And when we cut-off our malignant arms and legs, our perfectly rounded torso will writhe itself down the streets of Banjul. Perfection must not be the enemy of good. Malanding Jaiteh On 12/4/2012 6:27 PM, Modou Mboge wrote: > > *Character Assassination or a question of scrutinizing the record and > integrity of an ‘enabler’ who fell out with President Yahya Jammeh: > The case of former Professor Dr Amadou ‘Scattered’ Janneh* > > By Momodou Olly Mboge > > The heated argument that erupted following the excellent factual > scrutiny of Dr Amadou ‘Scattered’ Janneh’s record both before and > during his tenure as one of President Yahya Jammeh’s State Ministers > or Secretaries rumbles on. The defenders of Janneh or should I say > the ‘critically minded analyst’ or the ‘the politically incorrect’ as > one claimed, believe that Prince Obrien-Coker and those who agree with > his analogy are engaged in assassinating the good character of Janneh > as well as trying to elbow him (and ‘turn coats like him’) out from > the ranks of the opposition. Their arguments are becoming hysterical > and incoherent the more they come out swinging in defense of Janneh. > > Those who agree with Prince instead believe that it is prudent, fair, > and wise to be reminded of the ‘turn coats’ among the opponents of > Jammeh who are being compared with ‘Mandela’ as well as being > positioned as the new enlightened ‘saviours’ and champions of the > struggle to rid the Gambia of Sheikh His Excellency President Alhagi > Dr Professor Yahya Jammeh. Since I consider myself among those who > agree with Prince Obrien-Coker’s observation, I am apt to think that > he is asking and trying to answer the ‘never again’ question so as not > to let future generations of Gambians being led astray in the struggle > against tyranny in their country. The Nigerian critic, Chinweizu, who > has had many an intellectual battle with Wole Soyinka cautioned > against not asking and trying to answer the ‘never again’ question in > the analogy below. He writes: > > “Consider a man who has just escaped, half mauled, from the den of a > pack of hungry lions. If he is wise, his first order of business is to > vow “Never again!” and ask how he strayed there in the first place, > and then to take steps never again to make that mistake. If he does > not do this, if he fails to learn from his harrowing experience, he is > stupid and deserves to become the dinner for the next lion that comes > his way. By failing to ask and answer that “never again” question, > Black Africa’s “independence” generation let Black Africa down and led > us astray.” Chinweizu (2008) > > Indeed the Gambian opposition to SHEPAD Jammeh has been mauled more > than one time by pretenders and opportunists. It is way beyond the > point it should have asked the ‘never again’ question and to find > answers to such a crucial question. It will be more than stupidity > not to do so. Prince Obrien-Coker has cued us. We should be having > more of the type of scrutiny he has made on the records of Dr A S > Janneh. Dr Janneh sullied his own integrity by dining and enabling > the devil. As one observer on the online forums the good Dr > ‘assassinated his own character’ and I should add he has done a damn > good job. No spinning can change that. > > The lead defender of Amadou Scattered Janneh, Mathew Jallow whose > narcissism and charlatanry are legendary tells us that what Prince > Obrien-Coker wrote about his friend Janneh is just the ‘fertile > imagination’ of the gentleman devoid of evidence. He wants us to > believe that Dr Janneh and his likes were actually in the government > system to subvert President Jammeh’s efforts. In the words Mathew > Jallow: “From the day of his appointment to the day of his dismissal, > Dr. Janneh worked actively but clandestinely every opportunity he had > to undermine the Yahya Jammeh regime”. Jallow goes on to cite some > evidence for this, one of which was when Janneh was accused of working > for foreign agents. The funny thing about Mathew’s rebuttal of > Prince Obrien-Coker’s facts is that he would not divulge certain > information because if does he will be endangering some lives in the > Gambia. Standard evasiveness. Well, to be me this is an absurd > excuse. If Mathew and his friends are serious in their claim that > people are trying to ‘assassinate the character’ of the good Dr or > shall I say Professor A S Janneh. I think they should be more > convincing in their arguments than hiding behind flimsy and > preposterous excuses which no one can verify or substantiate. Mathew, > the man who has bamboozled us with his skills and intellectual acumen > as well as being the ‘most qualified Gambian to be President’ should > stop taking people for being stupid. Most Gambians are discerning and > are engaged critically at all levels with the struggle to get rid of > Jammeh. > > As I hurriedly stated in a response (full of errors) to an editor of > one of the Gambian online papers the idea that Dr Amadou S Janneh is a > Mandela figure who has suddenly brought to light the conditions in > Gambian prisons is I repeat a fallacy and ‘nonsense on stilts’ which > obviously means nonsense upon nonsense. Any honest person following > what is going on in the Gambia knows that Foroyaa has spent a lot of > ink and paper concerning the conditions in Gambian prisons. Halifa > Sallah, yes Halifa Sallah whose mention stirs a lot anger and vitriol > from some of his so-called, self-ascribed ‘critical scrutinisers’ has > continuously spoken and written about Gambian prison conditions. Many > other people with experience of those conditions have spoken about > it. The conditions in Gambian prison have not changed since Dr > Janneh’s sojourn. Dr Janneh suffered for no one. Though I agree he > was wrongly incarcerated, he did not go to prison for the ‘people’. > > Furthermore, the idea that we can learn from Dr A S Janneh’s proximity > to President Jammeh is neither here nor there. There is nothing we do > not know about Jammeh that we can learn from Dr Janneh so that > argument should be thrown where it belongs in the trash can. > > For what it is worth, no one is denying Dr Amadou Scattered Janneh or > people like him the right to oppose President Jammeh. He has all the > right to do so. Equally no one should try to stop people scrutinising > the integrity of persons like him based on facts about their record. > > In the mean time I eagerly await more installments from Prince > Obrien-Coker of the type on Amadou S Janneh. > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ 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] > <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ 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] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤