What the hell is going on in our motherland?What is next now?Maybe they will
start
dragging people out of their homes to go and vote.I keep getting sick to my
stomach and have this gut feeling as to who will notice all this.Again the
west seems to ignore
the happenings as this was how, Sierra Leone,Liberia to name a few started
off with.
May Allah protect each and every Gambian back home as this coming election
will be a
very ugly one.
Fatou Mbasu Nyang

-----Original Message-----
From: Pasamba Jow [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2000 8:30 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: CIVIL SERVANTS FORCED TO BUY APRC MEMBERSHIP CARDS/INDEPENDENT


                  Civil servants 'forced' to buy APRC
                            membership cards

                 Highly placed individuals in the government have strongly
criticised
                 the 'forcible' issuing of APRC membership cards to civil
servants.
                 The sources disclosed to The Independent that government
                 departments have been 'invaded' with APRC stalwarts
'forcing' civil
                 servants to buy the party's membership card.

                 According to the sources the issuing of the cards began
prior to the
                 announcement made by the party that they are selling their
                 membership cards, which costs D10. 'We all must buy these
cards
                 otherwise we may loose our positions,' the sources who are
                 themselves civil servants lamented. They believed that it
was wrong
                 for the APRC party to 'exploit' civil servants to fund
their activities,
                 which is political.

                 They also asserted it was unnecessary and wrong to force
them to
                 join the APRC bandwagon when some of them might not even be
                 interested in politics. 'We would not hesitate to condemn
these
                 APRC slaves who ant to exploit us as a source of revenue'
one of
                 them charged. One source who is a senior civil servant at
the North
                 Bank Division claimed that 5,000 APRC membership cards were
sent
                 to the Commissioner's office for distribution to civil
servants there.
                 According to him up to D50, 000 might be realised from the
'forcible
                 sale'.

                 He cited that since they are appointed to serve any
government civil
                 servants should not be involved in politics nor was it
right to be
                 forced to join a party. One of them who works at the
Quandrangle
                 also claimed that civil servants have been willing to
volunteer
                 information to the media but because they have been
instructed to
                 'shun' the press they had preferred to stay silent if 'we
wanted to
                 keep our jobs'.

                 'Although it is not our will not to talk, it is the
bureaucratic system of
                 the government that does not allow us to talk and the
forcible
                 issuing of these cards will make things worse' one of them
further
                 opined. 'It is impossible for all civil servants to support
the ruling
                 party. We are just there to work for our people but it is
even not
                 possible for us all to support the APRC government,'
another civil
                 servant pointed out.

                 He noted that when he first heard about the 'forcible'
issuing of
                 APRC membership cards to civil servants, he as a civil
servant felt
                 insulted. 'One of my friends who is an APRC member told me
that,
                 buying the card doesn't mean I will vote for them. But he
told me
                 plainly that, acquiring the card is for the purpose of
retaining my
                 job,' he said. However all efforts to elicit a response
from the head of
                 the civil service proved unsuccessful.
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