KT,

Don't take offense at Tamsir's apparent attempts to distance himself from
your opinions of him, however commendable they may have been. Indeed, I read
your article, and agreed with your characterization of Tamsir as a sincere
and honorable Gambian. He meant well and always means well for Gambia.

There is more to this than meets the eye. So, I invite you to read a
personal message I am sending you regarding this matter-at least from my
perspective-before you post another article regarding the matter.

There is no reason you should feel rebuffed or perplexed by Tamsir's
reaction. I will try to explain it to you with a caveat:Privileged
communication elicits implied confidentiality.


>From: [log in to unmask]
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: The Jasseh Complaint
>Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 18:41:05 EST
>
>Apparently Tamsir Jasseh took exception to my observations of the Police
>Force in general and his role in particular. The accounts as related by the
>Observer Newspaper potrayed a livid Mr Jasseh . Here are some of his
>complaints:
>1-My contention that the Department was led by an incompetent I.G.who
>lacked
>the foresight to lead a professional outfit was not true.
>2-That the department was undermined purposely to serve the nefarious
>political interests of Yahya and his cronies was also untrue.
>3-Attributing reform efforts primarily to him (Jasseh) was inaccurate
>because
>he alone is incapable of the kind of institutional change needed at the
>Department.
>4-Reforms have been underway pursuant to a commissioned study conducted in
>1997.
>5-That I was being unfair to the Police and the government in my overall
>characterization.
>   I first wrote about the Police on 8-23-2000 following a news conference
>in
>which the department publicly acknowledged their perilous state especially
>the all important faith that ordinary citizens need to have in the Police.
>They themselves went into why the people no longer trust in the police to
>enforce the law. The police in the eyes of the public have ominously
>settled
>into selective law enforcement by going after opponents of the government
>on
>trumped up charges while ignoring or in some cases actively countenancing
>illegal behavior by gov't sanctioned vigilante groups. If the Police that
>is
>paid for by the people undermines the basic expectation of equal protection
>under the law, they have deservedly lost the people's faith.
>The reason I singled out Mr Jasseh is because he is the only one I have
>heard
>publicly acknowledge these egregious problems associated with the
>department.
>Any credit I give him is solely based on his public pronouncements which
>tended to sound sincere. I said he was a good man trying to do the right
>thing. I still think so. However I have always qualified my optimism with a
>strong believe that his efforts would not bear fruit because the President
>and his cronies are unmitigated criminals to whom a professional Police
>force
>is anathema. I specifically said he would either be transferred or fired
>for
>his efforts to bring reform. His professed faith in I. G.  Badgie and all
>the
>other professionals bent on making the force the best is his entitlement.
>I
>don't share that view at all. Yahya Jammeh has purged that department and
>brought in cronies of which Mr Badgie is premiere. They have made an
>institutional morass out of the Police department. They have neither the
>ability nor the inclination to fix it.
>As for his notion of me being unfair to the government is  a gross
>understatement. I view this government as illegitimate and my duty as a
>Gambian is to expose, fight and ultimately defeat this criminal albatross
>hanging on the neck of my nation. I neither want nor expect even an
>otherwise
>  good man like Mr Jasseh to agree with me.
>Karamba
>
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