Dr. Saine, I thank you for the further comments you made on the October
elections, giving us further insight as to the longer version you wrote. I
am glad that you know the ‘REALITY’ about Darboe and PPP and you were NOT
bamboozled by the lies perpetuated in numerous quarters that Darboe is/was a
PPP ‘front’ (since you do not like the word ‘stooge’). When I said that I
could at least understand people in the Diaspora that bought into this
vicious lie, I was comparing those people with SM Dibba. Dibba was one of
the peddlers of this lie and he knows Darboe very well. Better than most
people in the Diaspora. In your earlier piece, you said that it was: “the
perception by many in the Diaspora that Darboe’s presidency could be a
comeback for the PPP and ex-president Jawara”. That was what I was
addressing and NOT your personal views and knowledge about Darboe. In any
case, I am satisfied that you know the fact from the fiction and you stated
such in your longer piece.

With all due respect, I think you missed the point I was making about BB
Darboe and Yaya being a PPP front. Every one knows that BB Darboe was
subordinate to Yaya. That is the whole point about someone being a front.
The powerful stay behind the scenes and the public see the puppet. My point
the other day was, how come when PPP is present within APRC/AFPRC, no one
say that PPP is running the show, but when PPP is present within UDP people
start saying that PPP is running the show? BB Darboe was just used as an
example. I also used Buba Baldeh and Nafa Saho as examples. If this anti-PPP
thing was so powerful, why did it not affect Yaya who has more PPP people in
more prominent roles?

I believe the Alliance addressed all the ‘bread and butter’ issues that were
important to the electorate. Gambians know that Darboe can deliver better to
them in terms of ‘development’. Gambians are NOT oblivious to AFPRC/APRC
corruption. Gambians know very well about the callousness of AFPRC/APRC.
Gambians whose groundnuts were NOT bought do not need Darboe to tell them
about their plight. Yet Darboe told them. Gambians back home know how
expensive a bag of rice is nowadays and how expensive it is to move from
place to place. Gambians know that the people leading us do NOT have the
wherewithal to move the country forward.

Dr. Saine, you know why despite all these problems certain Gambians will
still vote for Yaya? They could NOT envisage what it would be like day after
elections if Gabriel Roberts had declared that Darboe was a winner.
SECURITY. I realized that you also addressed this in your piece; but not
with the emphasis it deserves, in my opinion. The Gambians that stood
quietly on Election Day waiting to cast their votes had only one thing in
their minds. They wanted to hang onto their dear lives and those of their
children. Remember, APRC had already shown the opposition during the
campaign that it was willing and able to slaughter innocent Gambians. APRC
thugs slaughtered an Alliance supporter in broad daylight hours before the
polls were open.

Clearly, it was NOT PPP’s unpopularity. People would have voted for NCP, NRP
or PDOIS if that was the motivating factor. Clearly, it was NOT Yaya’s
‘development’ record. People KNOW that they are poorer today than they were
before Yaya stole power. Clearly, is NOT about Yaya’s tackling of issues and
promises about the future. Gambians know that the moron does NOT have the
wherewithal to move us forward. Gambians defined their SECURITY in very
rudimentary terms. They looked at all the refugees in the country and they
hear about what is going on in Sierra Leone and Liberia. They also see how
Yaya has manned the armed forces with Jolas loyal to him and how the armed
forces is willing to massacre children as young as three to help Yaya stay
in power. Gambians hear that Yaya has shipped his family outside the country
readying for a showdown after the election. Like I said, people could not
envision Yaya accepting defeat if he lost the election. In order to keep the
‘peace’ and not turn Gambia to a Sierra Leone, people decided to succumb to
the bully and ‘voted’ for him. We all know that the people were just
postponing their ordeal. Yaya will still bully them.

I thank you again for your contributions.
KB



>From: Abdoulaye Saine <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>To: Subject: Re: The October 2001 Presidential Election in The Gambia
>Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2001 10:18:17 -0500
>
>Mr. Kebba Dampha:
>
>Thanks for your pointed comments and observations.  I do not disagree with
>your
>arguments, only that I make them in the longer paper and in more detail
>than in
>the abridged version.

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