Bailo, I concur with your sentiments about Sir Dawda Jawara, Gambia's first president from independence to July 22nd, 1994. Sometimes, and amid seemingly overwhelming decrepitude and abject squalor, Africans do not stop to reflect or accord commendation and encouragement for goodness. Every flicker of light must be extinguished to remain in absolute darkness with no guide therefore to salvation. Anyhow, I say Ameen to your wonderful prayer and wish you good health and the requisite energy to work for personal and national democracy. Haruna. In a message dated 9/12/2008 11:42:07 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Haruna, For all his shortcomings, which all humans have, I like Sir Dawda for one good reason: He adhered to and lived the "Golden Rule" than most African leaders of the past or present era. His catchphrase was "Nie mang ku keh, kuteh kang". Regretably, as I write this, Lamin Sanyang former MD of Gambia International Airlines is still held under detention without trial for a month at the Police HQ in Banjul. What about newspaper reporter Chief Manneh? His family are spending another ramadan without him or knowing his exact fate or whereabouts. Who is next? May be me. Let's us pray: " Oh Allah! Creator of the heavens and the earth! Knower of all that is hidden and open: It is Thou that wilt Judge between Thy servants in those matters about which they have differed" (Al-Quran: 39:46). Amen. Bailo --- On Thu, 11/9/08, Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: I have a big friggin question!!! / Bailo To: [log in to unmask] Date: Thursday, 11 September, 2008, 4:08 AM Bailo, I know at the face of it, having a population data bank at the president's office creates the impression of malfeasance. This is because of Yahya's history of rigging elections. However, there could be a benign explanation. The proximity of population data to Yahya in itself, is not valuable as to his criminal activity. His votes came in large part from MFDC sympathisers in Southern Senegal and refugees from SierraLeone and Liberia who are resident in Gambia. During the UK's colonial rule of Gambia, the population census bureau was part of the governor's coterie of "bureaus". The information collected by statisticians then was used in ominous expeditions and was available to the Commonwealth Office and the Home office of the colonies. We all understand that such information was relied on heavily to maintain or advance colonial enterprises. When Sir Dawda became President and Gambia gained independence, he inherited a this governance structure. A concerted effort was made to decentralise all of these efforts because the president of an independent Gambia does not need exclusive custody of population when there are ministries of Education, economic planning, social welfare, health etc. However, there are adhoc commissions set up from time to time that conduct actuarial analyses and data collection. These are generally adhoc and of specific duration. A secretariat for the commission may be set up at the President's office where some documents may end up. I expect therefore that whatever documents end up in such secretariats is only copy and the originals are housed at CSD. I looked at the CSD website a bit more and found out the CSD is under the purview of the Department of State for Finance & Econ. Affairs. If you look on the Demographics page at the same website, scroll down to the bottom and click on National Population Policy. You will discover one such secretariat referenced in a report. I present the Report's title here. REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA NATIONAL POPULATION POLICY (REVISED) National Population Commission Secretariat Office of The President, State House Banjul, The Gambia JANUARY 1998 One thing that surprised me was that a [National Population Data Bank - President's office] was cited in a state of Education Report for 1994. So I was a bit confused. I wonder if these adhoc secretariats do not continue to exist at the President's office even after their adhoc purposes expire. And why would a report writer cite a Data bank at the President's office when the CSD seems the most reliable reference? Or is it the most reliable reference? When I find this report, I will forward a link to it here. I forget the names of the Gambian participants. So, even though it is tempting to read malevolence into it Bailo, upon further review, it could just be benign ignorance and reckless abandon. Anyway the quest for reasons continues. Haruna. ____________________________________ Psssst...Have you heard the news? _There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com_ (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014) . いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] **************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com. (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014) To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask]