Wow Khaleel, you nailed it.
You summed it well when you said, “we have some serious and more
pressing issues that we can and should be more aggressive about. Our problems
have been lingering for decades and to solve them we need to start examining
ourselves. No change will take place in the Gambia unless we change as people”. You closed it well when you added, “We don’t
need to fight each other over that” referring to Dr. Janneh’s decision to join
team jammeh.
I fully agree with you and many that Dr. Janneh made a serious
mistake that will haunt him for a long time.
I also understand his critic’s point and do hope that he will at some
point come out to answer their questions.
At this juncture, going back and forth on this issue is very
distracting to say the least. The
struggle must understand that time is not on our side; each day wasted is an
opportunity for jammeh to entrench and strengthen his choke hold on our people.
I have friends and family that made the same mistakes like the
Dr. Janneh. In as much as I like to tell
them “I told you so”, I rather focus on the fight against jammeh for now. We need the likes of Dr. Janneh to tell us
more about jammeh and his team to take them on effectively. At the end it’s a
numbers game and we need more on our side to take on jammeh. Dr. Janneh at some point will have to answer
his critic’s questions. No one should
speak for him.
Points have been made; it is time to move on.
_________________________________________________________
GROWING OLD IS MANDATORY; BECOMING WISE IS OPTIONAL.
__________________________________________________________
--- On Mon, 12/3/12, Khaleel Jameel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Khaleel Jameel <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [G_L] Dr. Amadou Scattred Janneh
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Monday, December 3, 2012, 11:11 AM
I would loved to hear from Dr. Janneh, his stance on all of this
chatter, his decision to join the Jammeh regime, reasons that led to his
expulsion and his knowledge of circumstances that transpired during his tenure
with the Jammeh administration. I think it would certain stir a lot of buzz but
it will be equally interesting.
As people we can be very critical of issues we hold near and dear to us
sometimes without logic, especially when we differ, not assuming that critics on
Dr Janneh are not warranted but how much of it is based solely on related facts
and how much of it is based on emotions born out of hatred for the Jammeh
regime and what they stand for?
I seriously doubt that Dr Janneh have that much influence on president
Jammeh at any given time to sway his decision on relevant issues and certainly
not those big issues as some of us thought. We all know Jammeh does not listen
well and certainly smarter than we give him credit for. In order to do the
wrong things for so long and get away with them, you have to not only known the
right ways but, you have to know them well. Jammeh I doubt will let any and
everybody in his trusted circle just because you are a government employee.
Hell especially as much as he hired and fired them, he knows none of them will
outlast his covenant secrets.
I believe that Dr Janneh is not the root cause of all the issues and
problems during his time as S.O.S, that doesn’t mean that he is excused for any part he
played. Certainly everyone have to dance to their own tune without exception,
however, besides the wild accusation of a laundry list of things happening
while he was S.O.S, what are we charging him with? What do we suggest his crime
was? I got it, I believe as well that he made a selfish decision to join a
regime he vehemently criticized in the past, shows the opportunist in him. Is
that enough justification to crucify him though?
A list of things happened prior to and after him in the Gambia, who are
we pinning the roses on for those terrible things? I think it is necessary to exercise caution
when we attack people and decisions we condemn. Show me a perfect person and I
will show you a ridiculous liar. I was
there when the elite few Gambians enjoyed the treasures of our nation, sending
their children to the best schools, summer holidays in England, pretty cars big
houses foreign accounts and a whole host of things.
I will not condone in these things and would certainly not give Dr
Janneh a pass for any of his wrong but we have some serious and more pressing
issues that we can and should be more aggressive about. Our problems have been
lingering for decades and to solve them we need to start examining ourselves.
No change will take place in the Gambia unless we change as people. Some of us have
very strong opinions and tend to not see anything beyond that as credible or
deserving impartiality.
Hindsight is 20/20, we can see his wrong today and criticize him, but
there is plenty of blame to go around and anyone of us can be dressed in those
ropes. We need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves what are we doing to
contribute to the fight. It is sometimes difficult to objectively look at any
situation without inserting personal feelings and emotions in them but we have
to practice realism and hold our horses at bay for a tougher race that merits
it. Dr Janneh may be wrong by all accounts of our judgment but how right are we in judging him? I say let him deal with his demons, we don't need to fight each other over that. Khaleel
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:09:29 -0500
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [G_L] Dr. Amadou Scattred Janneh
To: [log in to unmask]
A cogent review Prince. Thanks for sharing. We must keep each other and ourselves accountable for our actions. Good or bad. And now that Dr. Janneh is out of the claws of almost certain death, this review is healthy. This is because Dr. Janneh left others at Mile 2, Thanks to the goodwill of the right Rev. Jackson.
Haruna.
-----Original Message-----
From: Prince Obrien-Coker <[log in to unmask]>
To: GAMBIA-L <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Fri, Nov 30, 2012 5:50 am
Subject: [G_L] Dr. Amadou Scattred Janneh
“…
some guys wine and dine with Jammeh and after falling out with him, they
suddenly appear to be the biggest opposition.” E. I. Chongan
Now that the dust has settled on
executions in the Gambia and the release of Dr. Amadou
Scattred Janneh, it is now time to revisit the case of the good old doctor.
I have read two interviews with the
doctor after his release and yet was astonished by the questions he was asked.
When Dr. Amadou Scattred Janneh,
as SOS for Information etc, referred to some Gambian journalists as “sloppy” and
as “high school graduates not knowing what they were doing” and also promised to
deal with it effectively, I did not know what he meant. But after reading these
interviews, it became clear to me.
Dr Janneh was the SOS for
Information etc. from 2004 to 2005 and many of the atrocities and persecutions
against Gambian journalists was in this period but that was overlooked by the
interviewers. Pa Nderry Mbai, who bagged a degree in Mass Communication and also
the CEO, Managing Editor and Producer of the Freedom Newspaper, was more
concerned whether Dr. Janneh had a Fan at Mile 2. Had Pa Nderry done his
research properly, he would have known that, at Mile 2, inmates would have more
solace in a coil of “Moon Tiger” than an electric fan. Inmates battle tsetse
flies during the day, mosquitoes at night and the “mutu-mutu” day and night.
Dr. Janneh has emerged from this
as a victim of Yahya Jammeh, but in actual fact he is simply a victim of his own
arrogance and egocentricity. Dr, Janneh knew that if he goes to bed with a
stray dog, he will wake up with fleas. Pa Nderry had even gone so far as to
compare Dr. Janneh with the Greek philosopher, Socrates. I think that is
stretching it too far. I think Pa Nderry should keep himself to what he knows
best, and leave the Classics to the classicists. There is nowhere in his works
that shows that Socrates betrayed the trust and confidence of his peers. The
sooner we confront these turncoats with the facts of their treachery, the
earlier the Gambia will be free of tyranny. We
should never forget that the Baron got his absolute power through the
machinations of kaleidoscopic “sahi laka-laka” like Dr. Amadou Scattered
Janneh.
What happened during Dr. Janneh’s
tenure as S.O.S. for Information, Technology and Communication?
The
man was appointed on Thursday, 8th April 2004.
On Saturday and Sunday,
10th and 11th April 2004, (Yes!! 10th and
11th April) he received well-wishers who came to congratulate him for
his appointment.
Tuesday 13th April 2004, of all
days, was his first day in office.
Wednesday 14th April
2004 the Independent Newspaper was firebombed
Friday 19th April
2004, Dr. Janneh gave an interview to DO in which he referred to Gambian
journalists as “Sloppy and high school leavers”. He also expressed his desire to abolish
the Nation Media Commission, thus giving him total control of the media. And his
opportunism in becoming one of those he once called “Aimless People Ruining our Country.”
On Monday 9th August
2004, D.A. Jawo, as President of the GPU, received a threatening letter with the
message: "Very soon we will teach one of your
journalists a very good lesson.”. Demba did all he could to inform all
journalists of the threat. The police were also notified.
On Saturday, 15th
August 2004, Ebrima Sillah was awakened by arsonists who burnt down his
house.
On Tuesday, 14th
December 2004, two dreadful bills were passed which virtually gagged the free
press in the Gambia. Ask yourself who the
architect and author of these moves were. In every correct democracy, it falls
on the portfolio of the S.O.S. for Information, etc. to handle anything relating
to the media. The two bills were the Criminal (Amendment) Act 2004 and the
Newspaper Registration (Amendment) Act 2004. These legislations were enacted
when Dr. Janneh was the S.O.S.
Two days after these draconian
laws were passed, on Thursday, 16th December 2004, Deyda Hydara was
mercilessly assassinated. Why? Had it anything do with Deyda’s determination to
fight these laws in the courts?
These were just some of what
journalists encountered in the first eight months of Dr. Janneh’s fifteen months
in office with those he once called the Aimless
People Ruining
our Country.
In a follow-up to this piece, I
will deal with the consequences of Dr. Janneh’s actions against the free press
in the Gambia and also the thought that if this man was not fired he would still
be there serving the person he called “The Boss”. We will talk about the dangers
of these born-again opposition loudmouths.
Prince
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
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]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
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]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
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]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
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]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤