Saul,
 It looks like we should just suck it up , have a coca-cola and a big
freaking smile just to so we appear agreeable. That we should just
acquiesce to the idiosyncrasies of bureaucratic horse-whip just to appear
less intolerant and recalcitrant. Moving on as they say in gambian style.
How convenient, ha? To always please others and look agreeable. Yuk!

See, I was asking genuine questions to find some solutions to our present
dilemma, when 'the defendant' butted in my conversation, told us he is
neutral and will not contribute nada but was only butting in to distract
us and dictate what those who are NOT neutral ought to do since they talk
tough and do nothing. Well, if this is the style of professionalism GRTS
journalist professed then I am not very impressed. And while I agree that
we are wasting valuable time and effort on this subject, I will always
stick to my argument whether others accept it or not because afterall we
should agree to disagree. Not just to look agreeable to please others when
we differ in views. First of all, if Harona is neutral and is supposedly a
professional gambian journalist, how come when one look into the archives
of Gambia-l that nothing was reported by him that in some way appears to
befit the gambian public but somewhat detrimental to the APRC? Instead all
one finds are his confrontations with ONLY members in the opposition and
him defending his boss Tombong and GRTS. Think about folks, who in his or
her right mind have the guts to come Gambia-L and say I am a journalist
who support and work for APRC, openly? Who? So the easy way is to appear
neutral and offer nothing beneficial to the opposition. I hear some of you
complained about the lack of fair coverage for the opposition parties by
GRTS yet that same foul tactic wasn't detected from Harona who reports for
that same GRTS. Go figure. Ebrima Ceesay, who is a brilliant professional
journalist is among the opposition but he reports everything of public
interest whether it's about APRC, UDP or NRP. That's what being neutral means to me. Not cherry-picking what to report.The public must be informed.
What do we get from Harona other that his constant bickering with comrades
in the opposition and him patting the backs of Tombong and Kebba Jobe. Hey,
people, get this, he works for them. Are you people telling him that's the
best he can do when there is so much going on in the Gambia many of which
never get reported. If people like Ebrima Ceesay and Ebou Colley didn't
pick up the slacks and have the courage and professionalism to report
those somewhat sensitive but pertinent issues to the general public, some
off use would have already unsuscribed from this list if we were to depend
on GRTS' harona Drammeh for any pertinent information. Just because he did
not openly said he support the APRC shouldn't mean some of us ought to buy
his pitch. I am one of those few who just don't buy that baloney and I
don't care how many times he tells us he is neutral. There is lots of
circumstantial evidence to prove otherwise.

Anyway, I'll agree that there are more Phi-A-Haronas amongst us and we
should move on to more pressing issues, but I will not succumb to any
hypocrisy just because some of you are 90 years old or whatever. While I
respect other's viewpoints, mine should be respected as well without
labeling me as intolerant or what not. We must agree to disagree, period.
But disagree we must do without resorting to stereotypes.

Here are few questions that none of you have been able to offer any
answers to , but that's not suprising to say the least.

 1. How can anyone convince us that they are comfortable shitting on a
 damn fence while their fellow gambian brothers and sisters are gruesomely
 been massacred by our despicable and despotic government?

 2.Could any fence-shitter here tells us how they would have reacted if
 one of their close relatives(or to put it bluntly their own son or
 daughter) were among the victims of April 10 & 11 student massacre?

 3.Would they get off the damn fence or still proudly proclaim themselves
 as fence-shitters( "a political enthusiast, who rides on the ticket of
 neutrality") as Harona Drammeh japes it?

 4. How many professional gambian journalists publicly acknowledge being a
 staunch supporter of this despotic APRC regime on this public forum
 otherwise known as 'The Gambia-L'?

From my recollection, the answer to that is none. Gambia-L's notoriety for
having very informed and seasoned list members who refuse to tolerate
mediocrity and hypocrisy makes it very uncomfortable and quite extrinsic.
Again, I really hate to harangue these folks on the folly of their ways of
thinking but it is very mindboggling and nerve-wracking to accept such
irrational thoughts as the norms.


                                                  Mr Makaveli

From: saul khan <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: To Be Or Not To Be? Saul.
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: May 23, 2001


Mr. Sallah,

I'm simply dumb-founded that even after several clarifications, you're still
latching on to the wrong vine! For the last time, get this: this controversy
has got ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Harona's right to identify, or
otherwise with any particular political party. It's about INTEGRITY. There's
a difference between saying because of my job, or other connections, I can't
afford to identify publicly with any party, and saying that I'm "neutral"
when in fact that's not true. Mr. Sidi Sanneh who's elderly and works for
the ADB has professed such a position on this forum. How many people have
you seen questioning his integrity? What's special about Harona?

And for the record: I don't know Harona Drammeh from Adam. I've never met
the fellow. Neither do I know anything about some of the people he worked



Gambians Online " Designed With The Gambian People In Mind"
               http://www.gambiansonline.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------