Mr Conteh,
Thank you for your posting, and for relaying some of the realities on the
ground.
I was just talking to a Gambian friend on the phone tonight, and he said
that he had heard that Jammeh has commissioned all the reserve gas in the
country to be set aside for his use. I am not sure how true this is, but I
have heard this nevertheless.
I could not help but think that aside from reserving this for himself and his
cronies, he is also perhaps using this strategy to make sure that with all
the rumours of an attack on his government, he is trying to make sure that he
can immobilize potential attackers with a shortage of gas? Just wondering out
loud.
As I said before, Yaya Jammeh is finding out that it takes much more to run
a country than just bribery, brutality and threats.
Jabou Joh
In a message dated 12/8/2002 6:13:52 PM Central Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>
> Gambia-l:
>
> I wish to thank the management for adding me to your list. I have followed
> discussions for a while, and now I see it fit to express my views as well.
> I hope to contribute to your discussions regularly so that a different
> vantage point may be appreciated.
>
> As the subject of this letter indicates, our country is in a downward
> spiral
> in virtually every sense of the word. (I will expand on this in my future
> postings.) It won't take a rocket scientist to detect the atmosphere of
> despair and hopelessness that now characterizes both the Gambian body
> politic and the populace.
>
> Prices of basic commodities have continued to skyrocket, perhaps at the
> same
> rate as tempers. Queues for fuel may soon become as common as those for
> meat on Koriteh day. The regime would not now dare attack anyone on the
> issues of absenteeism and tardiness given the acute fuel shortage that it
> apparently has brought about. Hundreds of workers and students line our
> streets for hours seeking transportation to work and school respectively
> while government and ruling party funtionaries shamelessly cruise around
> the
> country in their expensive SUVs.
>
> The dalasi's nosedive, as incomes remain stagnant, has made matters even
> more untenable. The people are getting poorer and hopeless by the day, yet
> the government could not come up with any possible remedies, credible or
> otherwise. All one has to do to appreciate the crisis in which we find
> ourselves is to watch our venerable Dr. Jammeh address the nation on TV.
> It
> is embarrassing as well as a good barometer for the country's pulse.
>
> In an address to religious leaders on GRTS recently, Jammeh appeared
> frustrated with the pace and direction of events in the country. He seemed
> to be void of answers to the many problems he incoherently spelt out. The
> president implicitly blamed various ethnic groups for some of the price
> increases: Jolas for palm oil, Fulas for meat, etc. As usual, Gambians
> were
> described as lazy people which, according to him, is why most of our
> tailors, fishermen, drivers, teachers, and so on, are foreigners. There
> was
> no shortage of groups responsible for the messy situation we are in, except
> that Jammeh and his administration were not among them.
>
> The President never disappoints. Despite being at the helm for more than
> eight years, the guy lacks tact and any understanding of diplomacy. He
> used
> innuendos to belittle the religious leaders who assembled before him, as he
> preached to them about Islam and its teachings. This was followed by the
> presentation of a "personal gift", an automoble, to the Supreme Islamic
> Council by Pres. Jammeh.
>
> Beyond those matters, Jammeh's body language and demeanor were
> characteristic of one who needed help, yet he was either too proud to ask
> or
> didn't know how to. There was clearly despair in his mannerisms. Even
> die-hard APRC supporters now privately express disappointment in the regime
> and fear for the immediate future of the country. Things are unraveling
> and
> no one tends to know the end game.
>
> I promise to shed light on matters from my vantage point (in a more
> coherent
> manner) as my work schedule allows. Thanks for enlisting me.
>
> Ebrima S. Conteh
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE*
> http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface
> at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
> To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
> [log in to unmask]
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
