Saul,
        Thank you,a job well done.I was not expecting much from him,he ran
away from you people but what about his conscience ?I will want to make some
observation about this symposium and the role of our opposition parties(and
also that of the AFPRC).Waiting for more details.

For Freedom
Saiks




----- Original Message -----
From: saul khan <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 10:02 PM
Subject: Re: ALD Symposium


> Saiks, All,
>
> I'll give you the background of what happened on Saturday at the ALD Forum
> as I OBSERVED it. Of course I missed some things as there's only so much
> that one can observe at any one time, especially if one isn't taking
notes.
> I wasn't. So, I hope others present will give us more of what I missed.
>
> First, I extend a commendation to the Organizing Committee. It's obvious
> that things could be a little better, but considering what the Organizers
> had to deal with (Gambians,) they didn't do a particularly bad job. Truth
> is, God made people, and made Africans. And we the Gambian sub-species are
a
> microcosm of the dysfunction that our people are. Hard to swallow, but
> that's the truth. The program was supposed to start at 12:00 noon, and it
> started around 3:00pm. Very Gambian. And it did mainly because Mr. Hamat
Bah
> threatened to leave for New York where we was scheduled to board a plane
for
> Abuja at 8:00pm. He told myself, Ous Bojang and ML Conteh that he WAS
> leaving at 3:30pm sharp. Myself and Conteh had to go alert James Gomez
about
> Mr. Bah's position. The Hall (venue) was on lease to the Organizers until
> 5:00pm. Most of the audience came around 3pm. So, at that point, all we
had
> was two hours for any discussion. In order to accommodate Mr. Bah (so he
can
> stay beyond 3:30pm,) Latjor and James offered to buy him an air ticket to
> NY. This is also very commendable, because as it turned out, Hamat Bah is
> worth every dime that was spent on him.
>
> On Mr. Conteh's issues, these need not turn into another unnecessary
rancor.
>   I can understand why  Conteh would think that the whole event was a
> Two-Man show. It seemed that way, unless one knew of the role of the Tijan
> Ceesays in the background. There were in fact a few more people involved.
I
> think it's fair to say that Latjor and James were the most prominent as
far
> as the Symposium was concerned, but there were others.  On Dr. Nyang's
> absence, I agree with Mr. Conteh's complaint in principle, because the
good
> Dr. wasn't the only promised invitee who didn't show up.  Fr. Joseph Gough
> didn't come, neither did Baba Galleh Jallow, one of the promised
panelists.
> Some of us were expecting to see these people, but nothing was said about
> their absence.  A simple statement at the beginning of the program about
> which invitees couldn't make it, and why was all that was needed. So, I
hope
> the Organizers will take note of the negative impression non-communication
> sometimes give observers. .  Not to talk about wild  speculation.  Also, a
> less restrictive venue (in terms of time) should have been secured. It
> doesn't make much sense to have people come all the way from Gambia only
to
> be rushed to cut off their speech after 30 minutes. Both Hamat Bah and
> Halifa Sallah had just warmed up when they were prompted to cut it short.
> Personally, I'll be more than willing to chip in next time, just so such
> speakers can have ALL the time they  need to make their case, and interact
> with the audience. You can tell both were disappointed, Mr. Sallah more so
> than Mr. Bah. Now, on to the meeting proper.
>
>
> It needs to be stated for the record that Joe Joof and his entourage
lodged
> at a hotel in Downtown DC, less than 10 minutes from Howard University
where
> the Symposium was held. Despite this, they were the last party to arrive.
> Some people are already putting a spin on why he left, but the fact is,
Joof
> NEVER intended to answer any questions.  You'll see why I believe this
after
> you've read what caused him to go away.  In the first place, to say that
he
> was nervous is an understatement.  From the moment the man sat down on the
> dais, you could see his unease. He was looking at the audience, while
doing
> his best to avoid eye-contact with people. When Latjor Ndow introduced the
> panel, he was slated to be the first speaker. Latjor made way for Joof at
> the podium, and handed him the mike. And this was the beginning of the
> now-famous three minutes "threat." A member of the audience who was
sitting
> exactly FIVE ROWS away from the front, got up and said:
> "Hey, you should sit down. You people are murderers. You murdered 14
little
> kids, and denied them justice. How can you come here and talk to us about
> justice. You need to sit down." Then the brother switched to Wollof:
> "Yen sah, den gen yab nit nyi." (You must hold us in contempt.)
> By this time, several people, notably: ML Conteh, Latjor, Karamba Touray
> were appealing to the brother to calm down and let the man have his say.
It
> should be noted that the brother DID NOT make any move to approach Joof,
nor
> did he make any threatening gestures towards Joof. He stood EXACTLY where
he
> was sitting. And the whole incident took a little less than three minutes.
>
> Joof got up, and spoke. The brother DID NOT utter a single word after
that!
> Probably due to his nervousness, Joof gave a very rambling speech: "Mr.
> Fabakary Tombong Jatta will speak for the APRC party. I'll speak for the
> govt.  I'm glad to be here. When I heard about the theme of this
symposium,
> I was very happy that it's 'Building Bridges, Joining Hands.' That is very
> good. We need to listen to each other. Gambians go to the Internet to get
> their news. That's not a proper way to get news. We should be able to talk
> to each other and agree or disagree.  In fact, His Excellency launched a
web
> site last Friday. Gambians will be able to get news and other information
> there. We are doing many good things. We have built over a 150 schools.
And
> hospitals. And an airport. It's not just a terminal, we have extended the
> tarmac so that all types of planes can land there. Now we have all types
of
> Airlines coming to the Gambia. We have Sabena, Air Senegal Int. Ghana
> Airways. We now have a Direct Flight between Wash DC and Banjul. And we
are
> working hard to have a Direct Flight to other cities like Atlanta, New
York.
> We have changed the Constitution to allow for Dual Citizenship. Many of
you
> have children here." I have to say that I really didn't pay much attention
> to what he had to say, because I couldn't wait to ask him a question about
> Civil Rights back home, or some other justice-related issue. I had an
> internal dilemma going on: Should I ask him about Dumo and co first, or
his
> role in the bogus Commission of Inquiry into the Student Murder case. His
> speech lasted less than ten minutes. He sat down.  (I'm trying to get the
> video of the meeting to review his speech again, but this was the gist of
> what the man said as I recalled it. Some of my quotations may not be
> verbatim. Others are welcome to add to, modify it.)
>
> When Latjor took over the mike, several people asked immediately if we
could
> ask Joof questions. Latjor relayed the message to Joof, and Joof indicated
> by gesturing that he'll take questions after the other panelists had given
> their speeches. But surprise, surprise, even while Latjor was looking down
> at the Secretary and saying into the mike that he "hope the honorable
> Secretary would answer questions after." the man picked up his leather
> folder, got off the dais, stopped and stooped to whisper something into
Mrs.
> Lena Manga's ear (sitting in the second row.) And before you could say
> "1,2,3" he started working briskly towards the exit. It all happened so
> fast, we were all caught unawares. Someone shouted that "the man is
> leaving." Several people called out "coward!" Some people queried Latjor
> about why the man is leaving. I thought Latjor's reply was very apt:
> "there's nothing you can do when the man wants to leave. You cannot force
> him to stay. There's nothing you can do." Some of us followed him outside.
> Myself and Pa Samba Jow came out and found Joof, Lena Manga, some Embassy
> Security guard, and some two other fellows talking. Pa Samba had a video
> camera, and when Joof saw us, he started walking towards a Mercedes that
was
> just pulling up. We both started talking, and Pa Samba managed to fire a
> question: "Mr. Secretary, can you tell us why the killers of the students
> were Idemnified?" Joof quickly pulled the car's rear door and jumped in
> shutting the door without answering Pa Samba's question. The car made a
> U-turn, and he was gone.  This was the sum of the "threat" that Joof
faced.
>
> When I turned around, there was Lena. I asked why her boy was running
away?
> "He's going because they don't want him." I said, "who doesn't want him?
Who
> are 'they?'  It's because of this punkish behavior that people don't want
> this govt." Lena didn't say a thing. At that point, Tombong Jatta also
came
> out to see what's up. Joof's car was gone. We walked back into the hall.
No
> one could believe that Joof had bolted.
>
> Is this someone who felt threatened, or is this someone who used ONE
> PERSON's heckling as an EXCUSE to dodge tough questions. Joof is a sharp
> fellow. And you can tell the man is cognizant of the predominant ill-will
> towards their govt. among Gambians in the US, and DC in particular.  Tijan
> Ceesay told me that they "had to go through the President to get them to
> come." I believe him. Only Yaya Jammeh can get Joof to venture into that
> gathering. That guy was looking for an excuse -any excuse- to run away
from
> that gathering. He seized what he had, and bolted. Ramatulie is right, the
> man didn't even have the decency to say he was leaving. Tombong, his
cohort
> was as surprised as we all were.
>
> Hamat Bah took over, and talked about virtually every section of our
> national life. I fell in love with the man. This is one person, I won't
> hesitate voting for. I don't have time to go into details, but he
> de-constructed all the lies that the APRC keeps telling Gambians about our
> recent past.  Halifa Sallah was vintage Halifa: very articulate, very well
> prepared, and engaging. He stated his positions and dared us to challenge
> him. It was a shame that there wasn't time to allow us to engage him in a
> thorough discourse.
>
> Tombong Jatta, the other APRC speaker is an old family friend, so I don't
> want to elaborate much on him. Not that there's much to say anyway,
because
> it's fair to say that Koto Tombong was simply out of his league. To say
that
> he was incoherent is being very generous. Hamat Bah made a good point
about
> the American Constitution being Amended only 29 times in nearly 250 years,
> while only four years on, the APRC-doctored Constitution has been Amended
39
> times! To refute this, Tombong tried to walk us through versions of the
Old
> and New Constitutions.  It was a complete disaster. His entire
presentation
> turned comical at the end. He defended their Amendment giving Yaya Jammeh
> the power to appoint Chiefs and Alkalolus. He said Chiefs are judges
that's
> why they "really believe they should not be elected." But then he shot
> himself in the foot when he asked us "where in the world are judges
> elected?"  America! Several of us shot back. "America? They elect judges
in
> America?" Yes, we said. He was taken aback. "Ok, where else?"  Someone
said
> "Florida!" He caught that one: "That's in America" he said.  At that
point,
> we had to leave the Hall for another group.  There was an anticlimax to
the
> ending.
>
> Outside, while we were talking to Mr. Njie, he bolted as soon as Pa Samba
> asked him to answer some questions on camera: "I don't talk to
journalists.
> That's my right. Not so?" he said. Pa Samba asked why he won't go on
camera
> if he's sincere about what he was saying. No response there. While I was
> talking to Tombong about some mutual friends and neighbors back home,
Conteh
> walked up and in his trade-mark high energy way, delivered a short sermon
to
> him: "Mr. Jatta, Mr. Jatta, Listen. I've known you a long time. Be
careful!
> Be very careful. If you continue doing this, some day you'll really regret
> this. You need to be very careful." Funny thing was, Tombong kept nodding
> his head while Conteh was preaching him. Quite out of touch the fellow is.
> To hit that home, when I told the man that I'm glad they summoned the
> courage to come at all as they don't have any supporters here, he seemed
to
> be genuinely surprised by that statement. "Really?" he asked me. I just
> shook my head. If he can't tell such an open secret by people's response
to
> them as compared to Hamat Bah and Halifa, then I won't even bother. Mr.
Njie
> shouted for them to jump into a waiting car.
>
> In passing, it was great to tie some more faces to names:
> Dr. Jaiteh, who was looking for "the one with High Blood pressure" -me.
He's
> an immaculate gentleman. I spent a while on Sunday evening listening to
him
> with Mr. Halifa Sallah give us some very good suggestions on how we can
move
> forward.  The talk was rudely interrupted by some fellow who decided he
had
> better things to ask Mr. Sallah. Things about his mission to "campaign"
here
> and "the good things he hears about him" for instance. I guess  Malanding
> now knows why my blood pressure sometimes goes haywire. Some people behave
> like donkeys!
>
> MLJ Conteh aka "Dictator Jemus: Let My People Go" is as high-maintenance
in
> person as he is on the List. Conteh is simply the most determined opponent
> of Jammeh I have ever met. His "Naphiyo" greetings is very appropriate
> because he is every bit Serere in appearance. For a minute, I thought I
was
> looking at Hassan Joof, a good friend of mine.  Conteh is a real Comrade.
>
> Musa Jeng: Fr. Mose is a lot more likable in person than he appears on the
> List. I can see KB and Hamjatta Hi-Fiving the brother when they meet in
real
> life. He's cool, nice, and very reasonable. He's someone I can hang out
with
> any time. It's good to meet Mose. As was Babucarr Sillah, though I don't
> remember the brother much from his contributions on the List.
>
> Joe Sambou, Pa Samba and others, I've met before. The  biggest
> disappointment to myself was not seeing Kebba Dampha. But, I guess there's
a
> next time. And yes, UDP was the biggest loser.
>
> I gotto go now. Saiks, I hope you'll understand why I, or anyone else
> couldn't ask about your friend's plight. Bye.
>
> Saul.
>
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