Saul,
Your characterization of GPA and GLC is wrong. I suggest you
Verify your information before posting it on the forum.
For now,we need to focus on the aftermath of April 10th & 11th
Massacre of the students and how effective our contribution
Will be as a group.
Your suggestion for raising funds is an excellent idea.
Beran
-----Original Message-----
From: saul khan [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2000 2:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Sidibeh: Re: UNDERSTANDING THE APRIL MASSACRE
(1, 2)
Mr. Sidibeh,
Your brilliant piece is a very good overview of the underlying
factors of
our present political quagmire. Some things very obvious to me:
We have to
WALK THE WALK (after all the big talk!) There is no doubt that
we talk a
good game. But that simply isn't enough. To effect any changes,
we have to
put our money where our mouth is! Because irrespective of what
our
individual ideas are regarding how to get rid of the rascals
destroying our
country, the one constant needed is MONEY. Now, how do we get
the needed
money, and what do we do with it?
First, we have to raise money in order to raise money. By this I
mean, those
of us on this List and others outside of it who are cognizant of
the urgent
need to throw out the APRC regime, need to set up a framework
where we can
pool together our resources. My understanding is that we have
about 600
members on this List. If you count out students and others who
cannot afford
to contribute anything, my feeling is you'll still have at least
150 people
who can afford to give something. Now, assuming that each of
those 150
people contribute $20.00 towards a common fund, we'll have
$3,000.00. Hardly
an amount to loose sleep over. But don't despair yet, because
with that
$3,000, we can organize a fundraiser or commercial dance in any
Metro area
(in the US) with a high concentration of Gambians(DC, Atlanta &
NYC are sure
winners,) and easily double the amount. After having just three
such events,
we'll definitely pool well over $15,000! And if adventurous
members like
myself have our way, we'll invest a third of that amount -about
$5,000 in
the Stock Market. Yes the Stock Mkt! If the European side could
pull off a
similar feat, the better. So, do we have 150 members willing to
put down
$20.00 to jump start the idea? I'm willing to challenge anyone!
With that money, we could buy communication equipment for
Opposition parties
back home, or buy them air time on private radio stations to
counter the
constant lies and propaganda that Radio Gambia and Gambia TV
puts out. If
things work according to plan, we could buy stationery for
Gambian schools,
or even school buses. This isn't far fetched at all. It's within
our reach.
But, like a former business prof of mine used to say,
identifying "the"
problem is the same as solving the problem halfway (50%.) What
therefore is
our main stumbling block?
To answer this question, one merely needs to look at the number
of petty
Gambian organizations in the diaspora. Since, I'm a little
familiar with the
US scene, and the Wash DC Metro Area in particular, I'll tell
you what I
know for a fact about the organizations we have here. You can
decide if the
story is familiar or not.
In the DC area, we have the Gambian Foundation. As far as I
know, it's the
oldest Gambian organization in this area. The org is being run
by Ousainou
M'bengue, Soffie Ceesay, and Mbye Sarr. It was the one that
Tombong Saidy
was mainly involved with. Apparently Tombong has used his
association with
this organization as political capital (refer to his interview
with Ebrima
Drammeh of "Who's On" fame on Gambianet.com back in '98/'99.)
His claims
about how he was helping Gambians through this org is to say the
very least
grossly exaggerated. The few that he Tombong has "helped" are
the foolish
people who come to this country (a level playing field by my
judgment,)
refuse to go to school, or hold any job longer than six months,
but then
involve themselves in petty crookery. I fail to see how bailing
such fools
from jail helps the Gambia. But, not to deviate from the gist of
my story,
the Gambia Foundation to it's credit, is the only org in this
area that has
consistently organized demonstrations against all forms of
injustice in the
Gambia - from Korro Ceesay's murder, through Sadibu Hydara's, to
the latest
massacre of our students. The org publishes Jaliba, a news
letter. However,
it is worth mentioning that there has been allegations of
mismanagement/financial impropriety levelled against the group
by some
people. The good thing for the GF is that many of their
accusers are people
of dubious character. I'll touch on this shortly.
Then there is the Gambia People's Association led by Sheik
Jallow, Korro
Sillah and co. Tijan "Eku Bopa" Ceesay features prominently in
the group.
For the life of me, I cannot tell you what this group stands
for. Maybe one
of them will seize this opportunity to do that. All I can tell
you
categorically is that, they used to organize commercial parties
frequently
prior to '96. They do so today with less frequency. What I also
can tell you
is that there's always some type of fracas at their events -90%
of the time
(normally some drunken fool starting a fight or something like
that.) But
then their MC is always conspicuously drunk himself, so no
surprises there.
For some reason, they seem to have a knack for attracting the
underbelly of
the Gambian community in this area. To be blunt, some of the
most degenerate
characters among Gambians belong to that group. I'm talking
about the type
who'd rather buy a car they can ill-afford than spend that money
on some
school; the type who tell you they cannot donate $20.00 to a
Gambian charity
because it would take away from the $100 they plan to spend at
some night
club; the type who rents out the most expensive cars during the
ALD to
impress some brainless shallow girl, when mom and dad would kill
for a bag
of rice back home! You get the picture? Apparently they tried to
amalgamate
with the Gambia Foundation some time ago. Knowing the people in
the two
groups, I'm not surprised that that proposal was a non-starter.
That was
when the allegations against the GF started.
I had gone to see Haddy Mundow, one of the local MoneyGram
(transmit
money home for a fee) biz people back in '98 when Sheik Jallow
walked in. On
Haddy's cupboard were two shields/trophies with the "GPA"
insignia and some
citation written on them. I thought the woman was some sort of
athlete (you
never know with America.) I asked her what I was missing. Before
long, I was
privy to testimony in which all Gambian orgs -but the GPA, are
useless or
divisive. The GF particularly was painted as the domain of three
people who
use the association's tax-exempt status to enrich themselves.
Also that the
GF trio had even gone to the extent of calling the immigration
people on
them. Blah, blah, blah... Now, I'm not good at hiding my
emotions or
shutting up when I feel I'm being lied to. So, despite my wife's
constant
tugging of my shirt to silence me, I threw out some few
questions. Not to
bore you with those details, but both Haddy Mundow and Sheik
Jallow realized
I wasn't buying their story. Here is an org that has been around
for god
knows how long without absolutely nothing to show for it, and
they're
blaming everyone but themselves. Go figure, like they say around
here!
Also, there is the Gambia Support Group of which I am secretary.
Alasana
Samateh of Baltimore is Chairman. The org was founded in '96 to
help the
Gambian community in the US in times of need, and to assist as
many Gambian
high school students as the org can afford with scholarships.
That program
continues. However, the GSG isn't without it's problems. A
combination of
egoistic behavior, pettiness, ineffective leadership, and sheer
indiscipline
has retarded serious attempts to move the org forward. We're
currently in
the throes of a serious lethargy that threatens the very
survival of the
association. Whether the GSG will make it or not depends on a
break from the
past that the association has simply been unable to muster.
And finally, there is the Gambia Leadership Conference led by
Latjor Ndow
and Karamba Touray notably. The GLC is supposed to be the
"umbrella" group.
The only problem is, it's not! A classic idea of an umbrella
group is one
that brings together representatives of all associations under
one "tent"
where they strategize the "larger picture" and filter that info
down to the
parts that form the whole - just like the European parliament.
But what we
have with the GLC is no such thing. Instead, it's merely a case
of people
going around telling those with time to listen that they are the
"umbrella"
group. Is it any wonder that after over two years of existence,
the GLC
neither has the membership nor the resources to do anything
substantive? As
a matter of fact, many people regard the GLC as something of a
joke. It's a
brilliant idea gone awry. For this association to have any kind
of
credibility, the numerous Gambian orgs in this area and around
the country
need to be invited to send Reps who'll then elect a Supreme
Council that
would chart the direction this org needs to take. Otherwise,
this noble idea
will continue to be symbolized by nothing more than an annual
EVENT where a
few intellectuals gather for a few hours in a vain attempt to
preach to a
congregation that neither wants nor appreciates their sermon.
So, no offense
intended Latjor and Karamba, but this GLC thing is a classic
quixotic
venture as it is. Do you want to change it, or do you want to
continue
fooling yourselves that you're the "umbrella" group? The choice
is yours!
One last issue I'd like to touch on, is the ALD annual event.
These
gatherings frankly speaking, have been nothing but money-making
ventures for
a few individual Gambians. In the case of the ALD, the name
needs to go in
my view. Why? Because when one goes to the so-called ALD, it's
for every
reason other than the plight of Africa. One may go there to see
long-lost
friends, to chase after some girl/woman, to enjoy oneself etc,
etc, but the
last thing on one's mind is African Liberation. Now, the Gambia
is the
smallest country on continental Africa. If there is to be a
genuine "African
Liberation Day" in DC, then common sense tells one that our
bigger brothers
ought to be involved. I've asked African friends from Liberia,
Zimbabwe,
Mali, S. Africa, Senegal about this ALD, and the answer is
always "what
ALD?" So, why continue to pretend that this annual event is
about Africa?
What African country, charity, or institution has ever
benefitted from this
ALD? Where in Africa has the proceeds of the past ALD events
been spent?
Where has the profits of the past ALDs gone - PERIOD? Any time
you ask this
question, every one plays dumb! But at the very least, let these
people be
honest for once, and call this event something more appropriate.
Call it
"Gambia week," or "Gambia Family Re-union." Hell, call it
whatever you want,
but stop lying to yourself and others that it's an African
Liberation Day.
The last time I checked, much of Africa remains under the yolk
of home-grown
tyranny. The events of April 10th and 11th in our very own
Gambia bears
testimony to that. So, if for nothing else, it's a little
premature to be
celebrating African Liberation! So if you ALD organizers know
something I
don't, I'm all ears.
So, Mr Sidibeh, there you have the Gambian community in the Wash
DC Metro
area. I've deliberately left out the religious orgs, but the
four orgs
discussed are the main ones Gambian around this end. As you can
see, except
for the GPA, each has something to give. Now, the question is:
how do we
overcome the ego problem, the appetite for corruption, and the
common
indiscipline that are the bane of our society, in order to pool
our
resources to get rid of the cancer that Yaya Jammeh represents.
It's time
for serious introspection. I wish I could have given you a
better picture of
us here, but this is the reality. I'm not re-writing or
doctoring anyone's
history, I'm telling you what I know first hand. The sooner we
throw the
little we can afford together and face Yaya with a concerted
effort, the
better for all of us.
Thanks for your overview, and keep it coming.
Saul.
remain nothing bu asked th
On the other hand, there simply isn't regularly or precisely
because The
organization
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