Mr. sanusi, thank you for making my task much easier. I have been trying to catalogue individual cases like you have done before concluding this episode. Unfortunately I could not do that because I have not been feeling well lately also. To conclude this case, I beg to use the information you provided to shorten the naration and answer the crucial question of why I still support the APRC government despite everything that has happened. Information you provided: (1)The unlawful abduction and torture of Yusupha Cham, Shingle Nyassi, Wassa Janneh and 5 others. 2) The Government's to refusal to reinstate Civil/ Public Servants who contested for the opposition in the parliamentary elections. eg Seedy Jadama UDP Candidate for Illiasa. (3) The decision of the IGP to deny UDP permission to hold political rallies. (4) The reluctance of the President to fill up the post of Vice President. (5) The failure of The Government to modify or repeal all decrees where were in conflict with the 1997 Constitution 6) The continued arrest and detention of UDP supporters by NIA via the Notorious July 22 Movement. In addition to the above, courtesy of Sanusi, there was the brutal murder of innocent young people in April of 2000, while students, not happy with the way the police handled two cases, one of an alledged torture that eventually led to the death of one Ebrima Barry (a school boy) by six members of the Brikama Fire service and another case of alledged rape of a school girl by a uniformed security officer at the Independent stadium. After this dastardly act on the part of the security forces which resulted in the death of 14 young children and following a general outcry from the public, the government announced that there was going to be a full inquiry after a coroner's inquest to establish the cause of death of these victims and the incidence surrounding it. The coroner's inquest was held and it concluded that all the victims, except a 3 year old kid, died of live bullets fired from high velocity guns. The commission of inquiry that was set up to probe into the cause of the riots and subsequent deaths also finished its task and concluded that the victims were unlawfully killed by our own security forces. A number of our security force personnel together with the SOS for the interior, army chief of staff and some students were found to be responsible and recomended their prosecution. This report was submitted to government. After a long delay, the government announced that it was not going to prosecute anyone over the incident as it was going to hamper the "healing process". This act by government was widely condemned by most people. Last month a private prosecution by a teacher at Gambia high school was twarted by government by passing an indemnity act that allow the president to indemnify any person who may have committed any act or failed to commit any act during riotous situations that results in the demise of anyone. This act was to be retrospective to include those held responsible of the April 2000 killings and was passed some very irresponsible national Assembly Members. Now to the crucial point of still supporting the APRC government despite all these. THE ALTERNATIVE TO THE APRC (My own view). Presently there are three active opposition political parties in The Gambia. These are the UDP, NRP and PDOIS. a) THE PDOIS PARTY Though one of the most focused, it does not seem to know how Gambian politics is conducted. Any party that believes that just by mere lecturing will motivate people to vote for you must be in a big slumber. As civic educators, they are doing a fantastic job. However a good number of our Gambian electorate go to political rallies out of curiosity or what they may get from it or for the meriment. The PDOIS does not believe in any of these. Therefore they don't attract as many people as the other parties. b)The NRP. The NRP appears to be a one-man party. Except for that clown who wanted to cross-carpet to the APRC party a few weeks ago, very few people know the membership of their leadership. This does not appeal to me. c) The UDP. If ever a local party inspired me, it was the UDP. Initially I supported the party based on its composition. A respected lawyer, in the person of its leader, prominent intellectuals in the persons of Femi Peters, Mariama Denton, Lamin Waa Juwara, determined and selfless politician in the person of Dembo "by Force" and later, illustrous soldier in the person of Sam Sillah. Unfortunately, this party rather than enlightening people on their agenda for the development of this country, would mostly be complaining of the APRC and how they are leading us. By that strategy, they would criticize even some of the development projects that, any honest individual knows, will benifit our poor people. For them, the TV is a waste of money, the airport too flamboyant, the schools too many, the hospitals a waste of money because we might not be able to staff them, farming implements waste of money because we might not be able to maintain them, the new university of the Gambia premature, etc, etc. However, what I find most terrifying is the nature of their campaigns. Angry rhetoric, verbal abuse, incitement of its militants etc, etc. A lot of you may disagree with me but you are entitled to your opinions. As for me and many like me, this party seems to be composed of very disillusioned, confused and extremely angry people who seem to believe that any thing sort of being voted into office is the frigment of one's imagination. As for the April 10 & 11 incidents, as well as those of the various commissions of inquiry, the UDP give the impression that once voted into power, they are going to reverse all these decisions. The frequent hiring and firing of civil servants, though deplored by many are in most cases justified. The UDP however gives every indication that these too would be reversed. The mystification of the presidency is being even intensified by the UDP, rather than demystifying it. For them Yahya Jammeh is the personification of the presidency as well as government. To some of us however the president, as stipulated in the constitution, derives its legitimacy from the people in whose name it leads. If you attribute every commendation and condemnation to the president as an individual, not only will it get into his/her head, but it will go into most people's heads. The decision to hold a coroner's inquest and the subsequent commission of inquiry into the APril killings was solely due to the fact that very young children defied all logic and stood up to the security forces even though, the children were unarmed and the secuirity forces were armed. These children demystified the believe held by many that it is generally not in the nature of Gambians to confront lethal force. Despite actually using lethal force on them, the children drove away the security forces from most of the police stations and set them on fire. For the UDP, the president, SOS and Army chief of staff are solely liable for the breakdown of law and order on this fateful day. The riouts and subsequent loss of life can be blamed on Yahya, Ousman Badji and Baboucar Jatta alone. This, in my opinion, is a very narrow minded intepretation of the situation. Here we had, young GAMBIAN security forces, loading LIVE AMMUNITION IN GUNS, aiming at YOUNG GAMBIA CHILDREN, OPENING FIRE ON THEM AND SEEING THEM FALL. To conclude, I would like to state that my support of the APRC government (NOT PARTY)is neither because of its development projects, which are laudable nor is it because I don't care for the abysmal human rights record of this regime. My support for them is purely based on my total abhorance of the UDP message and the way they incite their followers. It is my firm believe that the Gambia cannot ever afford chaos, lawlessnes or anarchy. That will be very disatrous for our dear nation. Unfortunately the UDP seems to give that impression. Their rhetoric and campaign style really borders on incitement. Finally, I would advise that, as Gambians, we should look into our inner selves to see how capable each of us is of being another BOKASSA. To help answer that question, I am reposting the following from a very refined writer from your camp. He who wrote these observations of what good officers are made of: "They are generally well cultured, Properly educated and tested to meet the set standards; they have self-esteem and definitely understand that the country equally belong to them in the very way it belongs to any president". His observation of the former field force: "None of these virtues prevailed in the Field Force where the service men were literally social outcasts in terms of origin, education, social status, family background and self-esteem.. So instead of having fine warriors prepared to lay their lives for the defense of their nation, we ended up grooming angry jealous armed men full of hate and destructive tendencies ready to follow any deviant or criminal into a path of national destruction". It is frightening when you think about the above 2 quotations and ask yourself whether the situation is any different today. Ask yourselves whether chaos in this Gambia of today is acceptable and ponder over its consequencies for this poor country. We may differ in thought or deed but that does not deminish our right to be heard. Intolerance, anger and extremism is a recipe for self distruction. Have a good day and bye 4Now, KB Jpbe. >----Original Message Follows---- >From: Sanusi Owens <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list > ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Why I can still support the APRC Government despite...Pt5 >Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 17:00:05 +0100 > >Mr Jobe > >Since you are quite happy to narrate rather than >analyse this chapter on Governance, I was expecting >you to mention the following incidents; > >(1)The unlawful abduction and torture of Yusupha Cham, >Shingle Nyassi, Wassa Janneh and 5 others. > >(2) The Government's to refusal to reinstate Civil/ >Public Servants who contested for the opposition in >the parliamentary elections. eg Seedy Jadama UDP >Candidate for Illiasa. > >(3) The decision of the IGP to deny UDP permission to >hold political rallies. > >(4) The reluctance of the President to fill up the >post of Vice President. > >(5) The failure of The Government to modify or repeal >all decrees where were in conflict with the 1997 >Constitution > >(6) The continued arrest and detention of UDP >supporters by NIA via the Notorious July 22 Movement. > >Having failed to mention these in your last column, >makes me now believe that we will never get an honest >analysis from you. > > >Mr Jobe > >99% of the "Lers" know all what happened after the >elections. What we certainly expected was an honest >report and not a narrative and selected version of >events. To be honest with you, I have run out of >patience with the way you are handling the debate. You >have tried to avoid the crucial issues. Why mention >the Citizen FM saga first? Why did you omit the case >of Yusupha Cham and many others. I believe the Yusupha >Cham situtation should have been the first item under >your subtitle- After the 1997 Election. > >Having committted such a big blunder, I rest my case >that we will never get an honest response from you > >Have a wonderful day > >May God save us from intellectual dishonesty > >Amen > >Sanusi > _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail 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 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------