Alpha,
you seem to insinuate in your posting that those who had taken up issues with
Halifa were very rude and abusive towards him. I have been having a debate
with Halifa and at no where have I run amok with vitriol or invectives and
sought to blacken Halifa's impregnable fealty and integrity towards man kind.
Should you peruse this in my postings could you please let me be aware of
this and I shall even grovel to him for forgiveness. I am unlike your
insinuation just engaging Halifa in a civic dialogue; which at any rate could
involve polemics. Polemics has as a strategy of strident satire which is
acceptable in all milieu in order to inject in an opponent's rebuttals and
points seeds of doubt positive provocations. if you mistake this strident
satire for invectives or rudeness then you lack comprehension of what we have
been engaged in.
like you I have been and continue to be inspired by Halifa. In 1992 whilst
only a fifteen year  old dilettante in politics, my naive world of
materialism was torpedoed by a tract/pamphlet a friend loaned to me. it was
the PDOIS manifesto-cum-mission statement. it became  the basis of much that
spurred me towards forming my political convictions and world views. with
bemusement i still remember the consternation and stern lectures i get from
my dad when he catches me with a Foroyaa literature. it has always been my
conviction that Halifa and CO were the first humane revolutionaries in modern
Africa; their success is legendary. Like Orwell their pen pushed forth what
traditional African knows the barrel to push; that of social and political
transformation. Much of the hoohaa in this forum today could be said to be a
by product of this great transformation we underwent during late 80's and
early 90's.
But (and there is always a but) if they want to measure their achievement by
how many will kotow to their political philosophies, then they have failed
miserably. For the late 80's and 90's created the most gradation of
independent liberal thinking our country has ever known; it did not create
poodles or political eunuchs. Halifa and CO noticeably, arguably and
expressly stitched together the first chattering classes the Gambia ever
knew. if they measure their success this way, they can proudly and
justifiably claim to be one of the most successful and humane radical social
and political transformers in contemporary Africa. we didn't have a
revolution in July 1994 but we certainly did in 1987.
this independent thinking that was an offspring of that revolution of 1987,
is what propels, equipped, mandated and unleashed me to take Halifa on. A
forensic scrutiny of a public official is a civic duty, the first lesson
Halifa taught me. do you find this disagreeable?
Please remain informed that I'm not engaging Halifa in a slugfest but in a
civic dialogue and a forensic scrutiny of his role as a public official. Even
my debt of gratitude to Halifa/PDOIS wouldn't harness or hamstrung me from
this.
Cordially,
hkanteh

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