Introduction - UNDP The Gambia

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
necessary support and to strengthen them
through a process of decentralisation. This
requires the involvement of the local
communities from the start of policy planning
at the local level to ensure the development of
an effective delivery system that is supported
by the local population.
In Africa, traditional structures have been
used effectively to bargain for development,
such as the Council of Chiefs in Ghana and
the emirate and caliphate in northern Nigeria.
In The Gambia, similar traditional structures
exist, which form the basis of the country’s
traditional systems.
Several studies have shown that African
social and material development is influenced
by a complex composition of groupings,
associations and structures that have evolved
from time immemorial in response to
changing circumstances. These structures
have served various interests, have been
utilised in many ways and have altered
substantially over time.
The structures have consistently formed the
normal framework on which both colonial
and post-colonial development policies and
politics have relied to achieve their
development aims and objectives. They also
serve as the entry point for the social,
political and economic communication of
social interactions, thus forming the cultural,
social and material context.
During the colonial period, the colonial
masters in most parts of the continent viewed
such groups as conduits and opportunities to
enhance their colonial policy. These
traditional structures facilitated control, hence
the persistence of existing social structures
and traditional political systems, which play
crucial roles in current development
initiatives in Africa. In most cases, these
frameworks were allowed to maintain their
separate identity as in the past but were
incorporated simultaneously into the colonial
structures.
The colonialists did not have to reinvent the
wheel to entrench their policies, but rather
worked closely with the existing structures by
enhancing their capacity to suit their
objectives. Through this process, the British
used the Indirect Rule principle to access
those that would facilitate the process for
them. Similarly, the French principle of
assimilation was based on their objectives.
5.1.2 Gambian Traditional Structures
Generally, Gambian traditional structures
have their roots in the country’s traditional
forms of social organisations and groupings,
with development initiatives conducted
through a complex web of social and
institutional settings, and interpersonal
relationships.
Traditionally, the political set-ups are based
on founding families who were considered
king-makers. Succession was based on
seniority and concession among the elders in
a particular district comprising a number of
villages ruled by a chief with each village
headed by an alkalo.
The traditional structures at the
community/municipal levels have always
been development partners of the
government. It is the state that provides the
context for official interactions (of traditional
authorities) in the public domain. The
structures constitute the fundamental building
blocks of the interchanges and actions to
fulfil development; they have been reshaped
or new ones formed.
Through these structures various interests
obtain access to resources and enhance
cultural and social meaning. Among them are
the Council of Elders, the chieftaincy,
alkaloship, imamship, kabilo (clan
organisations), kafoo and gendered groups,
which exist in almost all Gambian
communities.
The Kabilo Systems: Gambian kingdoms
were ruled by a single lineage or kabilo
(Sonko-Godwin, 1994). Thus settlements in
The Gambia are divided into wards:
kabilo/kabiloolu in Mandinka, sare or sinchu
in Fula, sancha in Wolof etc, each of which
traces its origins to a particular lineage or
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Building Capacity for the Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in The Gambia National Human Development Report 2005
51