Dampha, Great piece! It will be good if we can come up with suggestions regarding the logistics needed in winning the elections. Or maybe i have missed that part. I suggest we once again make a collective appeal for a united opposition as a stepping stone in the realisation of your piece. Minos >From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Moving Forward ---- Asset Recoveries >Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001 15:21:53 -0400 > >In the same spirit I counseled here the other day that Subscribers versed >in >certain areas should try and draw out working papers for the Opposition as >we move to October 2001, I will attempt to get the ball rolling by setting >out what I hope will be the first post in a series of posts addressing HOW >the Opposition is going to better the lot of Gambians when it is elected >after the 2001 elections. I welcome criticism of these suggestions and I >hope in the final analysis the Opposition on the ground would see these >suggestions as merely trying to supplement the brilliant plans they already >have in their arsenal. Now, there is no turning back. APRC CANNOT steal >some >of our good ideas and implement them in order to win votes. They have >woefully failed the Gambian people and they CANNOT put sand over this >wound. > >Today I would like to talk about 'ASSET RECOVERIES'. At the onset let me >categorically say that this is NOT about 'Asset Evaluation' and kangaroo >courts. Rather than assuming that people are guilty from the onset and >shifting the burden on them to prove that they are not corrupt, we are >going >to come up with solid FACTS to prove AFPRC/APRC corruption. We will hoist >the vermin to regular courts. Try them like all common criminals. Seize >their ill-gotten gains and sell them for the common good. > >We are going to establish a SPECIAL COURT manned by two of our top Gambian >judges. We will clear the docket for these judges and transfer all their >regular cases to some of those foreign judges that would still be in the >country. > >We will form a crack team of investigators headed by a top-notch >PROSECUTOR. >The investigating team will be given wide powers to probe bank transfers >and >all sorts of transactions these vermin have been engaged in. One of the >first pieces of legislation our new president would want to pass would be >an >'Act establishing the office of this special prosecutor'. This body can be >an appendage of the AG Chambers. But the prosecutor need not be an employee >of AG Chambers. The prosecutor and his team of lawyers and investigators >(accountants, police officers, journalists etc.) will be given wide powers >to decide what cases to prosecute and what plea bargains (immunity) to >accept in order to get to the millions of dollars these vermin stole from >us. > >As soon as practicable under our laws, we should freeze all the ill-gotten >gains of the vermin. We should seize all their travel documents to prevent >them from absconding. All can be done through court orders. To investigate, >try, convict and punish these vermin should NOT take long. They are so >stupid and arrogant that they have NOT covered their tracks sufficiently. >Take for instance the 'complaint' Yaya filed in Swiss Courts on January 16, >1996. The vermin used our own AG's Chambers and Gambian taxpayers' money to >fight a court battle in Switzerland against Ebou Jallow. Apart from the >storied US $3 million Yaya transferred from the Gambian Central Bank to a >personal Swiss account at Credit Lyonnais, Yaya also claimed against Ebou >Jallow the staggering sum of US $20 (twenty) million which was deposited at >the Citibank N.A. New York branch in Geneva. > >The vermin CANNOT deny this. There are public court documents to prove what >I am saying. Now, is the then Attorney General of The Gambia (in 1996) >going >to stand up and say that the moneys recovered from Ebou Jallow went into >Gambian coffers? As you can see, getting to the bottom of these cases is >piece of cake. There are somewhat similar court documents cataloguing their >shenanigans in the Nigerian Crude Oil Deal. Moneys that changed hands with >corporations like CSE in order to grant them government contracts would >also >be easy to prove. To prove that Tarik Musa and Amadou Samba do NOT own >Yaya's plane is also child's play. > >We should work swiftly (with due process of course) to recover these >ill-gotten gains. The moneys we recover will go a long way in financing >some >of our most urgent projects. Rather than taking out loans and further >burdening our children, let us pounce on Yaya and his cronies and seize >their ill-gotten gains. We should endeavor to strip the vermin naked in the >FIRST 100 DAYS of the new Administration. > >Recap: pass a law to establish the office of a special prosecutor. Give the >prosecutor a budget and powers to investigate and prosecute corruption >case; >while Yaya and his cohorts are at Mile Two courtesy of real court orders. >Take aside two Gambian judges and clear their dockets. Parade the vermin on >National TV and show the whole world what the mental midgets have been up >to >the past seven years. > >I again respectfully urge subscribers to critique my points and also come >up >with other suggestions as to what we are going to do for the Gambian people >AFTER Yaya. Ebrima Ceesay, I am NOT trying to single you out, but I would >think that your excellent series on 'Messages to the Gambian people' is a >good resource to use in order to look at the failures of the vermin and >provide plans that will help us avoid those failures. We also have fine >economists in our midst. Fine soldiers. Great engineers, doctors and >computer wiz. I encourage all to try and chip in. We must NOT leave our >people to the mercy of these vermin and their misinformation. As we give >our >Opposition leaders material support, let us also try and share with them >good ideas that will move the country forward when we get rid of the >vermin. >KB > >_________________________________________________________________ >Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.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. >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________________ 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------