G-L Community: A week ago, I was informed that a NATIONAL CONSULTATIONS ON GOVERNANCE CONFERENCE(National Conference) will be held in Banjul on March 15-16, 2000. My source indicated that the conference was being organized by the APRC Government in collaboration with the UNDP, as a follow-up to the Fifth Round Table Conference held in Geneva in 1998. Some individuals have already been invited to this conference. It was also brought to my attention that a sensitization mission was dispatched to The Commonwealth Secretariat in London last week from The Gambia. Upon checking with several sources, including some UDP officials in Banjul, I was informed that they have not been invited, nor are they aware of the National Conference. I wrote to Malika Akrouf, UNDP Resident Representative in The Gambia, requesting information and an invitation to the Conference. A response has not been received yet. It is not clear if the convening of the Conference had anything to do with the G-L position paper sent to Jammeh over a month ago. I was informed by UDP officials that they had not received the paper and alleged that it could have been intercepted by the NIA. And we are still awaiting a response from The PDOIS Central Committee. Ebrima Ceesay and our friends in London can investigate and report to the forum about the so-called "sensitization Mission" to the Commonwealth Secretariat. Additionally, Tombong Saidy and other media personalities in The Gambia can inform us about these issues and ways to have the recommendations in the G-L position paper heard and represented at the Conference. We would also like to know what political and civic organizations are invited to this Conference. On a similar vein, I have decided to launch a Political Organization within Gambia-L(similar to GESO, Book Drive, the Seattle, New York Gambian Organizations etc.), the expressed purpose of which is to ensure free and fair elections in The Gambia in 2001. This Organization shall be called, COALITION FOR FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS IN THE GAMBIA(COFFET-GAMBIA). Its GOALS and OBJECTIVES are outlined on Page 13 of the G-L position paper to Jammeh and other political and civic Organization leaders. In the meantime, however, the second recommendation regarding the establishment of a truth and reconciliation Commission, will be secondary, until later, after free and fair elections have been held. * STRATEGY Continue efforts to have a constructive dialogue with President Jammeh and other leaders in The Gambia; Lobby the Commonwealth Secretariat, The Carter Center, The United Nations, Gambia's Development Partners, including the UK and EU Resident Representatives in The Gambia, Amnesty International, OAU, ECOWAS, The African Development Bank, The IMF/World Bank, The State Department of the US, The Black Caucus of the US Congress, The Rev. Jesse Jackson(Rainbow Coalition), Randolph Robinson (Trans-Africa) and others interested in free and fair elections in The Gambia; Support groups, candidates, parties and organizations in The Gambia whose goals and objectives are similar/concide with those of COFFET-GAMBIA; These groups, parties etc. need our moral, but more important, our financial support; Similarly, those on the GAMBIA-L who are opposed to the formation of this organization and its goals, are encouraged to express to the List Managers,or forum their dissension. CONCLUSION The Gambia belongs to all of us and generations yet unborn. We need to be pro-active and literally "put our money where our mouths are." And as Matarr Sejaw and many others have expressed, we have both a "moral obligation and a constitutional duty" to influence/impact positively the elections of 2001. I need volunteers for the organization and contact persons, numbers, email and addresses of those organizations listed. If you have other names of persons, organizations that we need to contact/lobby let me know. Thanks! Responses Always Welcome! Abdoulaye No justice, no peace! I urge all members of GAMBIA-L interested in free and fair election in The Gambia to join COFFET-GAMBIA, and support it morally and financially. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------