Mr. Owens and Camara,
I agree in principle with both of you that there are grounds to suspect the
motives of the author of the article in The Daily Observer.
Nevertheless, I think dismissing it outright is not necessary.
We can all simply thank the author for his opinion and counter that:
1. Well, we hope to learn the lessons from Kenya, Senegal and elsewhere and
make sure the Gambian Coalition avoids similar fates.
2. That the Gambian Coalition will emerge with a platform that outlines the
politics of a post-APRC Gambia.
3. That a country as economically and socially battered as Gambia, deserves
a politcal life that is more responsive to the needs of its tired
population; deserves a vision that rejects the very thick climate of elitist
arrogance; deserves a leadership that RESPECTS(!) Gambians for all their
strengths and weaknesses.
4. That a Gambian Coalition is politically matured enough to recognise that
the struggle is not fundamentally to sweep the APRC tyranny from power; but
to replace it with a dispensation that is astronomically better.
Cheers,
Sidibeh
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sanusi Owens" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 6:30 PM
Subject: Re: An Opinion against a coalition- culled from the daily
observer-LEKBI
> Mr Njie
>
> Please avoid reading DAILY OBSERVER's editorial on the COALITION. This is
not the first and it won't be the last. The Daily Observer is currently
conspiring with the APRC spin doctors to riddicule the Gambia's Coalition.
As a result, they have been making some very negative comments about the
Coalition Government in Kenya. Please make thorough search at the Daily
Observer's editorial and you will realise that this is not first time we
reading such crap.
>
> Come 2006, Gambia will be Free. as Yahya must go
>
> Sanusi
>
>
> Abdoul Njie <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> After reading this article, I cannot help but ask who you think should
lead
> the coalition in the Gambia in 2006.
>
> Ablie Njie-Lekbi
> Atlanta
>
> =============================================================A COALITION,
> then a COLLISION
> Coalition governments do not work in Africa and impede the democratic
> progress of the continent by causing uncertainty in the political life of
> countries where they are found. From East Africa to West Africa coalition
> governments are fumbling or have foundered putting the future of their
> countries in jeorpady.
>
> The situation in Kenya is particularly instructive. The Kibaki-led
> coalition, called by the funny appellation NARC, is in tatters, causing
> general despondency in the country. The main partner, the Liberal
Democratic
> Party, led by the very popular and charismatic Raila Odinga, now has one
> foot in and another one out of the government because it is dissatisfied
by
> the way Kibaki is implementing the pre-2002 election Memorandum of
> Understanding, which allegedly spelt out how power was to be shared among
> the coalition partners.
>
> Now investors and donors are getting anxious about their relations with
> Kenya due to the instability in the ruling coalition. Kibaki has lost
faith
> in his coalition partners; he has invited the same politicians of the ex-
> ruling party, KANU, into his cabinet. Kenyans are asking what has changed
> since December 2002. The corrupt politicians they so happily booted out of
> office are now back in ministerial positions, only 19 months after losing
> power.To be fair, without NARC, KANU would still be in power to the
> detriment of Kenyans.
>
> In Senegal, the coalition that kicked out Abdou Diouf from power in 2000
has
> since unravelled; leaving the political scene highly acrimonious and
> charged. In four years, President Wade has had four prime ministers,an apt
> indication of the instability brought into government by the ill-conceived
> coalition. Diouf's ministers such as Seringe Diop are back in power in
> Wade's cabinet.
> These and other examples show that coalitions in Africa are first and
> foremost political marriages of convenience, devoid of any clear-cut
> political programmes beyond winning power. In fact, what goes for
> 'coalitions' are nothing more than agglomerations of interest groups bound
> by nothing but the desire to win power. They do not seem to have a vision
> beyond getting into power.
>
> This is highly unfair to African voters and inimical to the development of
> democracy and economic growth on the continent. Africa needs stable,
> functioning and effective governments that will be able to win investor
> confidence and donor support, and, above all, win the trust and confidence
> of the hoi polloi.
>
> Coalitions built on the premise of regime change only will not solve
> problems, they only compound them further.
>
> © Copyright 2003 by Observer Company
>
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