Buharry,

Once again, thank you for your response and for initiating a thought provoking debate.
The only thing I want to add in closing is that dissent and differing opinions are good because without dissent and the right to dissent, we have totalitarianism and dictatorship which is actually what we have in The Gambia since while those who sing the praises of Jammeh and those who support him are free to speak (but even then, only so long as they are paying homage to him and his regime), no one, including the opposition is allowed to dissent publicly or speak up against the government.  

No matter how perfect everything else is in any society, if the government of the day does not respect, defend and uphold the human  rights of it's citizens and operate under the rule of law, no one is safe, not even their die hard supporters and the number of close supporters, associates, right hand men/women of Yaya Jammeh who are among the disappeared, who have died under mysterious circumstances or who have been imprisoned or have left the country after falling out with him and have not returned home because of fear of what awaits them is ample proof of this. 

This is why I will maintain that those of us who keep harping on this issue and shouting at the top of our lungs are speaking for everyone whether it is appreciated or not because everybody, supporters and opponents alike benefit in a society where the governmeit operates within the law and is mindful and protective of the ri
ghts of it's citizenry and likewise, everyone, suffers when dictatorship and tyranny is the order of the day.

I think the main problem we have in Africa is that too often, the political atmosphere is such that our government representatives do not take up the role they should, which is the role of protector of rights for all but instead the entire thing is a patronization affair where power is hoarded by those who manage to get it and thereafter nepotism and tribalism etc becomes the order of the day and anyone outside the circle has to find someone to patronize them so they can catch the left over crumbs and the dissenters, including the opposition become the enemy to marginilaze and punish. 

In such an atmosphere, it is hard for people to appreciate objectivity of advocacy towards accomplishment of a common goal. Also,because they are too busy trying to survive in a such a warped political atmosphere where the people cannot depend on a government that works for everyone alike, they have to find someone to hide behind to survive, even if it means defending the indefensible, so they just want the likes of us who are talking about the protection of  very specific and important issues that the society as a whole cannot afford to compromise on, they do not understand and  want us to simply shut up so they can concentrate their enegies on playing the survival game.
.
I hope and pray that one day, our people will experience the joy of living under a government that knows and plays 
their true role, as defender and protector of the rights of all, supporters and opponents alike. Only then will the people appreciate and value the fact that when it comes to those principles that protect our rights we cannot afford not to be on the same page and cannot afford not to be advocates for each other even as we are free to disagree about other things.That we cannot afford to ignore the dissappearance, humiliation or mysterious death of our neighbor or even our enemy in the same country no matter how well things are going for us, because if we do that, we are consciously or unconsciously enabling the perpetuation of a dark culture that may very well consume us as well some day in the future.
Again, many thanks for the opportunity to exchange ideas.
Jabou Joh

-----Original Message-----From: Momodou Buharry Gassama <[log in to unmask]>

To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, 18 Mar 2009 8:50 am
Subject: Re: [>-<] Of Militants, Cowards and Fence-sitters: Disaporan Gambians and the Political Situation in Gambia










Hi Sister Jabou!
The scholarliness, maturity and humility displayed in your response 
are some of the reasons I always look forward to reading your posts. 
Thank you for engaging.

We do not have any disagreements with regard to speaking out about 
human rights abuses and lack of respect for the rule of law. The issue 
is how that speaking out is done, what is proposed and how what is 
proposed is presented. While you might feel that you can speak for all20
Gambians, others might disagree. There are many people who disagree 
with what I identify as being problematic in Gambia and are opposed to 
what I propose as solutions just as I disagree with what they present. 
That is the beauty of the democracy we wish for Gambia. Disagreeing 
with each other does not however mean that we cannot work together to 
bring about meaningful change. It means that we have to listen to and 
learn from each other. We can debate fiercely and present and guard our 
points of view with vigour but we must understand that what we present 
is true to us but might not be true to others. We therefore need to 
convince each other. If we fail to convince each other, we just agree 
to disagree. We might disagree on one topic but agree wholeheartedly on 
another.

I have debated with you and read your debates online for more than a 
decade and I know where you stand on many issues because you have 
always been steadfast in presenting and defending them. The issues I 
raised regarding clamourous condemnation of people on the ground, the 
urging of people to take to the streets, the issue of fence-sitting  
etc. were not only limited to your response or to this current debate. 
Halifa and PDOIS have been known for example, for writing open letters 
and press releases and have been condemned for doing so as lately as 
the witch-hunting issue. The issue of urging people to take to the 
streets has been around for many years. Some time ago,=2
0I read some 
writings on the issue of fence-sitting from the Gambia Post archives. 
Sister Jabou, I shall never accuse you of blowing hot air because I 
know better. I have known you as someone who fights for what she 
believes in both in writing and otherwise. As you stated, we have been 
on other venues where the thrust was not only debate but project 
oriented. I sometimes read the archives of the L, Post and other sites 
and see how many people have, over the years, come and gone with 
extremely radical pronouncements and instigations for people to take to 
the streets. These issues are not new and my opinions on them have been 
expressed over the years and are therefore not new.
With regard to misunderstanding what you wrote, it is no problem. While 
online communication offers great benefits, one of the main 
disadvantages is the lack of personal touch. One might write something 
that is misunderstood but would not have been so if it was a 
conversation with the ability to see facial expressions etc. Then there 
is the issue of the ?Angalé? (English) per the broken French we speak. 
It is not our language and for some of us in these parts of the world 
where it is not the mother tongue, we can go on for weeks or even 
months without speaking it. 

We agree on your other points. The way we present our points may be 
different but their essence is the same. Educating and presenting our 
viewpoints to the average Gambian is very important. Not as
suming that 
they see things the way we do is vital. You have raised very important 
questions that need to be studied and dealt with. Your statement ?I 
have been debating these issues for a long time here on and have lately 
come to the conclusion that we need to move from debate to actual 
tangible, sensible, attainable solutions? is very true. I thank you for 
engaging in this debate and hope that the points presented by you and 
others have added light and facilitated retrospection and 
introspection. In the desire for true democracy in Gambia, we are on 
the same page. If you have any more questions on the issues I dealt 
with, I will try to deal with them. Otherwise I would like to book a 
seat on the fence by Pa Musa?s side for a while before continuing the 
thread after having exhausted my fifteen minutes in the spotlight. 
Maybe LJD can be of help (lol). Have a good day.
Buharry.










 


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