Dear saul,
I havent read Dr.Saines work on Sir Dawda yet so it maybe be premature
to comment directly on that.But you have captured the essence of my
reaction in some large proportion to Jawara The Human.
   Sir Dawda is a national hero in my opinion. That became more and more
clearer to me when i observe Yayas undertake and above all his affect
towards the Gambian masses.
   If not for rebuilding our national pride and ailing history we owe him
our ears.As a humanbeing we all do wrong one time or another.
It is almost dreamly to look for a perfect man or woman for that matter.
   Time certain wash away good deeds especially during bad times.
A good Government is less possible than a perfect man in a bad
situation.Sir Dawda was a Good man surrounded by too many not so good
assistants.His assistants were unperfect men caught up in a society
that upheld them higher than their means could buy,most of them cracked!
Everyone who knew them by name push their hand into the cracks to pull their
assumed share as if it was free gift.
    To blame any walking soul squarely for our countrys fall is no fairer
than wishing Mr. Jammeh more time to lead Gambia.
    Now compare six years of 'his marjesty' and 30 years of 'His
Excellency'. I know some of my brothers will disagree with me but i seem to
believe that even Mr Jammeh cannot wish for 30 years of his
marjesty, that will be both insulting and degrading to his remaining
grains of intelect;wont it?
    If we fail to release that no matter what we believe of him, our
most practical way to democracy is through the restoration of our Founding
Fathers name and praise singing 'his marjesty' out we shall
twist in our dilema quite some more, unwarranted.
    Not only did he hand down upon us the Banjul Declaration, in it
this genius incorporated the rights of Animals in the blurr.
Cant we see HE has a point? Saul perdon me and dont take this script
totally personal but he cared about Aboko Nature reserve let alone
our children.He may not have been a good accountant but that was 'bestored'
for some time on Abu Dentin!He may not have switched on
the lights of GUC on time but for the sage of God he even tried putting his
own son to put on the switch at times but .......
I reset my boring case but one notion bro if we dont get to work
on time one of these days the Gambian Child will forget the meaning of the
word KAIRABA!!! If nothing else at least they deserve their freedom and
peace each day---god.


        PEACE!!!



>From: saul khan <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Dr. Saine on Dawda K.Jawara:The man, His Politics and Legacy
>Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 22:33:37 -0000
>
>Dr. Saine,
>
>As usual, thanks for a very scholarly job. It's first-rate. My head is
>spinning from having to run thru the paper in an hour. Reading the paper
>though, I found myself struggling with different emotions. At some points,
>I
>found myself empathizing with Jawara the decent fellow; at some, he truly
>confused me; and yet at other points, I feel really disappointed that he
>hasn't taken that extra step to apologize for some of the terrible mistakes
>of his reign.
>I empathize with him because of the way he has been maligned by the Yaya
>Jammeh people, even though it's abundantly clear to all now that they're
>bigger crooks  than he ever was. He certainly never had a private plane, or
>mansion anywhere.
>But he confused me regarding the role of Saihou Sabally/Hassan Jallow in
>his
>ouster. Clearly, he's insinuating that Sabally at the very least was in on
>whatever was in the offing. This being hind sight, there's simply no merit
>to that story. Prez Jawara as a Yaya Jammeh prisoner would have survived,
>Saihou Sabally as a Yaya Jammeh prisoner would be dead meat. No doubts
>there. The silly rivalry between Sabally and Bakary Darbo was no secret,
>but
>even there, Sabally had all his cards riding on Jawara's good graces.
>Sabally was simply the MOST HATED personality in the PPP between 1992 and
>1994. Only HE Jawara couldn't see the bozo for what he truly is. So, what's
>the Old Man trying to say now? Also, on the case of a successor, he
>proclaims it would be un-democratic to annoint Darbo, or someone else
>because others in the ranks were eligible as well. Maybe so. But was there
>any mechanism in place that would ensure a smooth (internal PPP)
>succession,
>rather than the chaotic public back-stabbing that his Boys engaged in.
>We're
>none the wiser from this exchange regarding that. And one has to wonder if
>Sir wasn't encouraging that in-fighting just so he continued to be the
>indispensable "compromise candidate" that both the Darbo and Sabally camps
>can't live without (since they evidently couldn't stand each other.) In any
>case, how was the PPP supposed to select his successor?
>And regarding the apologies, it's not even the lack of a coherent and
>disciplined development agenda all those years, it's the corruption
>jamboree
>that he's dismissing as the manifestation of "petty jealousies" that is a
>little hard to swallow. In truth, it's ok for Mr. Civil Servant to build a
>"self-contain" or buy a Mercedes. But when this "civil servant" only earns
>$250/mo, yet manages to build a $25/$30K house, and a $40K car -all in a
>few
>years period, those who raise eye-brows are hardly doing so out of "petty
>jealousy" in my view. But if truth be told, this has always been Sir
>Dawda's
>attitude towards corruption in his government. And it doesn't help matters
>at all, because anyone with a modicum of decency could look at 1992/93
>Gambia and spot the open bleeding of public coffers.
>     I had a senior govt officer as a neighbour. This gentleman spent nine
>years struggling to build a four-bedroom house. Right next-door, a junior
>Customs officer who is a friend of mine (and who confided in me at one
>point
>that his salary was around D750 ($56-60),) took less than three months to
>build a D300K ($25K) house! And life would be great back there if one could
>dismiss that as an aberration. It simply wasn't. From the 25c toll
>collectors on the streets, to his cabinet ministers, looting public money
>was the rule! Neither could one exonerate Jawara. Deng Xiao Ping, the late
>Chinese leader for all his sinility, said it best when he declared that:
>"When you have an evil system, even good people are forced to do evil; and
>when you have a good system, even evil people are forced to do good." Get
>the point? So, while individual Gambian citizen hypocrisy, and selfishness
>was a major factor, culpability ultimately lied squarely at the foot of
>Prez
>Jawara. And it really would enhance this gentleman if he would accept the
>abundant evidence out there regarding his govt's corruption, and apologize
>to the Gambian nation -if for nothing else, but the WASTED CHANCES that the
>nation was given under him. But, if that is too much to ask, how about
>"Jawara the Human Rights champion" apologizing for killing a 98 year-old
>man
>named Pa Ali Jammeh of Bakau for political reasons? I don't care if the old
>man manufactured guns and handed them to Kukoi rebels. He was 98 years old
>for god's sake! For Jawara to have let that half-dead man to rot in jail is
>un-forgivable to me.
>     But generally Dr., I think you've done a balanced overview of "Jawara
>the man." On the other hand, some of us who are yearning to understand some
>of the monumental mistakes of "Jawara, the President" may have to wait some
>more. For indeed, there are too many un-answered questions/unresolved
>issues. I believe one is sincere when one admits to errors that were made
>in
>good faith. "To err is human" they say. But when obvious wrongs to a whole
>nation are brushed aside, or trivialized, then one is forced to wallow in
>cynicism, even if the subject is an otherwise desirable character like DK
>Jawara. For "Jawara, the decent Statesman" to take his rightful place in
>our
>collective memory, he HAS TO take that extra step to apologize for his
>misdeeds, inactions, or oversights -whether they were committed wittingly
>or
>unwittingly. Otherwise there'll never be a definitive conclusion to the
>"Jawara Chapter" of our nation's history. What we've seen so far (and what
>has been re-inforced by this paper,) is that "Jawara the Man" is more
>acceptable than "Jawara, the Prez." For you can call Prez Jawara a "tragic
>hero" and produce a mountain of evidence to back up your assertion. On the
>other hand, you can call him a villain/crook, and back that up too with
>tons
>of evidence. In American gender terms, you'll have to call the man
>"bi-sexual." He simply goes both ways! So, as we struggle to unearth the
>"real Prez Jawara," we're left reeling from all the contradictions, and
>confusion... Exactly how I feel at the moment after spending the last two
>and a half hour reading and writing about Sir. I would have loved to do a
>longer piece, but I simply don't have the time. All I can say is that, I
>love DK Jawara the man. I don't have much stomach for Prez Jawara. And I
>hope the man will some day come to terms  with his failings as president,
>and do the right thing. Our country deserves "closure" to the "Jawara
>Chapter."
>
>Thanks for the piece once again -Dr. Saine.
>Good evening!
>
>Saul.
>
>
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