Open invitation to all Gambians in the U.K.THERE WILL
BE A BRIEFING ON THE PRESENT SITUATION OF OUR BELOVED
COUNTRY THE GAMBIA ON 28TH FEBRUARY 2001 @ 7 PM
SHARP.COMMITTEE ROOM 10, HOUSE OF COMMONS.THE BRIEFING
WILL BE DIRECTED TO A NUMBER OF MPS.THIS IS VITAL TO
ENLIGHTEN ON THE PRESENT SITUATION AT HOME, THEREFORE
A STRONG GAMBIAN PRESENT IS NECESSARY. PLEASE SPREAD
IT BY WHATEVER MEANS.
THE PRESENTATION OR BRIEFING WILL BE PERFORM BY THE
MOVEMENT FOR THE RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY IN THE U.K.
--- Hamjatta Kanteh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Brother KB,
> When I first read that Jammeh had refused to accept
> the findings of both the
> Coroner and the Commission, I was reminded of the
> ancient aphorism that a
> leopard is born with spots and will die with spots -
> some things in life will
> never change. But then some of us are on the record
> for opposing both the
> Coroner and the Commission not in principle but the
> terms of reference and
> the expedient nature of their wherewithal that
> literally turned them into a
> damage limitation strategy. Time, that refuter and
> debunker of illusions has
> proven our case again. I say and write this without
> any slight hint of
> gloating but of regret that we have allowed a fat
> head like Jammeh hoodwink
> us into another scam. It tells you a lot about the
> state of the Gambia -
> morally, politically, socially and intellectually.
> If Gambians let Jammeh get
> away with the murder of our brothers and sisters,
> without raising hell and
> ungovernability by agitating through peaceful and
> decent means, then we might
> as well throw our towels in and ready ourselves for
> life in exile - forever!
> Our indifference and lack of proper response to the
> Jammeh Mess can only lead
> to the Sierra Leone type of situation.
> Just look at the PDOIS response - I'm still trying
> to comprehend the
> breath-taking naivety of this once-upon-a-time
> sophisticated, radical sincere
> and smart party! After all we have gone through with
> Jammeh, these guys still
> naively think Jammeh has the moral wherewithal to
> act sincerely and see to it
> that justice is not only done but also seen to have
> been done. And their
> obsessions with commissions? Especially truth and
> reconciliation commissions
> and the ahistorical analogies of South Africa's
> Apartheid and the Gambia's
> Jammeh Tyranny. Do I have to tell them that
> reconciliation can only come
> after oppressors' machinery of oppression had been
> laid asunder and not vice
> versa? The calling for a truth and reconciliation
> commission is not only
> logically absurd at this stage but more importantly
> it exposes a fundamental
> flaw in their reasoning: The idea that this immoral
> regime of fat heads and
> low- lifers are genuinely interested in the
> dispensation of swift and fair
> justice.  Do these guys really believe that
> criminals genuinely set up stuff
> that will land them on the downside? Do they
> honestly believe that that
> tooth-less and muscle-less commission and coroner
> can effectively dispense
> the justice needed after the April murders? Do they
> honestly? Frankly, I have
> to come to accept their low-risk and soft criticisms
> of this regime but it is
> on the naïve bit I have some catching up to do.
> Well, at least they have released a statement
> condemning the gov't's
> rejection of the findings of the both the Coroner
> and the Commission. As you
> rightly queried, what about the other players - The
> UDP, NRP, and the rest of
> civil society? I have once said somewhere - can't
> quite remember where
> exactly - that the reason why we have come this far
> with a fathead like
> Jammeh is the general lack of faith in Gambians and
> the virtual non-existent
> of any civic society that under circumstances would
> coalesce and fight a
> common enemy. People think faith is just going to
> mosque and dispensing with
> nominal duties of a practising believer! In my book,
> faith starts off as an
> abstract leitmotif and remains at a rock bottom
> abstract. What do I mean by
> this? Faith is not so much about the lengths you to
> be seen to be doing
> nominal and routine believers stuff but how far you
> let your conscience be
> the guardian of your actions and the extent you let
> it tolerate or even
> accommodate injustice or evil. Going by the
> aforesaid paradigm, clearly the
> Gambia has a faith problem. But then the recent
> hypocritical howling for
> "sharia" after a mass murderer, thief and sinner
> moots the idea just about
> exposes how faithless our society really is.
> Brother, I still think that us that think and view
> Jammeh differently can
> practically and positively fight against the evil
> that has hijacked our
> country. Brother I saw it reported a while ago in
> one of the local papers one
> family of the victims of the April murders called
> for civil litigation
> against the gov't. We should look at this very
> seriously. Stuff happens that:
> In a society where there is what Tony Giddens calls
> "civic liberalism", the
> families of the victims would have coalesced and
> formed a support/pressure
> group that will independently fight its corner. I
> suggest we liase with the
> folks on the ground and help them form such a group;
> we might even call the
> group - Families/Victims of April 11 Support Group.
> Then those who are really
> interested in justice can contribute whatever they
> can lay their hands on to
> push forward the agenda of those who are still
> traumatised by the April
> events. I'm sure there some good lawyers out there
> who wouldn't representing
> this group on a pro bono basis and sue the gov't for
> its shabby, despicable,
> disgusting and odious handling of the welfare of the
> victims of the April
> events. Above all, I'm of the conviction that courts
> of law would in the very
> end be far more effective in unravelling the truth
> behind April events and
> establishing a premise for one to ponder an
> international litigation against
> the gov't, if need be.
> Brother, I thank you for your vigilance, resilience,
> wisdom and above all
> your sense of justice that from had inspired and to
> this day continues to
> inspire.
> Hamjatta Kanteh
>
>
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