Karamba,
A beautiful and interesting one.These are among the ways that the "New Mind"
will be created.The creation of the new mind will be dictated by the very
conditions we are facing and the struggle we are involved in to better these
conditions as individuals and collective .We all know and accept that it is
wrong and criminal to shoot down student demonstrators.This will never
happen in the new Gambia we are all hoping for.
You might not be consciously doing it,but it sounds as if you are saying
that the people are to be blamed for their decadency after insisting that
Gambian are great and hard working people.You said :
" All of the failures that ensued from these sectors are
> primarily ours because we did not do what was required to maintain these
> critical aspects of our development "
"We" have not been informed of even these projects we just see them or hear
them over the Radio.I am of the opinion that if we take your "We" to mean
the responsible Authorities then we will be able to see the point DR is
marking ,as you put, that " ...... most post colonial
> countries failed partly because foreign institutions literally imposed
> systems and ways that are alien to our situations.."
The corruption etc are a reflection of the socio economic and political
situation of a Country and with the "New Mind" taking control of the
political and economic situation in the country such would not be difficult
to do away with.When the Taxi Driver comes and hand you over D100 and keep
the D20 in his pocket,he has to,because he and his family have to eat
tomorrow and the Children have to go to school and perhaps one of them to
the hospital.You know paying him D600 a month would not be able to handle
all these things for a whole month.
The IMF comes to tell your government,well more loans means you have to show
a satisfactory budget and which means limited spending and more
revenues,take it or leave it.You have no choice and you decide to take
it.The little money you have to spend must be done in priority,you either
choose to build Fortress Kaninlai, ARCH 22, more Tanks and bullets or cheap
medicine,cheap school books etc,etc.
Do we need a Camtel or do we need to Electrify the country in the interest
of economic development and prosperity,we need both of them,to say which one
comes first if "we" have to , is never been put to us, not even our experts
are being question because it becomes very political, for example ,as Yaya
Jammeh would say that there was no Television station in the Gambia before
and knowing very well that more than 60 % of our hard working people do not
even have electricity in their houses let alone to afford a TV and their tax
money was paying Tombong who even have to be sacked from the job because of
bad management.I am of the Opinion that the "New Mind" will take create
heed to such nonsense.We are learning very fast and victory is certain.Keep
on the good work.
For Freedom
Saiks
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 3:00 AM
Subject: Re: The Gambia and the Political Economy of Globalization:
Prescriptions for ...
> Dr Saine,
> thank you for writing an interesting piece that is both an
> astute analysis and a call for action. You convincingly laid out a need
for
> we the Gambian people to step up and partake in the shape and direction of
> our country not by pursuing the tried and failed policies of the past, but
by
> fashioning an entirely different approach. What struck me most was the
care
> you took in predicating this new thinking on an overall set of reforms
that
> has at it's core new leadership that is strongly anchored on the basic
tenets
> of democracy. I agree with you entirely that there exist from amongst our
> people a sufficient talent pool to set our nation on path to genuine
progress
> because individual Gambians tend to be pretty good at most things they set
> their minds to. However, collectively harnessing the potential of the
Gambian
> people has not been successfully done in our contemporary history
precisely
> because we have never created an enabling environment beginning with a
> democratic reform minded leadership. Ideas which would be the driving
force
> of the new thinking cannot thrive in a rancorous political environment
that
> actively stifles descent and perceives opponents as mortal enemies and
> institutions of governments as expedient tools.
> I would also like to take a slightly different view on your take on
> why past policies failedsuggested that Gambia, like most post colonial
> countries failed partly because foreign institutions literally imposed
> systems and ways that ar. You e alien to our situations. Alien they were
but I
> think most initiatives failed because Gambians mishandled them through
> corruption, laziness and sheer incompetence. The same traits continue to
> hobble even those initiatives that lumber along years after their
inception
> without failing outright but not performing to expectation either. For
most
> of the things we have failed spectacularly at such as power generation,
food
> sufficiency, education, healthcare, you will discover they generally
revolve
> around setting up a core infrastructure and creatively managing them as
> ongoing concerns. All of the failures that ensued from these sectors are
> primarily ours because we did not do what was required to maintain these
> critical aspects of our development. Along the same lines, I once had an
> informal chat with a Gambian who upon graduation from college had a stint
at
> Gamtel . He spoke of very credible plans put together by talented people
> within the organization about how they wanted to use Gamtel's relatively
good
> infrastructure to nurture a nascent information technology venture within
the
> organization with a view towards very ambitious targets down the road. All
> that had to take back seat when the gov't turned a promising company into
a
> cash spigot bleeding it incessantly setting back even promised
expansions
> of ordinary telephone lines by years.
> Finally I would to ask a few questions. How do we get to the
> important task of the new thinking you are advocating in the current
> circumstances. Do we proceed with the critical dialogue with the view that
a
> successor leadership would make it a basis for transformational change? Or
do
> we work to change the current leadership that by most measures is not
suited
> for the new thinking as a prelude to the dialogue and ultimate reforms ?
What
> did you mean when you suggested that foreign aid in the context of the new
> thinking should not be accepted just because it is offered especially if
it
> could distort national goals or objectives?
> Thanks
> Karamba
>
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