--- Abdoulaye Saine <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Suffice to say that Jammeh is genuinely popular here and the police-state atmosphere I expected is not the case. Gambians, despite, economic hardship are still very kind and loving. A lot of private construction is taking place and the coastal road network, among others, is impressive. Folks This in no way indicates anything to bother us about. The likes of KB and Others should be reminded of the fact that it is VERY VERY easy for someone to come here and say all is well due to the "dormant activities" of the NIA and other security forces. I was in the Gambia for almost 6 weeks. During that period, I heard of little incidents of unlawful arrests and detention(Notwithstanding Dumo's detention at Mile II) However, I still felt that that the situation would have been different if UDP had decided to participate in the National Assembly Elections. As a result, I am relucatnt to think that the police-state atmosphere doesn't exist in the Gambia. It does have its period, Dr Saine would have realised it if he visited the Gambia during the campaign period of the Presidential Elections Coming to the Coastal Roads, other construction projects, I entirely agree with Dr Saine, however, this is not the end of story; the level of poverty in the Gambia is still course for concern. Our Local currency's value is depreciating everyweek. I am now told that the pound could be sold at D27.00.Two years ago, the pound was bought at D20. In fact , in December 1994, the pound was sold at D16.00. I say no more about the depreciating currency, you judge for yourself. Finally, Jammeh's popularity, Whilst he happens to be enjoying some support. I am not hasten to think that that this is genuine. There are so many people who have decided to express their support either orally or verbally in the hope of receiving Jammeh's patronage. From my observation, most of these so called supprters of APRC are not genuine, it is part of the politics of survival; Support Jammeh now or else face the consequences. If Dr Saine's think President Jammeh is popular, then let remind him of the pre Presidential Election-we all heard about the unofficial nomination of President Jammeh by the respective Area Councils through its Council of Elders. What actually happened at the Upper River Division. despite the hyped-up nomination ceremony led by Alhaji Banta Camara and the so call Council of Elders for that division, they lost 4 out 7 seats to Ousainou Darboe in the October Presidential Elections. I am however inclined to say that Jammeh is just enjoying a honeymoon period, just wait when this period ceases. Just a thought no hard feeling Sanusi Owens > >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of > postings, go to the Gambia-L > >Web interface > >at: > http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > >To contact the List Management, please send an > e-mail to: > >[log in to unmask] > > > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN > Hotmail. > 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 > To contact the List Management, please send an > e-mail to: > [log in to unmask] > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts http://uk.my.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 To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~