How delightful and refreshing to hear some common sense from a leader. I am
proud of Wade and wish him all the best. I hope his neighbors in the OMVS
proposals understand that they can all benefit from the proper processing of
water especially unwanted flood water harnessed for Agriculture and its
attendant industry.

I hope Wade is not under the illusion that Yahya will make good on his
promise to repatriate Les Independantistes, but I have trust in the former's
tact, diplomacy, and commonsense.

Just step back for a minute and realize the heart of Wade and the enormity
of his tasks. He has intimate knowledge of local infrastructure, and with
all its shortcomings, he has an iterative plan to efficiently utilize what
is good, generate revenue and reinvest that revenue along with international
and private investment to improve and enhance the infrastructure and
increase capacity for increased growth.
He approaches disputes around the Bissau border and those formented by the
buffoon in Gambia with a conciliatory attitude thereby giving Yahya an
incentive to think for once rather than react to others' proposals and never
forward your own. Just sitting in Kanilai biding time.

The only part of Wade's program that is counterproductive maybe the
invitation of Libyan investment in storage facilities. First, I think
Senegal should honor the sanctions against Libya and not allow her territory
and citizens to be conduits of terrorism and chicanery by Libyans. Plus, I
encourage Wade to terminate diplomatic relations with Libya because of the
recent incidents of racism against Africans living in Libya.

>From: Madiba Saidy <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: FT INTERVIEWS ABDOULAYE WADE OF SENEGAL (fwd)
>Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 08:04:05 -0800
>
>FT.com | TotalSearch | Global Archive | Print
>SURVEY - SENEGAL: All change for a fresh style of government: INTERVIEW:
>PRESIDENT ABDOULAYE WADE by Nim Caswell: The new president, elected
>president in March, discusses his plans for fostering changes in the
>economy, the constitution and, most importantly, in public attitudes
>Financial Times, Nov 13, 2000
>
>Q: You've been in office for seven months, having campaigned for 26 years
>on
>the theme of change; so what changes have you made, and are you happy with
>progress so far? A: Iam very happy with these first seven months at the
>helm.
>The most important change to have taken place is in people's minds. They're
>ready to make an effort, not because the president says so or because
>they're paid to do it, but because they know they must. Won't they simply
>fall back into the old habits? Not at all. We are building a way out of the
>ghetto.
>There's been a complete change in the style of relations between the
>individual and the state. The president no longer travels with a long
>cortege. There's a completely new style of presidency.
>At an institutional level, there are big changes under way, too. A new
>constitution will be put to a referendum in January. The new National
>Assembly will be elected before April 1, when the old Assembly's mandate
>expires. What can you say about the new constitution? I don't know a
>country
>in the world that has taken such care over the drafting of a constitution.
>A
>commission of legal and constitutional specialists and judges drew up a
>first draft, amended by the prime minister and the full cabinet. Then, all
>the registered political parties got a chance to comment. The process was
>exceptionally democratic. And the content. ...? At the moment, we have a
>presidential regime; the prime minister does not feature. So I'm going to
>institutionalise the role of prime minister, with clearly defined areas of
>responsibility. The president in future won't be able to dissolve the
>assembly on the first vote of no confidence - only if it happens twice.
>The Senate will be abolished. It's a shame, because I was the first to
>propose that Senegal should have an upper house in 1974. But in practice it
>is useless. It simply goes over the same ground as the National Assembly,
>and is packed with Socialist Party candidates who failed to get themselves
>elected as MPs. The Economic and Social Council is going, too. What other
>changes are envisaged? We're going to make the judiciary more independent.
>That's the main thing. But we also envisage a clause that will bring
>forward
>elections at every level, including not only the National Assembly but
>regional, town and rural councils. With effect from the next elections, we
>will have five years of peace. Five years to work. Does that mean you
>anticipate your own party having a majority in the Assembly by then?
>Whether
>of my own party, or if necessary a coalition. Would it be fair to suggest
>you find yourself closer, ideologically, to some wings of the Socialist
>Party than to your present coalition partners? It would be difficult to say
>that. Politics in Senegal is complicated, full of nuances. Take the parties
>that describe themselves as being of the left. It's true that ideologically
>we're far apart. But in practice, we have always fought together against
>the
>Socialists. I've been in prison with all of their leaders - several times!
>Abdoulaye Bathily, Amath Dansoko, Landing Savane. But opposition and
>government aren't the same thing...? True, but it is something that unites
>us... a certain conception of the state. Also, certain of the old parties
>have detached themselves from their Marxist origins. And the Socialist
>Party
>itself, being descended from the single ruling party instituted by Leopold
>Senghor (the country's first post-independence president) embraces a huge
>range of opinion. There's been a realignment of political thought in
>Senegal. Turning to the situation in Casamance, do you expect to meet Abbe
>Diamacoune Senghor, leader of the separatist MFDC, soon? I have been in
>contact with him and the MFDC since I've been here. But you mustn't mix
>contact and discussion with negotiation. Independence for Casamance is not
>negotiable.
>We're in the process of setting up a system of reconciliation. As a first
>step, we have arranged help for those displaced by the troubles. Now we're
>moving into the second phase, under which the Gambian government will help
>us to repatriate all the Casamancais living in their territory. A large
>part
>of the solution lies in relations with neighbouring countries... The
>president of Guinea-Bissau has said he would never tolerate attacks on
>Senegal from his territory. Better still, he has agreed that the United
>Nations should send a force. The president of Gambia has decided to expel
>the independentistes from his territory. They've even started. Now we're
>going to get down to discussions. I think that in a very short time we will
>be able to make progress. Then there's Mauritania and the project known as
>the vallees fossiles... We've repudiated the name vallees fossiles. But as
>far as the Senegal river valley is concerned, we are bringing our policies
>up to date, taking into account the entirety of Senegal's water resources.
>During the wet season the surplus water floods villages and even threatens
>to sweep away St Louis. So we have another project - nothing to do with the
>vallees fossiles -so that in case of flood the water is channelled inside
>Senegal.
>I told the president of Mauritania he was welcome to divert that water into
>Mauritania. He was delighted! So we have no problem with Mauritania. So
>will
>the development of the river valley continue as planned? None of the three
>members of the Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du fleuve Senegal, -
>Senegal, Mauritania and Mali - has come anywhere near realising the
>irrigated area allowed under the treaty. We've only used 16 per cent of our
>allocation. All we want to do is to fulfil the potential of the area.
>Agriculture is at the heart of my thinking. We can grow lots of things here
>the European market needs. Gherkins, for instance. And there's a market for
>fruits like strawberries and melons, endive, green beans... So we're
>talking
>about horticulture with a high value ... Exactly. Once we've mastered the
>production side, we need to look at exports. The airport at St Louis will
>be
>expanded for freight aircraft to serve these markets. We've had offers from
>Italy, Morocco and Spain to help us finance storage facilities. I also want
>to improve transport linking St Louis to its surrounding district. You say
>'we', but won't most fall to the private sector? Of course. We will provide
>the infrastructure, but everything else is for private companies. We have
>Senegalese who are asking for hectares and hectares of land for market
>gardening. I imagine development of large industries. We envisage a large
>factory to produce flour from maize, manioc, potatoes and wheat, all
>destined for export. By processing our produce, we add value.
>Political change in Senegal is going to translate into economic change. I
>am
>an economic liberal and I believe in the free market. That's why we're
>planning to call on the market for structural investment in areas such as
>roads, the new toll motorways, the new airport, a new town near Dakar, and
>an African business centre.
>For the first time, we're going to do without the World Bank, and build
>viable projects using entirely private capital. That's the challenge I've
>set. Senegal has been under the tutelage of the World Bank and the IMF for
>more than 20 years... I'm not saying we can do without them altogether, but
>I want to make a start and I think we'll be among the first to do so. That
>means using the projects we've talked about, and linking them to the real
>dynamism of the sectors that offer the best potential for growth via the
>infrastructural developments I've outlined.
>I've got another project to develop the ports, in Dakar, Ziguinchor,
>Kaolack, Fatick and St Louis. Two private groups want to develop the port
>at
>St Louis. We're going to construct several oil refineries. That's to serve
>the surrounding region? To serve the region, but with Libya we want to
>build
>giant storage facilities. Iran wants to develop petro-chemicals in Senegal.
>We're going to propose that Nigeria builds a refinery in Senegal, though we
>haven't spoken to them yet. Private groups say they're ready to be involved
>in such projects. Will the population really be ready to wait? People trust
>me because they know I'm working on their behalf. You can see it daily on
>radio and TV. What are the findings so far of the audit of state
>enterprises? ? Huge deficits, figures bigger than you can possibly imagine.
>Sotrac, the bus company, lost CFA Fr30bn; the Post Office, CFA Fr17-18 bn;
>the port of Dakar... even the national lottery, Lonase. I don't know if
>there's anywhere else in the world where the lottery runs at a loss! CFA
>Fr4bn in the red! There are more, the national railways . . . Are these
>deficits due to misuse of funds? Of course. Will the individuals concerned
>be brought to justice? Absolutely. We are a law-abiding state, so we don't
>want to accuse people without legal foundation. We suspect lots of things,
>but we wanted to carry out our enquiries correctly.
>In the old days, the Socialist Party and its election campaigns were
>financed by the state companies. They couldn't touch those people. But
>today, we will get the proof and put it before a judge.
>Copyright: The Financial Times Limited
>Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2000.
>
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