In a message dated 7/29/03 5:30:52 PM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

>
> Jabou,
>
> "The state of Gambia is an internationally recognized democratic
> government, and it is now a critical ally of the US which I know for a
> fact.  Indeed, I am a US citizen and I work for the US Government
> without passion or prejudice. I am also fully aware of the State
> Department reports and much more about the Gambia."

Ebou Jallow,

You are quite right, The Gambia is an internationally recognized Democratic
government, but   We,  The People of The Gambia are now telling the World that
the APRC regime is not running a Democratic government because of documented
facts to the contrary, and the people who live under this regime should know
better than anyone else whether ours is a democratic government or not. This
simple fact over-rides any recognition that the Jammeh regime may enjoy,
untimately, ,we get to decide who represents us, and they do so in the name of the
people, not as individuals.

The people of The Gambia are a better judge of what kind of government we
have  than any other nation that is interested only in safeguarding their
interest and conducting business as usual despite their own documented findings
regarding the record of this regime. This is not the first time this has happened
and it is up to the Gambian people to look after our own interests and choose
who leads us and ultimately who is authorized by us to forge alliances on our
behalf.

The APRC regime is only a Democratic government in name and organization of
our Constitution gives the impression we are a democratic government but the
laws that govern us as a nation have no meaning to the APRC regime except as a
tool to parade before the international comunity in their deception that they
are running a democratic government and their intention is for personal gain
only.

The Gambia being a critical ally of the U.S is TOTALLY IRRELEVANT  to the
issue of whether the Gambian people think Jammeh and the APRC are fit to rule us.
If Jammeh signs any strategic alliances with any other nation, the U.S
included, it is  because he is seen as the representative of the Gambian people, and
it is the Gambian Nation that is forming these  alliances with other nations
and Yaya Jammeh can only represent us if we choose him to lead us, and it is
arbitrary whether he was freely chosen, and his actions betray the fact that he
does not have the confidence that the people will choose him if the electoral
process is allowed to proceed without any foul play by the APRC
Should the people choose someone else tomorrow to replace Jammeh, that person
will be the one that any nation choosing to allign with us in any way will
look to. Therefore, Yaya Jammeh the man is not the reason for the alliance. If
he was not head of state which is a job that he is supposed to be doing on
behalf of the people, ,the U.S or any other nation will not give him or the APRC
the time of day, much less look to him as an ally. Even as a leader, Jammeh has
no special qualities that any nation would seek for any reason.

Part of the problem is that this simple fact is forgotten by people like
Jammeh once they are in power and it looks like you have also forgotten the same
despite your allegations of being knowledgeable in the affairs of running a
government.
The U.S cannot advocate democracy at home and then be partners in the
creation of a monster for our country, and they should know that once the monster is
created, and especially in this day and age, he then becomes a monster for
everyone, not just the Gambia. We choose our own leaders, and then cooperate with
all friendly nations as allies in the effort to maintain the safety and well
being of all. People who are drunk with power and who will do anything for
money cannot be counted upon to fulfil their end of any bargain,  and so I should
think it is in the best interest of our friends around the World to recognize
our need for credible, trustworthy and capable leaders.

You wrote
>
> "FYI: I had been prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice confronting
> Jammeh; travelling to Angola, South Africa, Europe and
> Colombia...mobilizing resources amongst friends/well-wishers in an
> effort to end Jammeh's regime.  This is no secret, and Jammeh himself
> knows.  Yet I have conclusively decided to reconcile with him and
> support his efforts to built a better Gambia.  I have personal reasons
> for my actions and I believe this is my preprogative....such also is my
> going back to Gambia.  FYI again, I will go to Gambia and help the APRC
> be a better party that is much more responsive to the needs of the
> Gambian people.  Baba Jobe, Yaya Jammeh and myself were the founding
> fathers of the the APRC.  Infact the party initials were my own
> suggestion...just pray and wish me well."

Well Ebou, you must know something that the rest of the Gambian people do
not.
However, please remember that you and the APRC and Jammeh have only your
opinions but the decision still rests with the people who are the ones to choose a
leader based on their record and performance, and the record of this regime
is something no amount of talking will erase. Likewise, no amount of
grandstanding and fast talking is also going to take away the fact that no one can force
a government on any people unless they employ illegal and maniulative tactics
and in that case, they are illegal occupants of the seat of government, but
that has never bothered any tyrants who make their own rules. It certainly has
not bothered the Jammeh regime and it si up to the people to protect our
country.
If the APRC regime is what is best for the Gambia, and if they are indeed
running a democratic government as you say, then let them join the line with the
rest of the opposition parties and go to the people to campaign for votes the
legal way,  and let them let others do the same, without any tricks and
illegal acts. In this case, they should have nothing to fear.

You wrote
>
> "The "opposition" will be taken seriously if and only if they respond to
> Jammeh's call for reconciliation.  Empty threats and imflammatory
> rhetorics is regressive and an anachronistic throwback to a bygone
> era.  They should approach Jammeh with sincerity and forget about his
> personality.  It is the political culture, stupid NOT Yaya Jammeh( as
> the US slang goes). It is reconcialiation that ended the Apartheid
> regime and not the Umkatha guerrilla movement.  It is reconcialition
> that reintegrated democratic party politics in Ghana and Senegal NOT
> the politics of vengeance."

Ebou, the opposition does not need Jammeh's sanctions to be the opposition,
they have that as a birthright, and their existance and appeal to their fellow
Gambians to give them an opportunity to lead them is not dependent on whether
Jammeh and the APRC recognizes that or not. However, I believe Jammeh takes
them very seriously indeed otherwise he would not be so busy trying to
assasinate their characters if they were so insignificant.
However, you  have lost me here when you start talking about reconcilliation.
Is Jammeh seeking reconcilliation and for what and with whom?
Is he seeking to have all the other opposition parties join the APRC and
choose him as lifetime leader of The Gambia, or is there something he has done
that needs the establishment of a truth and reconcialliation commission? What
reconcialliation?

The APRC regime is the one who have committed crimes against the Gambian
people, and consequently they are the ones who need to find ways to ammend those
actions, and  we cannot afford to let their fear of facing the results of their
actions high jack the political process in our country.

Their crimes range from the burning to charocal of one of their cabinet
ministers to the gunning down of our children who were engaged in a march that is
legal under the democratic process that you say this regime represents. From
the illegal way-laying and physical attack on opposition party members on a
campaign trip, to the illegal detention of Gambians on false charges without
following the laws of our constitution in bringing due process to bear in the case.
From the police state atmosphere where people are picked up in the middle of
the night and many have vanished,  some murdered with the excuse that they
were plotting  the overthrow of the government, or just because they dare to
exercise their right to free speech. What a Democracy!

All of these things and many more have transpired and the government of Yaya
Jammeh has gone out of their way to make sure that no investigation into the
commission of these crimes against the people has taken place.
In the United States as well as any other law abiding place on the face of
the earth, these crimes would have been investigated, and the refusal to
investigate these crimes and have the perpetrators of these crimes against the people
punished accordingly is in itself an indication of guilt by whoever does not
want this process to take place.
If Jammeh is talking about reconcilliation, then let him start by allowing
investigations into these crimes against the people. Having an opposition voice
their disapproval of the record of the present government and attempting to
organize themselves to unseat such a government through the democratic process
is not something that calls for a reconcilliation.

The people are not the one engaging in name calling and it is not Jammeh's
personality that is the issue. It is the mode by which his government has
conducted their office, and this has not been satisfactory and we have a right to
say so and to seek to replace them because it is we the people they are serving.
Infact, ,it is Jammeh who seems to focus on people's character instead of on
the issues because I believe he does not have the capability to take the
record of his opponents in the opposition parties  versus his own record and argue
on that basis and I think he also does not want to get into any position where
he has to defend his own record because it is so atrocious.

Jammeh's speeches comprise of continually berating Gambians, even our elders
and religious leaders are not immune to the disrespect, and he talks to
everyone like they are a bunch of children, and you talk about name calling. That is
his specialty.

His response to the news of  the attempt to organize an Opposition Coalition
was to try to assasinate the characters of the members of the opposition party
leadership just the other day. Calling everyone names and accusing them of
not being qualified to lead the country and what qualifications does he have?

Who set up a criterion by which it is up to Yaya Jammeh and the APRC to
decide which Gambian is qualified to seek to lead their people? Jammeh has fired
most of the qualified professionals in the civil service and has replaced them
with his party stooges who have no qualifications for the posts they hold, and
he is talking about people being qualified to lead? What qualifications  to be
head of state did  Jammeh himself have prior to coming into power. The barrel
of a gun and willing participants! Nothing more.

I think you had better advice  or coach him to concentrate on the issues if
he is able to do that at all,  and if he needs you to asist him with that.

There have been attempts by many Gambians to engage this regime in dialogue
once it became obvious that they were headed the wrong way with their police
state actions and disregard for the rule of law, and all of it fell on deaf ears
because the  regime was drunk with power. Now, it has become even more
obvious that they are also dangerous in addition to being incompetent, and no amount
of negotiations will make them become better leaders  who abide by the rules
over night, and besides, intelligent people do not call for negotiations when
it comes to competing for votes unless the APRC has the deranged idea that
they can talk the opposition into disbanding and accepting Jammeh as a lifetime
president,  or forming a one party state with him as head, and only someone who
has no idea what they are talking about would propose a reconcilliation with
the opposition. i cannot imagine what there is for them to reconcile with
Jammeh who has broken every law in our country.

> You wrote

> "It was very interesting to hear Jammeh disclose during his recent trip
> in DC that he is the "servant of the Gambian people" and that he
> knows "God gave him the power he has and not elections".  He also
> asserted that "inorder to for God to forgive you, you must learn to
> forgive your fellow humankind".  Is this not humanely humble?  If
> Jammeh is a tyrant or a dictator today it is because Gambians including
> the "Opposition" need him to be such as to have something to oppose.
> Jammeh does not think he is a tyrant but the "servant of the people",
> and I completely agree with him."
>

Ebou, sorry, but this above statement is utter nonsense, and you are begining
to sound like Jammeh here, uttering the impossible and expecting sane people
to believe it. If Jammeh is a servant of the people, then the definition of
that has changed. He is no servant of the people but a living, breathing tyrant
who has hijacked our government and refuses to let go. All we ask of him a a
free and fair election. Period, a process that is the backbone of the
democratic process. You say he is a tyrant because the opposition wants him to be a
tyrant? Then Jammeh is not the leader  both you and he proposes him to be if he
lets his opponents dictate his actions and what utter nonsense this is. Then
the man muct be a programmable robot,  and has no  convictions that guide his
actions and can such a person then lead anyone?
Jammeh is being opposed on his record as should be the case and even if it
were a good one, the opposition can still oppose him, they need no excuse. This
is an elementary fact of the democratic process.
In conclusion, I think you are at a very confusing  crossroads and have no
idea where to head. Perhaps you need to dialogue with Jammeh privately and good
luck with your decision to go help him forge a better Gambia. The people will
also be working hard to forge a better Gambia, and everyone has to ultimately
bear the brunt of their own actions.

Jabou Joh
>
>
>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~