" My fellow Gambians today for the first time in our modern history the people have effected a change in government that was predicated on a free and fairly contested election . I, in the name of the Almighty would like to thank and congratulate all citizens who enthusiastically exercised their ultimate civic duties by flooding the polling stations and ensuring peace and calm throughout the period which inturn enabled the international observers to effectively monitor the whole proceedings. I have received a congratulatory call from President Jammeh and he has pledged to do all he can to make the transition as smooth as possible. While the people have clearly given me and our party a clear mandate as evident on the overall margin, we must understand that democracies by their definition do not consist of homogeneous ideas . I intend to reach out to the opposition and accord them every opportunity to partcipate in the life of the nation from ensuring that their ideas are heard through guaranteed access to the public airwaves to reforming the legisture to enable them to fully influence the shape of laws . In the coming weeks our team would appraise the current situation of the government in all aspects to enable us to establish where we are. Today however I want to outline to you in a very broad way the direction I hope would begin to ameliorate the very difficult circumstances under which the overwhelming majority of you exist. From the struggling government employee to the farmer scrimping for basic survival , times in sunny Gambia have never been harder. Compounding this already difficult daily existence is the ever increasing sense of pessimism that has permeated our society. People have simply lost hope and do not believe their future lies in their own country. The tasks ahead are enormous requiring tact, time and relentless drive. As your President I would do all that is humanly possible to address the issues , but candor compels me to tell you my fellow citizens that the journey from our current situation would be a difficult one requiring personal, community and institutional sacrifice begining with me. I intend to immediately ask my aids to pare down the cost of operating the Presidency particularly the elaborate security apparatus at least 50%. While we do not anticipate laying off government workers we will nonetheless have to restructure our government to enable it to do those things it is suited better. This may entail redeploying some people and retraining others. We simply can't keep doing what we have done for past years which have trapped otherwise smart and hardworking people in useless and dead end jobs. If we run a ministry of education that is graduating the most ill prepared high school kids in a generation but it has nine directors including one who supervises stationery purchase then we must reform that ministry to make it focus on educating the future of this country. Similarly we would de-emphasize those aspects of society that are better handled at the communal level such as religion and youth affairs. The neighborhood preachers, imams and teachers have over the centuries successfully thought and maintained our religious values from their neighborhood pulpits. Creating a central government portfolio or a governing religious body serves no intrinsic value to the propagation of religions. The government if it can should therefore help the neighborhood religious infrastructure based on the imam and the ustash up the street. My first priority is to establish the very vital relationships with our donor and development partners. I have sought audiences with the governments of the United States, UK, Japan , Canada and the EU to present ideas that would set us on the course to better living standards for our people and also make us full a participant as member of the family of nations . The constituional changes that have been effected would also enable us to ask for debt relief which to a large extent continues to be a heavy burden and would undoubtedly impact any overall development that is undertaken. Once we make the structural changes that sets us on the right track, I am confident our development partners would accomodate our very pressing needs. To our citizens resident abroad, I recognize your interest in events back home and I want to reiterate your importance to us all . I have met hundreds of you in both the US and Europe when we came to solicit your help and ideas. In auditoria and apartments you have manifested an abiding interest in making your homeland better even from afar. Your contributions to the economy especially the informal sector is very vital as you continue to subsidize your families and spur the housing market and small businesses . We recognize that and I would for the first time establish a coordinating office that would operate from the presidency with the task of keeping in touch with every Gambian community abroad with particular focus on facilitating their government related concerns. My doors would always be open to every Gambian here or abroad. I will not be ensconced at State house because it is my intention to make unannounced forays into people and places to more fully understand the issues people face. My fellow citizens let us all join in prayer and Ask for the Almighty's guidance as we embark on a rebirth of our nation. Together we can lay the foundations for a better country for those that follow us. Wasalam' This , list members is a speech I would like to hear. Karamba ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------