Kanteh wrote:

"Mr Gassa,
There is no complete agreement among peoples of different societies
and cultural backgrounds as to what exacty constitues human rights and
democracy and will never be. However, it is either as a result of sheer
ignorance or dishonesty on the part of anyone with the view that what today
constitutes the inalienable rights of any human beings, otherwise known as
the fundamental human rights is a Western concept that cannot be applicable
to non-western societies."

Mr. Kanteh,

I must first of all apologize for the long time it has taken me to respond
to some of the issues that you raised earlier on last week. Whereas I don’t
share some of your opinions about this regime and Jammeh in particular, I
fully understand some of your concerns. You see Mr. Kanteh; this government
has made some mistakes in the past, still makes some mistakes today and will
perhaps make some more mistakes in the future. Where I differ from some of
you people who oppose this regime, for whatever reason, is our approach to
those mistakes.

To understand some of the present day problems facing us, we need to be
honest with ourselves and try to see them from a wider perspective. This
may, in some cases, necessitate us going back to our colonial history and
how that legacy is still haunting us.

We all know that little Gambia, during colonial times, was divided into the
colony and the protectorate. This in fact had a lot of influence when the
first political parties were formed in the country. The PPP that started as
the Protectorate People’s Party was mainly a rural party. It later evolved
into the People’s Progressive Party and attracted some membership from the
urban area. During that period, there were many towns thriving in the
provinces due to the many European trading centers and a vibrant river
transport system that existed. Towns that quickly come to mind are towns
like Albreda, Njawara, Kani Kunda, Kudang Tenda, Kuntaur, George Town,
Karantaba etc, etc. Rather than building on some of the structures that
existed when we had independence, the former PPP regime totally neglected
most of these to the detriment of our people. In those days river transport
enabled traders in the provinces to transport goods from the Banjul area
cheaply and could sell them relatively cheaply too. The difference in the
price of commodities between those sold in Banjul and those sold in Kuntaur
or Basse were not that much. Farmers’ produce could also be easily brought
to Banjul and cross-border trade thrived. Rural urban drift was not that
rampant and people lived relatively comfortable lives. However from the 70s
things started going out of control. River transport began to deteriorate,
rural business started to dwindle, one of the main source of rural
employment, the groundnut mill in Kuntaur was relocated to Kaur and all hell
began to get loose. The droughts of that period, explosive population
growth, low productivity, low agricultural activity, massive corruption in
the co-operatives, massive corruption in the customs and excise, rampant
nepotism, the ERP, etc, etc all had the cumulative effect of increasing our
hopelessness and poverty. In fact some of these contributed very much to the
limited acceptance of the 1981 attempted coupe by many.

Following the crushing of the 1981 coupe attempt by the Senegalese troupes,
what followed can only be described as a nightmare. The gap between the
haves and have-nots increased, rural-urban drift escalated, basic
infrastructure were neglected, our experiment with privatization failed
abysmally while our population went unchecked.

When the AFPRC came to power in 1994, it was not a surprise that the
commissions of inquiry that they set up brought many peoples worlds crashing
down. The level of corruption unearthed left many bewildered. They announced
a transition program promising us the earth and the moon. Of course not many
believed them at first and people demanded a shorter transition. When the
transition ended and the ban on political activity lifted, the former
parties, with the exception of PDOIS and GDP were all banned, the APRC, NRP
and UDP were formed and political activity resumed in earnest. After the
1996 elections, which some members of the international community described
as not free or fair because the main opposition party (UDP) was not allowed
access to the public media, but which most Gambians accepted as free and
fair, the rift between the APRC and UDP increased. The UDP campaigned all it
could to have the government isolated and the government did all it could to
silence them. This unhealthy state of affaires went for a full five years
and caused deep divisions within our community. The tragic events of April
10th  & 11th drove us further into potential anarchy and chaos.

The recent elections, described by all as free and fair, should have allowed
us to break away from the past and start a new beginning. This is what I
believe we should do. When the APRC announced that they were extending an
olive branch to the opposition and called on all of us to join hands in
nation building, we witnessed the reaction of many. Some rejected it
outright, some adopted a wait and see policy, while others took it as a
positive move. The recent firing and re-hiring of civil servants was most
unfortunate, but has to be seen in the light of what had always prevailed.
Jammeh did not start the hiring and firing of civil servants considered to
be opposed to his government. He merely continued what the colonialists did,
what Jawara did and what Ousainou Darbo, when he thought he was going to
win, promised to do. These are some of the things we need to get rid off.
But would insulting the president or his officials do it? Absolutely NOT!
The government will just turn around and say we run things, finito.

The recent inaugural speech of the president calling for reconciliation,
asking for forgiveness for past mistakes and saying that he has forgiven
those who have wronged him should be taken seriously and we should all try
to find ways of doing just that. That is the only way forward. Confrontation
and promise of revenge or counter revenge will only set us back. I would
like to end this by quoting Eva Strittmatter, who wrote:

“We have all lost very much, don’t fool yourself; me and you also. We were
born open to the world, now we keep the doors closed to him and her and
them”

Have a good day, Gassa.


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