Dear Readers:

The unedited e-mail below came from a source in the heart of the Gambian
Government.

Regards,
Ebrima


________________________________________________________________


>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Latin American-Stlye Inflation in The Gambia
>Date: Thu, 06 Mar 2003
>
>Hi Coach,
>
>The A(F)PRC Government of Yahya Jammeh has failed the Gambian people
>miserably and therefore should resign and make way for a transition
>Government of National Unity.  There are efforts being made within the
>Gambia National Army and other quarters to see to it that there is smooth
>transition from the failed A(F)PRC experiment to a real Government of
>national Unity that will put things right for early election. In fact, it
>is as a result of some movements in the Army at Kanilai and Yundum that
>some officers, including a significant number of soldiers, were among those
>'arrested' on Tuesday.  There are still some rounding up being done by the
>head of the Jammeh security detail at kanilai and at State House.
>
>Back to the inflationary pressures being felt by the Gambian people, NAWEC
>has increased its electricity and water rates by an average of 55% with
>effect from February.  So we were all greeted with massive electricity
>bills this month.  Where this will end is anybody's guess.  One thing I
>know is that the rate of inflation in Gambia is unsustainable in terms of
>the political and social implications.
>
>To further aggravate the foreign exchange market, Social Security and
>Housing Finance Corporation decided unwisely, I might add, to spending
>millions of dalasis to refurbish the hotel selecting Emphorium without even
>attempting to go to tender.  Well, that's the norm these days in Yahya
>Jammeh's Government.  No Tender board, No tendering.  You select the person
>or company you want to do business with and strike the best deal for
>yourself... not for the Nation.  Anyway, the main problem with this deal is
>that Social Security, instead of providing the dalasi equivalent of the
>cost of refurbishing the hotel, decided to intervene in  the black market
>to purchase foreign currency on behalf of Emphorium. This obviously
>resulted in a further depreciation of the already-battered dalasi by a
>further 15% in a matter of 48 hours.  SOMEBODY OUT THERE OUGHT TO TELL
>THESE STUPID JAMMEH REGIME HOW NOT TO MANAGE AN ECONOMY.  Well, finally,
>yesterday the useless Department of Finance finally stopped the illegal
>operations of Social Security and this morning the pressure on the dalasi
>is slightly less than what it was barely a couple of days ago.


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