[log in to unmask] skrev:

>Mr. Sidibeh:
>
>This is one piece of advice that evbery Gambian should take heed, and NADD in particular. Thanks for a sobering piece.
>
>Musa JEng
>
>
>>From: Momodou S Sidibeh <[log in to unmask]>
>>Date: 2005/12/15 Thu PM 07:37:58 EST
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: What Does NADD Want ??
>>
>>Brothers Jassey-Conteh, Mo Baldeh, Joe, Buharry, and All,
>>
>>One would have thought that even with Halifa, OJ, and Hamat Bah locked
>>away, what NADD needed to do first was to deliver on Hon. Halifa
>>Sallah's promise to impeach President Jammeh should he fail to apologise
>>for his gross conjectures about the opposition's conspiracy to fan the
>>flames of conflict with Senegal. This, of course should have followed a
>>vehement denunciation of the police authorities for publicly coating
>>Hon. Sallah, NADD coordinator, as a de facto fugitive. The state's
>>disinformation tactic aimed tacitly to humiliate Halifa's person, was
>>not simply desperately risible. It was repulsive and symptomatic of a
>>government that has jettisoned all moral bearings in its ruthless
>>exercise of power.
>>
>>NADD's failure to act on this initial committment left it without the
>>necessary momentum to forge ahead with subsequent mass action during the
>>weeks following the incaceration of the three leaders.
>>Happily, we all should hope that the current order of things ought to
>>bring definitive closure to that nightmare. Yet realistically, in a
>>state where the rule of law has been under siege by those who are
>>mandated to enforce it, hope itself becomes ephemeral. Hoping for a
>>permanent truce between the adversarial political camps may be wishful
>>thinking. What then should NADD do??
>>
>>Before venturing any opinion on that, allow me to lay bare our weighty
>>dilemma. Thanks partly to globalisation there are fairly sizeable
>>commuinities of us (i.e Gambians and their friends) across the world
>>gradually growing in intellectual, economic, and political influence in
>>our country of origin. It is only natural that in time we shall
>>particiapte ever more actively in the political life of our country, and
>>so make demands for degrees of representation consummate with the
>>collective influence we are able to wield. This influence so far, is
>>most dramatically expressed economically. Without the remittances and
>>investments from diasporan Gambians, scores of thousands of families
>>will suffer untold misereis; many businesses will collapse throwing
>>thousands into unemployment in  an environment bereft of social safety
>>nets. Government's (tax) revenue base will shrink further as local
>>consumption plummets.  In the long run price hikes will force even the
>>godliest into the streets  perhaps peacefully but angrily demanding for
>>bread and jobs. [In the late eighites, in the wake of the IMF's first
>>wave of Structural Adjustment Programmes, there were food riots in many
>>African countries. President Jawara, introduced it in Gambia, but not
>>even a mouse openly squeaked about hunger!. I am inclined to think
>>though, that the geography of hunger then and now are quite different].
>>In short, brothers and sisters, we can create hell for the Jammeh
>>regime, but at the cost of untold suffering of our people.
>> Added to that is the fact that most of us are sincerely or otherwise
>>aligned with the opposition, which is a damn good thing given the
>>circumstances. Placing demands on the opposition in view of our
>>political and economic clout is not as tricky as it sounds. Not to speak
>>up our minds about what we think is a tragic case of self-censure. We
>>know there are people who will as swiftly caution us for inciting mass
>>action from the cosy and plastic interiors of our European condos,
>>thousands of kilometres away from the eye of the storm. True, it will
>>sound morally decrepit to suggest action that may cause death or
>>imprisonment. But we would also be welcome members of the African
>>fraternity of coconut heads if we fail to tell ourselves that PROTEST
>>must be used as a legitimate weapon in the struggle against tyranny. In
>>the same vein, we must also uphold the view that as long as we remian
>>sincere, the ethical foundations of criticism must remain robust even if
>>we are not able to offer reasonable alternatives. Criticism and
>>self-criticism are organisational instruments that must be welcome at
>>all times. Better still if alternative courses of action can be offered.
>>Solidarity within the oppositon must be strong enough to withstand
>>introspection from within.
>>
>>By all means, Sidia Jatta's reasons for not holding a demonstration are
>>defensive and defeatist. A massive peaceful demonstration needed to be
>>organised on behalf of the detained trio for various reasons.
>>Firstly, it should have been held to actively inform the regime that
>>people have a rigth to protest and to challenge the regime to make sure
>>there are "No Bullets And Soldiers In Our Streets". Of course, President
>>Jammeh may be a severe case of schizophrenia and so may order shooting
>>peaceful demonstratorsis six months away from the AU summit he has
>>worked so hard to host.  In that case he may be Sani Abacha's redeemer.
>>Secondly, a demonstration is perhaps the most effective method for
>>public sensitisation. Imaginative slogans and songs often loudly say
>>what most people think but are afraid to speak about. Capturing the
>>public's imagination turns out to be more powerful than its deepest fears.
>>In the third instance, a demonstration would have provided NADD the
>>opportunity to wrest the political initiative from Jammeh's incontinent
>>hands, and stop reacting to his violent paroxysm of unstatemanly natter.
>>NADD must as of now take control of the political agenda and lay out a
>>counter offensive toward the elections: rallies in chosen
>>constituencies, public awareness campaigns on NADD's transitional
>>agenda, workshops, seminars. It must put the APRC on the defensive by
>>challenging it about its dismal record: unsolved murders, political
>>assasinations, weeding out the green(!) boys, the continuous assault on
>>the press and other media and journalists in particular. There are
>>legions of issues: power supply, water, corruption, the presidential
>>jet(!), infrastructure decay in the country-side, arbitrary dismissals,
>>etc.
>>
>>Last year while most of us celebrated the orange revolution in Ukraine
>>that brought Victor Yushchenko to power, I lamented that Gambia was an
>>entierly different ball game. That reality has never been clearer than
>>now. NADD's natural allies in the struggle for democratic rights and the
>>reinstatement of the rule of law, Gambian workers and students seem
>>completely oblivious of the tragedy being outplayed under their nose. To
>>attend a university whose campuses are one of the worst equipped in the
>>world while the president of our nation of just a million and half (with
>>no oil) acquires a private jet and pretend that as absolutely normal is
>>simply a historical aberration. That Gambian workers, professionals,
>>civil servants and students should observe in solemn acquiescence the
>>gradual escalation of repressive measures and abuse of rights and
>>arbitrary dismissals without summoning the courage to organise
>>autonomously against such humiliation vitiates the very history of
>>student and worker militancy and protest of former decades. There is no
>>point in wishing that we were as demonstration prone as South Koreans.
>>But to wait till election day in order to vote out a regime that is
>>monthly busy killing and jailing us, and refraining from publicly but
>>peacefully exhibiting our anger at this indignity, is to have no use for
>>all the intelligence and knowledge inside the world!
>>
>>As we endear NADD to act, those of us in the diaspora must help raise
>>resources for the project of flushing the APRC from State House. Added
>>to that, there is a moral obligation to recognise and respect ordinary
>>people's legitimate sources of fear; and here we are dealing with a
>>regime under whose watch Gambians have been killed and maimed without a
>>"peanut being cracked"! While avoiding every tendency to classification
>>into a "we" and "them" category, all of us as citizens must claim with
>>one voice that these heavy layers of fear need to be systematically
>>peeled away from the public subconscious. It can be done by scoring
>>small victories one at a time, gradually persuading the fearful, that a
>>bigger victory is possible if our numbers grow. One such small victory
>>was the defeat of the APRC at local elections in August. NADD should
>>build on the momentum produced by that victory by organising a peaceful
>>protest in reaction to the illegal arrest of Hamat Bah, Omar Jallow
>>(OJ), and Halifa Sallah.
>>
>>Finally, I hope NADD will strategise promptly and mobilise and
>>reinvigorate its organisational structures so as to be able to
>>effectively activate the membership and supporters.
>>
>>Many thanks to you all,
>>Momodou S Sidibeh
>>
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>>
>>
>
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Mr. Jeng,
Many thanks for your kind works. Since we are all in this together, I
pray that we shall all one day break colanuts for one another.

Have a wonderful day,
Sidibeh

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