Karamba A strong piece of advice and when Darboe comes to the United Kingdom we will give him the same treatment. Gambia deserves better and another five years under APRC will be a disaster. Lets do it for the sake of our brother who have suffered too long. Hope you have a successful ALD symposium. Sanusi --- Joe Sambou <[log in to unmask]> wrote: <HR> <html><DIV> <P>Karamba, you have my vote.</P> <P>Chi Jaama</P> <P>Joe Sambou<BR><BR></P></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV></DIV>>From: [log in to unmask] <DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]> <DIV></DIV>>To: [log in to unmask] <DIV></DIV>>Subject: The Opposition and the Doubters <DIV></DIV>>Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 17:13:29 EDT <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>When Halifah Sallah came last summer as an invited guest of the ALD , I <DIV></DIV>>attended all the public fora he spoke at. I enjoyed everyone of them <DIV></DIV>>notwithstanding some differences I have with MR Sallah and his party. But <DIV></DIV>>what left a lasting impression in me was the few but extremely dedicated <DIV></DIV>>supporters who were by Mr Sallah's side . They were Gambians based here in <DIV></DIV>>the US some of whom lived as far away as the midwest. You could see the <DIV></DIV>>passion in their eyes as they coordinated everything from occasionally <DIV></DIV>>adjusting his microphone , to distributing PDOIS literature and audio tapes. <DIV></DIV>>Talking to them quickly reveal people driven by genuine faith in a message <DIV></DIV>>and a people. Travelling hundreds of miles and expending resources to help <DIV></DIV>>spread a messsage they believe in is an admirable demonstration of <DIV></DIV>>participatory democracy in which individuals in their small way contribute <DIV></DIV>>immensely to the course of freedom and change. Afterall participation is what <DIV></DIV>>lies at the very heart of democracy and it is only when we as individulas <DIV></DIV>>choose to pertake in the political process can we shape and influence our <DIV></DIV>>destiny as a nation. No one is entitle to great leadership and no such <DIV></DIV>>leadership miraculously emanates from a vacuum. We all have a duty to work <DIV></DIV>>for the kind of society we want to live in. That means rolling up our sleeves <DIV></DIV>>and doing the hard work of coming together to fashion a governmental <DIV></DIV>>framework that would actually help our people. If we don't quickly dispense <DIV></DIV>>with the paralysis and decay that lack of participation invariably entails, <DIV></DIV>>we may not have a nation to save. Until at such time that we as a people <DIV></DIV>>decide to resort to alternative means of change , we must give the political <DIV></DIV>>process our utmost. The politicians we will meet on Friday and Saturday on <DIV></DIV>>the 25 and 26 of May are not perfect by anymeans. Their separate or combined <DIV></DIV>>platforms may not incorporate all of the ideas and visions we desire for our <DIV></DIV>>country. They may not be verulent idealogues. But Ousainou Darboe, Hamat Bah <DIV></DIV>>and Sedia Jatta are honourable men dedicated to their country. They will come <DIV></DIV>>to the United States to ask you the sons and daughters of Gambia to fully <DIV></DIV>>pariticipate in the salvation of the nation. We, their hosts would come down <DIV></DIV>>to two profound choices. First we can offer full partnership by acknowledging <DIV></DIV>>the scope of the danger enveloping our country and doing whatever is <DIV></DIV>>necessary to forestall it. That would mean committing time and resources and <DIV></DIV>>actively engaging the politicians on the ground.On the otherhand we can <DIV></DIV>>choose the easier alternative of disengaging, pronouncing events back home as <DIV></DIV>>hopeless and irreversable . We can pretend that all fault lies on the <DIV></DIV>>struggling politicians with no resources. When we settle for the latter , we <DIV></DIV>>would have by implication forfeited our right to complain and consign <DIV></DIV>>ourselves to the dubious distinction of being the generation of Gambians who <DIV></DIV>>sat by while their nation was destroyed and their people enslaved. We must <DIV></DIV>>expunge from our system the very unhealthy habbit of excuse making and <DIV></DIV>>bickering as a cynical ploy to avoid doing the hard work we know is required <DIV></DIV>>for success. We can spend a lifetime finding fault with everyone or thing we <DIV></DIV>>encounter . The task for a people desiring positive change is the ability to <DIV></DIV>>transcend personal apprehension, suspicions and other inhibitions inorder to <DIV></DIV>>achieve the broader objective of the common good. Even mature democracies <DIV></DIV>>contend with intra-party disagreements . Their strength lie in the <DIV></DIV>>organisations ability to sort out these inherent differences in a manner that <DIV></DIV>>leaves them stronger. At this difficult time in our country , we must learn <DIV></DIV>>to parlay our relatively minor differences into a strong and effective <DIV></DIV>>platform for change. Our biggest hindrance is our propensity to reject people <DIV></DIV>>and their efforts out of hand if we perceive them to be unsuitable. Lets <DIV></DIV>>embrace our politicians and in the process lobby them for the things we care <DIV></DIV>>about. Lets help them financially to whatever extent we can. We have asked <DIV></DIV>>sufficient questions. Let us now work our answers into the kind of <DIV></DIV>>transformational politics we all say we want. We must all be the great guys <DIV></DIV>>who ably served as leutenants for MR Sallah. It is their kind who would make <DIV></DIV>>Gambia better. <DIV></DIV>>Karamba <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>---------------------------------------------------------------------------- <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L <DIV></DIV>>Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html <DIV></DIV>>You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] <DIV></DIV>>if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. <DIV></DIV>>---------------------------------------------------------------------------- <DIV></DIV><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href="http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p></html> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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