Well said Mr Dampha.I hope all this email replies is forwarded to him so
that he knows
he is not dealing with a bunch of cowards as thought.Mr Collins got some
nerve to be sending a private email to Mr Ceesay and not knowing it will be
forwarded to us to read.If he is for real,why the threats for crying out
loud?If he doesn[t have anything to hide,then like they say:IT's ON.
Fatou Mbasu Nyang

-----Original Message-----
From: Dampha Kebba [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2000 10:48 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: We are talking about EU or Alimenta, Mr. Managing Director


Ebrima, heartfelt thanks to you and your sources for the great job you are
doing. I also thank the numerous subscribers that spoke out to put the
record straight for this Collins fellow. He clearly does not know who he is
antagonizing. Ebrima, when your sources said that we should 'check' this
Hilo outfit, we took it as a good faith proposal and as I indicated in my
email prior to the one from Mr. Collins, our aim was to identify the people
behind this corporation (in America) and 'lobby them on behalf of our poor
farmers'. It seems like Mr. Collins has been around the likes of Yaya too
long and is now thinking along the same lines as thugs like Yaya. In his
ill-advised message to St. Johns, he insinuated that we were threatening him
with illegal behavior. Nothing can be further from the truth. Hilo is not
our enemy (yet). In any case, we have a worst enemy in Yaya. In case Mr.
Collins did not know, Yaya was here in the States a few months ago. No one
threatened Yaya with illegal behavior. On the contrary, CNN captured a very
orderly demonstration against the brutality Yaya represents. Yaya also has
several diplomats working for him in Washington, DC and in New York city.
None of those officials have ever been threatened by 'criminal, jealous, and
communist dissidents'. We have better things to do. Collins must also be
living in another age to think that he or St. Johns can silence us. Clearly
he does not understand how these mailing lists work and their legal
implications. Threatening St. Johns is like threatening the Post Office for
sending a letter you do not like. That mail to St. Johns is absurd. It is
laughable the way Collins was asking St. Johns to identify 'students'. As I
indicated here before, the sad thing is that people like Collins only get
exposed to the worst Gambians on earth. When they talk to high school
drop-outs like Yaya, they think all Gambians are below the caliber of Yaya.
Some of us can school this Collins character in his native language. He
claims that his company invested $3 million in The Gambia and he thinks that
he has contributed to our national development more than every Gambian
living in the U.S. that opposes Yaya. Let me tell Collins something: in
Atlanta alone, one person wired in excess of $1 million (in one year) on
behalf of other Gambians that send money to their folks everyday. More money
was sent from New York in the same year. Collins and his cohorts must be
living in lala-land if they think that the salvation of the Gambians lie in
the hands of thieves like Yaya. Another thing, we in the U.S. work hard for
our money. We do not empty government coffers or rob banks. As someone
indicated earlier on, S3 million is pittance compared to the $28 million
Alimenta used to pump into the country. We have means of verifying whether
they indeed brought the $3 million into the country. If Collins wants to
play that game, fine with us. Furthermore, if Collins continues with this
attitude, I can assure him that he will regret his actions. Collins' claims
that Hilo is a $23 million company does not tally with what Mr. Jallow's
sound research revealed. So, either Collins is exaggerating their yearly
earnings or they are under-reporting the figures. Just like he has
connections in the States, we also have connections. We have friends at the
IRS (international division, office of general counsel). If he wants to get
into the gutter, we are quite capable of doing that too. Frankly, we
intended to deal with Hilo in a civilized manner. Unfortunately, Collins
decided to side with the enemy and even went further than Yaya by trying to
intimidate people on G_L. Their modus operandi is, when they cannot convince
their opponents, they threaten them or burn their houses down or murder them
in broad daylight or throw them in jail. Collins can try all he wants, but
he cannot do anything to anyone of us. If he is really sure of himself, let
him come to the U.S. and challenge us. He would be fighting a losing battle.
As mentioned earlier on, Hilo might be in this for their $3 million. We are
in this for the long haul. I for one will never rest until Yaya is in jail
where he belongs. If people like Collins are dumb or cowardly enough to
decide to be on Yaya's side, they do so at their own peril. Some of Collins'
statements were pitiful. This man was admitting that the past few years our
farmers had a rough ride with unscrupulous investors. Yet he always hastens
to add that it was not the government's fault that our farmers were
suffering. What kind of double-talk is that? These are the arguments of a
man that would say or do anything to please Yaya and his corrupt cohorts. If
it is not the government's fault, whose fault is it? Who booted out Alimenta
and brought in Baba Jobe and the Libyans? If the government was in the right
path, how come it has been defeated by Alimenta in every legal forum they
have been so far? What kind of government will allow itself to be taken
advantage of for three consecutive years? Does Collins think that Hilo and
Yaya are doing Gambian farmers a favor by buying the grounds at prices
reportedly lower than last year's? Reading some of Collins' irrational
rattling, I even doubted that an English/American gentleman overseeing a
multimillion dollar operation would author such garbage. He calls us
communists, accuse the EU of trying to take-over Gambia, but then went ahead
and tried to justify monopolizing the groundnut industry. What happened to
free markets and competition? The Coke analogy was incomprehensible. Or does
Hilo have intellectual property rights in groundnuts grown in The Gambia?
There is a corporation in the U.S. called Pepsi in case Collins did not
know. There is no justification for Hilo to be allowed to corner the market
if they do not have the money it would require to buy the nuts from the
farmers at competitive rates. It is understandable if Hilo brought in
millions of dollars and made capital investments in addition to buying the
groundnuts at good rates and then they negotiate to get a complete monopoly.
But if they do not have the money to buy the nuts and the muscle to sell the
nuts in the commodities markets, then they cannot be allowed to corner the
market. We will be monitoring the local banking scene to see how much money
Hilo pumps into the country and how much money they get from Yaya and his
cronies. Finally, I would counsel Collins to focus on buying the nuts from
the farmers at competitive rates (compared with Senegal). That is what we
are also trying to achieve. The bottom-line for us is the welfare of our
farmers. It is counterproductive for him to antagonize us. He might think
that the stakes are high with him putting in a mere $3 million (compared to
the remittances we make). I can assure him that the stakes will be higher if
he continues in this infantile behavior. Yaya is fighting a war he cannot
win. If I were Collins, I will not put all my eggs in Yaya's basket. If Hilo
is not out to take advantage of the farmers, then they have nothing to fear
from us. But if this is all a ploy to swindle defenseless Gambian farmers,
then we will also do what we have to do. Before Collins has any dubious
ideas, let me be very specific. Unlike Yaya, we will not do anything illegal
to him or his company. But we will not hesitate to investigate them and take
appropriate legal action against them when we get rid of Yaya. We will also
not hesitate to take this matter up with the rightful legal authorities
(such as the IRS) in the U.S. So Collins should be warned. Ebrima, I thank
you and your sources again and encourage you to remain vigilant. I know
these thugs cannot intimidate you.
KB


>From: Ebrima Ceesay <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: We are talking about EU or Alimenta, Mr. Managing Director
>Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 01:08:06 -0000
>
>Gambia-L:
>
>The unedited e-mail below came from one of my sources in the heart of the
>Gambian Government.
>
>Kebba Dampha: Thanks for the good job you did on HILO. You are an asset!
>
>Yus and George Sarr: Thanks for the postings. Good and thoughtful they
>were!
>In fact, I have decided to ignore this Alan Collins because I have other
>important things to do.
>
>Ebrima Ceesay
>
>______________________________________________________________________
>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: We are talking about EU or Alimenta, Mr. Managing Director
>>Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000
>>
>>Ebrima,
>>
>>The more I read the messages from Mr. Alan Collins, the more I believe
>>that
>>we are not dealing with a serious company.
>>
>>How can the Managing Director of HILO Company (Gambia) Ltd. logically
>>extend the issue at hand to include the EU and Alimenta.  We are talking
>>about your company, Mr. Managing Director and not the EU and/or Alimenta.
>>The latter is not in the same class with your "funny" company and the
>>former is certainly not in the business of trading in commodities, at
>>least
>>as far as I am aware.Every Gambian interested in the groundnut sub-sector
>>knows that Alimenta is one of the biggest players in the groundnut
>>business. So please do not mention Alimenta in the same breath with HILO.
>>Anyway, more will be revealed of HILO as you have seen information has
>>already stated coming in.  Brother, you have'nt seen nothing yet.
>>
>>You indicated that you have thus far paid out D10 million to farmers and
>>that you have already invested $3 million.  Well, for your information, at
>>this time of the year, three years ago, Alimenta pumped into the system
>>$20
>>million. No wonder with your "investment" of $3 million so far, the dalasi
>>continue to depreciate by the minute.  Why bring in your money in drips
>>and
>>drabs?
>>
>>No one is opposed to private operators entering the sector but it must be
>>done in a transparent manner.  That is all we are asking for. Is that too
>>much to ask of you?
>>
>
>___________________________________________________________________________
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