throw out the baby with the bathwater and start all over again.

Mr. President, No, continuity is essential. You will continue with those things that are good, and you speed them up. Mr. President, governance includes both conserving continuity and making progress. All living systems have this tension between being conservative and progressive.

What happened to the Report of the Tax Evasion Commission from 1999 to 2011. The predecessor government established the Commission of Inquiry into Tax Evasion and other Corrupt Practices in November 2011 to look into tax evasion and other corrupt practices of accountants, legal practitioners, companies, and private persons, medical practitioners, and institutions required to pay tax to the Gambia Revenue Authority.

The Tax Commission report reveals that over D2 billion has been lost in revenue by the government due to inadequate revenue collection mechanisms, bribery and corruption, and tax evasion.

A ‘White Paper’ has been published in the Gambia Gazette accepting the recommendations in the report of the Commission of Inquiry into Tax Evasion and other Corrupt Practices in The Gambia from 1999 to 2011. The Commission was also mandated, among other things, to ascertain the extent of loss of public revenue resulting from non-payment of capital gains tax, personal income tax, and sales tax, and to determine the role of individuals, groups and professional bodies in the evasion and avoidance of tax.

The Commission was also tasked to enquire into professional malpractice by members of the public as it relates to obtaining goods through widespread issuance of false and dud cheques and other malpractices by members of professional bodies as these have affected foreign direct investment in The Gambia.

Tax evasion commission and other commissions have become a one-stop-shop for today’s men shopping for fame and revenge in the current wave of anti-corruption sentiments blowing across the country.

Conserving continuity, you can fire civil service employees who are political appointees, and those do not support your policy and agenda. Civil servants can be fired if they engage in political activities while on duty. Political appointees can be asked to resign at any time if their clear conscience can no longer support the administration agenda.

You cannot fire civil servant’s employees for their personal political, religious beliefs and tribal, disability, or base on gender. Mr. President, you cannot also get rid of anyone who disagrees with you and demonised any intellectual who voice any disagreement or position with your government.

Continuity of government is a living system on every scale of governance, even if your supporters and members of your administration do not seem to agree. I liken this decision to the firing of a train’s engineer by shoving him off the moving train, then remembering to ask if anyone remaining can pilot the said train, while you find a new engineer to manage the coherence and continuity of the system, moreover, for steering toward goals or away from dangers.

By Alagi Yorro Jallow

This article was first published on September 12, 2019.