Karamba:
Your analysis is lucid but in the end provides no possible solutions
and/or suggestions to the political impasse at home.
"Constructive/Positive Engagement" is but one way of effectively
channeling our views, concerns and suggestions to Jammeh and his
Government.  We can not at this stage of the game afford not to be
directly involved in this political drama whose end may breed unwanted
suffering and further injury to our people.  Without being sensational,
if the current impasse is not resolved POLITICALLY, the consequences
could be dire. We must intervene now.  And if Jammeh and his Government
are not receptive, surely, we can come up with other strategies to have
out views heard. This way we are directly involved with Jammeh and/or
other opposition parties.  After all, the spirit of "healing and
reconciliation" or "constructive engagement" does not mean acceptance or
the end of constructive criticism of Jammeh's policies.  The Bantaba has
done that well.  Let us push the debate a notch higher.

I appreciate and respect your candor and thoughtfulness. Your silence
earlier on the issue, to me, suggested deliberation/rumination. Thanks.

Abdoulaye
No justice, no peace.










[log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> I must confess when  some great list members proposed we make a collective
> effort to engage the government of Yayah Jammeh, I felt a sudden shudder in
> my spine. Sure their intentions are most laudable in that they want us all to
> try to work at resolving the numerous problems we face as a people. They set
> out parameters that could conceivably serve as a framework for the dialogue
> even though this government  by dint of it's nature would find those basic
> conditions anathema. If a government has to be goaded into treating it's
> people lawfully , it is my contention that attempting to constructively
> engage that government would not only be inconsistent, it would also
> inadvertently rationalise all the wrongs that have come to symbolise this
> regime. Why, list members , do you think it would be worthwhile to engage a
> government whose leadership constantly run roughshod of the laws and
> constitution of the nation? They have honed criminal behavior to a fine art
> by murdering and torturing their opponents with impunity. While they were
> quick to throw people out of their homes and confiscate their property, they
> have failed to properly adjudicate these so called cases of ill-gotten wealth
> in a court of law. Their intention was not primarily geared towards
> recovering public funds , something I support whole heartedly, rather they
> embarked on their brand of justice which was essentially premised on
> vindictiveness.
> If for some reason some list members want to hold their noses and agree to
> engage the president by proxy through his aids in a bid to bring change, I
> can say with reasonable certainty it too would be an exercise in futility. Do
> we seriously that Dr Sedat Jobe or Tombong Saidy or anyone close to Yahya
> would somehow turn to men of virtue ? They know this President is a criminal
> and ought to be removed from office but being in the positions they are has
> gotten the better of them. They will tag along for as long as the shipwreck
> avoid making them casualities. For the men around the President, no price is
> too high for them. The people of the country can die of treatable illnesses,
> schools can fail  and the people can wallow in extreme hardship, these folks
> would take no responsibility. They and the man they serve are content with
> running a rudderless government that is unraveling to the core. They have all
> become experts at shirking responsibility and blaming someone else for
> institutional failure. How for example can the president possibly do anything
> about corruption when he is it's very embodiment. Sure he would loudly and
> personally dismiss a few government employees as a way to posture for the
> public and to some extent the international community most of whose leaders
> would not touch him with a ten foot pole because of his questionable
> legitimacy. It would however be seen for what it is, a hollow and meaningless
> harangue that does not address the rot the he personifies.
>
> I think a better Gambia lies squarely in the hands her children. We must
> always be thankful if the thoughtful among us urge us to coalesce and do
> good. Since we are all stakeholders in the affairs of our country , our
> efforts would hence be primarily self-serving in that the very things we
> endeavor would benefit us too.  By the same token , I believe we have  a
> similar responsibility to reject off hand a tyrant who by all indications has
> ruined the country in a cruel and cynical drive to enrich himself and oppress
> an already beleaguered people. What i would  urge list members is to do all
> they can to remove Yahya Jammeh and all that he represents and help build the
> institutional framwork that can enable us all to do right by our nation and
> people
>
> Karamba
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------