"Malanding, please allow me to address just one point of your response to  
Mose and for you and Mose to follow the rest." Joe Sambou.
 
Joe, sorry for my taking a crack at this. Kukeh am sure understands that it  
is for Ellen your hypocrisy notwithstanding. You don't get to decide who 
speaks  on what here, otherwise you would send it to private mailboxes.
 
"Also this thing on tribal politics in today's Gambia is a little  overblown. 
The APRC by its composition is not based on tribe. Infact I would  venture to 
say that the the APRC support base is broader than either NRP or UDP.  Yes, 
they exploit tribal issues just like the other two I mentioned."  Malanding.
 
I tend to agree with you here Kukeh perhaps with a different understanding.  
I think what Joe and PDOIS mistake for tribalism is ethnic pride. Am sure you  
will agree with me that Gambia has far too many tribes to share a singular  
heritage. Each of these tribes are well within reason to be proud of their  
ethnicity and to make life decisions based on culture among other non-cultural  
considerations. 
 
You can go to Russia, Saudia, America, Scandinavia, Zimbabwe, Ireland,  
Jordan, Ethiopia, etcetera, and you will find the same or similar permutations  of 
people. The trick is the capacity to harness the diversity of peoples who  
come under a common constitution. There are people whose depth of knowledge and  
or appreciation of life is found wanting in this area and should such  people 
train their own lives on ruling over the ethnically proud, it becomes  
difficult to fathom the gravitasse of human decision variables and arrange them  into 
more mouldable constructs. They will then begin a futile journey  into 
mind-engineering.
 
The first mistake Halifa made, in my opinion, is to declare non-belonging  to 
any of Gambia's constitutive tribes. That was a fatal mistake. The reason why 
 that is is because that can only be interpreted as "None of the tribes in  
Gambia offers a culture that Halifa likes". It is usually important for a  
politician to take variety of tribes and experiences into account when  seeking 
public office. Never in my experience and travels have I heard a  more conceited 
declaration. From Gandhi to Luther King to the Imam to the Pope.  Never does 
a human being among humans so abhor a single culture or ethnicity as  to form 
a political platform based on derision of cultures. SInce Halifa is  PDOIS and 
PDOIS is Halifa, the lieutenants had no choice but to adopt that as  their 
mantra. Bear with me. I hear that is changing now in PDOIS and I think  they are 
on the right track. They have some more work to do. For now, the only  way 
PDOIS can lord over Gambians is either by original coup or chance coup and  by 
default that is if they don't adapt and grow from within. We will talk about  
the ominous prospects of that later. Besides, PDOIS already has members drawn  
from some of the tribes of Gambia. 
 
PDOIS is a communist party but they understood communism  wrongly. Soviet 
communism and North Korean communism preached egalitarian  concepts in the 
framework of diverse peoples. PDOIS wanted to do it in the  absence of diversity. 
The people they wish to govern and some of their own  members will not and 
should not abandon their tribes and cultures just at the  risk of being labelled 
tribalist. So PDOIS will have an internal war of  conscience from whence will 
sprout a healthier PDOIS. It is possible to be  egalitarian and diverse. Allah 
made that possible. You may not tamper with  peoples'  inherent rights.
 
Now as the lieutenants find themselves trapped in this backward way of  
thinking, they cannot break free of the mental shackles. In effect, they must  view 
the Gambian people as the problem. You notice that a Gambian youth who is  
educated outside of the PDOIS barracks and is capable of distinctions  hardly 
ever trains on PDOIS. That robs PDOIS of the leverages for growth because  their 
own resources are limited. That is they cannot indoctrinate all Gambia's  
youth. That is why you hear them talk about Youth consciousness groups,  
militants, PDOIS central committee. How much more can you snuff the life out of  an 
otherwise living entity but to deliberate around carcasses and wish for  the 
death of tribes and cultures. No matter they portray it as the eradication  of 
tribalism. If there is any single idea for PDOIS, it would be the idea of  
honesty to self and train on commoner good. The era of communist propaganda is  
gone and good riddance.
 
It is worth noting that PDOIS never takes an inward look at themselves for  
enhancement. A question as simple as "Why after 20 years of yearning for  
governance of Gambia have Gambians not warmed up to PDOIS?" ought not have been  
asked of a political party in the first place. Furthermore, PDOIS militants and  
lieutenants almost always assume a bellicose posture at the mere query of  
values. It is easier to charge a fellow citizen of tribalism than to appreciate  
him. PDOIS looks down on their fellow citizens that is why they are welcome 
at  my house in their present state. If you read further down into Joe's 
diatribe  and frustration, you notice he has shared PDOIS' quandry. There is not a 
single  Gambian who is not a problem because of his or her tribe, except for 
those who  are PDOIS. How do you attract appreciation in this environment? They 
feed the  hungry they say but they chastise them for not voting for them. They 
educate the  illiterate, but they charge the illiterates are the colaborators 
of Yahya and  PPP. They educate for PDOIS, yet they abhor the otherwise 
educated.
 
I thank you for your audience. 1/2 of my family was PDOIS, now a 1/4 is. By  
next month, and with the extant conditions, I hope to make that figure  
nought, except my uncles Jattas and Tourays. I am following   PDOIS' progress in 
enhancements for further review.
 
Haruna Masoud Darbo. MQDT. 

To the contrary, Tribal Politics is  very underestimated.  You cannot use the 
incumbent party to measure its  destruction and this is why.  The incumbent 
has both a carrot and a big  stick and both would be used across the ethnic 
spectrum.  It will always  work any where in the world as it did for both Jawara 
and Yaya.  As you  rightly stated, thus, the reason why both Yaya and Jawara 
had support willingly  or unwillingly across the board.  Without those three 
things, Fulas would  not have voted for Yaya, nor would Mandingoes.

Now, without the power of  incumbency, deep pocket, and the barrel of the 
gun, tribal politics takes center  stage and is lethal against the opposition, 
especially those that hail from  minority groups.  It is a fact that the who is 
who in the UDP as I write  will only support a Mandinka candidate and no 
other, for president?  I hope  they surprise me me by putting up a non-mandinka 
candidate for President.   You also hear Jolas, Wolofs, Fulas, etc. say they will 
not vote for a  Mandinka.  It is a fact that UDP mistakenly (1996, 2001, and 
2006) believed  that most Mandinkas will vote for them, and to their detriment 
discounted the  deep pocket of the incumbent and the barrel of the gun.  All 
of Hamat Bah's  politics is tribal and he also relied solely on the Fula vote, 
the very reliance  that made him and Darboe to make the mistake of believing 
that their ethnic  percentages of the population will translate into similar 
percentages at the  polls.  Henry Gomez was also factored in their skewed 
outlook for the same  ethnic reason.  Where they mainly relied on tribal 
affiliation, Yaya Jammeh  bought or clobbered the reluctant either physically or by 
threatening to deny  public service to the unwilling community.  Tribal politics 
will work  against NADD, PDOIS, PPP (under OJ), because they neither have 
power, money, or  a big stick to swing.  We cannot continue to bury our head in the 
sand and  as long as that is the trump card for the UDP and the NRP they will 
continue to  damage the opposition to the benefit of Yaya and the APRC.  

Most of  the opposition on-line complain about Yaya's tribalism.  Just 
because Yaya  has a sprinkle of non-Jolas in his cabinet does not mean he is not a  
tribalist.  For one, even if he wanted to hire just Jolas that will not be  
possible, for the capacity is not there, just like Jawara could not have just  
hired Mandingos for the same reason.  Yaya's tribalism is called out  because 
he puts Jolas mostly close to him and where most power and influence  reside.

This tribalism is the big elephant sitting in the Opposition room  and we 
cannot pretend that it does not exist.  The sooner the UDP and NRP  realize that 
elementary fact, the better for the opposition as a whole.  It  is that 
posture that has hindered the opposition for thirteen years.  The  opposition almost 
got it right leading to the last elections, but alas for that  tribal 
monster.  It is a fact that Gambians were energized and encouraged  to stand up when 
they saw Ousainou, OJ, Hamat, Waa, and Halifa together and that  is why they 
won more elections over the APRC during that period.  When the  wise guys 
decided they can go it alone and with just a few other groups, did we  fall on our 
face.  I will be on the record to state here that we can  perform the same 
stunt for the next thirty years and we shall fall flat on our  face for that 
duration or more.  

Transitioning to the on-line  community, we have similar set-up with the UDP. 
 No sooner did UDP bolted  from NADD, the majority of the communities that 
supported the break away of UDP  bolted and it was clearly on tribal basis and 
the gang tackle that followed was  also tribal with the exception of a minority 
that were more interested in a  liberated Gambia over ethnicity bearings.  
Don't take my word for it, just  observe and stick around.  As I write, that 
monster is in operation and I  alluded to it earlier and other Gambians that are 
aware of this fact are here to  be my witness.  I am not picking on 
Mandingoes, for I would call out any,  equally, had they be Jola, Wolof, or Fula.  So, 
no, tribalism in our  politics is the one munster we need to kill.  The other 
lesser evil is the  so-called intellectuals and their sole interest of a fat 
wallet no matter what  the detriment.

Chi Jaama



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