Joe,

Given the recent shifting of the debates from the REAL issues concerning The
Gambia, I must say that I have been waiting for something with a more
relevant title.

To quote Tombong Saidy's piece in which he wrote:

Pa Sallah Jeng along with all those who won during the local Government
elections will be sworn in soon. By this coming Wednesday, Pa Sallah and the
others would be sworn in if things go well. After all, there is no thing in
the Constitution or the Local Government Act that mentions the time frame
regarding the swearing in of elected local government official. The people
have spoken and their voices are heard. The APRC's motto is EMPOWERMENT OF
THE PEOPLE and they will respect and work with all the Independent
candidates to develop this country.

Clearly, when one reads the above statement, it  does not require a rocket
scientist to understand that the likely occurence of this happening anytime
soon is very remote as it is further  polished with the lovely situational
dilemma of "IF THINGS GO WELL".

Although Tombong should be applauded for trying to shed some light on the
issue by offering the L some insight on the constitution  or the Local
government Act regarding elected local government official, it will be more
fitting for Mafy to at least offer some insight regarding the situation or
better yet explain the logistical issues involved in putting together the
inauguration.

To give the benefit of the doubt, I think Mafy can very well  tell you that
this issue hits home for us here in Atlanta, and would like to leave that
to him to read between the lines and understand that he is still part of OUR
family,like he has always been regardless of our political affiliation or
beliefs.

What has happened in Banjul is unprecedented, and all those involved should
try to make an attempt to expedite the wishes of the people and again adhere
to the fact that Power belongs to the people.

In closing, WE hope that they would all work together to make this a speedy
transition of power and allow all elected candidates to serve in their
respective offices.


Best Regards,

Ablie Njie- Lekbi



>The Independent (Banjul)
>
>May 20, 2002
>Posted to the web May 20, 2002
>
>D. a Jawo
>Banjul
>
>It is now getting to one month since the local government elections were
>hurriedly organised by the Independent Electoral Commission, brushing aside
>all the appeals and concerns expressed by the general public, and yet
>still,
>the newly elected councils are yet to be inaugurated. One would therefore
>wonder why the IEC had insisted on going ahead with those hushed-up
>elections before the new Local Government Act had even been enacted, let
>alone be disseminated to the people to understand what they were voting
>for.
>
>There is no doubt that it was what eventually led to the boycott of the
>elections by certain political parties as well as the general lack of
>public
>interest in the process. To add to the confusion, the government also went
>ahead to introduce the Local Government Bill to the National Assembly for
>enactment with a certificate of urgency right in the middle of the process
>by the IEC to hold elections. The very fact that the National Assembly
>members were not given adequate time to study and digest the Bill, they had
>to briefly debate it and pass it with quite a lot of flaws and
>inconsistencies. Despite all that rush to get the Bill debated and passed
>and the IEC going ahead with the elections before all the necessary things
>were in place, the newly elected councils are still waiting to be
>inaugurated. One would therefore not fail to see the inconsistency between
>the rush in passing the Local Government Bill and the holding of the local
>government elections and the present situation we find ourselves in. We
>would therefore wonder why the rush and what is holding the inauguration of
>the new councils.
>
>Want to help this site win one of the "Oscars of the Internet"?
>
>
>
>allAfrica.com has been nominated Best News Site for a Webby Award
>
>
>
>You can cast your ballot - before June 7 - in the People's Voice category.
>Click here >>
>
>
>
>It appears that there is much more to this unprecedented delay in the
>inauguration of the new councils than meets the ordinary eye. According to
>rumours, the delay is apparently caused by the regime still trying to come
>to terms with the election of an opposition mayor for Banjul, which they
>never bargained for or even ever anticipated. Therefore, they may still be
>trying to work out a strategy as to how to deal with such an unusual
>situation. Rumours have it that the regime is weighing several options as
>to
>how to deal with the situation, which, according to the rumours, include a
>call by some of the hawks in the regime to refuse to recognise Pa Sallah
>Jeng as Mayor-elect for Banjul and to instead go ahead with the appointment
>of their own interim mayor until they could find a way out of the
>situation.
>That is indeed the craziest solution anyone could ever contemplate.
>
>While the intolerance of this regime to any form of dissent is quite
>obvious, but I cannot imagine them stooping that low just to prevent an
>opposition mayor from assuming office. Indeed the election of Pa Sallah
>Jeng
>is a foregone conclusion and I cannot imagine what anyone can now do to
>prevent him from assuming his legitimate position as Mayor of Banjul. As
>they say in Mandinka; "minning minning tafal, tonya le be labanna" (no
>matter how one meanders, it is the truth that will prevail at the end). He
>is the choice of the majority of the people of Banjul, and as such, it is
>heretical for anyone to try and deny him and indeed the people of Banjul
>the
>fruits of their labour. Another phenomenon which seems to give credence to
>these rumours of an attempt to marginalise the mayor-elect is the fact that
>even though he has been elected de facto mayor of Banjul, but there seems
>to
>be deliberate attempts to exclude him from all activities where he should
>by
>protocol be involved. We have seen for example that both the mayor-elect of
>the KMC and all the other chairmen-elect and councillors are being invited
>to official functions, and yet Pa Sallah is being treated as if he does not
>matter. That is very unfair a big indictment to the democratic credentials
>of the regime. It is also understood that all attempts by him to see the
>Secretary of State for Local Government to discuss the issue have been
>unsuccessful. One would therefore wonder whether all that is part of the
>scheme to marginalise him to the point of frustration and eventually he
>would throw in the towel? I hope both the Secretary of State and his
>colleagues in the regime are aware that everyone is keenly watching them on
>this matter, and whatever action they finally decide to take on it would
>have some far reaching implications, both on the image and credibility of
>the regime.
>
>It is also quite interesting that whether by default or by design, the new
>Local Government Act is completely silent as to when and how the newly
>elected councils are to assume office. There is a possibility that such a
>provision was deliberately omitted in the bill in order to give the regime
>enough leverage to deal with such a situation as obtains in Banjul. One
>would therefore tend to question their sincerity in actually giving enough
>autonomy to the local government councils to run their own affairs if it is
>the Secretary of State for Local Government for instance who has the sole
>power to determine when and how councils are to be inaugurated. At this
>stage of our development as a nation, we should have long ago passed such
>arbitrariness in the implementation of policies and programmes dealing with
>the people, because that seems to run counter to both the letter and spirit
>of decentralisation of the local government process as proclaimed by the
>regime.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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