Pa Ali, great analysis. I also thank Manneh for taking the time to clarify
his position to Jassey-Conteh again.

I would also take this opportunity to respond to some of Conteh's postings
regarding this debacle. First of all I think it is grossly unfair for Conteh
to accuse Manneh of tribalism simply because the man tabulated the ethnic
make-up of Niani in order to back up his analysis. That make-up is the
truth. Whether Manneh says it or not, it is there. It is important that we
recognize it and formulate a strategy to take advantage of that self-evident
truth. Taking advantage here does NOT mean going to the majority Wollof and
pitting them against the minority (like APRC is doing). Taking advantage
here means recognizing people's idiosyncrasies and appropriately addressing
their unique issues/plight. For instance, with this information in hand,
Darboe will not go to a Wollof village and start addressing people in
Mandinka or Fulla. What is wrong in using Manneh's information in that way?

You do not ignore people's differences. You address it in a POSITIVE way. It
is very wrong for Conteh to think that we in the Opposition are incapable of
using Manneh's information positively. By attacking Manneh, this was what
Conteh was insinuating. I know Conteh is firmly on the side of the
Opposition. He means well. His calls for unity is admirable. He has not just
talked the talk, but walked the walk as well. This is the second issue we
have very deep differences over the past few weeks. Because of Conteh's
admirable record, I hate to disagree with him. But things are simply getting
out of hand for me.

Did Conteh not read what Touray said on the Observer about UDP? Does that
sound like a man we want in the Opposition? Even if Touray is going to win
the seat (which I doubt), as a matter of principle, we should get rid of
him. Before Conteh puts the teaser out there that people do not know who to
believe: Touray or UDP, he (Conteh) should do his own independent research
about the incident and come to a conclusion. Now that both sides have been
heard, Conteh should not have a problem forming an opinion about the matter.
UDP gave their side on the Independent and Touray gave his side on the
Observer.

Does Conteh have a problem with the fact that UDP expelled the man partly
because of his voting record in parliament? Political parties have 'whips'
in parliament to help parliamentarians vote according to party lines.
Nothing wrong with that. Granted, expulsion might be a very drastic 'whip'
to administer when a parliamentarian does not toe the party line. But we
have to examine the laws this man refused to vote for or against in light of
what the party wants. Had UDP forced this man to vote for a repugnant law, I
would be the first to cry foul and say that it is wrong for the party to
expel him because of his non-vote. But we are not dealing with that here. Is
Conteh not offended about the fact that the man sided with APRC on the
Indemnity Decree? In my mind, the reasons UDP puts forward are good reasons
why this man should be expelled from the party.

Now let us look at the reasons of the man Conteh is fighting for. He says he
is leaving because UDP is a hateful, tribalist and divisive party. Conteh,
do you agree with the man's position? Does a liar like Touray deserve to be
in our ranks? The man has not even joined the APRC yet and he is speaking
like them. Do you realize that by siding with this man you lend strength to
the vicious lie by the APRC that UDP is a divisive party? I respectfully
urge UDP to address this tribalism issue head on. It is NOT enough for
people that Ousainou Darboe is married to women from other tribes, that
Shyngle Nyassi is not a Mandinka, that Mariam Denton is not a Mandinka, that
we have Fullas holding high offices in the UDP hierarchy. It is NOT also
enough for some Gambians that they cannot name a single person Darboe has
murdered or fired from his job because of his tribal origins.

Some people in our midst would rather believe that Yaya is not a tribalist
and label Darboe as such. Why? Because APRC is aggressively campaigning to
spread this vicious and sinister lie. They ignore the fact that Yaya
surrounds himself with Jolas manning all our sensitive security outfits.
They will ignore that Yaya dismisses civil servants willy-nilly simply
because of their tribal and family backgrounds. They will ignore the fact
that Yaya goes to the army, weeds out the Mandinkas, Wollofs, and Fullas and
slaughter them in cold-blood. They will ignore all that and focus on Darboe
because Yaya says Darboe is a tribalist. This is disgusting.

What is divisive about saying that criminals should be punished? If UDP
calls for people that massacred our children to be punished, people start
jumping up and down saying that UDP is divisive, they are hateful and they
are extremists. Give us a break. Darn right murderers should be punished.
UDP is NOT just saying that Jola murderers alone should be punished and
Mandinkas should go scot-free. That is ridiculous. That is what should be
branded as tribalist; not calling for ALL murderers to be punished. This is
the most vicious lie I have ever heard told against Darboe. I am telling
you. If people say that in my face, I might hit them. It is the height of
gullibility to buy this APRC propaganda. 'Don't vote for UDP. They are just
going to bring back the Jawara days when Mandinkas were dominating'. What
can be more absurd and ridiculous than that? Are these not the arguments of
desperate people without ideas? Who among us can honestly say that tribalism
was rife pre-1994? How many Gambians were killed before 1994 because of
their tribal origin? Again, to the Opposition: it is not enough to show
people by leading a decent life and respecting people from all tribes. We
have to tell people too. At the very least, if we are attacked and labeled
as tribalists, we have to vehemently refute the allegation. Staying mute and
relying on people's intelligence might send the wrong message. Some people
need to be told certain things in no uncertain terms.

Conteh, you are a good man. I hope you recognize Touray for what he is and
jettison the man. Let him go and join the APRC. He does not deserve your
support. He is a vicious liar by labeling the UDP as divisive. He is a
tribal opportunist. He is trying to pander to the non-Mandinka majority in
Niani. The fact that he pointed to the amount of votes Yaya 'beat' Darboe
with in the past elections should tell you a lot. It should tell you that
this man is after self-preservation. He mistakenly thinks that Niani is APRC
territory. He will be unpleasantly surprised come October 2001 and January
2002. We will go to Niani and assure people that we are not divisive. It is
the child murderers at State House that are hateful and divisive. We will
highlight the roles played by Baboucarr Jatta, Ousman Badgie, Sankung
Badgie, Famara Jatta and the many Kujabies and Jammehs running around in the
country. We will highlight the victimization of the other tribes by APRC. I
urge the Opposition to give APRC and their cronies like Touray a dose of
their own medicine. We should not shy away from this tribalism issue. It is
a vicious lie.
KB



>From: pa ali 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: UDP EXPELS HON. ALMAMY TOURAY/INDEPENDENT
>Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 09:35:39 -0000
>
>Conteh.
>your statement below summarise it all.Ancestor Cheik Anta Diop in his book
>barbarism or cilisation under the chapter how to define cultural identity
>made a detail explanation to confirm your summary of common cultural
>identity.the MASTER urgered the present generation of african to study ,
>develop and popularise a program of african conciousness to stop the
>decline
>into attitudes that leads to evil sin or barbarism.
>
>>"We are so intermingled that no Gambian can claim
>>>to be 100% one tribe.  It is deplorable that we
>>>witness discrimination in the US and yet we continue
>>>to exercise this evil sin."
>
>
>The statement of Manneh below needs to be given more impotance and
>reflection in the process of discussions,analysis  and agreements leading
>to
>a unified electoral  opposition to the aprc regime and beyond.infact all
>areas of the gambia needs to be subjected to similar and more detail
>analysis to enable us have a better picture of the gambian reality. Given
>the serious influence of ethnic opportunist conciousness in the gambia,i
>have problem in understanding why we have not subjected this question to
>serious surgical analysis earlier.look at the barbarism it is causing.
>
>some questions for reflections
>
>what is ethnicity in gambian contex?
>what is ethnic chavinism in the gambian communites at home and in the
>diaspora?
>what is ethnic opportunism in intra-gambian relations?
>which social groups benifits from ethnic opportunism?
>what was ethnic politics and in precolonial gambia?
>what was ethnic politics in colonial gambia?
>what was ethnic politics in post 1965 gambia?
>what was the relationship of ethnicity and class benefits in post 1965
>period?
>how was ethnic  representation in local and national political
>institutions?
>what was and is ethnic politics in every village, contituency district and
>region?
>what was and is the ethnic character of political parties and special
>pressure groups?
>what role did ethnicity play in the process of the 1981 coup de`etat?
>what role did it play in  pre and post 1994 coup de etat?
>what is the relationship of ethnicity and class benefits in post 1994 coup?
>what role is ethnicity playing in the present gambian and diaspora
>communities?
>how will the unity tendency in the anti aprc opposition deal with this
>ethnicity question in the pre election period?
>how do we develop a national consciousness platform in the process of the
>anti aprc national democratic struggle and beyond?
>what is the character of ethnic politics in the immidiate sub region of the
>gambia?
>how is this ethnic politics influencing the gambian political situation?
>
>
>
>"In any political campaign, one need to know the type of people you are
>dealing with and must follow certain approach or tools to solicit their
>support. You must be conversant with the realities on the ground.
>>Anywhere in the world, politicians target certain influential interest
>>groups such as trade unions, race and tribal groups, gender and age
>>groups,students, religious organizations, etc. This is not peculiar to any
>>decent politic as long as providing the needs of these groups is put on
>>high premium during campaign. Similarities is what matters but not our
>>differences.I don't like tribalism either."
>>Cheers
>>Lamin
>
>thank you all
>_________________________________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
>
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