Kebba and Saul,
<<<<If the British Embassy in Gambia wants to keep itself busy and in the limelight giving out press conferences, they should be engineering aid that is more meaningful to the Gambian poor.>>>>>>
I agree with you guys and I am not suprise to see that the British government are in such a mission at this most difficult period in our country. For how long have the British been training the Gambian army, what have they brought to us. Just move back to the whole continent and we asked ourselves why are the military, army after training becomes so inhumane and brutal? Why is it only in the developing countries we are faced with these kinds of brutality within the army, a machinery which is suppose to protect and defend its people. Why these things are not happening in Europe or America? We should start looking into how the West train our army because so far few came out from that training with a human touch. Just look at Kebba's heading after "7 years UK resumes to military cooperations" well said "Why Military Aid Now"?
One thing we will have to accept is that these people don't care how many Gambians are killed , murdered, butchered etc. as far as we don't take up the responsibility to deal with our own situation. Britain's attack in Sierra Leone to release its capured soldiers clearly stipulated that. Where they not in Sierra Leone before it escalates to what it is today? Was the UN not there as well? As Kebba rightly put it in the above quotation, these people should stop giving meaning less aid to the Gambia or any other African country. What we have been observing throughout is that the type of aid send to Africa is always meaningless and has no relevance or link to the elimination of the poverty and instability that has been haunting us for all these decades. Even where as they know the loan or aid money does not reach the masses they will continue to give them inorder to empower these brutal regimes, why? Saul mentioned the need of more doctors etc. Yes we need more of these skilled manpower but look at the MRC for how many years these people are based in the Gambia but they cannot find a single solution to the most killer disease in our country, "Malaria". How can we have Medical Research Council that cannot find preventive measures or drugs to diseases that are very common in our country for decades. Infact most of the British Medical Students will use that space to do their practicals and of course use our people as their medical testing ground.
This again shows us that as far as we are not ready to take up and shoulder our responsibilities these people will continue to ruin our continent. We have to be our sisters and brothers keepers, especially those of us abroad. We have to start devising mechanism of checking and following up some of these aids and training our people go through. We have to organised into our professional fields and start a discourse as to what to do with the situation back home. Doctors, engineers, economists etc. even among the progressive military to look into why are we still where we are. There must be a discourse that is cheered by us, directed by us, organised by us in order for us to change the situation back home and hopefully that will be a lead to the freedom of our continent. We have been suffering unnecessarily for so long, we have the brains, energy why can't we bring them together into something positive. The demonstrations and protest in New York has shown us that together and organised we can make a difference. Lets put our differences and work together as professionals and people with the determination to change our society for real. We can do it and we have the space.
Ebrima Ceesay and co, I hope you guys in the UK will asked the defense minister why did Britain think that military aid is a priority or solution to our present problems.
The Struggle Continues!!!
Ndey Jobarteh
----- Original Message ----- nFrom: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2000 5:16 PM
Subject: After 7 years UK RESUMES MILITARY COOPERATION
> I took the liberty of culling the following piece from the Observer
> Newspaper. The British ought to be ashamed of themselves for resuming
> military cooperation with the callous government we have back home and
> helping Yaya sharpen his instrument of oppression. What has changed in the
> past seven years to warrant this insensitivity from the British government?
> Things have gone from bad to worse. Five months ago Yaya's armed forces
> massacred innocent Gambian children in broad daylight The British are in
> effect arming Yaya to massacre more children and defenseless Gambians. What
> has Peter Singhateh and Baboucarr Jatta contributed to the Gambian society,
> with their Sandhurst training? I would not be surprised if this Mendy chap
> also come back as an alcoholic murderer. If the British Embassy in Gambia
> wants to keep itself busy and in the limelight giving out press conferences,
> they should be engineering aid that is more meaningful to the Gambian poor.
> Use the money that is going to be used to send this potential murderer to
> Britain and give some poor kid a British Council scholarship to go to some
> university to study engineering or medicine. We urge the Gambian community
> in Britain to lobby the British government and convince them to stop arming
> Yaya. They are helping to perpetuate a despot that is worst than Foday
> Sankoh. If the British do not want their soldiers to take up another
> expedition in The Gambia, they should desist from this shameful exercise of
> arming murderers. The instrument Yaya uses to brutalize defenseless
> Gambians, i.e. his army, should not be beefed up by any decent government.
> Britain should not sit at a table where Yaya sits with the likes of Gadaffi
> and Charles Taylor. What is all this focus on the regional peace-keeping
> activities? We have ordinary Gambians being brutalized by our own armed
> forces every single day and all these diplomats talk about is keeping the
> peace in the sub-region. Our army has a more urgent job back home. They need
> to get rid of the tyranny being visited on the defenseless Gambians daily. I
> respectfully urge our compatriots in Britain to mount a more appropriate
> response to this latest monstrosity.
> KB
> ___________________________________________________________________
>
> After 7 years UK RESUMES MILITARY COOPERATION
>
> The British government has resumed its military cooperation with The Gambia,
> seven years after it was frozen. The British High Commission, Saturday,
> September 9, held a press briefing on the resumption of the military
> cooperation, a few hours before cadet officer, Sainey Mendy, of the Gambia
> National Army left for UK to participate in the Sandhurst Commissioning
> Course, September 2000 to June 2001.
> Speaking at the press briefing, British high commissioner, John Perrott,
> recalled that the last Gambian cadets who attended the Sandhurst commission
> course were Chief of Staff Baboucarr Jatta and Major Peter Singhatey in
> 1993. Mr Perrott said two more cadets could be sent to Sandhurst by next
> September. "Sandhurst is not the only area in which we are trying to help.
> I have been working closely with Chief of Staff Jatta and Army Commander
> Badjie to arrange good Gambian participation in a regional peacekeeping in a
> Regional Map Exercise on regional peacekeeping in Nigeria next month jointly
> sponsored by the United Kingdom and France.
> The prospects look good. I can assure you that we will continue to assist
> you whenever possible in regional and international peacekeeping, both
> publicly and behind the scenes," High Commissioner Perrott added. Armed
> Forces Chief of Staff, Colonel Baboucarr Jatta, thanked the British
> government for the support they have been giving to The Gambia, especially
> the army. He also urged Lt Mendy to maintain a good conduct through his
> course.
> In response, Lt Mendy expressed gratitude and assured both the British and
> Gambian governments that he would live up to expectation. The ceremony,
> which was attended by serving and retired military officials, was chaired by
> the deputy British high commissioner, Bharat Joshi.
> Observer
>
>
>
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