I wish to thank all the organizers and participants of the demonstration at
the UN against the policies of The Gambia government.  Your actions and
sentiments during the demonstrations speak for the vast majority of Gambians
who for one reason or another were not able to join you in this noble
course.  You have adequately portrayed to the whole world the nature of the
regime we have in The Gambia.

No matter what good speeches are made by African leaders at the UN, if those
speeches are not followed by good governance including true democracy, the
rule of law and human rights for all, there will never be any significant
uplifting of the lives of Africans.  Unless we face our leaders and tell
them the truth as we see it, we will always be taken for a ride.  It is
heartening to see that there are dedicated and decent gambians who are
prepared to stand for what they believe in, and will spare no effort to see
tangible improvements in the lives of our people.

Once more, thank you to all of you brave sons and daughters of the Gambia
for your struggle to bring decency, human rights and the rule of law as
fundamental components of our government.

Bakary J Sonko

-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 1:32 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: GRTS Report on Yahya's trip


Reporter Ebou Waggeh conformed to the pathetic and unprofessional
journalistic standards of GRTS. While I am not particularly suprised at the
obvious slant of his reporting, I am appalled at the outright lies he weaved
into his story. Contrary to what he said there was not a single supporter of
Yahya Jammeh among the crowd of demonstrators at the UN Plaza. The only time
we saw any one professing to be supporters of Yahya was when we were outside
the Gambia mission (the staging venue for the ultimate demonstration) and
three people drove by waving a poster of the President. They quickly drove
off after being roughed up by the police and some of our group. I ran after
themto do an interview which would shortly be put up on Gambian .com. Of the
three only one willing submitted to questioning and recording with the
remaining two using their President's picture to make sure I did not record
them with the camcorder. That was it!...We never saw any supporter of the
President the rest of the day. Listening to Ebou Waggeh Gambian TV audiences
might think they were in the thick of things at the UN Plaza supporting
their
President. They weren't. He also insinuated in his report that it was the
President's very critics at the demonstration that later met him at his
hotel
thereby portraying this odious tyrant as someone willing to engage his
critics. Pure hogwash and this excuse of a journalist was just too eager to
jump into bed with this evil man. And whatever happened to 30 minutes worth
of interviews given by those demonstrators ? They all found their way to the
editing floor and Ebou Waggeh could not even bring himself to atleast
characterise their overall sentiments. Even a trained parrot could have said
the crowd was angry!  On the other hand he went out of his way to embellish
the President's meetings with prominent people. The remarks of the two
members of congress were measured and careful hardly warm and fuzzy. Neither
of the two expressed support for the President or his government and they
would never precisely because they are quite familiar with the state of
affairs in the Gambia. Members of Congress always get a full briefing about
a
particular nation prior to either traveling or meeting the leaders. Besides,
both Reps Cynthia Mcckinney and Donald Payne have spent their lifetimes
fighting injustice. It is unlikely they would be cavorting dictators
especially the murderous types. As for Henry Kessinger, well the guy is an
international consultant who for the right amount would wrestle an alligator
if that is what Yahya is willing to pay for. As for the businessman who
wants
to look into building a flourmill, well I am all for folks being able to
atleast afford good bread. The President is already jockeying to portray the
proposed flour mill as his personal achievement for which the nation is
personally indebted to him. He told reporters at the airport tarmac that he
will soon open a very profitable factory here in the Gambia . He does not
have the decency to simply say some American businessman wants to build a
flourmill.
We will try to arrange a meeting with the two members of congress before the
house goes on recess. The purpose of the meeting would be to lobby them on
the very grave issues facing Gambia all of which emanates from the brutal
regime of Yahya Jammeh. I will inform list members if a meeting is secured
to
enable folks to sit in on the meetings.

Karamba

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