Below is an email that I sent to STGDP members after a trip to the Gambia. The email brought back memories, and put in context some of our observations and the difficulty of the coalition earlier on. I still believe that some of the issues raised are still relevant today.
Thanks
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Musa Jeng" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 9:27:32 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Fw: It is good to be back
--- On Wed, 3/2/05, Musa Jeng <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Musa Jeng <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: It is good to be back
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Wednesday, March 2, 2005, 9:01 PM
 It is good to be back, and once again my spirits are lifted by the efforts of STGDP. Congratulations to all of you for rolling out the SunuGambia web site. Since I got back, I have been busy reading all the good stuff I missed while I was away, and I am trying to get back to speed with the issues of importance about making this coalition a reality.
I have to say that in The Gambia, the situation is very different, and if we are ever going to be successful there is a need to understand the reality on the ground. As I talked to average Gambians, I came with the realization that there is a huge task ahead in bringing democracy to the shores of the Gambia. The reality is, in the absence of freedom of the press, a government control media, fear, a government hell bent to control people, and the absence of any medium for the coalition to talk to the Gambian people; one can only wonder how we are ever going to get the job done. These are some of the realities that cannot be ignored: I have not met a single Gambian who is aware of organizations like STGDP or MRDG; although, average Gambians believe that a coalition of political parties can pose a serious challenge to the ruling APRC, the majority do not even think the coalition will ever happen. Also, I have not met a single Gambians who even think Jammeh can be defeated come 2006. The signing of the MOU which was such a big event to most of us living in the Diaspora, was not even covered by the local media, and really did not have the kind of impact that we tend to think it has.
I have had the opportunity to talk to political leaders, religious leaders, but most importantly I wanted to find out what the average Gambian is thinking. It is one thing for us – living in the Diaspora who are bombarded with cyber discussion forums whereby different point of views are discussed, criticism of the leadership is a daily affair, and we have at least understand what it means to live in a democracy. After for a while, we start misunderstanding the political realties in the home country, and issues like human rights – intangibles to most folks at home become important political tools to us. In the process we underestimate the strangle tyrants like Jammeh has on our country, and unfortunately we failed to put our country’s problem in a true context. In the Gambia, the average Gambians has a daily dose of Jammeh’s propaganda machine; the NIA has become one of those fearful organizations that rely on intimidation. There is no shortage of experts over the radio and over TV, telling Gambians how President Jammeh is working so hard to bring development to the country. On the other hand, you have a coalition of parties that do not have any medium to talk to the Gambian people, charges level against them can only be addressed through certain newspapers, and unfortunately those papers do not go pass Brikama. Ironically, Gambians are getting information about the coalition from President Jammeh, and he has done a good job in defining them, and what the coalition is all about. To most Gambians, the coalition is yet to be a reality, and there are skepticisms among the majority whether these leaders are ever capable of coming together. The very delay of choosing the leadership only increased the suspicion that these guys are still haggling over who will be the flag bearer. In conclusion, there is absolutely no doubt that the coalition can bring a formidable challenge to the APRC, but they have to take this to the next phase of telling the Gambian people directly the way forward, in a language they understand. This election will never be won on the issues, and Gambians are not going to wake up before 2006, and just realized that they possess real power to remove Jammeh , the coalition need to tell them in a language they understand how Jammeh has destroyed this country.
For our part as STGDP, we need to get a bit more organized in our fund raising efforts if we are ever going to raise moneys that will be competitive to run against Jammeh. In addition, we still need to put the pressure on to our coalition partners to bring closure to these meetings, and start the real campaign against Jammeh. Below are some of the recommendations that we need to immediately communicate to them:
1. The selection of a flag bearer now, this will be the final test whether there will be a coalition or not.
2. Start coming up with a message that will address the real problems that Gambians face with the Jammeh leadership.
3. Take your message from Banjul to Koina, and use the diversity of your group to appeal to all Gambians.
4. Make Gambians really believe that the coalition can in fact win.
5. Reach out to leaders in the sub-region, and international organizations. Gambians have to start seeing the true stature of these leaders.
6. Take your message to Gambians living in the Diaspora.
7. Make sure all Gambians know why change is a matter of life and death.
8. This coalition need to get off out of the deal making to a fully fledge campaign machine, with a leader. They will never be able to have a movement for change without a leader to wrap it around.
9. Finally, Maila has been doing a good Job talking to the coalition partners, mostly through the coordinator, but it has become very important to know what some of the other partners like the NRP leader, UDP leadership and NDAMÂ are thinking. Remember that Gambians living in the Diaspora are the real architect of the whole coalition concept, and it is going to take our direct and persistent involvement that will put into the final lock box. This coalition drive is far from a done deal, and we cannot sleep on the wheel.
Thanks
Musa jeng
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