Mr Jeng This was definitely a master piece. I hope people will know why we have decided not to support the APRC. Keep it up. Sanusi Owens --- Musa Jeng <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > The Highjacking of our Coup D’etat > > Event though the July 1994 coup was an illegal > removal of a > democratically elected government, it was a > necessity if we were to save > our country from the clutches of mismanagement, > rampant corruption and > poverty. The coup created an opportunity to improve > on our democratic > values, creation of an independent justice system, > eradication of the > “Mansa Mentality”, improvement on living standards > and infrastructure > development and to effectively strengthen the power > of the other arms of > government-the National Assembly and the Justice > system. Some how, the > Baba Jobes and the Fatou Jahumpas, to name a few, > that have become a > symbol to the new power structure highjack our coup > and have threatened > the very essence of the whole coup. > > > > The coup d’etat was the people’s coup, from > Permanent Secretaries to > Managing Directors of different businesses, there > was unanimity that > change was necessary and that Gambia needed a new > beginning. The AFPRC > were singing the song that people wanted to hear. It > was time for > change, accountability, the end to corruption, the > end to political > patronage, the eradication of the “Mansa" > mentality, and the beginning > of transparency and a new political order. We were > tired of few powerful > people who have dominated the political scene for > the past thirty years, > and the game of musical chairs orchestrated by one > man. Ultimately it > was this power structure that needed to be > shattered. The AFPRC, a new > wind has blown into the Gambia, and to some of us > the MESSIAH has > arrived. The colored photos of our new heroes’ > splash on the front page > of the Observer were a reassurance that a new day > has begun. The > rhetoric was equally reassuring, that the power > structure of the former > is buried, and it is indeed what led to our thirty > years of stagnancy. > Not many of us needed convincing, and our concern > was that the > indomitable Jawara era was not going to just > withered away quietly, and > with prayers and support our coup d’etat became a > real mark of History. > > From the beginning mistakes were been made, and in > the early phase of > the coup, these mistakes were easily characterized > as youthful > indiscretion, inexperience, and undoubtedly the > enormity of the > responsibility. Some of the good things that stood > out in the early > phase of the coup were the fact that power lied > within the council, and > that one person did not have monopoly on making > decisions. This was > important because it was a total departure from the > old ways that the > power structure revolved around one person. > Unfortunately, this > opportunity did not last that long, the good > intention of creating a new > political order was running into new realities, and > the very council > that power had lied was in disarray. The > vice-chairman found himself at > Mile 2 and there he still resides; another died > while still in custody, > and the other two still partners but their power > have been drowned out > and remained to be in the mercy of our anointed > Mansa. > > Now our coup have been high jack by the Baba Jobe’s, > and can any serious > Gambian tell me that Baba Jobe is a real asset to > the very essence that > brought about this coup. Does any serious person > believe that the Baba > Jobes are going to carve and create a political > environment that will > help in our development effort? Why and how did a > person like him > highjack our coup and our country? In addition, what > about the new > business leaders, they were suppose to be different > and the bedrock of > our new economy. The only thing different are the > faces of the people. > They have continued to perpectuate the Mafia > syndrome that our once good > driven Chairman liked to attack. Of course, our > Chairman, who has become > the “Mansa” and has replaced himself with everything > that, was Jawara > and more. Our Chairman that hated all form of > praises and the Mansa > treatment, which he continuously attacked, now > shroud himself in it. An > impotent and irrelevant National Assembly replaced > the irrelevant House > of Parliament of yester year. Yes, our coup has > definitely brought about > new players in the decision making terrain, > infrastructure development > of some sort, but also traded out most civil > liberties that we had. > > We have waited for thirty years for a change of > government that will set > our country in a new direction. The creation of a > new, stable and viable > political order; the creation of an Presidency that > will work with a > power and relevant National assembly, and who the > President would see as > partners and together they will work on issues of > national interest. > This would be capped with an independent Judiciary > that no single > individual can exert influence, and the civil > liberties of every Gambian > would always be protected. Our coup was suppose to > bring us term limits, > that would do away with having one person to be our > leader for over > thirty years, a professional cabinet that can > independently function > without the pressure of one individual, and an end > to one party > political domination. I t is very sad that the power > players of today, > under President Yaya Jammeh have stolen our coup and > handed it over to > the same players, only with different faces. We are > still patiently > waiting to get back the very essence that led to our > Coup D’etat, that > is the creation of a new political order. > > Musa Jeng > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > 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!? 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