G-L Community:
I have received several phone calls and e-mail messages since the
proposals were posted. Most urged us to move ahead on the proposals.
Katim Touray's latest suggestions and those by Bakary Sonko specify in
particular, the need to form a "Group of 10." I accept the role of
coordinator and urge members of the Bantaba to post names of prospective
members on the L or to me privately.
My objective is to ultimately identify 15 individuals who are
representative of the views on the L, at home and reflect Gambia's
diverse social, ethnic, political, religious, gender and age
sensibilities. The final 'Group of 10" will be submitted to the Bantaba
for approval/disapproval, if necessary. Those on the list of 10 who
decline to serve could be replaced by any of the remaining 5
individuals.
These 15 individuals as Katim suggested should not come from the Bantaba
exclusively and should include those at home and Gambians in the
Diaspora. I will contact all those on the list at my expense. Please
send me the names of prospective members together with their phone
number(s), home, work and e-mail address if available.
Cheers!
Abdoulaye
"Katim S. Touray" wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm sending this brief e-mail to follow-up on responses to my Open Letter to
> His Excellency, President Jammeh, and Abdoulaye Saines summary of suggested
> proposals and strategies for fostering national development through dialog.
> It's been really nice reading through numerous postings on the issues, and I
> only hope that the spirit continues to thrive in all of us.
>
> In that same spirit, I'd like to touch on a few issues:
>
> 1. Intellectual? I saw online version of it at "The Independent" newspapers
> Website, and I cracked up! The intro read:" A US-based Gambian intellectual,
> Katim S. Touray, Ph.D ..." I didn't write the letter as an intellectual, but
> as a concerned Gambian. And I hope that everybody realizes that you don't have
> to be an intellectual (whatever that means) to get a pen and paper (or fire up
> your computer), gather your thoughts, and say what's on your mind.
>
> 2. Confrontational? It was suggested that the letter was perhaps a bit too
> confrontational, and further that this was inappropriate in light of it's
> intent to enhance dialog. I would like to say that if the letter came across
> as too confrontational, it was only because I failed to adequately express my
> intention, and not that I wanted to be confrontational from the start. My aim,
> simply, was to bring what I thought were important issues to the attention of
> the President, and indeed the world at large, with a view toward helping start
> a process that will lead to their amicable resolution. If anyone felt that the
> letter was confrontational, I would like to beg his or her pardon.
>
> 3. Meet the President? Who, me? Someone also suggested that I should travel
> to The Gambia and have a fact to face meeting with the President. I agree with
> another subscriber who thought the idea of a face to face meeting not
> practical, and probably not useful. In addition, I would like to add that I
> have no intention in being intimately involved with whatever process, if any,
> comes out of my letter or related efforts. This sounds rather hypocritical, so
> let me explain.
>
> As far as I'm know, there are a lot of Gambians who are more educated, older,
> wiser, and more experienced than me that are out there, and whose talents in my
> mind, are not being used to the max. For this reason, I would rather have such
> people, as elders, lead the way in our search for the most viable way to an
> atmosphere of peace, political freedom, and prosperity. Hence, what I have in
> mind is for a process to start where various people will be indentified who
> will be willing to form a committee, or commission to develop a framework for
> guaranteeing human rights in The Gambia thereby ensuring that everyone can live
> in peace (of mind and body) and work toward achieving their potential. I
> assume that like everyone else, I will be able to send whatever suggestions or
> ideas to the committee of elders whenever it's formed, and functioning.
>
> 4. The above leads me to a number of suggestions that were summarized in
> Abdoulaye Saine's posting available online at:
>
> http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind9911&L=gambia-l&O=A&P=46994
>
> a) The idea of a committee of 10 is great, except for the fact that it's
> members should not be restricted to Gambia-L subscribers. Along the lines of
> the committee or commission I refer to above, I suggest that we reach out into
> the Gambian communities both at home and abroad. I suggest we include not only
> politicians (retired, and active) but also religious leaders, Gambian
> academicians, and International civil servants. Finally, the committee should
> work closely with Gambian organizations both at home and abroad to ensure that
> as many people as possible are engaged in the process. This will be perhaps
> the only way to ensure a rich, healthy, and in the end fruitful process.
>
> b) Another problem I have with the idea of a Gambia-L committee of 10 is that
> it sounds a little too elitist. True, there are many people that subscribe to
> Gambia-L, but I'm not sure whether it still should be seen as THE gathering of
> our nation's best. I'm sorry, but I don't think so. And there are many people
> without e-mail that have more to contribute than me, with my many e-mail
> accounts. Furthermore, some of the projects I see envisoned for the committee
> will, I think, be best performed by an independent body, as in a human rights
> watch dog. In the event that enough people find it important to form a human
> rights organization, I'd say more power to them. But I think the strongest
> role Gambia-L can, and should play, is to serve as a forum for exchanging ideas
> and information. What people do with those ideas is up to them.
>
> c) I noticed that Abdboulaye's summary includes a section on social and
> economic development issues. I think we should first concentrate on enhancing
> democracy and human rights, and take on the other issues later. Nothing is
> possible without peace, which is under constant threat if people are not
> accorded basic human rights. This by no means implies that others are not free
> to work on those social and economic issues that are dear to their hearts.
> GESO, and the book project are wonderful examples of the world of good that can
> happen when people work together.
>
> d) I promised that this was going to be short, and so I should be keeping it
> that way. But before I sign off, I'd like to suggest a few ways we can go
> about getting the dialog going:
>
> i) I nominate Dr. Abdoulaye Saine as the coordinator for efforts at
> identifying potential members of, and forming a committee to oversee the dialog
> process. I should mention that I have talked to him on the phone and told him
> that I will present this suggestion to the list, and he agreed.
> ii) I suggest that anyone who would like to nominate a candidate for the
> committee first check with the person he/she wants to nominate, and then
> forward the person's name, contact info, and perhaps a brief bio to Dr. Saine.
> iii) We also have to decide how committee members will be selected. Rather
> than taking votes on Gambia-L, I suggest we identify key interest groups (e.g.
> the government, political parties, religious groups, etc.), and have them
> endorse or nominate people who can speak on their behalf, and represent their
> interests.
> iv) We should also start thinking about how to get the ball rolling. Given
> that Dr. Saine will be calling a lot of people, and writing a lot of letters, I
> suggest that he prepare a small budget to pay for his phone calls, and other
> expenses. He can send it to the list, and anyone who wants to contribute can
> send him the money. Any amount that's left over after he is done with the
> preliminary work of putting the committee together will be handed over to the
> committee for them to use in their work.
>
> I guess that's about all for now. Thanks so much to all of you for taking the
> time to discuss issues of great national signifcance. Like I tell my friends,
> the only difference between us and donkeys are that we argue, and they don't!
> Please let's keep it that way. Have a great week, and best wishes in your
> endeavors.
>
> Katim
>
> ----------
> > From: Abdoulaye Saine <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Proposal and Strategies: A Summary
> > Date: Tuesday, November 23, 1999 9:52 AM
> >
> > G-L Community:
> >
> > What follows is a summary of the various proposals and strategies that
> > were posted on the Bantaba and to me privately. I found them to be
> > thoughtful and reflective of the twin themes of "National
> > Reconciliation" and "Positive/Constructive Engagement" with president
> > Jammeh, his Government, the National Assembly, Political parties and
> > other institutions and groups in Gambia's civil society. In looking at
> > all the postings on the issue, several key categories emerged.
> >
>
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