Dear Mr. Mballow: It seems that the more we argue on the Touray debacle, the more we agree that dictator yahya jemus is the worst thing that has ever happened to The Gambia. I am of the opinion that no Gambian should give a blanket support to any political party. My concern is that if the UDP leadership had expelt Hon. Touray, why didn't the leadership come forth? It is disturbing to hear the Touray debacle from an opposition camp. With so much at stake, the entire opposition should embark on creating a bridge building strategy than initiating disarray. The Touray affair has shifted our initiatives and the UDP leadership did not handled it in a proper way. Touray's arrest was an embarassment to both the UDP and The Gambia as a whole. Hon. Susso's imprisonment is also a disgrace to the APRC and The Gambia as a whole. Whether Touray was working with the enemy forces against the UDP, the UDP leadership should have waited until the presidential election and convince the people of Niani to choose a different candidate. Touray's absence during a vote on the indemnity law should not have convinced the leadership of the UDP to expel him. Please let us be realistic. Do you really thing that the indemnity law will exist under a different government in The Gambia? Do you think The Gambian people will not ask for a new constitution? It is disturbing that while we argue, the dictator of kaninlai continues to divide us. I want to make it clear that our failure to unite will defeat us come October. No single opposition party can claim to have the soul right to our struggle. Our desire in defeating the dictator of kaninlai must be a collaborative effort. I have seen some UDP meetings on video. Is there anyway that you can convince the leadership to minimize its limited resources. On one ocassion, the three high ranking officials were the only the passengers in their respective vehicles on their way to Basse. With the price of gasoline, it is wise to minimize limited resources. I again call for the UDP to condemn anyone within the party who advocates tribalism. Our desire for a free Gambia must be exhibited on the principle of one tribe and one people. Tribalism has no place in Gambian politics. Naphiyo, Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh ------Original Message------ From: saihou Mballow <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: May 11, 2001 7:40:32 AM GMT Subject: Re: UDP EXPELS HON. ALMAMY TOURAY/INDEPENDENT Conteh, surely,there is no doubt Almamy Touray didn't tender any resignation letter to the UDP.Infact if there was an element of truth in his statement that he actually resigned,he would have presented his letter of resignation to the Observer paper at the time of his reaction to our expulsion but no there was no proof for him to show them that he wrote something to the UDP as we did on a press release. Touray got in to panic when one of the ladies who attended the thursday 3rd meeting at the UDP bureau phone to tell him that the UDP leadership had expelled him from the party,according to the lady.Touray knows very well the quickest way to send a letter to our office without posting it, if he had intended to resign as he claimed. Mr.Touray has no commitment for any policy or principle but only for money.He is not patriotic for the simply reason that he has not only put the UDP party in a big embracement but the whole country when he was caught in Brussels airport on December 3rd 1999 trafficking of young women for prostitution internationally.Touray told a big lie to the Airport officials that he was traveling with his daughter Fanta Touray and niece Ya Fatou Touray who after an interview with the immigration officials claimed that they didn't knot Almamy Touray at all much more related.At the time of his arrest the 1999 budget session at the National Assembly was on but he choosed to give his back.If Touray was a credible MP, he would have resigned not only his membership to the UDP at that time but his MP-ship as well to safe both the image of the party and the country as whole. The Niani constituency people are with us in this action to expel him from the party in order to safe both the party and the constituency from this unscrupulous,unpatriotic and dishonest behavior. We would therefore, not be surprise to see him in the APRC party where corruption,dishonesty,robbery,terrorism and BIG lies is the order of the day.That's the right party for him where everybody knows the leader is a "Deremo". I would thank Mr.Kebba Dampha for speaking his honest opinion about UDP being not a tribalism party.It is only people who are being cow by the popularity of the party who would call it a tribalism.The composition of the party is Mandingka,Fula,Wollof,Jola and Sarahule.UDP is not a party of one man show but real democracy exist. Saihou --- MLJ Conteh <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Mr. Manneh: > > The mere fact that you enumerated tribes in each > polling station should be a concern to any > Gambian. Tribal identification or enumeration > is the worst evil that continues to divide us. > I therefore, condemn your analogy and I advocate > that > we are one Gambia and tribe has no place in Gambian > politics. > > As a new generation of Gambians, we should be > sensitive to tribal issues. I believe that > tribalism should be made a crime in The Gambia. > We have been living together for so long that > any Gambian who advocates tribal identification > should be condemned. > > As I meet Gambians here in The US, I am quick to > advocate that our tribal attitudes need to change. > 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. > > If Hon. Almamy Touray advocated tribalism during his > campaign, he should have been condemned by the > leadership > of UDP. We must be careful in how we treat each > other. > > My condemnation of the leadership of UDP is based on > the > fact that we need to seek unity. No one knows > exactly the > dispute between Hon. Touray and the UDP leadership. > The > saddest thing is that the UDP has more to lose than > gain in > this dispute. People are asking, who is actually > saying the > truth, Touray or the UDP leadership? > > Naphiyo, > > Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh > > > ------Original Message------ > From: Lamin Manneh PF <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > Sent: May 9, 2001 8:09:01 PM GMT > Subject: Re: UDP EXPELS HON. ALMAMY > TOURAY/INDEPENDENT > > > Mr. Conteh, let me add my little thoughts on this > issue. Hon. Touray was > sitting on a hot UDP chair in parliament. His > victory in the last National > Assembly Election was mainly due to the fact that > APRC failed to select the > candidate of people's choice. The majority of > Nianinkas were in for one > Sainey Manneh whose candidature was rejected by the > APRC National Committee. > Over 3000 supporters of Mr. Manneh in that district > change their allegiance > from APRC and voted for Hon. Touray. This was the > same way he came to > parliament in 1992 when PPP selected Talip Bensouda > who was widely unpopular > in Niani. > Please allow me for the sake of political analysis > only to talk about tribal > representation in Niani, how it help Hon. Touray to > victory and the dire > consequences it have on his next election campaign. > First here are the > polling stations of last NAM election in Niani. > 1. Nyaga Bantang mainly Wollof > 2. Gingori Mustapha Fullas & Wollof > 3. Kass Wollof maily Wollof > 4. Jukul Ndawen Mainly wollof > 5. Dinkirai Fulla, wollof > 6. Wassu mandinka, fulla > 7. Kuntaur mixed but more mandinka > 8. Sukuta mainly mandinka > 9. Kayai mainly mandinka > 10. Kataba Alh. Omar Fulla and Wollof > 11. M'bayen Wollof mainly wollof > It is therefore a blunt fact that for anybody to win > in Niani, the person > MUST have the Wollof majority(the same is true fot > upper fulladu west). You > don't have to campaign on tribal line but you need > to addresss specific > needs of these people and must deploy tactics that > will shift their > confidence and support to your party. What really > happened in Niani last NAM > election was that this Wollof majority was grossly > dissappointed with APRC > when they rejected Mr. Manneh. Two days after > nominations in Janjanbureh, a > delegation of five prominent people with 3500 > voter's cards and D5000 cash, > stormed my office to nominate Mr. Manneh as > Independent candidate. I > rejected the application because nominations were > closed at that time. After > an intensive conversation on the election degree, > these ardent APRC > supporters left with an ire in their eyes but strong > in principle. Their > last word to me was "we will do to Jammeh, what we > did to Jawara", which > implies voting for Almamo or UDP. The five reps. > seemed to like Hon. Touray > but not UDP as a party. Hon. Touray eventually won > because he got over half > of the divided wollof votes and almost entirely the > whole of Kuntaur, Kayai > and Sukuta areas. > To wrap up, UDP should find out why they are not > getting support in certain > communities like Niani and help candidates who faces > potential defeats in > their districts(like Hon. Touray) with appropiate > campaign strategies. In > fact they should come out with a comprehensive > campaign plan for each > district as soon as possible. People like Wa Juwara > and Jallow, both former > commisioners, could be very useful in that exercise. > The way you handle > Kombokas is different from Badibonkas and the same > is true throughout the > country. We don't have to discuss that on this > forum, but any section in > The Gambia has some interesting unique qualities. > Cheers > PF Manneh > NOTE: Mr. Dampha and others, i am not very good in > replying people's > comments on postings due to busy schedules. I always > appreciate your > brilliant comments on the L. Will send you a private > mail soon. > > > > > >From: MLJ Conteh <[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: Tue, 8 May 2001 20:22:03 -0400 > > > >Mr. Owens: > > > >It is interesting that we are in principle as a > >united front against the dictator. Whether we > >decide to critic issues in their entity, we have > >reasons to be critical of the dictatorship. > > > >It is disturbing to hear Hon. Touray's expulsion > >from Kebba Jobe, though he Kebba said the opposite > >of the truth. It will serve members of the L if > >UDP and NRP can have their propaganda secretaries > >listed on the L so that we can engage them in > >substantive debates. I commend Brother Halifa > Sallah > >for coming forthwith with his analysis on PDOIS's > >position. > > > >My position on Hon. Touray's case has not changed. > >I believe that the UDP has a moral obligation to > >tell us what really happened rather than reading > >the trend of events from third parties. > > > >As we move in a threshold, we as an opposition must > >clearly define our purpose and seek unity. We > should > >not be in any position to create disarray. I > believe > >that the UDP leadership acted improperly in > expelling > >Hon. Almamy Touray. > > > >Naphiyo, > > > >Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh > > > >------Original Message------ > >From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Sanusi=20Owens?= > <[log in to unmask]> > >To: [log in to unmask] > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.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 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------