Yero, the conflict in Casamance could have been solved a long time if the Senegalese government was interested in doing that and if they were serious in holding Gambia accountable.  Wade had an opportunity and still has an opportunity to solve Casamance.  The question is, why is he not doing that.  On Wade's part, he has twenty odd years of being aware of the problem when Senghore and Joof were in power, only to come to the scene and do worse than them.  Both the Senegalese government and the MFDC are holding the people hostage.  You have been to Ziguinchor and have seen how dilapidated the place is and you have seen the conditions of the people.  It is way worse when you stray away from the center into villages planted with mines from both sides and amputees all over the place.  The region needs development badly and one way the government can turn the tide to their favor is to begin to change the lives of the inhabitants.  Instead, Wade thought it wise to channel funds to few commandos to play divide and conquer.  The second issue is it is a question of resource distribution which the folks up north who have been enjoying the lion share of the pie since independence will die rather than redistribute.  Third, we all know Wade is interested in only two things in his life currently, die as president the reason why he is putting up monuments all over the place and some how believes that after he is gone Senegal will remember him and cry for him to eternity.  Running very close to that he wants to impose Karim on Senegal after he is gone.  He is now battling with the realization that Karim does not stand a chance the moment he takes his last breath and he knows that the first blow will come from the very folks that surround him today.  That still has not slowed him down, even if the weather changes from intense summer heat to a slightly cooler breeze, Mom and Dad praise Karim the Builder and Creative for having a hand in it.

Regarding the relationship between Wade and Yaya, Wade has transformed himself into a criminal in his own right and he is looting the Senegalese coffers just like Yaya.  Senghore used to joke with the Senegalese that the day they allow this rabbit handle their affairs they will appreciate what he has been saving them from.  The only difference between Wade and Yaya is the Killings and the disappearances by Yaya.  If it is using the coffers as his personal property they are one and the same. If it is harassing and locking up journalists, they are one and the same.  Folks up north are protesting daily for various reasons - electricity, water, etc.  Wade is slowly twisting the arms of the Judiciary.  Because if Wade did not manifest his criminal behavior, he knew that Yaya is knee deep in the Casamance conflict.  Wade also knows that Gambia's arms are housed in Kanilai (same as Casamance).  After Senegal helped Bissau to get rid of Manneh, Yaya was their main supplier.  The same time weapons were coming from Libya to Gambia for Liberia and Sierra Leone, some of those weapons were headed for the MFDC and we all know that this conflict really took an ugly turn when Yaya came into the scene.  Wade is not interested in addressing this conflict just like his predecessors because it is easier for him to let it fester to avoid dealing with the north who are afraid of what a resource redistribution would mean for them and their electorate up north.  We all know how challenging life is for the average Senegalese in the north, now add to it that some of the little trickling to the marginalized would now have to be channelled to the south.  This conflict started because of resource redistribution and it will end because of resource redistribution.  The same old scheme on the part of the government and the MFDC is at play.  Wade, like Senghore and Joof would say we want to develop Casamance, but the MFDC is disrupting our plans and making it difficult for us to work.  Mean while development still stays in the north.  The MFDC in turn say to the people, you see, the government is playing games with you and have no plans of developing our lot, thus, we would rather die than allow them to be comfortable here.  In the mean time we will use you to feed our troops.  Thus, they wait until fields are planted or ready to be harvested to attack and empty the villages.  All the harvest is their's and they are into selling everything form timber to crops, to Cashews, you name it.  When the harvest is over, the target is traders, shopkeepers, travelers, and house raids in villages and chickens, livestock and everything is game.  They will have enough food to continue with this conflict to eternity because of the set up.  This conflict will end when Senegal has a President that is willing to withstand the pressure from the north for resource redistribution.  Incidentally, it is the same story that is unfolding in IC, Nigeria, Congo, etc.  You take resource redistribution out of the picture and there is nothing left to fight about.  We may not realize it but Gambia had a similar challenge when everything was concentrated in the Banjul and Kombos.  When the franchise was extended to the interior did the interior begin to have access to the pie.  

So, to view this crisis as the Muslim North and traditionalists South schism as some would like to phrase it is misinformation.  Religion plays a role only because it is a tool to maintain the status quo.  The heart of the matter is resources, as Bill Clinton would say, it is the economy stupid!

Joe


Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 00:00:39 -0600
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [>-<] FW: Senegal rebels armed with new weapons
To: [log in to unmask]

Bro Joe,
 
I understand your take on Wade. Like you, I believe that the composition of the Cassamance rebels is not only Jolas, but other tribes alike in the sub region. It happens that I visited Ziguinchorr last year. I was informed that the situation was getting normal, especially with the security checkpoints enroute the region.
 
On a more serious note, you would have to excuse my ignorance, especially regards to Wade. I would like to know what his own contribution is towards the sub region’s conflict. For one, from your post, I understand that Wada is guilty by association to Jammeh.
 
On Jammeh's part, confessions from soldiers on Radio Freedom confirmed his active participation in the sub region’s conflict, namely Guinea and Cassamance with regards to hypocrisy, trade in arms and cocaine, while masquerading himself as a panafricanist in the front view.
 
One can only hail the recent developments exposing Jammeh’s hidden agenda of continuing to destabilize the region. You are right that Sintet is close to the border, but a conflict doesn’t leave any person safe.  I can only pray, like the Ollofs would say, “kuppu sih kawi borom saitani-yee.”
 
Yero.


There is no god but Allah (SWT) and Muhammad (SAW) is His messenger. Fear and Worship only Allah alone!



 

Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 22:53:08 -0600
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [>-<] FW: Senegal rebels armed with new weapons
To: [log in to unmask]

Laye, Sah Tomaa Neh Mor Yaya Mbokalange.  This is what he gets.  Wade is on record to call Yaya a great adherent of democracy and rule of law.  Democracy is at works and now he is feeling what Gambians have been feeling with this criminal.  

Joe

From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject: [>-<] FW: Senegal rebels armed with new weapons
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 22:42:35 -0600

Mining-mining tafal-tafal, ah labang dulah, toh nyah.
 
Jammeh is sent to his cage again, hue, hue, hue!
 
Yero.


There is no god but Allah (SWT) and Muhammad (SAW) is His messenger. Fear and Worship only Allah alone!




 
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 08:28:57 +0400
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Fwd:Senegal rebels armed with new weapons
To: [log in to unmask]

It looks like the Senegalese Army launched an offensive on the MFDC to prove a point - they have new weapons provided by Kanilai - and who knows what their next move would be?

-Laye

=====================================================

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Senegal-rebels-armed-with-new-weapons-20101228

Senegal rebels armed with new weapons

2010-12-28 21:27
Print this article
Dakar - Separatist rebels in Senegal's Casamance region have acquired new weaponry, including rocket launchers and mortars, a military source said on Tuesday after an attack in which seven soldiers were killed.
"It is certain that they (rebels) have new equipment which they did not before, such as rocket launchers, mortars and machine guns," a Senegalese military official told AFP.
"These are weapons that are generally held by traditional armies," the source added, without specifying the source of such equipment.
Local newspaper Le Quotidien ran a headline on Tuesday saying: "Guerrilla's firepower worrying army chief."
"The weaponry used by the rebels in Casamance has raised questions within the military hierarchy. It has been discovered that the guerrillas are using heavy artillery and are shelling in the same way as the army," the newspaper said.
A cache of Iranian arms recently discovered in Nigeria on their way to Gambia, raised fears in Senegal that they were destined for fighters from the the MFDC (Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance).
The shipment triggered diplomatic tensions between Tehran, Dakar and Banjul and Senegal withdrew its ambassador from Tehran after concerns "these weapons could end up in Senegal, in the hands of fighters who do not want peace".
The Senegalese army said on Tuesday it was carrying out search operations in the Casamance a day after losing seven soldiers during a battle with presumed seperatist rebels.
Sporadic outbreaks of violence persist in Casamance despite a peace accord signed in 2004.
Security forces fear the MFDC is preparing to step up its operations in the coming days as it marks the anniversary of the outbreak of the rebellion in December 1982.
A rich agricultural region with lush forests and white stretches of beach, development has been stunted in the Casamance area - a strip of land cut off from the rest of Senegal by Gambia.

- AFP

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