Thanks abdou for butting in so brilliantly. Your commentary has really
captured my attention. It is my humble wish that this bless forum should
benefit from the eloquence and informed commentaries of the likes of you.

I want to observe that if we are to truly worth our salt as a positive
opposing force we must see the process of democratisation at home not just
conceptually but also practically. The idea of having an alliance of
opposition parties to face the bestial yaya and his party of killers, come
the october election, is to say the least, very, very beautiful and
critical.

I am convinced that given the idealogical leaning of The PDOIS, I cannot
forsee the possibility of them venerating a political marriage of the kind
we are looking for. One that can bring about a united camp capable of
flushing out the blood-thirsty and trigger happy idiot and his party.

Any keen reader of the political history of the PDOIS can acknowledge that
their idealogical stance does not kind of allow them to embrace the type of
political fusion that the Gambia need in the opposition today inorder to
exert the envisaged change. That leaves me to believe that practically, an
alliance of all parties in the opposition is inconceivable in the immediate.
What needs to be done now is to get the rest of the parties deemed to be
willing to join an alliance to harmonise their political differences with a
view to take up the enemy of progress and democracy : Yaya and his killer
group, vigorously.

I want to add that It is not just enough to reveal corruption, injustice and
ineptitude of the ruling government, we must learn to engage the devil in
his own terms. I am not calling for war and I have no desire to reduce the
Gambia to a theatre of warlords as seen in our other sister - countries but
I am tempted to believe that the only language that Yaya and his men
understand is that of unnecessary violence. Time seems to be running out for
us as a country and as a nation. The Gambian nation has been by design(by
Yaya and his regime)reduce to a nation of tribal allegiance and patronage.
Our villages, cities, towns and roads have seen more blood and violence than
it would take to butt his ill-famous regime. Personally, I am tire of
talking I want to be on the more practical level of bringing about sanity
and decency in government and in us all as a people belonging to one country
and one not-to-be divided nation, and whatever organisation united to
galvanise speedily that state of affairs, I am a willing candidate. my heart
bleeds whenever I think about the fact that While the rest of the world is
forging ahead, The Gambia is held hostage by a group of bandits calling
themselves democrats. We must now or never, search for more worthwhile
ventures that can usher in true democracy and good governance, whatever it
take to bring that about.

The Gambian nation is blessed with good citizens enough to make a
significant change the very minute following on the heels of the destruction
of Jammehism. I like the concept of democracy only if it is true to its
callings. What obtains in The Gambia today is a blatant mockery of the sytem
and should not be allowed to continue or to gain the momentum which it seems
to be generating/getting. We should not allow Jammeh to perpetrate his
political window-dressing exercise. We have been through it already and must
resist the temptation or opportunity of going through it again. I am not a
pessimist but it is written on the walls already that the political reality
in The Gambia would only give him the leeway to further arrest and own all
our fundamental human rights.


Down with The APRC !

Sallah.


>From: abdou toure <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Brother saul,hamjatta, kb and elections
>Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 21:33:16 -0000
>
>Sorry for butting in this late, but I thought i should add my voice to this
>important question.
>
>Firt, I don't KB is  defending the Jawara record. I think he is simply
>challenging any attempts to distort the historical record. In any
>case, to be a Jawara revisionist is far better than being a Jammeh
>mouth piece. (For some reason, people tend to distance themselves from
>the PPP era as if it was all bull...; that attitude is unfortunate.
>One needs to be familiar with what had happened or had not happened
>and compare the Gambia with other countries in Africa in similar
>position. Both the good and the bad of the jawara era should be understood-
>anyway all  that's another matter) As people say in Gambia, "the worst
>about
>jawara is better than the best (if any) about Jammeh".
>Also, to me KB's wise warehouse does not seem to be emaciated as
>hamjatta suggested. Don't forget that KB and anybody who abhors the
>record of this regime must keep talking about the killing of  our
>children, as kb does so well. This is not just an issue it is the
>ISSUE because it typifies the inner character of the regime. The Nazis
>were great inventors, but because they were killers,  the just- minded
>has never commended them for their developmental efforts. Also, I
>don't imagine any body familiar with apartheid to talk about the
>progressive development projects of the white racist regime, while the
>vast majority lived in abject poverty. It is good to be balanced in
>one's analysis, but it is only when the other party in the debate
>genuinely shares that approach. Have you seen in any of jobe's supercilious
>postings as reference to to good or "progressive" efforts before 1994- or
>was it all bad really?
>
>Brother Saul is a very sharp analyst and I like his subtle humour.
>But, I was taken aback when I read part of his recent posting that
>brother hamjatta responded to. I thought that anybody in the opposition who
>has been so strident in his condemnation of this regime, as saul has, would
>have been sufficiently informed about the historical record. If not he
>should make efforts to educate himself. But to suddenly turn around and
>call
>the efforts of the regime progressive, based on information provided by one
>of the regime's staunchest propagandist, is rather interesting. I can
>understand commending jobe for his personal efforts in defending what he
>believes in, but agreeing with him on the record of the regime in such
>benevolent manner is another thing.As hamjatta said, the big, and i might
>add, relevant picture, should be the road map. A regime like this does not
>deserve any form of commendation; even if they succeed in turning around
>the
>poverty situation, or start drilling oil in the gambia. the fact that they
>killed their own people, and continue to dehumanise our society they are
>not
>fit to rule .  And as long as they remain unrepentant and outside the bell
>curve of human decency they do not deserve any commendation. George got it
>right they do not desrve any credit. Some of you may remember Wa Juwara
>(UDP) praising Jammeh when the J 22 Movement was "disbanded" (as reported
>in
>the local papers. Well, was it not the "disbanded" movement that spearheade
>the Basse ambush? There you have it>
>
>The inevitable end of all infidels and raw dictators is often
>tenebrous; the battlot box is rarely the sure path for their exit.  Here, I
>find, Kats warning signs to be very important. The reason why we have the
>kebba jobs on this  is partly because of the energy they got from the
>by-elections. Imagine another "victory" in October, there would be many
>kebba jobs here. This is why the oposition should remain resolute (if they
>believe in their calling), and not be swayed by the need to be a
>"reasonable' debater with unreasonal people.
>
>About the election, some have called for a boycott and KB has strongly
>argued against that and advanced the option of a united front in the ranks
>of the opposition. That's important provided it is possible. Senegal has
>shown how powerful the opposition can be when they see a common enemy. I am
>not sure that all the opposition elements see yaya and his regime in the
>same way- that's is a problem.
>
>AT
>
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
>Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>You may also send subscription requests to
>[log in to unmask]
>if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your
>full name and e-mail address.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------