Mr. Sallah, I have to begin by congratulating you for exercising good judgment by refusing a post in Yaya Jammeh's cabinet. If you had accepted his bait, I have no doubt in my mind that by now you would have been one of the "has been" (the group of used, dejected, and disgraced professionals who fell for Yaya's patriotism Bs.) Some people have called you honorable for that. I prefer to use "good judgment" 'cause honorable is normally reserved for doing the opposite of what you did. Maybe, it's my inquiring mind, but I wonder why you're trumpeting your refusal to serve Yaya. You rejected a position, which if you had taken, would lead to your discredit. Smart move! But unless you want people to read more into it than there is, why should that be evidence that you did see something wrong with Yaya's presidency. My whole contention hinges on what you said (as oppose to every other politician) when Yaya started feeling the waters regarding his true intentions at the time. But since I'm asking you to level with people, and your alacrity to turn the tables, I'll tell you what my feelings are about the PPP, and why I got on the Yaya Jammeh bandwagon, and later abandoned it. If this energizes you to lunge after me, you're welcome. Like many, I was born after Independence. Went to school -Primary, High School- all under PPP rule. Now, I don't even want to go on about where I went to Primary school, and the conditions there. At least, I had the opportunity to go to school. Most Gambian children under the PPP never had that opportunity. When you look at any sector under the PPP, you find serious in-discipline - incompetence, ineptitude, corruption etc. There was always a funding problem when it came to the most vital sectors: Education, Health, or Agriculture. But when it comes to senior govt. officials enjoying the fruits of office, they somehow find money to afford themselves those perquisites. For instance, even in my last year in the Sixth Form, we had a serious shortage of school buses, while each cabinet member had three cars: Official car, Utility car, and some other category I cannot remember. [This was what actually fueled the big Banjul - Serrekunda student demonstration in 1987. Because of the "success" of that protest, many people have taken credit/were given credit for organizing it - falsely. But just for the record, and as a challenge to ANYBODY to tell me otherwise, there was no organization in that protest. Not a single Head Boy in any of the Banjul schools was involved either. The Head Boy of Muslim High School at the time (Ansumana Darbo) did show up just before we started for Serrekunda, to deter "his" boys from taking part in the march. They jeered, and totally ignored him. No other Head Boy was at the start. But, that is a whole different story I intend to write about some day.] But back to the PPP, I literally hated that party and everything it stood for. When Baffour Ankomah visited in 1990, and wrote his "Stranger in Banjul" scathing critique of the regime, they childishly attacked his native Ghana, when anyone with sense could see he was coming from a Pan African perspective. Baffour all but predicted a coup in his piece. The PPP gave him the finger to their peril. So, did I cry when Yaya kicked them out? No, I celebrated. I loved every minute of it. My only regret was that I wasn't there to see them go. I used to have a running bet (no money involved) with a friend/Koto of mine, who was a big PPP-era crook. Also, his ego was out of control: Jaliba Kuyateh sang songs for him; he went through eight/nine wives in twelve years; girl friends all over the country, -even took Tuti Fall from Lt. Jammeh before the coup. I kept telling this man to behave himself, because of the coming day of reckoning. He would brag to me that the PPP was going to be there forever, whether I liked it or not. And that he was going to be the next MP for a certain region. His "sherriffo" has assured him that. Well, my man has been living in the Cassamance for the past six years. It's amazing what an ignorance/arrogance combo can get one into. So, as far as I'm concern, the PPP had it coming to them. They set the stage for all that we're dealing with today. To this day, I fully support the banning of the party. What can they do for us, that they couldn't do in thirty years? They can't say it's for lack of time that they couldn't build schools - primary & secondary, hospitals, a university, or a TV station. Yaya, to his credit, has exposed their excuse for what it really is: a big lie. They've had their chance, and totally squandered it. Because of their behavior, most members of my generation have missed out on getting any education at all. Not to talk about the innumerable people who died of easily curable diseases over the decades. So, I have nothing but contempt for the PPP. I even support the confiscation of all stolen public property under their rule. Where I differ with Yaya, is in the execution of that process. The process was politicized, and instead of abiding by the rule of law, they (Yaya and his people,) used personal vendettas against certain members of the PPP establishment. But to make matters worse, confiscated property from the PPP leaders were, and continue to be, dished out to cronies of the new regime. How can you rectify one form of corruption with another? So, what is my opinion of that exercise now? Return all the seized properties to their original owners, unless a truly transparent process could be instituted. To make a long story short, I still totally support the banning of the PPP. In my view, no individual or group should ever be allowed to play with a whole nation the way the PPP people did. Because of the lunacy in this present administration, people tend to confuse the role of the PPP in our history. Both the PPP and the current rulers are destructive elements - in different ways. Yaya's foul-up does not in any way exonerate what the PPP did/failed to do. They all belong in the trash bin of history if you ask me. I just don't like any of them. In an ideal world, I won't touch any of them with a barge pole. Call me naïve, but I believed Yaya when he said he wasn't interested in becoming president. That has always been my dream: get rid of the PPP, get rid of any military elements, and start afresh on a totally clean slate. I believed this would come to pass the whole of 1995. But by June of 1996, I realized something was amiss: we have a wolf in sheep clothing in State House. You know the rest. If I'm FORCED to decide between the two today, I'll take the PPP over Yaya. Their failings, as shameful as it is, gave Gambians more latitude to pursue their personal interests unhindered than Yaya currently allows. The brutality and barbarity of his regime, coupled with the fact that Yaya Jammeh himself is the biggest thief in Gambian history, makes Jawara and his people a team I can tolerate. On this "principle" business, mine is simply the adherence, and pursuit of truth. To me, truth equals justice equals peace. It's a simple equation, or one can look at it as a domino effect. Like Dr. Saine aptly reminds us by using it as a signature: "No Justice, No peace." You simply cannot have peace when injustice is the order of the day. Justice includes holding people accountable for their actions as it relates to public affairs, and judging them accordingly in fairness to all. The Gambia is a very small country, but we do have over a million people. Seeing what the PPP did when they were in power, I believe it's basic justice to force them to sit by the sidelines and watch others do for Gambia what they refused/couldn't to do for her. Why should their right to seek elective office supercede the right of all other Gambians to live in a livable country? Just an analogy regarding my principle. On yours, I was really hoping you will qualify your principle. Because as I understand it, murderers, rapists, thugs, drug king pins, gun-toting military dictators, looters of public coffers under past regimes, should all qualify to vote, or run for public office because they're Gambians. How on earth can any nation that operates like this survive? Where is the accountability, or justice for the decent law abiding citizens? What would deter anyone from undesirable behavior when it obviously pays to be unscrupulous? Specific to my argument is the case of Lt. Yaya Jammeh, the military dictator. You're now saying that because of your principle, and because he is Gambian, there is nothing wrong with him running for office. Really? Justice hinges on equality, or fairness. Where is the fairness when one party in a contest holds all the cards? I'm not a social scientist like yourself, but I did take a philosophy elective some years ago, and I remember distinctly St. Thomas Aquinas' theory on justice: "People should be treated equally to their degrees of equality or inequality." In other words, to treat equals unequally, or to treat unequals equally is an injustice. But, here you have a contest where the scales are clearly stacked in favor of one candidate, and you're saying that there's nothing wrong with that because they're all Gambians, and therefore each is equally qualified to run for office. Whatever happened to common sense? (An old army guy I work with keeps reminding me that "common sense is not so very common." Now I see his point.) But, how about basic fairness? And you wonder why we haven't been able to have peace in the Gambia since the elections. How can there be peace when the wishes of the majority have been so publicly perverted. And it was all predictable. What type of principle blinds you to basic fair play. Why can't the pursuit of justice be your principle? From what you're saying, there's nothing wrong with a boxing match going ahead when one of the boxers' hands are tied behind his back. Again, what type of principle should let one sanction such travesty? There's a big difference between candidate Yaya Jammeh as player only, and candidate Yaya Jammeh as Player and Referee. That is inherently unjust - by any standard of fairness. But, when I look at your principle, I'm forced to ask myself, isn't this very convenient? Let's just say any Gambian can run for office. No qualifiers. The larger picture -the public good, is apparently totally irrelevant. How on earth can we go on like that as a nation? Are you being liberal, or do you have an ulterior motive? Are you being prudent, or are you being asinine? Are you naïve, or are you sticking it to some people for past slights? Is this a recipe for true democracy, or a prelude to chaos? You tell me! In any case, if this is your believe, address this simple question: should known murderers, thieves, and drug dealers also be allowed to run for office? If no, why not? I'll await your reply to this last question. On a side note, it seems that the "conspiracy" started by Cherno Baba, that sucked in Hamjatta, and myself is growing. I've noticed that Lamin PF Manneh, Matarr Sajaw, Pa M Njie, and one M.L. Jassey-Conteh have all noticed the difference between the Jawara-era Halifa Sallah, and the Yaya Jammeh one. I can't help but recall the lines about time, and secret keeping. I urged you initially to 'fess up. You still have a chance. Why not take it? Just wondering … Finally, not to disgust you or anything, but I have to say again that I concur entirely with Hamjatta's last posting. Pele -the football legend, said of Austin Okocha, the Nigerian football star that "this boy is after my heart." Well, like Pele, and at least on this issue, Hamjatta is after my heart. Not to exaggerate or anything, but anytime he responds to your postings before I can find time, he latches unto the exact points that I'll hit home myself. I thought your attempt to push a psychological wedge between us is trivial, but I'm glad Hamjatta brought it out for those who missed it. It's one of the mind games I enjoy in your writing. Maybe, this telepathy stuff is true after all. Sorry if I disgust you. It's just a confession. Till I hear from you, Good day. Saul. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------