With the UDP's surprising and tumultuous U-turn on cancelling their
participation and subsequent change of heart by agreeing to a nominal
reprsentation in the weekend ALD gathering, Gambia-L commentariat reminds one
of Montaigne's wiseacres on passing judgements: "To make judgements about
great and lofty things, a soul of the same stature is needed; otherwise we
ascribe to them that vice which is our own." Indeed, nothing best suffices to
capture some of the rash, crass and irresponsible remarks that had greeted
the UDP's initial announcement that it will not attend the ALD gathering in
Washington. Admittedly, not all of the commentariat were irresponsible, crass
and rash in their judgements. One reaches out to such admirable gentlemen
like Mr. Joe Sambou; who not only spoke with humility and candour but seems
to tentatively touch on a crucial issue which it seems to me he himself
hasn't fully grasped. Mr. Sambou made it a point to remark with the UDP's
sudden plans not to attend the ALD gathering in Washington and the "excuses"
or its lack thereof forwarded via Ebrima Ceesay's sources and Karamba Touray,
he smells a rat. And by jolly he got it right. Only problem is he smelt the
wrong rat. It seems to me that the rat Mr. Sambou smelt was the UDP's
unilateral decision not to be part of any coalescing United Opposition come
October 2001. This is wrong; i believe that despite the hesitancy, the UDP
genuinely embraces the principle of a United Opposition to face the APRC in
the coming elections. I will come to all of that in a while. If i may just
pause here and pay Mr. Sambou his dues. This is one gentleman whose exemplary
leadership role vis-a-vis the campaign fund drive ought to be emulated by all
Africans. Albeit all the mischievious heckles and un-necessary interruptions
- some of which were ridiculing the fund drive and in extension questioning
his integrity -  that came from some quarters, the gentleman remained
composed, genteel and professional answering their questions as ably as he
could possibly muster. In some instances, he would politely inform them that
he doesn't have monopoly on what should happen but this is the responsibility
of all well meaning Gambians and friends of the Gambia. Such exemplary
leadership styles ought to be emulated if Africans are serious about changing
things on that continent. With the likes of Mr. Sambou, one can fundamentally
disagree with them on personal philosophy and worldview but still retain
mutual respect and in extension achieve goals common to all irrespective of
other differences. It is such calibre of leadership that is still missing on
the African continent. Hats off, Mr. Sambou.

As was to be expected, the UDP's decision not go ahead with their scheduled
appearance at the ALD gathering was greeted with simple-minded hysteria,
knee-jerk irresponsible remarks and baseless insinuative accusations of
hypocrisy. Prominent amongst such comments were the ones forwarded by such
individuals like Mr Ousman Jallow Bojang - Gambia-L's resident Christopher
Hitchens; albeit without the acerbic wit, profundity and constructive
insights but armed with the world-weary cynicism and smug fatalism - and, of
course, our own very Bass Ndow, that incorrigible programmed fanatic. Amongst
others, Mr. Jallow Bojang's charge sheet read: well, being  sort of
claivoyant, he already knew that they UDP weren't ever going to attend the
ALD gathering. Then he - together with Bass Ndow - railed against those who
attacked the PDOIS for not attending the London Briefings for not extending
the same treatment to the UDP's unwillingness to be part of the ALD crowd
this weekend. This, as Brother Kebba Dampha pointed out earlier, is nothing
but froth. First, we didn't attack the PDOIS for not attending the Briefing
Sessions. Secondly, a chronology of events - retrieval from Gambia-L archives
- will reveal that the first any such mentioning of the PDOIS absence from
the Sessions was an enquiry launched by Dr. Abdoulaye Saine and Mr. Momodou
Sidibeh on the List immediately after the Sessions. I was the very one who
responded to their enquiry and told them that we did invite the PDOIS but
unfortunately, like them, we are at a loss as to why they haven't turned up
at the Briefing Sessions. I then informed the two gentlemen that perhaps we
ought to wait and directly hear from the horse's own mouth rather than merely
speculate. Thirdly, it was i think a week later when we heard from the PDOIS
in the form of a forwarded posting on their behalf by Mr. Momodou Camara. The
forwarded posting was not only derogatory and condescending in its narrative
and tone but was choke full of cynical overtures that explicitly sought to
denigrate what the London Briefings sought to achieve. This, we felt then we
had a moral responsibility to respond to. That was how the exchanges with the
PDOIS chanced: PDOIS was never attacked for not attending the Sessions rather
PDOIS was attacked on the basis of its misguided attack on the Sessions.
There is a fundamental difference and people ought to take serious note of
that. In a public forum, and in passing judgements on others, we should never
blinker ourselves with prejudices and crass rhetoric that in the very end
will obfuscate the issues rather than throw more light on them.

Before i move on to the current ALD gathering, i shall make some relevant
observations vis-a-vis Mr. Ousman Jallow Bojang's recent rhetoric. Now, in
his defence of the PDOIS' refusal to be part of the London Briefing Sessions,
Mr. Jallow Bojang posed a rhetorical question: with the likes of Jawara and
the PPP in attendance, why should any progressive wish to be part of  any
such gathering? Indeed, he never ceases to highlight his hostility towards
anything PPP and Jawara. What i never fully expected from him was the idea
that he would prefer Jammeh and the AFPRC/APRC over Jawara and the PPP. How
do we know this? Since he never objected to the huge presence of the APRC in
the current ALD gathering and his tacit endorsement of the prominent presence
of the APRC delegates, in sharp contrast to his rabid denunciation of the
involvement of Jawara and the PPP in the London Briefing Sessions, i propose
such a stance is insinuative of Mr. Jallow Bojang's inner convictions that
sway him to favour an APRC gov't to a PPP one. In short, if he objects to
Jawara and the PPP's attendance of the Briefing Sessions, but goes on to
endorse the heavy presence of the APRC in the ALD weekend gathering, need we
speculate anymore where he is coming from? Having said all that, i take note
that everyone, Ousman Jallow Bojang included, is entitled to freely endorse
or choose which party or gov't to support. Nothing wrong with that as such;
people must be free to choose and we must tolerate such choices. What,
however, is simply and morally unbecoming is to pretend to be a sodding
"fence sitter" when the reality is that one is a closet apologist of the
devil and only pretends to be an opposition with the mischievious intent of
undermining opposition efforts. Let Mr. Ousman Jallow Bojang do the decent,
honourable and courageous thing and come out of his closet. He has been
hiding in that closet of his for far too long. Now, if i may move on to more
important issues.

The general principles behind the ALD organising committee's move to convene
the Opposition members to meet the Diaspora and work together to achieve a
common goal was a very honourable and admirable one indeed. The convenors of
the gathering ought to be commended generally for their hard work to pull off
this event and the resources that had practically gone into it.  This is why
when the UDP decided initially not to be part of the weekend gathering, it
caused genuine emotive umbrage. And to add insult to injury, the UDP's
"excuse" for pulling out via Ebrima Ceesay's sources and Karamba Touray or
its lack thereof was simply not acceptable and an insult to people's
intelligence. If the UDP's real reason for initially deciding not to be part
of the ALD gathering was simply that it can't leave the voter registration
exercise unattended in Banjul and convene in Washington for the ALD
gathering, then it is insincere. The UDP doesn't lack capable delegates who
can fill in for Mr. Darbo. One thinks of such capable individuals like Yahya
Jallow, Waa Juwara, Femi Peters, Mariam Denton, etc, etc. These individuals
could have easily filled in for Mr. Darbo in the event he couldn't travel
outside the Gambia for whatever reason. This is why i didn't initially buy
the UDP "excuses" or its lack thereof.

If only things were that simple or clear-cut. What in the very end made me to
have a rethink was a news flash the ALD organisers sent to this List that
confirmed that there was going to be a huge APRC presence at the weekend
gathering. APRC huge presence at the ALD gathering? I thought this was a
forum for the Opposition to thrash out their differences and work on
modalities that will in principle give birth to a United Opposition? What
have i missed out on? Could someone please enlighten me? What, pray i quiz,
would a heavy APRC presence in an Opposition brain storming, add to realising
their ultimate goal of a United Opposition? If not handicap the meeting with
incessant arguments over who is responsible for the mess the Gambia currently
is, i wonder what else is achievable by the presence of such Jammeh lackeys
like Tombong Saidy, Tombong Jatta, Joseph Joof, Mustapha Njie and apparently
Jammeh's own very uncle, John P Bojang - of all people!. It may well be the
calculation of the APRC that a gathering that aims to unify both them and the
Opposition on hand and on the other hand come up with a United Opposition is
doomed to failed and as such they stand to gain than lose from such a
synthesis of events. Lumping together both the Opposition and the remorseless
APRC in the same conference hall to achieve disparate results is simply an
exercise in futility. Besides, why else would Jammeh agree to a huge presence
of the APRC in what could only be billed as a very hostile environment? The
calculation is just that notwithstanding the hostility, they will abet in
scuppering every chance of a United Oposition becoming a reality because they
rightly guessed that they would be the focus of much anger and heckling. Such
animus bickering and heckling is very capable of distracting people's
attention from the other laudable goals of, say, a United Opposition.  Of
course, people will finally get their one to one opportunities to give these
APRC lackeys a rough ride. But what else?

If the rationale behind such a very unwise move by the ALD organisers was to
kill two birds with one stone i.e, shore up the chances of a United
Opposition and at the same time heal the wounds of the Gambian peoples by
reconciling the APRC with aggrieved Gambians , then they shall fail
miserably. What they are very likely to end up with is losing the bird in
hand and fail to capture the bird in the bush. Attempts at Gambian
unification, as things stand - especially with Jammeh remaining unrepentant
about his crimes  - is an exercise in delusional grandeur. Nothing substatial
can come out of it. Reconciliation and or unification can only start when
wrong-doers readily and genuinely admit their wrongs and seek forgiven-ness
from the aggrieved parties. The head of the APRC delegation, Joseph Joof, has
just finished adding his imprint to legislative junks that has invariably
increased the country's democratic deficit. That man is not a man on the
verge of repenting past ills but a man still in denial. How the ALD
organisers or any other important guests of the weekend gathering for that
matter can conceivably change such remorseless lackeys' minds about Jammeh
beats me. And how such an admirable but ill-conceived agenda can bore fruit
during a weekend gathering beats me still.

At any rate, if the reason why the UDP leadership's initial decision to
abandon their plans to be part of the ALD gathering is prima facie the same
as the rat i smell, then their position is on the whole defensible, even if
one pauses to admonish them for not being bold enough to say this out loud in
the first place. If it is true that the UDP knew nothing substantial can
conceivably be achieved on behalf of a United Opposition from a gathering
that has the huge presence of the very remorseless peoples who continue to
this very moment to hold captive such prisoners of conscience like Dumo
Sarho, then i for one, would not hesitate to defend such a position even if i
would chide them for bungling on the matter. The UDP's only crime happens to
be that they didn't do the decent thing and voice out their doubt about the
incompatibility of the composition of such a gathering with its professed
goals. This, again lays bare a judgement i earlier passed on the UDP: the
fact that its communication and presentation skills leave much to be desired
for. To correct this deficit, the UDP ought to emulate the shining example of
their compatriots, the PDOIS, who have always done a very good job in selling
their position to an informed electorate. Better still, and as an interim
measure, the UDP ought to acquire the independent help of a skilled and
professional media operative who will advise them on such matters that relate
to how they sell their political position without inflicting too much damage
on themselves.

As it is, i'm ready to wager my last tuppence that the ALD gathering, save
being a bruising encounter for the APRC delegates, will ultimately fail in
its main objective of a United Opposition. In my estimation, the organisers
of the gathering bear most of the responsibility for such a failure - fairly
and squarely. For they should have realised the incompatibility of their
objectives with the composition of the gathering. It amounts to gross
intellectual folly and negligence to attempt to lump together such
diametrically opposed objectives with an equally irreconcilable composition
of participants in the same gathering. It might well be the case that in
their intent on doing, the organisers have trangressed on Sir Thomas
Gresham's lucid economic observation that "bad money drives out good". In
short, the bad composition of the ALD gathering could in effect "drive out"
whatever good moves are needed to inauguarate the practicalities of a  United
Opposition to challenge Jammeh come October 2001. And if this were to be the
case, then perhaps the UDP were right after all even if their moves and words
or lack thereof were at best in their vacillated and bungled.

I hope i'm mistaken in my estimation of how things will fare during the
weekend ALD gathering. I doubt very much if i will be proven wrong on this.
We shall see shortly.

Hamjatta Kanteh

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