Mr. Sallah,

Considering this is Ramadan, I don't want to put too much pressure on you.
You already owe me at least one reply. But, you wondered in your piece to
Hamjatta what my position on the '97 Constituttion is. Simple. To drive home
my point, I'll give you a simplistic analogy.

You pick up the Instructions to an exam you're taking, and read:

1. If you score between 90 - 100, you get an "A"
2.         "            80 -  89             "B"
3.         "            70 -  79             "C"
4.         "            60 -  69             "D"
5.         "             0 -  59             "F"
But that's not all, there's one last instruction. You read on;

6. IRRESPECTIVE OF WHAT A STUDENT'S SCORE IS, THE PROFESSOR RESERVES    THE
RIGHT TO FAIL ANYONE HE LIKES. AND THAT DECISION IS NOT SUBJECT   TO AN
APPEAL.

So, you're thinking "Wait a minute!" What if I get 95, or 90? etc. In short,
where is the fairness in this exam? What is the point in the professor
telling you that your grade will be an "A" when you get a score of 90, when
he can nullify that as he deems fit without having to explain why.

This is MY perception of the 1997 Constitution. You postulated (and even
celebrated when no one challenged you,) several weeks ago that the '97
Constitution has the same basic faults as the '70 Constitution, but that it
did away with most of the deficiencies of the '70 Constitution. But my
question is: "What good does it do to Gambians to have all kinds of Rights
in the Constitution, when the same Constitution guarantees a select group of
people to trample on those same Rights with impunity- as has already
happened several times?" Please tell me!

And considering the coup d'etat took place on the pretext that everything
under the PPP regime was backward, and had to be done away with, how can you
in particular (who has been an ardent critic of "backwardness") support the
AFPRC's attempt to replace one faulty constitution with another one? Where
is the progress in that? Where is the justification for a coup when it's
de'ja vu all over ("old wine in new bottles" they call it?)

Also, now that we've seen how the Indemnity Clause (the group's license to
be criminals,) is being used to terrorize Gambians - opposition members,
journalists, etc, do you regret supporting the '97 Constitution?

You mentioned in your postulation that some lawyer in the Gambia dismissed
the '97 Constitution as doctored/manipulated (my inference,) but you went
ahead and campaigned for it anyway. I have some issues with that, but I'll
hold for your reply.

Good Day, and Take it Easy for the Ramadan.

Saul.
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