Momodou, I second your motion and we shall know the truth for it shall set
us free.  It may hurt a lot, but we all will emerge victors.  You can tell
this issue has been on the minds of many.  Knowledge is power and I think
both Oko and Badou are matured enough to deal with the truth.  Ifangbondi
ceased to be Oko's, Badou's, or Paps' when they were adopted by Gambians.
This issue is bigger than Paps, Badou, and Oko, so let those that were
present at the creation present to us, an eye witness account of our past.
It's never personal but all in the pursuit of the truth.  Gentlemen, please
carry on.

Chi Jaama

Joe Sambou





>From: Momodou S Sidibeh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Paps Touray/ the painful truth
>Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 12:45:55 +0100
>
>Mr Badou Jobe wrote:
>
>"No doubt the 2nd story makes better reading, judging by the reactions. So
>I gladly leave the field to the likes of mr. Drammeh and his revelations,
>for the members of the Gambia-L to gloat on, wishing them happy reading".
>
>No. Neither gloating nor schadenfreude here. A couple of people responded
>to Oko's posting and there is no reason to suppose that their views are
>respresentative in any way. Infact, I for one, do not agree with Brothers
>Elhajj's or Habib's position. I am inclined towards sharing the view
>advanced by Oko Drammeh, namely, we cannot hope to redress social problems
>if we desist from narrating their causes for fear of brewing fresh
>acrimony.
>That is a pattern common amongst Gambians, where the absence of anonimity,
>in the main, encourages hanging on to flimsy notions of unity as a way of
>preserving domestic peace. The reason, partly is because traditional(!)
>methods of conflict resolution invariably fail to objectively address the
>past. In the process all we do is to sacrifice justice for unity, a formula
>which itself is a greater threat to future projects of mutual solidarity
>and unity. Confronting our history, analysing it, and taking possession of
>it, owning to all the honourable and dishonourable roles of individuals
>(especially where they matter politically) is a necessary condition in our
>struggle to take control of our destiny.
>
>Our predicament, as it relates to Ifang Bondi, perhaps lies in devising
>mechanisms of narrating this history objectively without undue emphasis on
>the failures of individuals, the deployment of bilious langauge, in order
>to make possible a post-bitterness reconciliation amongst all the members
>of Ifang Bondi.
>
>All of you without exception, made important contributions, big or small,
>to develop Ifang Bondi's music and thereby enrich Gambian culture
>immensely. Likewise, all of you influenced in different ways Ifang Bondi's
>demise. All of you must accept that responsibility in your own ways. With
>that perspective, it should be perhaps possible to narrate what happened
>rather than dwell on who did what.
>
>Long Live th Memory of Paps Touray
>
>momodou s sidibeh
>
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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:
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To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
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