Koto Momodou, Kudos for a well-written and compelling piece. The commentary was engaging and amusing at times. Gambia needs a modern literary philosopher culture, and I can't think a better person than yourself to blaze those trails. Again, as the hip hop crowd would say, Big Ups to you bro. Abdou --- Momodou S Sidibeh <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > The > Fisherman's Tale - 2 > > > > > Immediately after the presidential elections last > October, there seemed to be widespread assumption > that the struggle for popular power was over and > that since the main opposition UDP conceded defeat, > it was just appropriate to congratulate the winner, > close ranks behind our respective national assembly > members, put an end to the bilious inter-party > quarrels and get on with the urgent task of > nation-building. There was widespread fear that the > disappointments of the opposition parties could > generate fierce and ugly recriminations of massive > vote rigging prompting leaders to declare the > elections as unfair. But what happened seemed quite > unpredictable. Not only did the opposition not > condemn the elections as flawed or unfair, > supporters of the victorious party went on a rampage > beating up political opponents as the government > itself summarily terminated the employments of civil > servants thought to be sympathetic to the > opposition. This heralded the opening of a new and > ugly chapter in Gambian politics. > > > > The electoral campaign had throttled into high gear > since the APRC government repealed decree 89 - one > of its most notorious - that banned the old > political parties and some politicians of the first > republic from active politics barely three months > before the presidential elections. The move threw > the whole political spectrum into confusion, as > parties pondered alignments and strategies that > would on the one hand deliver them from oblivion > while on the other hand ensure that their combined > strengths aggregate to an electoral overthrow of the > heavy-handed, bad boy of Gambian politics. This > proved to be a task more awesome than the parties > themselves imagined. The NCP, PPP, and GPP were not > only faced with the problem of resurrecting > themselves from a submarine existence, they had to > do that with an organisational vigour and > administrative clout that would create for them new, > distinct, respectable, magnetic identities. All > three parties quickly realized that the voter and > supporter topography had been greatly altered and > that managing new rivalries became more pressing > than administering an all too obviously rickety > coalition. PPP and NCP, major rivals during the > first republic were supposed to temporarily stop > crossing swords to join hands with the UDP, a party > whose mass base is largely composed of old diehard > supporters of the former two. It was also supposed > that PDOIS, waging a lonely campaign on political > morality and ethical economics for more than fifteen > years against the entire political establishment > would suddenly coalesce with a group consisting of > lackluster politicians of dubious integrity and with > momentarily suppressed mercenary whims. > > > > The whole idea of this coalition was based on a > mathematical formula which supposed that the entire > opposition's collective dislike of APRC rule was > greater than loyalty to their own identity, > political platform, individual ambition, deep-seated > personal rivalries, and historical inter-party > tensions between them; all of these variables, taken > together, command more importance than most people > believe. It would have required a miracle, under > the circumstances, for a coalition to be readily > built on the framework of some tactical alliance in > time for the elections. > > > > A quick look at the structures of and the > decision-making process in all mainstream political > parties in the Gambia would show that they all are > quite undemocratic. Yet without reservation, we > expect that once voted into power these very > undemocratic parties must produce governments that > operate according to constitutional edicts, promote > and defend civil liberties and operate > representative, responsible and accountable > governments. Because members and supporters of these > parties do not engage in any form of rigorous debate > free from persecution mania and pathological > jealousies, where national issues are interrogated > and prioritized on that bases, affiliation with a > party is generally not the outcome of the contest of > ideas. Some other forces must operate to determine > political allegiance and influence willing > compliance. Deciding forces in Gambian politics have > to do directly with how power is exercised. These > are some of the forces I would like to discuss here. > > > > The Struggle for Rice > > > > Approaching it from the east, from the direction of > Bundung, the new SerreKunda market, with its > imposing brick façade, stands out as a mammoth > insignia to a nation desperately reinventing itself. > Its gray, high walls bemoan a replica of the Mile > Two prisons, fearsomely confining all its contents, > including air and light. Yet its smooth curves and > corners that look like mock minarets suggest a Dogon > architecture imitating the mosque of Jenne freed of > her wooden splinters that serve as supports during > repairs to the building. The overall impression is > that of strict confinement subdued by religious > undertones. > > > > But this abstract impressionism is quickly whisked > away by the captivating decor of colours and > materials that dress up the walls. You see rows upon > rows of imported baseball caps, Karl Kani jeans, > Tommy Hillfiger jumpsuits, huge sports trunks, Fubu > t-shirts, Reebok sneakers and an assortment of > Nike's air jordans, all manufactured in the slave > factories of South East Asia, the outsourcing > el-dorado of the "superbrands". Hand-woven leather > bags and sandals, mostly from Senegal, also compete > for space with Dutch wax clothing, and a curious > supply of plastic toys, Gambia's ubiquitous mades-in > Hong-Kong. This decor hanging ten feet up the walls > is an extension of space that the tables cannot > provide on the outside. So you opt for the inside > and you get zapped. Instantly. The yelling and the > laughter, the pungent smell of "netetu" and dried > fish is hopelessly dissolved by the fragrance of > local incense and the heavy whiff of perfumed > clothing; the shrills of bargaining duos, the > infectious smiles, embrace and laughter from > surprise encounters, and the constant blare of the > latest mbalax tunes from scores of competing > cassette players, the unbearable heat, and the > abominable dust all militate against your sanity. > You don't only have to stand the tiff at the > butchers' but his licensed arrogance as well. He > carelessly tosses a chunk of meat and bone onto the > scales driving the weights up. The he quickly > supplements the ritual by capping your dinner with > bits of tripe and tells you, one kilo, twenty > dalasi, take it or leave it. Like the fishmongers, > being nice to customers is an unheard of luxury. > Demand for meat and fish is permanently high just as > supply is permanently low. This is the only place in > the entire marketplace where you do not negotiate. > > > > Everything else is for bargaining: you negotiate > your steps, pace and space, the price of peanut > butter, a mound of bush spinach, bitter tomatoes, or > even a meter of mosquito netting. You can bargain > for a fairer price for bitter-cola, a cup of palm > kernel oil, cuts of shea butter or a tiny piece of > smoked cat-fish, or sea snail. The place is > dangerously crowded, with thousands of women, > Gambian women of all shapes and sizes, in their > Friday bests laundered and perfumed to make you > dizzy; throwing you momentarily off balance with > gleaming smiles that expose gray-black gums. Their > distractive beauty, and the sophistication of the > market place makes men hopeless shoppers. Because > the Gambian personality disapproves of anonymous > humans, many assume that part of the market > population that remains unfamiliar must include an > unknown quantity of jinns; conveniently forgetting > that they are themselves, per the same reasoning, > members of that club of jinns in the eyes of those > to whom they remain strangers. The market is not > just a place of old-fashioned economic transactions. > It is also an important venue for social > interaction, with a sophistication that beats any > stock exchange anywhere. You do not just have to get > food for the family, you have to cook the best that > your purse strings allow, procuring your ingredients > under conditions of extreme and deafening chaos, > while maintaining your sanity to be all smiles even > when your husband comes home expecting a bowl of > dinner for which he clearly did not provide adequate > fish money! > > Every single day, women troop to the market to > negotiate the daily calorie intake of oversized > families. === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs http://www.hotjobs.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] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~