>From: "Ebrima Ceesay" <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: [log in to unmask] >To: [log in to unmask] >CC: [log in to unmask] >Subject: [>-<] Sheriff Dibba Taken To Task In London >Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 23:17:18 +0000 > >[ This e-mail is posted to Gambia|Post e-Gathering by "Ebrima Ceesay" ><[log in to unmask]> ] > > > >Dear Readers, > >The scheduled Royal Commonwealth Society public lecture, featuring the >guest speaker Sheriff Mustapha Dibba (Speaker of the National Assembly of >The Gambia), took place last night (Wednesday 22nd January 2003) at the >Royal Commonwealth Society offices in West London. > >The public "lecture" on the theme "Consolidating Good Governance in The >Gambia: What Role For The Parliament?" was attended by officials of the >British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, by staff of the Commonwealth >Secretariat in London, by friends of The Gambia (including one English man >who taught Mrs Satang Jow at Gambia High School in the 1960’s!!), and by >Gambians residing in the UK or visiting the UK at the moment. > >The "lecture" was moderated by Dr Karen Brewer, Secretary General of the >Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association. > >Mr Dibba read from a prepared text and spoke for about one hour, after >which questions and comments were allowed from the floor. > >I am still waiting to receive the official text of Mr Dibba’s speech, and >so I am not able to do a comprehensive report at this time. The full text >is in the hands of Mr Aime Sangara, Head of Public Affairs at the Royal >Commonwealth Society. He has promised to forward this to me next week. > >The Royal Commonwealth Society plan to publish Mr Dibba’s speech in full on >their webpage (www.rcsint.org). I told them that they also had a duty, in >the name of fairness and objectivity, to similarly publish a rebuttal which >I shall be undertaking, once I have received the full text of Mr Dibba’s >speech. > >What follows in this message is my brief first report of what transpired at >the public lecture. Please take note that there were occasions when Dibba >spoke "off the cuff" or deviated from his prepared speech. Some of my notes >below may well not appear in Dibba’s prepared text when this is published, >but they do reflect the actuality of the meeting. > >Mr Dibba claimed that the PPP and former President Jawara were to be >blamed for the 1994 Coup d’Etat, because Jawara overstayed his time in >power. Dibba said that he personally welcomed the Coup and thanked the >Coup leaders for the way in which they undertook their mission – not one >drop of blood spilt !! > >Dibba went on to say that President Jawara had announced his decision to >retire in 1992, but people around the president had persuaded him to stay >in power. In Dibba’s view, this was a grave mistake. > >In Dibba’s view, democracy under President Jawara was just a façade. Dibba >cited his own detention in 1981 to support his views. He said that he was >illegally detained by the PPP regime, in connection with the ’81 abortive >Coup, until he was later acquitted by a Court of Law. > >Dibba claimed that under Jawara, the electoral process was neither free nor >fair, and that he himself during many elections was denied access to the >media, and even in some cases, he was personally harassed. Dibba >castigated the PPP and laid the blame for the past problems (and even the >current 2003 problems in The Gambia) at the feet of the deposed Jawara >regime. > >Dibba said that The Gambia, under Jammeh, is "progressing very well in most >areas", that "there are human rights violations but these are very minimal" >(he likened these to finding a needle in a haystack !). He told the >audience that he was proud to have combined his party (the NCP) with the >ruling party. > >He claimed that following his careful studies, that it was in the best >interests of his party and himself to join up with the APRC. He said that >the October 2001 Presidential Election, which he himself contested, was the >fairest and free-est in the history of The Gambia !!! > >As for the new Constitution, Dibba said that it was the best in the >sub-region in terms of its provisions, and that it guaranteed the rights >and movement of Gambian citizens. > >First to react to Dibba’s comments was Mr Abdoulaye Jobe, a Gambian living >in the UK. Mr Jobe rebutted Dibba’s claims, adding that based on the >information he was receiving from the media and from people in The Gambia, >the opposite was in fact happening. He said that the human rights record of >the APRC regime was poor, that people were arbitrarily arrested and >wrongfully dismissed from their jobs. He went on to say that the poverty >in The Gambia had worsened, and he did his best to set the record straight >for the audience. > >Next to speak was Mr Ebrima Chongan, the former Deputy Inspector General of >Police in The Gambia, and now living in the UK. Chongan also took Dibba to >task: he said that contrary to what Dibba was claiming, The Gambia under >Jammeh left a lot to be desired in terms of good governance! > >He cited the dismissal by the Jammeh regime, of Justice Hassan Jallow from >the High Court of The Gambia, and went on to remind the audience that the >Constitution of The Gambia does not allow for this type of dismissal. He >went on to catalogue the many human rights abuses of the APRC regime under >Jammeh, and told Dibba that he, Chongan, was illegally detained by this >present regime for 30 months at Mile Two Prison. > >Chongan said that the issue was not about the past, but rather about the >need to confront present realities, and for Gambians to address these >current issues. > >Following Chongan, James Bahoum of the Movement for the Restoration of >Democracy in The Gambia (UK branch) completely shattered Dibba’s >statements. Using his legal mind and his considerable oratory skills, Mr. >Bahoum exposed Dibba as a propagandist and mouthpiece of the APRC regime. > >He set the record straight for the benefit of the audience, and painted a >picture of the true Gambia of 2003 and since Jammeh came to power. He >spoke eloquently about the repression, the poverty, the wrongful >dismissals, the arbitrary arrests and corruption, all of which he noted to >be growing by the minute. > >He reminded Dibba of the massacre of our students on April 10/11th 2000 and >he noted how Jammeh indemnified all those who were connected with this >terrible outrage, by the enactment of an Indemnity Act. > >By the end of his contribution to the lecture, James Bahoum had set the >record straight and people were in no two minds about the state of affairs >in present day Gambia. > >At this point, Tamsir Jallow, the Deputy High Commissioner for The Gambia >in the UK, came to Dibba’s rescue. He described Jammeh’s regime as being >good for the country, and he blamed the PPP and Jawara for whatever wrongs >were happening in The Gambia today. Jallow regretted what happened on >10/11th April 2000, and claimed that his own nephew was one of the victims. > >He then claimed that the present Indemnity Act was just an extension or an >amendment of the 1981 Indemnity Bill, signed in to law by former President >Jawara. He attempted to downplay the importance and significance of the >current Indemnity Bill, saying that it was less draconian than the 1981 >Indemnity Bill of Jawara. > >Mr Ousman Manjang, former spokesman for MOJA, interrupted Tamsir Jallow and >told him to shut up: Manjang pointed out very forcefully that the UK was >NOT The Gambia, where APRC members or speakers could monopolise a public >forum and present an unchallenged viewpoint. > >He also reminded Tamsir Jallow that he was NOT the guest speaker – this was >Sheriff Dibba’s evening !! Tamsir duly took note, and sat down !! > >I then myself had the opportunity to take the floor, and I started by >saying that as far as I am concerned, Dibba is an insignificant player in >The Gambian scene of today. I told the audience that Dibba was not >competent to answer my questions, and that I wanted Yahya Jammeh himself to >face me and his critics in an open forum anywhere in the world (except The >Gambia !!). > >Since however, Dibba was there and Jammeh was not, I went on to ask him >some leading questions. > >I prefaced my questions with a heartfelt statement that I believed Dibba to >be a Liar – "Mr Dibba, I put it to you that you are a Liar and an idle >dreamer. You lied to this audience by painting a kind of Gambia which you >know in your heart does not exist". > >I then went on to tell him that many Gambians are sick and tired of his >type, and that of Tamsir Jallow. People like them just keep spinning for >Jammeh or telling lies on his behalf. > >The moderator of the lecture interrupted me and asked me to rephrase my >questions and comments in quieter language. She objected to me publicly >calling Dibba "a liar", but I did insist that I stood by my words and that >in the name of fairness and objectivity, the Royal Commonwealth Society had >an obligation to publish my rebuttal of Dibba’s text. > >At this point, Dibba was very angry: he lost his temper as much as I had. > >I asked him to describe to the audience the content of the Media Commission >Bill and explain to the audience how this Bill could consolidate good >governance in The Gambia. > >In reply, Dibba, of course, failed to convince people that the Bill >represented good governance. Nonetheless, he claimed that journalists did >need to be checked and that he had no problems with the Bill and its >provisions. > >Ousman Manjang and O.J Jallow (currently visiting the UK) demanded the >opportunity to contribute to the discussion, but the Moderator brought the >meeting to a close, saying that "time was up". > >It was a good forum and there was time for both sides to air their views. I >am sure that Mr Dibba has learned a good lesson, that he may not take >Gambians for a ride any more. > >I really do urge Gambians to attend meetings such as this one, in order >that we can present OUR case. If no Gambian had been present at this >particular lecture, then many officials in the West could have been misled >and duped into believing that all was well in the state of The Gambia. As >we know, this is far from the case. Hopefully, we conveyed our opposition >and our evidence for it, to the forum. > > >Ebrima Ceesay, >Birmingham, UK > > >_________________________________________________________________ >Surf together with new Shared Browsing >http://join.msn.com/?page=features/browse&pgmarket=en-gb&XAPID=74&DI=1059 > > > > >-----------------THANK YOU FOR JOINING THE GAMBIA|POST ----------------- >[ GAMBIA|POST ARCHIVE : http://www.gambiapost.net/signon.php (password : >freedumo ) ] >[ You can now chat with Post members at: >http://www.gambiatalk.net/chat/index.php >] >[ To remove yourself from this mailing list, send an e-mail to >[log in to unmask] ] >[ with the following command in the body of your email message : > ] >[ unsubscribe gambia-post <your-E-mail Address> > ] >[ Be sure to e-mail List Management for assistance at >[log in to unmask] ] >[ Don't forget to vistit our websites : http://www.gambiapost.net > ] >http://www.gambiatalk.net >http://www.gambiatalk.com >http://www.gambiansonline.com >[ ©2002 Our Guiding Principle : "Va, pensiero" simply put, "Let thought(s) >fly forth" ] _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~