Hi Kebba!
While agreeing with most of what you said in this posting,
I would like to buttress your argument that the opposition parties should
refuse to participate in the coming elections if the playing field is not
level. The other parties should not take comfort in the fact that conditions
have not yet been laid on them because the campaign has not started in
earnest. I am glad that PDOIS has reacted and I hope NRP will follow suit.
Thanks.
Buharry.
----- Original Message -----
From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2000 8:52 PM
Subject: Re: Police Refuse To Give Us Permit For Meetings
> Saul and Comrade, am glad about your contributions on the above topic. It
is
> always with reluctance that I speak on such issues. To me, this is a very
> serious issue; coming in the immediate aftermath of reports that UDP
> supporters were attacked by July 22nd members in Brikama, and one of the
UDP
> supporters was in coma. If the trend is not clear to the naked eyes of
> elections proponents, then God help us. Ebrima Ceesay puts it best by
saying
> that Yaya is the one soliciting trouble for himself. What are people
waiting
> for to be really outraged? For Yaya to murder Ousainou Darboe and ban his
> party? For Yaya to dissolve parliament, suspend the Constitution and
declare
> another state of emergency? When I read Ousainou Darboe's reaction to the
> letter from Sankung (the IGP), I detected the cries of a man who is fast
> realizing the hopeless of the battle political parties are fighting in
> Gambia today. Sankung was in effect telling Darboe that they can NOLONGER
> hold political rallies. NEVER EVER. I am reproducing Sankung's letter here
> for people that missed the first one and the one from Kabir. Pay
particular
> attention to Sankung's second reason for denying them permission to hold
the
> rally:
>
>
> "I am directed to inform you that your application has not been approved
due
> to the fact that:
>
> a) The UDP have been violating the conditions attached to the approved
> permits.
>
> b) From the police view, UDP political rallies always violate conditions
of
> the Public Order Act, by using abusive words on government authorities or
> individuals within the government.
>
> There is already an alleged criminal charge for murder against the party
> leader Mr. Ousainou Darboe and 24 others and the case is before the High
> Court.
>
> The application for a permit for the use of public address system at mass
> rally at the Sixth Junction near to Serrekunda Primary slated for Saturday
> 15th July 2000 will not be considered until you are prepared to comply
with
> the conditions attached to permits as stipulated under the Public Order
Act.
>
> Sorry for any inconveniencies it may cause. Signed: The Inspector General
of
> police."
>
> So, as of now, political parties cannot use abusive words against Yaya and
> his gang? What is this? Do people still seriously think that Yaya and his
> gang are interested in democracy? What words can you use to describe Yaya
> and his cohorts? What would you advise Darboe to do under the
circumstances?
> Go sing Yaya's praises? Instead of holding rallies, to canvass door to
door
> and talk to people in their bedrooms where NIA agents will not hear them?
If
> this is not a clear violation of Darboe's freedom of speech, then what is?
> In my humble opinion, none of the above advise would be sound advise to
> Darboe. What Yaya and Co are doing right now and what Sankung's letter
> represents, is the biggest threat to our society. Yet very few people are
> speaking out against that. Instead, they attack people with genuine
> intentions to rid us of this tyranny. Participation in elections under
these
> circumstances should be critically assessed. If one cannot reach ones
> constituents to spread ones message, then I dare say that one should not
> participate in the elections. We repeat, participation in the elections
will
> only further legitimize Yaya. Maybe, had Darboe and Co boycotted the
> previous elections, both Yaya and Guie would be left out of the OAU
Summit.
> It is not just Darboe. But everyone that thinks that our salvation lies
with
> the ballot box should speak out against this continued lawlessness and
> ensure that there is a level playing field for the next elections.
Sankung's
> casual letter to Darboe where the former apologizes to the latter for any
> "inconveniencies" the letter may cause, says more than meet the eye.
Darboe
> recognizes that this letter has the potential of spelling disaster for our
> country. The government wants to disenfranchise Darboe. What did we say a
> long time ago about the bogus murder charges? Yes, it was just meant to
> silence Darboe. But we also said something else previously, and that is,
if
> the law does not provide redress for people, people take the law into
their
> own hands. These are the laws of nature, not things we are making up. So
> Sankung should apologize to the whole Gambian population for the kind of
> trouble such letters and policies can bring. The inconvenience to Darboe
and
> UDP is nothing compared to the potential repercussions of this letter. If
> Yaya wants to create an environment whereby we are not free to exercise
our
> God given rights, then it is only natural for people to stand up and say
> enough is enough and take the law into their own hands. As Darboe
eloquently
> said, this is still an illegal government no matter how you slice it. They
> are willing to stay in power by all means necessary. We should forget
about
> this unilateral disarmament business and take them on. Again, the problem
is
> Yaya and the people helping him to perpetuate himself in power. Not us. If
> people do not want anarchy and chaos to CONTINUE (because it is already
> existing in the society) they should take Yaya on and force him to respect
> the rule of law. People always make the mistake of predicting anarchy and
> chaos and scaring ordinary Gambians off, when they should be concentrating
> on the CURRENT CHAOS. Yaya is already killing people, abducting people,
> forbidding politicians from reaching their supporters etc etc. Do you
> counsel that we still leave him there in order to avoid another Sierra
Leone
> or Liberia? This is a perverse argument. In the first place, we should not
> settle for a Gambia in the state Yaya has put it. We should also not aim
for
> a situation that would be similar to what is currently happening in Sierra
> Leone. We assure you that genuine people are working tirelessly to meet
this
> noble goal i.e. have a "Yaya-less" Gambia that will not be similar to
> Liberia or Sierra Leone.
> We urge politicians to doggedly pursue the government and challenge all
the
> brutal and illegal postures of this government. Before legitimizing the
Yaya
> regime, politicians should ensure that there is a level playing field.
> Continue to showcase the brutality of this government and help us isolate
> them further. Yaya's days are numbered.
> I would not even waste my time on Sedat Jobe this time. The shameless duo
of
> Jobe and Taal are beyond repair. They have landed themselves in a List I
> would not wish any Gambian to be on at this stage of the struggle. When we
> catch up with them, they will wish they never heard the name Yaya before.
> Taal invoked the same childish mumbo jumbo two months ago when
Commonwealth
> officials were talking about monitoring elections in Gambia. This was also
> the same time that Jobe was lying to Wade telling the latter that Yaya was
> not arming the Casamance rebels. At that time, they heard from us. These
> people are the laughing stock of the decent Gambian people and our
friends.
> When we catch up with them though, it will not be a laughing matter. Even
if
> Sedat Jobe resigns today, he will not be saved. He already crossed the
line.
> Just like you cannot "unring" a bell, this man is gone.
> KB
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
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