Karamba,
As usual yours are always great and I hope they are not mind opening for me
alone but also for must of us here.Our concern for our country and people is
the driving force behind the desire to speak and do something and only through
this way ,we will be able to make a meaningful contribution towards"Operation
save the Gambia".The daily happenings in the country shows that "retaking our
nation" and placing it on the right track will be the most challenging task
for our generation.Recently in the same papers we read that parliamentarian
who are earning D7000 a month are demanding for more and non of them ,not a
single parliamentarian,except the speaker,was against such a demand.And this
drama was performed behind close doors.These are the very people,whether
belonging to the opposition or not,who are telling us how concern they are in
the development of our nation.,when we know we have Health Centers without
access to water supply ,not to say clean water.Is this not putting us in a
funny situation,who are we going to trust,the politicians ?Who ?
But the hope is also that we are registering more and more new doctors among
us,who have definitely shown their concern and love for our country,lets hope
that they become the new thinkers in the post Jammeh era and when self
sacrifice demand it ,they will not demand a salary that is beyond the
acceptance of the average Gambian,congratulations Malanding !
Keep on the work down there !!
For Freedom
Saiks
The telltale signs of a nation that has been usurped from it's citizens
generally revolves around two main themes. First the people are totally
excluded from being part of the decision making process regarding things that
affect every facet of their lives, and second they are prevented through a
variety of ways from peacefully seeking remedies through democratic
procedures. Gambia today is in such a fix. Yahya Jammeh has taken it upon
himself to cast our country to his liking by deciding who participates in
national life, how resources get allocated, who enjoys basic freedoms, how
commerce is conducted, religion and other various aspects that until now has
been thought of as being the very essence of a free people. It is simply a
disgrace that we , a proud and God fearing people would simply accede to such
a sweeping forfeiture of our basic personhood to someone of such manifest
churlishness. Why is it ok that he takes the nations money and spends it
lavishly on himself , gives it to his cronies or otherwise disposes of it as
he sees fit? Why in God's name are our people being made to be at the
receiving end of Yahya Jammeh's 'charity'. The papers this week have
enthusiastically reported how the president gave six hundred bags of sugar
to people in the provinces , part of a string of giveaways that is designed
to endear a profilgate leader to a suffering people from whom he has
consistently skimmed money. Yahya Jammeh never had any money. All he is
dispensing are monies that have been shaken down from businesses who want in
on the vast scheme of cronyism that pervades this government or public funds
that have simply been diverted to his pocket. As things stand now, no gambian
has instutional recourse to stop the abuse. The government has steadfastly
refused to account for loans contracted in the people's name. The president
simply increased his statehouse budget from D40million last year to
D60million this year precisely because that is what he wants. He has
absolutely no regard for what happens to the country either in the near or
long term.D30,000 of public funds from the social security administration was
'donated' to the president's foundation, a mind numbing act that would be
illegal in somalia, a country with no functioning government.
I think for those of us who are pledged not to surrender the place we call
home to a tyrant and his enablers embarked on bleeding our country and it's
people dry, we must settle on a two-pronged strategy. First we must do all we
can to remove this government. Once that is done, we must move swiftly to put
in place a strong and lasting institutional framework that would safeguard
the nation from ever deviating from participatory democracy and the rule of
law.Our biggest gift to succeeding generations would be if we can spare them
the specter of even a flash of a Yahya Jammeh type government. I also
strongly believe that a post Yahya government has to thoroughly investigate
their reign and catalogue all the crimes and prosecute them to the full
extent of the law. Murder, malfeasance and abuse of office has to be
appropriately redressed regardless of the passage of time because it is such
an integral part of the overall cleansing process.
That, list members, is the best way we can retake our country.
karamba
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