Mr Gai
I don't think we are in disagreement. It seems you
have covered the points I have in mind.
With regards to a term limit for the Gambia's
Presidency, well APRC commands a majority support in
the National Assembly and that's going to be an uphill
struggle for us to see such law introduced in the
Gambia. From my observation, there is no evidence that
an APRC Government led by President Jammeh will ever
contemplate limiting the terms of the Presidency.
President Jammeh won't risk it for anything, having
realised that one time allies like Jerry Rawlings are
finding it hard to live peacefully in the Ghana as a
former Statesman. What we should be thinking about is
how we can canvass for limited terms for the Gambia's
Presidency.
Any possible solutions???
Have a wonderful day.
Sanusi Owens
--- Amadou Gai <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
<HR>
<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV>
<P>My opinion in this subject is that this
lesson results came about not wholly because of the
coalition of the opposition but for these reasons.</P>
<P>1. That Moi was to retire and hence there was
bounce to be change,whether a change in ruling party
or person. If Moi was to take part in the
election as a presidential candidate himself then I
believe the result was going to be different from what
it is today.</P>
<P>2 Moi failed to allow his party to
select a party presidential candidate but rather
decided to impose one on them.This made the
majority of the party supporters to retaliate
and voted for the oppostion. To me it more
of a protect vote than a support
for NARC. Allowing the KANU party to go
through the normal process of selecting a candidate
could also had a big impact on the result.</P>
<P>3. The biggest success in this whole process of
change is the incorperation of a limited term for the
presidency in Kenyan constitution.This is
what triggered the whole process.</P>
<P>So if there is any lesson for Gambia and
Gambians to learn, then it is how to include this
limited presidential term in our constitution. There
may be so many ways forward for our country but
this can be easiest and maybe the quickest to help us
achieve what all Gambians want for our dear
motherland.</P>
<P>Personal opinion, nothing more</P>
<P>Thanks</P>
<P>Gai <BR><BR></P></DIV>
<DIV></DIV><BR><BR><BR>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>>From: Sanusi Owens
<[log in to unmask]>
<DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues
mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
<DIV></DIV>>To: [log in to unmask]
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: Re: KENYA OPPOSITION, A LESSON
FOR THE GAMBIA
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 11:11:57 +0000
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Folks
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Lets not jump into conclusion and think
that we can
<DIV></DIV>>learn from the Kenyan Opposition.
Whilst, I welcome
<DIV></DIV>>the Kenyan People for diching KANU
after 40 years in
<DIV></DIV>>office, I remain sceptical that this
could only happen
<DIV></DIV>>not as a result of policies but on who
should lead the
<DIV></DIV>>KANU party. Don't forget that the likes
of Raila
<DIV></DIV>>Odinga and many others had one time
formed an alliance
<DIV></DIV>>with KANU in the hope of contesting
this General
<DIV></DIV>>Election.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>If there is anything we can learn from
NARC then
<DIV></DIV>>surely it must be based on how Kibaki
was selected as
<DIV></DIV>>Presidential Candidate. Remember that
the Movement for
<DIV></DIV>>Restoration of Democracy in the Gambia
did publish a
<DIV></DIV>>reference document on forming an
alliance for the
<DIV></DIV>>entire opposition. If our Opposition
parties had taken
<DIV></DIV>>notice of that useful document, then
surely we would
<DIV></DIV>>have been seen the end of Jammeh and
the APRC in
<DIV></DIV>>power.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>To conclude; I enclose an article which
I read from
<DIV></DIV>>Sunday's Observer Newspaper,UK;
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Kenya sweeps corrupt ruler out of power
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Opposition hails 'fantastic victory'
after peaceful
<DIV></DIV>>election
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>James Astill in Nairobi
<DIV></DIV>>Sunday December 29, 2002
<DIV></DIV>>The Observer
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Kenyans revelled in a day few dared to
dream of in
<DIV></DIV>>four decades, as the preliminary
results yesterday
<DIV></DIV>>from Friday's elections suggested a
landslide victory
<DIV></DIV>>for the opposition, sweeping away many
crooks and
<DIV></DIV>>cronies of a ruling party that has
terrorised and
<DIV></DIV>>impoverished them since independence.
<DIV></DIV>>With about a fifth of the poll already
counted last
<DIV></DIV>>night, Mwai Kibaki, a veteran
opposition leader and
<DIV></DIV>>former Vice-President, had won around
70 per cent of
<DIV></DIV>>the votes. Uhuru Kenyatta, the
candidate of the
<DIV></DIV>>outgoing President Daniel arap Moi's
Kanu party and
<DIV></DIV>>son of Jomo, Kenya's founding father,
had won less
<DIV></DIV>>than 30 per cent, offering Kenya the
chance of one of
<DIV></DIV>>the most peaceful and democratic
transitions from 'Big
<DIV></DIV>>Man' rule in history.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>'We are cruising to a fantastic and
historic victory,'
<DIV></DIV>>said Kijana Wamalwa, a key member of
Kibaki's National
<DIV></DIV>>Rainbow Coalition (NARC).
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>'The mood here is very sombre,' said an
official at
<DIV></DIV>>Nairobi's State House, the centre of a
kleptocracy
<DIV></DIV>>which has forced some 60 per cent of
Kenyans into
<DIV></DIV>>wretched poverty.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Fearing a repeat of the violence that
claimed
<DIV></DIV>>thousands of lives before previous
elections,
<DIV></DIV>>Nairobeans barely ventured out over
Christmas, except
<DIV></DIV>>to vote. But as radio stations
broadcast the
<DIV></DIV>>unofficial results from polling
stations around the
<DIV></DIV>>country, small, disbelieving crowds
emerged. 'No
<DIV></DIV>>violence and no more Kanu, no more Moi
- it's too
<DIV></DIV>>much, a gift from God,' said Josiah
Owade, one of a
<DIV></DIV>>group of youths hunkered round a radio.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>After 24 years of misrule, Moi was
constitutionally
<DIV></DIV>>obliged to step aside. Yet many Kenyans
feared that he
<DIV></DIV>>planned to rule on through Kenyatta.
'Choosing
<DIV></DIV>>Kenyatta was all about
self-preservation for the old
<DIV></DIV>>man and his family,' said one diplomat
in Nairobi
<DIV></DIV>>yesterday. 'But the trick hasn't paid
off, because
<DIV></DIV>>Kenyans wouldn't be fooled.'
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Even more remarkably in a country where
every vote has
<DIV></DIV>>traditionally had its price, many of
Moi's most
<DIV></DIV>>notorious cronies lost their seats.
They include
<DIV></DIV>>Vice-President Musalia Mudavadi;
Justice Minister
<DIV></DIV>>Julius Sunkuli; Moi's crony-in-chief
Shariff Nassir;
<DIV></DIV>>and John Haroun Mwau, a Kanu
vice-chairman.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>'This is a glorious day for Kenya,'
said John Githongo
<DIV></DIV>>of Transparency International, the
watchdog which
<DIV></DIV>>ranks Kenya among the world's most
corrupt nations.
<DIV></DIV>>'All the evidence suggest Kenyans have
taken bribes
<DIV></DIV>>across the country, and then voted with
their
<DIV></DIV>>consciences.'
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>At a military parade yesterday morning
to mark his
<DIV></DIV>>passing, Moi shrugged off the first
results. 'That's
<DIV></DIV>>democracy,' he said. 'As long as
Kenyans are united, I
<DIV></DIV>>am satisfied.' At the time, Moi's
thuggish son Gideon
<DIV></DIV>>- one of the most feared men in Kenya
and Kenyatta's
<DIV></DIV>>likely choice as Prime Minister -
represented Kanu's
<DIV></DIV>>only victory. He stood unopposed after
opposition
<DIV></DIV>>candidates mysteriously withdrew.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>NARC's likely victory took on added
significance in
<DIV></DIV>>western Kenya where the sun wore a halo
on Friday.
<DIV></DIV>>Meteorologists said the phenomenon was
caused by light
<DIV></DIV>>refracting through ice. But the Luo
tribe, one of
<DIV></DIV>>Kenya's poorest, celebrated it as
propitious and more
<DIV></DIV>>than 90 per cent of them voted for
NARC.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>As Kenya's likely new government, NARC
looks only
<DIV></DIV>>fairly auspicious. It was formed when
many of Moi's
<DIV></DIV>>leading cronies deserted Kanu, after
being passed over
<DIV></DIV>>for Kenyatta. United only by hatred of
Moi, it has no
<DIV></DIV>>ideology, no concrete policies and
could crumble over
<DIV></DIV>>the division of spoils.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>With many of Kanu's most violent
politicians now in
<DIV></DIV>>NARC, Kenyans have been spared the
politically stirred
<DIV></DIV>>tribal clashes that claimed more than
3,000 lives
<DIV></DIV>>before two previous elections.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>On polling day, the threat of rioting
lurked in
<DIV></DIV>>Nairobi's slums, where NARC's candidate
- and likely
<DIV></DIV>>Prime Minister - Raila Odinga claimed
two million
<DIV></DIV>>voters had been disenfranchised (though
NARC had
<DIV></DIV>>insisted on the regulation that caused
this), and
<DIV></DIV>>threatened to lead a million-man march
on State House.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>But NARC's campaign was better
characterised by
<DIV></DIV>>Kibaki, virtually bedbound for the past
three weeks
<DIV></DIV>>after a car crash. On Friday, the man
who promises he
<DIV></DIV>>will 'Save Kenya' was so frail he had
to cast his vote
<DIV></DIV>>from the back of his Mercedes. NARC's
campaign was
<DIV></DIV>>mostly peaceful, disjointed and
lethargic, counting
<DIV></DIV>>entirely on the poor's desperation for
change. Indeed
<DIV></DIV>>it was they - and not Kibaki's slick
London PR
<DIV></DIV>>consultants - who supplied NARC's real
slogan:
<DIV></DIV>>'Unbwoggable' - the made-up title of a
hit pop song,
<DIV></DIV>>meaning 'unstoppable'.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>NARC also boasts Kanu's most
accomplished thieves, so
<DIV></DIV>>Kibaki's promise to fight corruption
rings hollow. Yet
<DIV></DIV>>NARC is also introducing a handful of
distinguished
<DIV></DIV>>activists to politics - notably Wangari
Maathai, a
<DIV></DIV>>celebrated environmentalist - and, most
importantly,
<DIV></DIV>>since Moi began constructing his
patronage network
<DIV></DIV>>Kenya has changed.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>High rates of literacy and an energetic
press are
<DIV></DIV>>closing many of the tribal divisions
Moi abused to
<DIV></DIV>>divide opposition.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>The Western donors who allowed Moi's
cronies to steal
<DIV></DIV>>their loans during the Cold War demand
change too.
<DIV></DIV>>Kenya's aid was frozen four years ago
because of the
<DIV></DIV>>corruption. If Kibaki wants the half
billion pounds
<DIV></DIV>>pending to restart Kenya's shrinking
economy, he will
<DIV></DIV>>need to offer stiff guarantees. Already
he has
<DIV></DIV>>promised to pass two anti-corruption
Bills. One
<DIV></DIV>>ensures that all politicians declare
their wealth.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Sanusi
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>--- Seedy Khan <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> An
<DIV></DIV>>opposition leader, Mwai Kibaki has been
confirmed
<DIV></DIV>> > as the winner of Kenya's
<DIV></DIV>> > Presidential elections.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > It will be recalled that Kibaki
contested the
<DIV></DIV>> > elections under the umbrella of
<DIV></DIV>> > National Rainbow Coalition, a
coalition of about 12
<DIV></DIV>> > political parties.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > This is a huge example for the
opposition political
<DIV></DIV>> > parties in a country(The
<DIV></DIV>> > Gambia), where there is no
presidential term limits.
<DIV></DIV>> > This, indeed, is a great
<DIV></DIV>> > historic lesson ought to be
emulated from the
<DIV></DIV>> > Kenyans.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > In the coming ALD
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >
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