In a message dated 12/15/00 11:08:20 AM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: The Independent (Banjul) EDITORIAL December 15, 2000 Banjul Several month's ago when sacked DIG Tamsir Jasseh said at a government spokesperson's committee press briefing that the police would not tolerate harassment of the press and other human rights abuses, we knew that he was soon going to be sacked. The fact that he continued speaking on those lines cemented our conviction that Mr. Jasseh would not survive in these reactionary waters of Gambian politics, where only the mediocre and the uninventive are likely to survive. Now we have been proven right. Officer Tamsir Jasseh, who returned from the US to his native Gambia to help in efforts at national development, has received a slap in the face. He certainly must have been cured of his lofty illusions on patriotism. Predictably, no official reason has been given for Jasseh's sacking. Therefore, we can readily assume, unless the government proves otherwise, that his sacking was a consequence of his unhidden honesty, his readiness to work, his realistic approach to problems besetting the police force and his frequent tirades against all the wrong things going on both within and without the police force. >> **************************************** All the above mentioned reasons are why I assumed that Tam Jasseh would have graciously accepted a compliment and ackowledgement of his abilities from a fellow Gambian like Karamba Touray, and then graciously added that there are also others like him who are making positive contributions in the police force. Instead, he displayed a lack of courage I never envisioned in him for all the years I have known him, by trying to distance himself from the compliment, and thereby rendering all these comvictions he has expressed in the recent past as just another component of the empty rhetoric so characteristic of those who associate with this regime. Perhap Tam thinks that this will bring him back into the good graces of his distator. It is one thing to be fired by Yaya Jammeh, but it is yet another thing altogether to compromise your honour and your dignity by making the kinds of statements this former DIG did. He should have been asking for an explanation from his Boss as to why he was fired, instead of compromising his character. Nothing is worth that, and there is life after Yaya Jammeh. You have dissappointed me Tam, as well as all those who thought that you were a glimmer of hope for the future because you dared to speak the truth in the midst of all those cowards and empty headed bullies you worked with. Jabou Joh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------