Yus

Welcome back!

You have raised some very interesting points which no
one should ignore.

I am particularly concerned about your comments on
Kebba Jobe. I personally think that Mr Jobe is using
this forum with contempt, coming here saying all nice
things about APRC, but when asked simple questions he
resorts to his deception tactics. If you remember this
man tried to express his sadness over the brutal
murder of Lt Barrow and others-November 11. Within 2
days this man tried to change his sense of grief by
claiming why Ebou Colly should wait until 6 years
before spilling the beans on the November 11
incident.Can we trust or tolerate this man ? I leave
you that question to answer.

In addition, we have asked several questions
pertaining to APRC's record but here he dodges the
answers. Can we therefore consider him(jobe)as a
genuine debater. Take for instance his assessment on
Governance under APRC, here again Jobe gives less
analytic version of events. To be honest with you, I
find it insulting to all of us. This man appears to be
support of a Government that would kill or maim
innocent gambians. No problem with that but be ready
to acknowledge and convince us why we should support
APRC.

Yus you wrote "The human rights situation in Gambia is
the same as in other Africa countries where atrocities
 are sanctioned daily by perfectly "legitimate"
regimes "

Whilst you may be right on the issue, should we
continue to tolerate it. Sorry to say I cannot
subscribe to that analogy. Taking Gambia's size
together with its political struggle I remain of the
view that our current human rights situation is one of
the worst in Africa. I know people will not agree with
me on this issue but I am prepared to defend my
assertion on this issue. Gambia under its Second
Republic should have been a beacon of hope for human
rights. The Constitution which was supposed to protect
human rights is constantly abused by its Architects. I
need not elaborate you know what I am talking about.

The Opposition parties in the Gambia are at present
going through a bad time. One day we hear that Mr X of
UDP has defected to APRC,the next day we hear that Mrs
Y an alleged coup plotter and former UDP supporter has
joined the APRC. Even civil servants who sympathise
with the opposition end up losing their jobs. This is
a sad situation but who do you blame? The Party for
not strengthening its grassroots support or the
militants for being mere opportunists. I personally
blame neither of them but the Government for carryout
such a dirty type of politics. Most of these cross
carpets are made with threats of intimidation. Take
for instance the case of Aja Fatou Mbenga, Was she not
accused of treason?  Well I am not surprised since the
Leader of APRC came to power by committing treason.

With regards to your comments on Pesseh Njie, we heard
his own version, dismissing all claims of defection.So
your comments on Pesseh are a bit harsh if you know
what I am trying to get at.

On the WaaJuwara Issue- I think there seems to be a
misunderstanding. What Juwara said was this women
should except preferential treatment in order to
fulfil their political ambitions. I see no problem
with this, perhaps you could enlighten me. Our Brother
in the struggle Hamjatta Kanteh has given us some very
good  resaons against affirmative action and feminism.


On the vote buying- this is an issue which we can no
longer tolerate, During the 1987 General Elections PPP
used this device to win seats from the opposition.
There were several seats which were won through the
vote buying scheme, Seats like Kantora, Central
Baddibu, Lower Niumi Basse, Tumuna, Banjul Central
Kombo South and many others were won through this
device.  Vote buying is actually a criminal offence
under the Election Decree 1995. Since there have been
strong claims of vote-buying in the By Elections, are
we not incline to raise your objection. Should we seat
down and allow our electoral laws to be violated year
in year out?.

I await your response


Have a wonderful day

Sanusi


--- Yusupha C Jow <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > In spite of
my self imposed hiatus, I have been a
> 'peeper' of the main site
> of late.   Observing the debate rage on has been an
> interesting experience
> since it has shown me some of the inherent
> disadvantages in thinking too
> alike.   This phenomenon which some may call cabals,
> niches or 'online
> friendships sealed in blood' is, in my opinion, an
> impediment to progressive
> ideas resulting from dissenting views, as slight as
> they may be.
>
> Case in point, the recent merciless lambasting of
> Kebba Jobe, AKA Daddy Nying
> and Kebba Joke.    The man has obviously shown that
> his affiliation with the
> APRC regime is very conflicted one.   He has openly
> accepted some of the
> wrongs of the regime but refuses to blame Yahya
> Jammeh on the basis that he
> does not solely comprise the APRC.  According to
> Jobe, the blame must be
> shared roundly.   What is wrong with this picture?
> In my opinion, nothing.
>   The human rights situation in The Gambia is the
> same as in other African
> countries where atrocities are sanctioned daily by
> perfectly 'legitimate'
> regimes.   Point is Jobe is no different from many
> other Gambians who support
> the present regime based on the premise that their
> overall record outweighs
> the evil perpetrated by this regime.   In this
> light, lambasting Jobe really
> serves no purpose because it will not change a thing
> when it comes to the
> minority of people who subscribe to his school of
> thought.   Yet, we keep on
> lambasting away, wasting bandwidth in the process
> while neglecting the up and
> coming election which will determine the future of
> the Gambian people for the
> next 4 or 5 years.   Because of this conformity or
> 'thinking alike' issue,
> this diversion becomes less easy to realise and I
> believe the ruling party's
> political pundits are simply using the Gambia-L as a
> testing ground for some
> of their soon to be deployed political strategies.
>
> Another pertinent issue is the state of our
> opposition parties and their
> apparent disregard for the 101 of political
> strategies.   Some of their
> representatives, like Ebrima Pesseh Njie, are no
> more than rubber stamps who
> will not hesitate to switch allegiances when the
> going gets tough or the
> money gets too enticing.   This cross-carpeting
> problem has reared it's ugly
> head before, but the UDP simply will not learn and
> continue to make the same
> mistakes by appointing less than worthy characters
> who not only change
> faction, but also sully the party's image.    The
> recent antifeminist
> utterances of people like Wu Jawara  do a serious
> disservice to the
> opposition in a country where women are perhaps
> among the most oppressed in
> the World yet make up over 50% of the voting
> population.  Should it take a
> rocket scientist to figure out that the women of The
> Gambia not only deserve
> equal representation in political positions, but
> bureaux, ministries and
> movements which will make sure every effort is made
> to improve the status of
> women back home?   IMHO, a well learned man like
> Ousainou Darboe, would never
> make a political gaffe like this one.   It is his
> troops (MPs etc.) who need
> to be reined in to show the unity of a party which
> speaks responsibly in one
> voice.  Again, we see these gaffes but the few who
> speak are quickly silenced
> by the overwhelmingly unitarian cabal.
>
> The issue of political strategy when it concerns
> campaigning and elections
> also comes to mind when one studies the latest
> trends of the UDP.  After the
> outcome of the last by-elections as a result of the
> unfortunate death of
> several UDP members, it  became painfully apparent
> to me that the party did
> not adhere to a strategy which was borne out of any
> type of detailed
> analysis.   When one compares the amount of people
> who actually voted to
> those who actually voted, it becomes obvious the
> voter turnout was extremely
> low.   Based on analysis from Foroya, 1056 people
> did not vote in Kiang East.
>   This amounts to slightly more than ¼ of the
> registered voters in the area,
> a significant number which could have made all the
> difference.    Even so, I
> am convinced an equally large amount of residents of
> these areas did not
> vote.   Interestingly enough, the voting patterns of
> Gambians during PPP days
> are strikingly similar to the voting patterns shown
> in the 1997 elections.
> The opposition won in most of the same places where
> they had strongholds, the
> numbers were roughly equal and the reasons for
> losing were virtually the
> same.   But, here on the Gambia-L, we cry voter
> buyout and such without
> bothering to look closely at the numbers.   Again a
> dire consequence, of
> conformity of thought and an acceptance of the
> status quo without question or
> because this person said so.
>
> In conclusion, I would like to conclusively again
> reaffirm my opposition to
> the present regime.   Gambians should not settle for
> less than we deserve.
> But the overall picture is dire.   There seems to be
> an apparent lack of
> political gain (in the true sense) coming from the
> main opposition party.
> The only headway being made is by PDOIS, a
> statistical nonentity in Gambian
> politics.   For this reason, I think a UNITED front
> is the way forward for
> change back home.   I would also implore on all
> members of the L to put on
> their thinking caps (so to speak) and come up with
> their own ideas/reasons on
> how to overcome this terrible situation.   Let us
> avoid where necessary this
> overly 'thinking alike' affliction which tends to
> stifle forward thinking.
>
>
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