I hope people are beginning to see why some of us said that Sidibeh is NOT
fit to be a List Manager. A responsible person would have done like Joe,
Buhary, Mr. Ghanim and Ya Soffie did yesterday. Without pointing fingers and
engaging in hypocrisy, they spoke the truth and offered amicable (and
workable) solutions to a ‘problem’ brought to us by one person, Malanding
Jaiteh. I certainly do NOT agree with all the solutions they proffered, BUT
I am convinced it was given evenhandedly and in good faith.

Now, here comes Sidibeh, the person that is supposed to speak for List
Management and behave more responsibly than other ‘subscribers’. Right from
the get go he started calling people names. He called people ‘tellitubbies’
and wasps (insects). Did we see any ‘moralizer’ telling Sidibeh off and
asking him to grow up and stop watching too much cartoons (tellitubbies)? In
what Bantaba in Gambia are people described as insects? This is the kind of
nauseating pretence and condescension I CANNOT stand. This is the same
Sidibeh that was calling people ‘scavengers’ (an animal feeding on dead and
decaying matter). This too ‘escaped’ our ‘moralizers’ on this List. But they
are quick to ‘detect’ bad words such as moron, sycophant, mental midget,
vermin, etc.

At the Bantabas I know, truth-telling and consistency is more important than
being overly sensitive to some of the words used here. For the Management
Team to have been taken seriously, they need to tell Malanding Jaiteh in no
uncertain terms that he was WRONG to ‘delist’ Manneh and Mboge summarily
while tolerating worse language from other subscribers. That is the
bottom-line here. Then List Management should have gone ahead and reinstated
people. If List Management then decides to adopt certain CENSORSHIP
standards, then they need to spell those out CLEARLY and be prepared to
enforce those standards EQUITABLY. This is NOT an easy business. If List
Management wants to go that route, some of them (like Jaiteh) would need a
dictionary; and a very powerful one for that matter. The dictionary will
assist him to make sound decisions and quit jumping at shadows.

To respond to one of the points Sidibeh made in his attempt to rationalize
the dictatorial tendencies of List Management, I will say to him that no one
is asking for the List to be ruled by referendum. Saying that the List
cannot be managed democratically because it is impractical ‘to schedule a
show of hands on every single administrative issue’, is rubbish. This is
what we are talking about. They should even be ashamed to say that public
mailing lists are ‘NEVER managed democratically’. This is the arrogance,
ineptitude and dictatorial tendencies we were complaining about. Need I tell
Sidibeh that democracy does NOT mean ALL decisions have to taken through a
referendum? That is why Democracies have leaders (List Management in this
case). This List can be run in a democratic fashion. At the very least,
disputes regarding the words people use here can be adjudicated in a more
democratic fashion. Just yesterday Buhary posted something that can be
looked into by List Management and fine-tuned to their liking. That system
is certainly better than ONE List Manager waking up from the wrong side of
the bed and ‘delisting’ people without consulting other List Managers
because he does not like their choice of words. If List Management does NOT
have the wherewithal to rein in renegade managers (by mapping out a coherent
system of taking care of disputes), my advise to them is to forget about
CENSORSHIP. To say that ‘subscribers’ cannot demand democratic behavior from
List Management because the former do NOT pay taxes, is absurd. What we are
demanding is for people to be FAIR. FAIRNESS here means that decisions are
NOT taken by renegade managers. These decisions are statements about people.
The ‘tax’ people ‘pay’ is contributing to the life-line of this List by
sending postings. Without postings, there would be no List, just like
without taxpayers there would be no functioning government. Ergo, List
Managers should take ‘subscribers’ as seriously as Democratic nations take
their taxpayers. Forget Gambian culture for a minute. Commonsense demands
that ‘subscribers’ be treated in a democratic manner. But what should we
expect from a List Management that thinks that it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to
be democratic; a management that thinks that because ‘subscribers’ are NOT
‘paying’ them, ‘subscribers’ do NOT deserve to be treated in a democratic
manner? This is just pathetic. Some of us will NEVER be enslaved. We would
NOT tolerate ANYONE to treat us otherwise than in a ‘democratic’ (FAIR)
manner.

A ‘politically correct’ Management is NOT unrealistic. A ‘politically
correct’ management would be one that would allow ALL voices to be heard and
be treated FAIRLY. Do NOT ‘delist’ AFPRC/APRC opponents in circumstances
where you would NOT ‘delist’ AFPRC/APRC supporters. That is what is meant by
political correctness, in my humble opinion. Darn right people have ‘good
reason’ to suspect that Management is NOT taking collective (equitable)
decisions. Who would not suspect that when you see Jaiteh ‘delisting’ people
willy-nilly without consultation or authorization? Apart from ‘delisting’
people, Jaiteh has the annoying habit of picking on certain people to
publicly humiliate them by querying their words in public while ignoring
more vulgar language from other people. List Managers should stop Jaiteh
from doing that too. Any decision to reprimand ‘subscribers’ in public has
to be a collective (management) decision. Or else, Jaiteh should take off
his management hat and get into the fray and tell people that he is the
custodian of morality in Gambian society (Bantaba) and he is the one that
knows what English words are appropriate to be used in Baddibu Bantabas.

Nobody on this List can ‘elevate’ the word ‘insult’ to a level where it
tantamount to committing a physical act of violence. Some of the words that
have been queried here as insults do NOT even raise to the level of exposing
people to criminal or civil liability. Calling a stupid person a mental
midget is NOT a crime, neither does it expose someone to a libel suit. I
will tell you what is actionable. What is actionable is Malanding Jaiteh
threatening me with violence. Did we hear any of the ‘moralizers’ reprimand
Jaiteh for that? On the contrary, it was me (the ‘hater’) that diffused the
situation and told Jaiteh that I am going to treat him as a joker. We are
sick and tired of the hypocrisy on this forum. What Manneh and Mboge said
can NEVER cause a war. It would NOT even cause two people to fight a
physical battle. But if I took Jaiteh at face value, I would meet him in DC
and be beaten up by him to ‘settle’ scores. Is this the Gambian (cultural)
way? I tell the man a simple truth, after he attempted to misinform this
forum, and he wants to fight with me? Is it the Gambian (cultural) way for
people to see this and ignore Jaiteh’s blatant threats, and pounce on people
like Mboge?

I will grant Sidibeh something. At least he has the decency to realize that
what Manneh said was no cause for ‘delisting’ the man and ‘delisting’ Mboge.
I hope Jaiteh reads the message. He is WRONG and he needs to apologize for
causing the trouble on the List. I hope as List Management deliberate, they
would tell Jaiteh the honest truth. There is nothing rude or ‘un-Gambian’
about telling people the truth. Bantabas back home that want to be taken
seriously and want to last long (in harmony), encourage truth-telling. We
will patiently await the outcome of management deliberation. From my vantage
point, there are conflicting reports about whether Manneh was ‘delisted’ or
not. I would rather go with Manneh’s report because Sidibeh does NOT appear
to know what the renegade (Jaiteh) is doing. In any case, I am glad that
Manneh appears to be back. I also noticed that George Sarr’s ‘removal’ was
reported, but nothing was said about Yusupha Jow’s ‘removal’. Do I take it
that this is further proof of the activities of the renegade manager? One
manager is going berserk ‘delisting’ people without the knowledge of others.

Finally, I would say that some of us do NOT have a problem with people
exercising ‘power’ over us. All we ask is for the ‘power’ to be exercise
FAIRLY. We will NEVER accept DICTATORSHIP from Yaya or anyone else ‘playing’
Yaya.
KB



>From: Momodou S Sidibeh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: CRISES MANAGEMENT
>Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 14:00:49 +0200
>
>Hi Everyone,
>
>For the past one week or so active readers must have noticed a barrage of
>clunkers sometimes explicit otherwise coated in innuendoes salvoed against
>my person and other list managers, initially for the mere purpose of being
>invited to join Gambia-L's Management Team, but very recently because a
>couple of members were delisted by Messrs. Jaiteh and Camara of the
>Management team. Ayatollahs, dictators, mullahs, mealy-mouthed creeps, they
>charged like frothing tellitubbies; and very few offered the mildest
>excoriation of such waspish venom. But on what grounds?


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