Joe,

You wrote: 
"Getting rid of a tyrant and murderer is never easy and at this stage, any 
means of achieving a regime and system change is justified, especially when 
the murderer tells you that he wil stay on for another forty years and at 
all cost."

I would have thought that the time of coups and violent ways of achieving regime change was history but African leaders don't make it easy for either their people or themselves. Witness their recent inability to reach agreement on constraining term limits at their summit in Banjul. At the same time they have somehow managed, with the support of the international community, to incorporate hollow governance and democracy principles in their AU charter. The effect of this is perpetual rule legitimized by a shabby form of representation/democracy. And thus the alternative ways for achieving regime change dwindle to the few costly ones like coups. 
Costly, first because recognition and help from the international community would not be forthcoming, unless one happens to ally oneself with pariah states engaged in checkbook diplomacy - very insecure revenue source.
Second, it tends to make power achievable to incompetents who even in a mildly democratic process would never stand any chance. 
Thirdly, it corrupts a whole generation of political elite, everybody is tainted and achieving power becomes both random and some kind of holy goal. What one does with the power when it is achieved is anybody's guess. 
Fourthly, it is bad for business and achieving higher/better standards of living; the compromises worked out by various groups in a society that has representation is the thing that propels it forward, imposed choices rarely lead to progress.
With NADD, I thought that my third point above was invalidated. I thought all along that the opposition break up leading to the election was a tactic to maximize their chances of winning against the incumbent. After the electoral statutes were changed abolishing the second round of voting I eyed an opportunity for them to wrest power from the APRC: they’d pretend a row that would lead to a split of the vote (as it actually turned out) only to get one of the opposition candidates to withdraw at the last minute making it a two-way race. But the acrimonious exchanges, even between the top candidates, made me, and I would think many voters out there, begin to wonder what the real agenda are for some of these guys
.
On the elections, I think that many of the uncoerced 0.25million that voted for the APRC genuinely believe in the rosy picture that is painted locally of Gambia anno 2006. Their problem, I think, is their point of reference or comparison; the achievements of the previous regime, as if these are worthy of the effort. Though nobody's starving (malnourishment is everywhere though) and tranquility still reigns, all the factors that do contribute to progress and development are woefully under par. But this also applies to all the neighbors in the subregion and it seems, for Gambia's case, that there is a comfort, sickening, in being amongst the best in the gutter. The point should be to try and get out of the gutter and start comparing oneself with the rest of the world. But most out there have very little access to information and are relatively ignorant about the amazing advances that the world has experienced recently, they live in a cocoon (cushioned by the extended family ha
ndouts and remittances).    

I wanna write more but other pressing tasks have to be attended to….

Cheers!
Abdou


----- Original Message -----
From: Joe Sambou <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:51 pm
Subject: Re: [>-<] Gambia leader signals firm rule after election win

> While I wait for additional information, it is good to see 
> Gambians actively 
> analyze and dissect the inevitable after the fix.  We knew that 

> 
> Getting rid of a tyrant and murderer is never easy and at this 
> stage, any 
> means of achieving a regime and system change is justified, 
> especially when 
> the murderer tells you that he wil stay on for another forty years 
> and at 
> all cost.
> 
> Chi Jaama
> 
> Joe
> 
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