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Momodou
Denmark
11513 Posts |
 Posted - 18 Jun 2021 : 20:06:55
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GAMBIA-L Digest 40
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Fwd: If only it was real
by KTouray@aol.com
2) Greetings
by Raye Sosseh <gt8065b@prism.gatech.edu>
3) Re: Fwd: If only it was real
by ABDOU <at137@columbia.edu>
4) COMMENTARY
by JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
5) Re: Greetings
by BASS KOLLEH DRAMMEH <KOLLS567@QATAR.NET.QA>
6) Re:COMMENTARY:DEMOCRACY
by TSaidy1050@aol.com
7) Re: COMMENTARY:DEMOCRACY
by binta@iuj.ac.jp
8) Re: COMMENTARY:DEMOCRACY
by Omar Gaye d3a <omar3@afrodite.hibu.no>
9) Re: COMMENTARY
by "Famara A. Sanyang" <famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no>
10) Reply to Famara
by JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
11) JAMMEH'S UNCONDITIONAL AMNESTY
by TSaidy1050@aol.com
12) Re: Reply to Famara
by Amadou Scattred Janneh <AJANNEH@pstcc.cc.tn.us>
13) Re: JAMMEH'S UNCONDITIONAL AMNESTY
by momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
14) Reply
by JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
15) Re: JAMMEH'S UNCONDITIONAL AMNESTY
by Anna Secka <secka@cse.bridgeport.edu>
16) Re: Greetings
by Wildkumba@aol.com
17) Re: Reply to Famara
by famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no
18) Re: Reply to Famara
by famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no
19) Re: Reply
by famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no
20) Re: GCE O-Level Results
by Andy Lyons <alyons@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu>
21) WEST AFRICA-HEALTH: Cross-border Campaign....
by momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
22) Reply to Famara
by Amadou Scattred Janneh <AJANNEH@pstcc.cc.tn.us>
23) observation on Musa's posting
by "BOJANG,BUBA" <BBOJANG@MUSIC.TRANSY.EDU>
24)
by "BOJANG,BUBA" <BBOJANG@MUSIC.TRANSY.EDU>
25) observation on Musa's posting
by JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
26) Banjul Mafia
by "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
27) Question for Tombong
by "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
28) Re: observation on Musa's posting
by binta@iuj.ac.jp
29) Question for Tombong
by TSaidy1050@aol.com
30) observation on Musa's posting
by TSaidy1050@aol.com
31) Re: COMMENTARY: DEMOCRACY
by TSaidy1050@aol.com
32) NATIONAL ASSEMLY ELECTIONS
by TSaidy1050@aol.com
33) Re:elections and after
by momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
34) Forwarded message of Lamin Drammeh
by "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
35) Forwarded message of Dr Nyang to Lamin.
by "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
36) Re: observation on Musa's posting
by Yaya Jallow <yj0001@jove.acs.unt.edu>
37) REPLY TO LAMIN
by JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
38) Re: observation on Musa's posting
by "Famara A. Sanyang" <famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no>
39) Re: REPLY TO LAMIN
by "SAL BARRY" <SBARRY@osage.astate.edu>
40) Re: REPLY TO LAMIN
by BASS KOLLEH DRAMMEH <KOLLS567@QATAR.NET.QA>
41) Forward: Reuters News
by TSaidy1050@aol.com
42) Re: Question for Tombong
by "BEYAI" <P.L.Beyai@newcastle.ac.uk>
43) (Fwd) Re: observation on Musa's posting
by "Famara A. Sanyang" <famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no>
44) Re: observation on Musa's posting
by "Famara A. Sanyang" <famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no>
45) Re: observation on Musa's posting
by Amadou Scattred Janneh <AJANNEH@pstcc.cc.tn.us>
46) Re: observation on Musa's posting
by momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
47) Re: observation on Musa's posting
by "Famara A. Sanyang" <famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no>
48) correction Re: observation on Musa's posting
by momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
49) New Member
by Amadou Scattred Janneh <AJANNEH@pstcc.cc.tn.us>
50) New member
by "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
51) Re: observation on Musa's posting
by "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
52) some interesting islamic links!
by Alieu Jawara <umjawara@cc.UManitoba.CA>
53) Re: why are there slaves in Africa ?
by momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 09:52:57 -0500
From: KTouray@aol.com
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Fwd: If only it was real
Message-ID: <961027095256_1146942784@emout05.mail.aol.com>
In a message dated 96-10-27 09:14:12 EST, KTouray writes:
<< Gambia-1@u.washington.edu >>
---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj: If only it was real
Date: 96-10-27 09:14:12 EST
From: KTouray
To: Gambia-1@u.washington.edu
Recently after a hard day's work i came home and slumped on my couch. For
about three hours i was immersed in an incredible world of fantasia. Here is
how it went:
The year was 1997 and i was back home in Churchill's Town for Christmass
vacation. My sister fixing some light snacks for the family and a few friends
who gathered to pass the mildly cool Hammertan evening. My neighbor Kemo who
was ensuring that every round of snack was appropriately watered down with a
corresponding round of Attaya suggested that we turn on the TV to catch the
5.00 news. He had learned earlier in the day that parliament has decided to
convene a special session to debate the budget the for fiscal 1998. The
anchor began thus:' Good evening everybody and thank you for joining us for
this special edition of GTV I am your host Ahmadou Bah. In the studio today i
am joined by three distinguished panelist to help us analyse today's
deliberations and what it means to you the tax payers , but first we go
straight to the floor of parliament on Independence drive where GTV's Sohna
Mboob joins us with a live update....Sohna...'Well Amadou it has been without
doubt the most intense debate this body has ever seen.The session began when
the govt presented it's budget at about ten this morning after twisting the
arms of some maverick members of their own party who felt that the gov't did
not go far enough in boosting spending in some public sector projects.
However with only 18 seats in parliament it was clear that the gov't was up
for a rough battle. The first and fiercest salvo of critisism came from UDP
representative Bintou Njie(Banjul central) a deficeit hawk and strong
proponent of private enterprise.She accused the gov't of practicing VOODOO
economics by making budgetary projections that relied not on revenues that
the gov't can reasonably raise but rather on anticipated grants .aid or loans
to be negotiated in the future. She called the proposal reckless and lacking
substance.She promised that her party which has 11 seats in parliament would
work around the clock to defeat the proposal. Following her was
representative Omar Beyaye (kombo south) the PDOIS point man on the economy.
He began by chastising the gov't for doing far too little to develop what he
characterised as the two most important sectors of our economy: reexport
trade and tourism.He thumped the podium repeatedly asserting that the best
way to boost gov't revenues both in the short and long run is for the
administration to embark on concrete proposals aimed developing the swath of
prestine beaches along the Atlantic coast so that by the year2002 the entire
area from Bakau to Gunjur is lined with dozens of hotels creating tens of
thousands of jobs. He also said the gov't must make The Gambia the
commercial hub of the region by expanding the port facilities and attracting
financial instituions to build a dynamic reexport trade. He concluded that
the gov't's proposals as presented lacks the vision necessary to lead the
nation into the next century and hence his party which has 8 seats could not
support it.The rest of the debate was dominated by an alliance of
independents totalling 7 members who indicated that might be inclined to
support the gov't's proposals if the gov't was willing to incorporate their
amendment to phase out the military as an institution in three years. It is
widely believed that the gov't regards that as anathema. With such wide
ranging views about the way the gov't raises and spends money it is not
immediately clear what consensus would be reached or how long it would take
to reach. The accountant generals office has announced this afternoon that
it's ability to get money from the banks to pay the gov'ts bills including
salaries and vendor accounts would expire at the end of the month exactly 5
days from today. This could mean salaries and one by six bonuses for
christmass could be delayed....back to you Ahmadou in the studio'...'Thank
you Sohna...GTV's Sohna Mboob live from parliament. Now joining me in the
studio to make sense of all these are three distinguished panelists: Abdou
Karim Davies is a senior accountant at the accounting firm of Panel KERR
FOSTER , Mam Alieu Jobe is a senior economist at the CHAPTEH GROUP a
consulting firm with clients in SENEGAL,GUINEA,MALI and IVORYCOAST and
journalist Ebrima Ceesay a senior editor for the observer newspaper. Mr
Davies let me begin with you ....you have seen the gov't's proposal and
actually ran the numbers on it ...what do you make of it? First of all it is
a dramatically more ambotious plan than anything we have ever seen in terms
of gov't expenditure on the public sector. for example the plan envisions a
six fold increase in teacher salaries in the next five years almost three
times the rate of inflation.What is not clear is how the gov't would
definately comeup with the necessary revenue to offset these increases
without widening the already gaping budget deficeit'. 'Mam Alieu what is your
take on this?'' My initial reaction is one of guarded optimism in that the
increased spending would help spur an otherwise sluggish econmy. On the other
hand the proposal may lead to an interest rate hike of the gov't falls short
the projected revenues and is forced to print more money to keep it's
expensive commitments. The tax incentives in the proposal especially the one
for foreign investors is a well thought out one . A long complaint of some
of our own clients have been the relatively high taxation rate for foreign
companies.I think we may as well see a steady stream of outside investors if
the tax incentive part of the proposal survives the current round of
negotiations.' 'Ebrima are we seeing a theatrical display of political
brinkmanship or are members on different planes in terms of their vision for
this country as we enter the next century?' ' I believe what we have seen as
unprecedented as it may be is a little bit of both. For the first time
memebers are staking out on positions that are clearly designed to advance
their vision for the country. Most members however are positioning themselves
to be able to leverage gov't negotiators when it comes down to working out
the details of the bill where specific spending priorities are earmarked. In
the end what you will get is a mosaic of a proposal that would reflect the
various positions taken by the different parties allowing each side to say
they got their way. This is the essence of participatory democracy and the
people of this country are better off for it.''With that we come to the
conclusion of this edition of GTV news at 5.00. I want to thank my guests and
don't forget to join us tonight at ten for a special edition of JAKARRLOH
when our reporter goes undercover to expose bribery and theft involving
custom officers at the international airprot. Good night'.
When i woke up and realised i was in the county of Baltimore instead of
Churchill's town, i was filled with a sense regret that this is just fantasy
on my part .I have ever since convinced myself that i will be an eternal
optimist and believe that our nation would soon reflect this wonderful dream
of mine. I suspect most of you share this view.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 14:08:41 -0500 (EST)
From: Raye Sosseh <gt8065b@prism.gatech.edu>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Greetings
Message-ID: <199610271908.OAA15469@acmex.gatech.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
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Hello everybody...... It's a pleasure to be a part of this group
Raye Sosseh
GWW School of Mech. Eng.
Georgia Tech.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 14:19:25 -0500 (EST)
From: ABDOU <at137@columbia.edu>
To: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: Fwd: If only it was real
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.95L.961027140227.4483A-100000@ciao.cc.columbia.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Hi gambia-l,
I think Karamba's "fantasia" should be more appropriately called
"the reality that never was". The Gambia people deserve freedom and
accountability from their government.
On another account I would like Mr. Connors to give us ANY
evidence that Jammeh has in fact developed The Gambian economy. He may
build all the arches he wants but the simple fact is that more Gambians
are unemployed today than there were before he overthrew the Jawara govt.
For eg, the Gambian economy contracted by 6% in the first year of this
illegal government and this figure from the Gambian govt ! Jammeh is fast
wrecking the economy and we are supposes to be grateful for this and not
"overcriticized" him ?????? And where is the correlation between
criticizing a government and not working for the betterment of a country ?
I would in fact say that the opposite is true; beware of the man who does
not criticize his government.
From the prevalence of Jammeh's decrees trying to ensure that no
one runs for the parliamentary elections, it is clear that as Amadou put
it, he is merely hiding his uniform and remain the blood-thirsty tin pot
dictator.
-Abdou.
*******************************************************************************
A. TOURAY.
at137@columbia.edu
abdou@cs.columbia.edu
abdou@touchscreen.com
(212) 749-7971
MY URL's ON THE WWW= http://www.cc.columbia.edu/~at137
http://www.psl.cs.columbia.edu/~abdou
A FINITE IN A LAND OF INFINITY.
SEEKING BUT THE REACHABLE.
I WANDER AND I WONDER.
ALL RESPITE IS FINAL.
*******************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 18:26:09 -0600 (CST)
From: JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
To: GAMBIA-L@U.WASHINGTON.EDU
Subject: COMMENTARY
Message-ID: <01IB54NWPZ2Q8XSJXI@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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FELLOW MEMBERS:
Recently, members have been writing on the issue of slavery in Africa the
most barbaric form of cruelty to man since creation. It is hard to imagine
that after all what the Arican continent went through during the slave-trade
carried out by the West, Africans continued to enslave one another. Folks you
know, to be enslaved is cruel, but to be enslaved by your own people is the very
bottom of cruelty. This is outrageous and I join all those who have condemned
the continued practise of slavery in its totallity.
This just goes beyond the pale for some of us residing in this country as
Africans when asked about the existence of slavery in the black continent.
In situations like this, one always find himself cornered and disoriented for
lack of an answer.Mark you, this is not the only issue that Africans have been
falling prey due to their own actions and I believe much of it, is caused by
greed and ignorance.
The economic forecast for Africa in the 21st century is very grim and I wonder
how that economic review on Africa posted by one of the members show a growth
rate of over 4%. It is good to have these figures as a measure of economic
well-being of society but the critical test remains to be that are real lives
been affected positively as these numbers show. In my view, the average African
farmer is poorer today than the pre-independence era. I believe our politicians
have a great deal of role in Africa's dismal economic state, but there is a
hidden hand.These are the hands of some vintage bereaucrats stationed in
Washington D.C,....precisely the World Bank and IMF. Personally, I believe
the policies of these two institutions have been a disaster for Africa and
more seriously the armchair African economists and their finance ministers
who attend these policy meetings in Washington with the only agenda in their
mind, what gifts to buy for their concubines . The Bank knows the quality of
these officials, as a result, they instruct them as first grade pupils.
My friends, what I want to underscore here is that, for Africa to lift itself
out of this economic predicament, we need to define the terms of engagement
with the World Bank and the IMF and doing so would mean a complete overhaul
of our bureaucratic representation. Interestingly, no body seems to be
reflecting on African bureaucrats they are worse than the politicians. I know
the ones we have in The Gambia, the BANJUL MAFIA as they are known then in
the Jawara regime.In my view , this is the group that overthrew Jawara with
their dubiuos and clandestine activities. Sadly, Jawara failed to take action
against them and now the rest is history.Folks if you all take a microscopic
look around Jammeh you will find them positioning themselves ready to
continue their nefarious agenda with vengeance. The punch line is that
corruption in the Jammeh regime would be more pronounce than the erstwhile
regime and there are vivid indications to suppoort this.
In my view, there is nothing Jammeh can do he is still surprised and wondering
if where he is at now is real or not. Philosophers argue that the radius of
a man's knowledge determines the circumference of his activities. In Jammeh's
case this is RES IPS LOQUITURE.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 1995 05:14:13 +0300
From: BASS KOLLEH DRAMMEH <KOLLS567@QATAR.NET.QA>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Greetings
Message-ID: <309191F5.6525@QATAR.NET.QA>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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Raye Sosseh wrote:
>
> Hello everybody...... It's a pleasure to be a part of this group
>
> Raye Sosseh
> GWW School of Mech. Eng.
> Georgia Tech.
Raye!
This does not seem to say much as a way of introduction, does it?! But
welcome anway!! I am sure you will soon unlearn your shyness.
Regards Basss!!
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 08:04:41 -0500
From: TSaidy1050@aol.com
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re:COMMENTARY:DEMOCRACY
Message-ID: <961028080440_1281169643@emout12.mail.aol.com>
Sarian,
Sorry for the delay in responding to your insightful questions and comments.
I will try my best to clarify certain point of contention in my earlier
posting.
Taking our cultural, historic, political and economic differences with the
West in to consideration, one can see that democracy in The Gambia in
particular and Africa in general cannot be the exact replica of what it is in
the West. Democracy cannot be imposed on people, it has to acquired over a
period of time. Depending on the cultural and historical period of a nation,
it will metamorphose in a mould that will reflect the cultural, political and
other realities of the people concerned. Whether we admit it or not, or
whether we perceived to be right or wrong, the fact that 85% of Gambians are
Muslims for instance, will have some implication on the type and shape of
democracy we will eventually adopt. Some traditional believes and practices
such as "mas-laha," "sutura", "yeaugh", etc. will one way or the other affect
our version of democracy. Whether all these facts are positive or negative,
history will tell us.
We can draft the best constitution on earth, but when it comes time to
implement the theories, we will implement them to fit the realities of
Gambian society. The present constitution is not perfect, but with a strong
National Assembly, there could be some amendments that will make it more
acceptable to Gambians.
If according to Sarian , from my posting she "deduce that the APRC are the
ones to define human rights for Gambians and what it should be compose of,
and /or draw the line"; I am very sorry for that was not my intentions.
Though the APRC is the majority party, it is not its intention to impose on
Gambians its meaning of human rights. This is one version of human rights.
There is and will be other versions from different sectors of the society,
and we will eventually come to a definition that will be accepted by all
Gambians. We are in a democracy, and we value democracy. It is thus the
Gambian people who will finally decide what human rights is. It is true that
human rights is a universal concept, however, the APRC is basically
broadening the definition to fit Gambian realities. The APRC is not limiting
or narrowing the definition of human rights, and am sorry if this point was
not clarified in my previous posting.
It is not a question of saying we are different from the Westerners, this is
a reality. Our evolutionary stage(socio-politico) does not allow us the
luxuries of having free primary education, clean water supply, sufficient
food, etc. like Americans for instance. This is what I mean when I said there
are certain things the westerner would take for granted. It is not a question
of "being made to feel that the APRC are doing us a favour". The APRC is
elected to serve the people and make The Gambia a better place. If the
government succeeds, the people should appreciate it and simply say "thank
you, job well done". This will be done by re-electing the APRC. Gambians
voted for Jammeh because the great job the AFPRC deed.
Going back to an earlier point, democracy is acquired over a length of time.
It has to be integrated gradually to the point that it becomes part of our
tradition and culture. How long did it take the US for example to be where
they are today? I believe it is over 200 years and even then American
democracy still has its flaws. America attained independence in 1776, however
it took almost 200 years for women and blacks to be allowed to vote. I can
guarantee It will far less time for us in The Gambia to establish a
flourishing democracy .
Africa is undergoing a socio-politico evolution, just as Europe and the US
went through. If you can remember, in the early 80s, out of 16 West African
countries only 3 were not under military government( The Gambia, Senegal and
Ivory Coast). Presently only one(Nigeria) is under military rule in West
Africa. If you recall, Latin America went through the same thing, in the 60s
and 70s with types of coups and counter coups.
We have the luxury of learning from the mistakes of the West, and to avoid
the loopholes in their democracies. I am sure in the final analysis, The
Gambia will turn out to be a model democracy to be emulated by many.
Peace.
Tombong Saidy
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 1995 23:38:53 JST +900
From: binta@iuj.ac.jp
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: COMMENTARY:DEMOCRACY
Message-ID: <199610281440.XAA27731@mlsv.iuj.ac.jp>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Tombong,
I pray that your last wish come true i.e., that the Gambia become
the bastion of democracy and the envy of many. But how long shall this
march take? Africa has been caught up in the democracy-military-
democracy--(what next?)spiral. The web is broadening and its victims
multiplying, among them the Gambia. Unless we realise ourselves and
move to heal our `mentalities', the spiral continues unabated. For
example, when shall African `saviours' realise that assisting in
freeing their compatriots from colonialism, dictatorships, corrupt
rulers should not give them a mandatory qualification to take the
helm? Our nationalists at the time of independence felt that way and
assumed the leadership of the continent just to let us wallow in
squalor and inferiority. Those who saved us from them had a `god-given
right' to lead (at least that is how they think)but with little to show
for it.
In times of desperation, we say `only time will tell'.
Lamin Drammeh.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 21:26:15 +0100
From: Omar Gaye d3a <omar3@afrodite.hibu.no>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: COMMENTARY:DEMOCRACY
Message-ID: <327516E7.16E0@afrodite.hibu.no>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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TSaidy1050@aol.com wrote:
>
> Sarian,
>
> Sorry for the delay in responding to your insightful questions and comments.
> I will try my best to clarify certain point of contention in my earlier
> posting.
>
> ..............................
>
> We have the luxury of learning from the mistakes of the West, and to avoid
> the loopholes in their democracies. I am sure in the final analysis, The
> Gambia will turn out to be a model democracy to be emulated by many.
>
> Peace.
> Tombong Saidy
Hi !
I believe the above is possible only if we can avoid the western terms, and
the west in general. Otherwise they will never leave us alone to make use
of that luxury. The fact is they never accept their mistakes, no do they
accept the presence of holes in their version of democracy. Instead they
enjoy geting into the habit of "debuging(infact here they do the oposite
of debugging)" other's versions for pleasure and provacation. Once we
discover their mistakes and holes in their democracy, we should make use of
it and avoid discussions with them.
I don't even think spending money to build hotels in the Gambia will
prove a superb investment. This will make us more dependant on sun bathers,
and thus be fallen in their deadly traps.
Omar
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 23:21:06 GMT+1
From: "Famara A. Sanyang" <famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: COMMENTARY
Message-ID: <C6967E00F1@amadeus.cmi.no>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
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Brothers & Sisters,
Welcome to all the new members.Thanks to Musa
and all the others for their contributions.
Musa, you touched on different issues in your contribution. I will
however limit my reply to the last part. I agree with you that the
bureaucrats in The Gambia, were very corrupt. If I remember well,
must of the people found guilty of corruption were civil servants.
Some people believed that Jawara's name was tarnish by this people. I
do not think it's unfair, since Jawara was the political leader of
the country and was suppose to give some kind of moral leadership.
Many politicians were not found guilty of mass corruption because
they let their "boy boys" do the dirty work for them. They just get
a share of the cake. And Musa, don't tell me that Sir Dawda Jawara
was not aware of the corruption, because it was public knowledge.
You stated in your piece that "corruption in the Jammeh regime would
be more pronounce than the erst-while regime and there are vivid
indications to support this" . I think this is very interesting. What
are the indications you are referring to? For the interest of The
Gambia, enlighten us. Expose those who are positioning themselves to
continue their "nefarious" agenda. One of my hypotheses on corruption
in the Gambia, was the "signal effect" from the political leadership.
And if you think that corruption will be worst under Jammeh, with all
his anti-corruption campaign, I will love to hear more about that.
Thanks.
Shalom,
Famara.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 21:02:20 -0600 (CST)
From: JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Reply to Famara
Message-ID: <01IB6RE4FV768XR3TF@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
Famara thank you for your comments on my piece on African bureaucrats with
particular reference to our own in The Gambia. You are very right I did not
make certain points as clear as I would like myself due to time squeeze.As much
as I would commend you for making fair assessment of my piece you have equally
failed to make some accurate interpretation of certain points I raised in the
commentary. To start with I did not say that Sir Dawda should not be blamed of
the corruption that took place under his presidency in fact, if you read the
posting again there is a line in which I stated that Jawara failed to take
action against the group we are talking about. Clearly, this does not take
Sir Dawda of the hook. My view is that had he introduced proper corrective
measures against the Banjul MAFIA the country would not have been in the hands
of lunatics as it is today. If there is one area I disagree with Sir Dawda is
his softness on the bad elements of his government. You will also agree with me
Famara that this man Sir Dawda, did a lot of good for The Gambia and we all owe
him a great deal of gratitude. My admonition to all the nagativists who only
explore the short commings of the man, should realise that we are all fallible
and that they should take time find the good and praise it.
Regarding your request for me to espose the names of the corrupt officers we arediscussing, I am sorry I am not qualified to provide you with such information.
But if you look around in the public and private sectors you can identify them
very easily.
correction: pl note blamed for... and not blamed of.
:they should take the time, find the good, and praise it.
Famara, I am a little busy out of respect I thought I should reply. But I
promise to complete it later.
Musa.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 09:40:46 -0500
From: TSaidy1050@aol.com
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: JAMMEH'S UNCONDITIONAL AMNESTY
Message-ID: <961029094045_1348304455@emout19.mail.aol.com>
Gambia-l,
President Jammeh has granted an unconditional pardon to 11 security
detainees. Most of them were detained since July 22, 1994. The Gambia is on a
path of forgiveness, unity, reconciliation, and construction and as such
there will be more releases in the very near future. The following have been
given unconditional amnesty;
1. Chief Superintendent, Sheriff Mbye
2. Captain Mamat D. Cham
3. Captain Momodou Marong
4. Ex-Commissioner, Ousman Badjie
5. Superintendent of Police, Harry Valentine
6. Lieutenant Sheriff Gomez
7. Corporal Momodou Barry
8. Lance corporal Baboucarr Njie
9. Lance Corporal Zakaria Darboe
10. Private John Mendy
11. Private Lamin SK Drammeh
All charges pending in court or yet to be filed against the released
detainees are dropped.
Captain Mamat D. Cham was the Minister of Information for less than 48 hours
in the first few days of the coup.
Peace.
Tombong Saidy
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 11:12:34 -0500 (EST)
From: Amadou Scattred Janneh <AJANNEH@pstcc.cc.tn.us>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Reply to Famara
Message-ID: <01IB7OMMRFT4006HBI@PSTCC6.PSTCC.CC.TN.US>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
"Find the good and praise it" (used in Musa's posting) was also the late
Alex Haley's motto. It appeared on all his stationery!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 17:31:44 +0000
From: momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: JAMMEH'S UNCONDITIONAL AMNESTY
Message-ID: <19961029163200.AAA5896@LOCALNAME>
>
> Gambia-l,
>
> President Jammeh has granted an unconditional pardon to 11 security
> detainees. Most of them were detained since July 22, 1994. The Gambia is on a
> path of forgiveness, unity, reconciliation, and construction and as such
> there will be more releases in the very near future. The following have been
> given unconditional amnesty;
>
> 1. Chief Superintendent, Sheriff Mbye
> 2. Captain Mamat D. Cham
> 3. Captain Momodou Marong
> 4. Ex-Commissioner, Ousman Badjie
> 5. Superintendent of Police, Harry Valentine
> 6. Lieutenant Sheriff Gomez
> 7. Corporal Momodou Barry
> 8. Lance corporal Baboucarr Njie
> 9. Lance Corporal Zakaria Darboe
> 10. Private John Mendy
> 11. Private Lamin SK Drammeh
>
> All charges pending in court or yet to be filed against the released
> detainees are dropped.
>
> Captain Mamat D. Cham was the Minister of Information for less than 48 hours
> in the first few days of the coup.
>
> Peace.
> Tombong Saidy
>
Thanks for the above information which is a good sign but what about
the many political detainees who just disappear without being charged
or brought before a court.
Just to name a few I can remember right now;
1.Lamin Waa Juwara had been in detention since 1. February 1996.
2. Mr. Ousman Sillah of the Youth Front was also said to be picked by
unidentified persons on the 17 september, 1995.
3. An old man from Gambisara, Alhajie Alfusainey Dukurah is also still
detained without trial.
The above three are not linked to the alledged PPP demonstrators
seven out of 25 of whom are charged for treason.
The PR officer of UDP MR. Ebrima Pesseh Njie also disappeared since
the 9th September 1996.
I am aware that many innocent people had been detained after the 1981
coup attempt but two wrongs can t make a right.
Please I am appealing to President Jammeh to release all so called political
detainees.
Peace
Momodou Camara
*******************************************************
URL http://home3.inet.tele.dk/mcamara
**"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's
possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible"***
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 11:31:42 -0600 (CST)
From: JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Reply
Message-ID: <01IB7M6NJK5E8Y02YB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
Sal, thank you for the issues you raised on my posting. However, I want to
make categorically clear that I have never made my relation with Sir Dawda
to obscure my objectivity when it comes to national issues. I tried my very
best to be impartial but don't get me wrong, one always get the tendency in
situations like this to support relatives that is ....human propensity. I
believe I made a point in the piece you are referring to that Sir Dawda
can't be taken off the hook since he was the head of state. Certainly, he has
to be held accountable and must take responsibility.By the same token, this
isuue alone must not torpedo all the good work Sir Dawda did for The Gambia.
This is the core of my argument and if others feel to the contrary so be it.
Folks, because of the spontaneous nature of these exchanges in the net,
sometimes one makes his comments in a nonchalant way and we to understand that
we have to understand that because of time factor it is impossible to explain
fully every issue raised in these discussion. I must say however, that I feel
sanctimonious of the views I have been expressing in this net work with absolute
sincerity and for love of country.
Sal to conclude with your point that Sir Dawda was the boss of the people we are
talking about, I certainly cannot respond to that because I am not the spoke-
person of Sir Dawda. My only interest in this whole debate is that I'm seriously
concern for our country's future and every reasonble citizen should be equally
concern.
MUSA.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 13:22:32 -0500 (EST)
From: Anna Secka <secka@cse.bridgeport.edu>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Cc: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: JAMMEH'S UNCONDITIONAL AMNESTY
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.961029125605.18630C-100000@cse>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Tombong,
What exactly do you mean by "The Gambia is on a path of forgiveness,
unity, reconciliation, and construction and as such there will be more
releases in the very near future"? Who is forgiving whom? Do you mean
Gambian citizens as a whole or do you mean president Jammeh? Since we now
have a democracy, it is only fair that ALL detainees since July 22 (94)
be released or tried by the legal system. Most of us don't even know the
crimes committed by these detainees. Can you please clarify this point?
Thanks.
Anna.
**********************************************
* Anna Secka *
* 312 Barnum Hall *
* University of Bridgeport *
* Bridgeport, CT 06604 *
* Email: secka@cse.bridgeport.edu *
**********************************************
On Tue, 29 Oct 1996 TSaidy1050@aol.com wrote:
>
> Gambia-l,
>
> President Jammeh has granted an unconditional pardon to 11 security
> detainees. Most of them were detained since July 22, 1994. The Gambia is on a
> path of forgiveness, unity, reconciliation, and construction and as such
> there will be more releases in the very near future. The following have been
> given unconditional amnesty;
>
> 1. Chief Superintendent, Sheriff Mbye
> 2. Captain Mamat D. Cham
> 3. Captain Momodou Marong
> 4. Ex-Commissioner, Ousman Badjie
> 5. Superintendent of Police, Harry Valentine
> 6. Lieutenant Sheriff Gomez
> 7. Corporal Momodou Barry
> 8. Lance corporal Baboucarr Njie
> 9. Lance Corporal Zakaria Darboe
> 10. Private John Mendy
> 11. Private Lamin SK Drammeh
>
> All charges pending in court or yet to be filed against the released
> detainees are dropped.
>
> Captain Mamat D. Cham was the Minister of Information for less than 48 hours
> in the first few days of the coup.
>
> Peace.
> Tombong Saidy
>
>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 14:01:13 -0500
From: Wildkumba@aol.com
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Greetings
Message-ID: <961029140112_1180757569@emout09.mail.aol.com>
Hi Raye, welcome.
Agi Kumba
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 20:38:49 GMT+1
From: famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no
To: JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu, gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Reply to Famara
Message-ID: <DBE2B450D3@amadeus.cmi.no>
Hello Musa,
Thanks for the swift reply. Some points are now clear. I am looking
forward to "part two".
Shalom,
Famara.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 20:52:22 GMT+1
From: famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no
To: Amadou Scattred Janneh <AJANNEH@pstcc.cc.tn.us>, gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Reply to Famara
Message-ID: <DC1C5C07DA@amadeus.cmi.no>
On 29 Oct 96 at 11:12, Amadou Scattred Janneh wrote:
> Date sent: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 11:12:34 -0500 (EST)
> Send reply to: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
> From: Amadou Scattred Janneh <AJANNEH@pstcc.cc.tn.us>
> To: "GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Re: Reply to Famara
> "Find the good and praise it" (used in Musa's posting) was also the late
> Alex Haley's motto. It appeared on all his stationery!
>
Dr. Janneh,
I have no problems with Jawara or any person for the good
they do. The problem with Sir Dawda and the PPP is that, one has to
"struggle" hard to find some of these good, if one takes into
consideration that they have been in power for more than 30 years. If
you remember well, I praised Fafa Jawara, for not continuing the
tribalistic mobilisation the PPP was based on. I also said in other
contexts that, we can accuse him of many things, but, the elections
were always peaceful. If I come across something positive about the
PPP and Sir Dawda worth mentioning, I think I always do, as long as
it is relevant. The problem is, as I said earlier there is not so very
much of these good things. May be you can help me and the members of
Gambia-l, with a list of the good things we always tend to ignore.
Shalom,
Famara.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 21:06:23 GMT+1
From: famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no
To: JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu, gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Reply
Message-ID: <DC582151D3@amadeus.cmi.no>
Brothers & Sisters,
I did not get Sal's message. Can anyone forward it to me, please.
On 29 Oct 96 at 11:31, JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Ed wrote:
> Date sent: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 11:31:42 -0600 (CST)
> Send reply to: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
> From: JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
> To: "GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Reply
> Sal, thank you for the issues you raised on my posting. However, I want to
> make categorically clear that I have never made my relation with Sir Dawda
> to obscure my objectivity when it comes to national issues. I tried my very
> best to be impartial but don't get me wrong, one always get the tendency in
> situations like this to support relatives that is ....human propensity. I
> believe I made a point in the piece you are referring to that Sir Dawda
> can't be taken off the hook since he was the head of state. Certainly, he has
> to be held accountable and must take responsibility.By the same token, this
> isuue alone must not torpedo all the good work Sir Dawda did for The Gambia.
> This is the core of my argument and if others feel to the contrary so be it.
> Folks, because of the spontaneous nature of these exchanges in the net,
> sometimes one makes his comments in a nonchalant way and we to understand that
> we have to understand that because of time factor it is impossible to explain
> fully every issue raised in these discussion. I must say however, that I feel
> sanctimonious of the views I have been expressing in this net work with absolute
> sincerity and for love of country.
>
> Sal to conclude with your point that Sir Dawda was the boss of the people we are
> talking about, I certainly cannot respond to that because I am not the spoke-
> person of Sir Dawda. My only interest in this whole debate is that I'm seriously
> concern for our country's future and every reasonble citizen should be equally
> concern.
> MUSA.
>
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 00:11:17 -0500
From: Andy Lyons <alyons@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: GCE O-Level Results
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19961030051117.331fa2f0@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I forwarded the GCE O-Level results to a statistician friend who was a Peace
Corps teacher at Armitage HS. He sent back this interesting analysis:
> Hi Andy!
>
> Thanks for passing along the test results and no I hadn't seen them.
> (No one tells me anything!) Wow! Definitely some interesting results.
> The interpretation I get is as follows: Although the general summaries
> are important in getting a job, the subjects which are most looked at
> are English and Maths. My understanding is that (assuming you have no
> connections) you have to do well (1 or 2 and nothing lower) on both of
> these papers to be considered for positions. (The employment ads that
> I recall seeing in The Observer would bear this out). Given that we
> don't have THAT data, the next best thing is to look at the Division
> One Distinctions and the Division Ones. Once again, anything lower is
> chancy w.r.t. securing employment. On that basis, I computed some
> simple percentages and ranked the schools as follows:
>
>
> Rank School # of Candidates # of Distinctions Percentage of
> (excluding absentees) + Division Ones Div. One + Dists
>
>
> 1 Fatima 89 41 46.1%
> 2 Nusrat 222 91 41.4%
> 3 St. Augie's 149 55 36.9%
> 4 Armitage 80 14 17.3%
> 5 Tahir 71 11 15.5%
> 6 Bottrop 56 8 14.3%
> 7 Nasir 68 8 11.8%
> 8 St. Pete's 89 8 9.0%
>
> The biggest surprises are clearly Fatima and St. Peter's. Fatima leads
> all breakdowns (highest percentage of Distinctions etc.) -- nice job!
> If the Division Twos are tossed in, St. Peter's jumps to 4th place --
> but clearly this is a disappointing performance. My Armitage did not
> fare too badly -- in recent years they've had better classes and
> they've had worse. Clearly the gap between Armitage and the top 3 is
> significant. (I taught these students Maths in Form 2 and Stats in
> Form 3, so I'll be curious to find out who did what.)
>
> If you do get results from the other schools, please pass them on to
> me. I would expect that Gambia High's result would be comparable to
> the top 3 schools.
>
> Good luck in your studies. Talk to you later!
>
> Richard
>
------------------------------
Date: 30 Oct 1996 08:17:20 GMT
From: momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: WEST AFRICA-HEALTH: Cross-border Campaign....
Message-ID: <341700541.9960983@inform-bbs.dk>
---forwarded mail START---
From: Momodou Camara
Date: 29/10/96 18:39
Subject: Fwd: WEST AFRICA-HEALTH: Cross-border Campaign Against RepeatKillers
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Copyright 1996 Inter Press Service.
All rights reserved. Distribution via MISANET.
*** 28-Oct-96 ***
WEST AFRICA-HEALTH: Cross-border Campaign Against Repeat Killers
By Brahima Ouedraogo
OUAGADOUGOU, Oct 28 (IPS) - Between February and July this year,
an average of about three people died every 60 minutes
from meningitis in West Africa.
And meningitis is not the only killer. This year, like last
year and the years before, cholera, yellow fever and meas
les have also caused thousands of deaths in the region.
Now the World Health Organisation (WHO) and West African
nations ''are coming together to say that that's enough,'' a
ccording to Kamifitiye Deomathias, head of the WHO's campaign
against disease.
They agreed Friday to set up a sub-regional epidemiological
laboratory in Abidjan, step up their cooperation in the f
ight against disease and take measures to improve the capacity
of local health workers to contain epidemics.
Under the agreement, the WHO will create a sub-regional
security stock of medicines and vaccines so that speedy actio
n can be taken as soon as epidemics break out. The UN agency
will also train district and village health workers to iden
tify epidemics in their early stages.
Under the agreement, which capped an Oct. 21-25 meeting on
'The Prevention and Control of Epidemics in West Africa'--
organised here by the WHO -- district laboratories are to be
set up to prevent health workers from having to travel mor
e than 50 km to analyse samples.
''It's totally unacceptable that our people should experience
a repeat of the problems they had with epidemics of men
ingitis, cholera and measles in 1996,'' explained WHO director
general for Africa, Ibrahim Samba.
Between February and July, cerebro-spinal meningitis -- an
ailment in which the tissues enclosing the brain and the s
pinal cord become infected and swollen -- killed 16,000 West
Africans in what the WHO described as the worst outbreak of
the disease in 16 years. The worst affected countries were
Burkina Faso, where a third of the casualties were registere
d, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.
Although meningitis repeatedly strikes the four countries in
the dry season around February, the health authorities o
nly react after people have died even though, according to the
WHO, the technological means of combatting the disease ar
e at the disposal of their authorities.
However, Dr. Abel Bicaba, Burkina Faso's director general of
health, attributed the slow reaction to the centralisati
on of facilities in cities. ''It's difficult,'' he said.
''Before the samples arrive at central level for analysis, ther
e is a significant number of deaths.''
Another 50,000 people in the sub-region contracted cholera in
the first nine months of this year. About 4,000 of them
died, according to the WHO. ''Cholera has become an almost
permanent problem,'' said Dr. Ndikuyeze Andre, the WHO's reg
ional adviser in charge of monitoring epidemics.
WHO studies found that the handling of infected corpses
without adequate protection was at the root of the spread of
cholera from capital cities to rural areas in various West
African countries.
The only way to avoid the spread of cholera, for which there
is no vaccine, is to improve hygiene, noted Ndikuyeze an
d Bicaba. ''The war against cholera involves educating and
informing (people) so that they keep their environment cleane
r,'' said Bicaba.
The list of epidemics includes yellow fever, which recently
struck Mali and the northern part of Benin, leading the a
uthorities in neighbouring Burkina Faso to vaccinate people in
its border provinces.
Then there are measles -- 2,000 dead out of 100,000 infected
people in West Africa in the first nine months of 1996 -
- and Lhasa fever, whose symptoms are high fever and
haemhorraging, and which left more than 300 West Africans dead,
74
of them in Sierra Leone.
Last week's meeting was attended by health experts from the
WHO, Medicins Sans Frontiere (MSF-Doctors Without Borders
), Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea,
Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal,
Tchad, and Togo.
It was not the first time West African officials got together
to discuss the sub-region's health problems, but there
was something new about the encounter: for the first time,
interior ministers participated.
They were invited because of the idea that close cooperation
between government departments was needed for awareness
campaigns to curb diseases to work.
''The fight against disease is not exclusively the affair of
health authorities, it's a collective responsibility,''
stressed Kamifitiye. (end/ips/bo/jm/kb/96)
****************************************************************
[c] 1996, Inter Press Seervice Third World News Agency
(IPS) All rights reserved
May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or
service outside of the MISANET without permission from IPS or
MISA. For MISA information, send a message to
dlush@ingrid.misa.org.na and for information about IPS, send a
message to Lynette Muringi-Matimba at ipshre@harare.iafrica.com
*****************************************************************
---forwarded mail END---
--- OffRoad 1.9o registered to Momodou Camara
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 09:57:52 -0500 (EST)
From: Amadou Scattred Janneh <AJANNEH@pstcc.cc.tn.us>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Reply to Famara
Message-ID: <01IB90AYFOCG006HHE@PSTCC6.PSTCC.CC.TN.US>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
Famara:
you may have misunderstood the purpose of my posting. I merely stated that
the phrase used by Musa in his response to you is also the late Alex Haley's
motto (WAS not "is"). ---Find the good and praise it----
I am not the least concerned about Dr. Fafa Jawara's image.
Amadou
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 11:03:18 EST
From: "BOJANG,BUBA" <BBOJANG@MUSIC.TRANSY.EDU>
To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <30OCT96.11939443.0058.MUSIC@MUSIC.TRANSY.EDU>
in the name of God, the beneficient, the merciful.
Some of our postings are really insulting and I think we got to know how
to select our words. A leader no matter how efficient or inefficient
he or she is should be given a maximum credit of respect. In the hereaft
er, the ruler will be questioned how he ruled and the subject will also
questioned how he adhere and repect the ruler. Therefore ruler needs to
be honored. Please eradicate LUNATIC for a better one.
Afterall why do you think that Jawara deserved our respect but Yaya
do not( i'm sorry if you don't mean that). Yes Jawara did a lot of thing
s for the Gambia according to you, but I think Yaya deserves more respec
t from Gambians in terms of achievement. What do you think.
Both of them ( Jawara and Yaya) assume that office in other to help
Gambia develop, but Jawara failed and Yaya is on the verge of succeed
ing. Let's therefore wish him good luck and help him in his undertakings
That is why I urge those of us done with schooling to go home join
Yaya and theGambian Gambians in their effort of development.
REMEMBER( a leaf that was blown aloof by the wind will definitely
come back to mother earth).
BUBU BOJANG (BADA)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 11:28:03 EST
From: "BOJANG,BUBA" <BBOJANG@MUSIC.TRANSY.EDU>
To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <30OCT96.12385063.0058.MUSIC@MUSIC.TRANSY.EDU>
Famara,
Maybe you were away from the Gambia for a couple of years, so you
only know about elections during Jawara's regime from heresays.
I want to belief that there were more problems then than now in terms
of election irregularities and detension of people and even violence.
To say a few, I am from Gunjur in kombo south and belief me a week prior
to elections hundreds of police were always stationed in that village
to keep the order down between the PPP and NCP supporters but this never
the problem since the police would only detaine NCP supporters even thou
gh they are not at fault. Violence would continue to the third week
after election. This was so of many other villages. Is this peaceful?
Myselfwas a victim of this harassment,as NCP supporter, I was nearly
expelled from Gambia college 'cos of my support for the opposition.
Mbemba Jatta would only make sure civil servants lost their jobs if
they were not in support of him. Was this peaceful?
Got to go to class. To be continued
BUBA Bojang
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 12:31:34 -0600 (CST)
From: JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <01IB90YIAZPE8Y2YCG@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
I want to state one more time that I stand steadfastly by the ideas expressed
in my postings and Buba your out-cry would not make me change my wording or
describtion ( if you will ) of the renegade regime in Banjul.
I want to explain to you why the regime in Banjul should not be recognised:
(1) when the military came to power about two years ago, the main reason they
gave for seizing power was corruption, accountability and transparency;
(2) that they are a military with a difference, meaning that they are differend
from other coup makers in the region;
(3) all the members of the ruling military council immediately abandoned their
military salaries and assumed salaries commensurate with the civilian positions
they hold at the time;
(4) the AFPRC muzzled its will on the central bank and tap into their reserve,
and other parastatals to buy weapons with no accountability;
(5) AFPRC accused Jawara for staying in power too long the first absurd thing
they did was to remove the term limit from the bogus constitution which they
dictated from the out set;
(5) the slaughter of innocend soldiers on nov.11 '94, on the simple reason that
they posed a threat to the regime, it was simply a purge;
(6) the killing of Koro Ceesay and the disappearance of Lamin Waa Juwara without
explanation;
(7) the late disclosure of the constitution before the referendum for fear of
the people voting it down if the content becomes clear to them;
and the list goes on and on......
For these reasons and-albeit the ones I don't have time for constitute a reason
beyond biblical scale to describe the government in Banjul as a renegade or a
rogue government and I stand unapologetic to no one.
I talked about the BANJUL MAFIA in the previous postings but what I omitted
is that Jammeh is now in cahoot with this group. This is one of the strengths
of this clandestine group they fit any system that comes by. They killed
Jawara. The unfortunate group once again are the MANDINKA INTELLIGENTSIA. They
have been marginalised before and they will be exterminated now. The case
of Amadou Sanneh the former accountant general is a living example.
To those of you who are accusing UDP of purveyors of triabalism you don't
the raison d'etre of the very existence of the sons of "SANTOTO" is in question.
YOU HAVE TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THE POLITICS OF THE GAMBIA TO UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M
TALKING ABOUT.
MUSA
VANDERBILT.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 11:14:04 -0800 (PST)
From: "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
To: Gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Banjul Mafia
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.95.961030110852.27615B-100000@saul5.u.washington.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Can anybody give information to the list about the Banjul Mafia. My lack
of knowledge about this group is probably due to the fact that I have not
lived in The Gambia for quite a while. Who are the members ? What type of
business are they engage in and how do they acquire their funds to finance
their goals and activities ?
Thanks
Tony
========================================================================
Anthony W Loum tloum@u.washington.edu
Supervisor, Business Administration Library 206-543-4360 voice
100 Balmer Hall 206-685-9392 fax
University of Washington
Box 353200
Seattle, Wa.98195-3200
=========================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 11:27:15 -0800 (PST)
From: "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
To: Gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Question for Tombong
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.95.961030111416.27615C-100000@saul5.u.washington.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
One of the postings last week mentioned that the amount of deposit for
each candidate in the forthcoming December Parliamentary elections has
been increased from 200 dalasis to 5000 dalasis per candidate. Besides
the implicit and obvious reasons being to stifle opposition by minimizing
the numbers of opposition members of parliament, what is the rationale for
such a move. Are these deposits refundable or non refundable ?
In light of the fact that the opposition parties will in all
likehood be financially unable to field candidates in all the
constituencies, I will like to know where does the APRC gets its finances,
assuming that public ( government ) and private properties are separate
entities ?
I will be grateful if Tombong or anyone else can respond
to my query.
Thanks
Tony
========================================================================
Anthony W Loum tloum@u.washington.edu
Supervisor, Business Administration Library 206-543-4360 voice
100 Balmer Hall 206-685-9392 fax
University of Washington
Box 353200
Seattle, Wa.98195-3200
=========================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 15:25:25 JST +900
From: binta@iuj.ac.jp
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <199610310624.PAA05320@mlsv.iuj.ac.jp>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Musa, my pal,
Perhaps you should let others defend the so-called good name of Sir
Dawda. The more YOU take a shot at it, the more you riase our
eyebrows. You talked about what you and many others called the
`Banjul Mafia'. However, the shape and nature of this description
has always been blurred. Hardly anyone can define the constituents of
this group. Furthermore, Musa, when did you become aware of the
existence of such a group? You were close to the Old Dad, but did you
make any effort to sensitise him on the existence of this `Mafia
group'? You talked about the sidelinig of the `Mandinka Intelligensia'
today as if these people were any better under Jawara. You statement
smacks of tribal(regional) sentiments and we do not really have a
place for that on this List. Both you and Famara are now guilty of the
same crime. I think this is the reason why many of us decided to stay
out of your(Famara before and now you) way.
Our country is at a cross-road. Many of our neighbours chose the
wrong route and the consequences of their choice is glaring. Compared
to other countries and given the meagre resources of our nation, Sir
Dawda would come out top as a good leader. But that is only one way of
looking at this coin. If we flip it around and do a time series
analysis as opposed to the cross-sectional comparison I referred to
above, the PPP regime's record is not rosy especially after 1981.
The bottom started to drop out with the failure of the Asset Evaluation
Commission started by Fafa Mbye. A parallel disaster was the way the
funds we received after the coup of July 1981 were handled. I need
not elaborate. To cap all this, Gambian civil servants became the
richest people in our midst. At least that was the way they were
characterised by the common man. Discipline in the civil service
took a dive, respect for authority suffered as they gave way to the
pompous saying `it is who you know and not what you know'.
We have said this before and I need to state it again. I am even
embarrassed that the first set of people to remind us about it are our
non-Gambian colleagues on the List. It is time for us to look ahead;
the dissecting of the Jawara era and what it brought to us(good or bad)
should now be left to Historians to analyse. The more compelling task
we have is how our country can forge ahead. The 21st century is here.
Africa is perhaps written off by the rest of the world, but those
African countries that make no effort to put their act together will be
more than written off. Let us move ahead.
Lamin Drammeh.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 08:49:47 -0500
From: TSaidy1050@aol.com
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Question for Tombong
Message-ID: <961031084945_1248073638@emout18.mail.aol.com>
Tony,
We need to remember that the increase deposit for the National Assembly
elections was done by the PIEC. The PIEC stated that due to the fact that
they spent far more than they budgeted for during the presidential elections,
the deposit has to be raised to meet expected expenditure. The deposits are
refundable, and a candidate needs to have certain percentage of the votes in
other for him or her to get the deposit back.
If you like to know where or how the APRC gets its finances, you should write
to Mr. Yankuba Touray, who is the party chairman. His address and fax number
is below
Mr. Yankuba Touray
Chairman, APRC
72 Gloucester Street
Banjul, The Gambia.
Peace
Tombong
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 08:49:52 -0500
From: TSaidy1050@aol.com
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <961031084952_1449278502@emout03.mail.aol.com>
Musa,
You should know better, tribalism and sectionalism have no place in The
Gambia. Instead of branding people with such names as ‘Banjul Mafia’ and
‘Mandinka Intelligentsia’, we should be looking for ways of uniting Gambians
with the aim of developing the country. This is a dangerous path you we are
taking. We can voice out our differences, but please let us not engage in
activities that will promote divisions in The Gambia. We are all one and the
same people, and due to the long history of intermarriage between the
different ethnic groups, there is no 100% Mandinka, Wollof, Jola or whatever
ethnic group one can thing of.
It is our responsibilities to rid The Gambia of tribalism, sectionalism,
nepotism, and all the negative ‘isms’ that will hamper The Gambia’s
development.
Peace
Tombong
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 08:50:02 -0500
From: TSaidy1050@aol.com
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: COMMENTARY: DEMOCRACY
Message-ID: <961031085001_1713289510@emout04.mail.aol.com>
Famara,
Thank you for the comments and questions. The association of Franco to Jammeh
needs some clarifications, which I will try to explain. Franco was a military
leader and under him Spain witnessed great progressed. The Gambia progressed
under Jammeh too. This is where their similarity stops. May be I should have
chosen a better analogy. Jammeh is a Pan-Africanist and has always been.
I would like to let all list members know that the decision to joint the list
is solely mine. President Jammeh has no knowledge of my writings on the list.
Jammeh is familiar though with some of my views, and knows about my political
thinking. I am a diplomat, but being a diplomat does not mean one should not
have political opinions. I am a civil servant, but I also have the freedom of
choice to support any political party. Being a civil servant one should be
loyal to the government of the day, which is the case with me. I was a
supporter of the AFPRC even before I joined the government.
I have a dual role in the list and they both intertwine. I am in Gambia-l as
a concerned Gambian who has some positive contributions to make, but I am
also an employee of the government of the day and an APRC supporter. I try my
best to be objective on my analysis of the situation in The Gambia, and I
think I have been successful to some extent.
I belief we are looking for ways of making The Gambia a better place, and the
only difference is that we have different approaches to it. We should thus
agree to disagree, we are in a democracy now.
Peace
Tombong Saidy
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 08:50:07 -0500
From: TSaidy1050@aol.com
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: NATIONAL ASSEMLY ELECTIONS
Message-ID: <961031085006_1947352486@emout06.mail.aol.com>
Gambia-l,
According to the PIEC, 5 political parties have registered for the National
Assembly elections and they are APRC, UDP, PDOIS, NRP, and GDP(Gambia
Democratic Party). GDP is a new party and Sheikh Ceesay is the Chairman and
Pa M. Jabbi is the General Secretary.
The nomination for National Assembly candidates is slated for November 14th,
15th, and 16th, 1996. Candidates are expected to deposit D5,000.00 each and
should have 300 registered voters to support their nominations.
Peace
Tombong
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 15:09:12 +0000
From: momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re:elections and after
Message-ID: <19961031140944.AAA18872@LOCALNAME>
Gambia-l,
I must apologize to those who prefer short messages but I just feel to
share the news with all on the list.
_______________________________________________________________________
Below is an article from the last issue of FOROYAA No.40/96 of 24-31
October, 1996.
PRESIDENT-ELECT JAMMEH IS YET TO ASSUME OFFICE AS PRESIDENT OF THE
SECOND REPUBLIC (WHY?)
The invited guests took their seats at the independent Stadium.
A festive air rulled the day. the day was 18 October, 1996. It is
dubbed inauguration ceremony of the first president of the Second
Republic.
The riders led the President elect while horses accompanied the
motorcade.
Many people really felt that they were witnessing the assumption of
the office of President of the Second Republic by President-elect
Jammeh.
The fact of the matter, however, is that the ceremony was not
what it appeared to be. The ceremony was a face saving device. In
actual fact, President-elect Jammeh could not be sworn in to uphold
and defend the Constitution of the Second Republic which he must do
whenever he assumes office as President of the Second Republic.
The reason why this was the case is because of the fact that if
he was sworn in as President of the Second Republic in line with the
1996 Constitution, he would have provoked a constitutional crises. To
avoid this constitutional crises theauthorities held a ceremony to
please the guests but one which was short of an inauguration ceremony
marking the assumption of office of the President of the Second
Republic. Are you confused? Well, allow us to clarify issues.
Once we learned that an inauguration ceremony was scheduled
for 18 October, 1996, Halifa Sallah wrote a letter to the
president-elect which was copied to the Acting Attony general and
Minister of Justice, the Chief Justice, the Chairmand of the PIEC and
the Press indicating that if the President-elect assumes office as
President of the Second Republic there will be a constitutional
crises. the letter is published in the last issue of FOROYAA No.39/96
of 17-24 October, 1996.
Once the potential crises became evident, the government was
faced with one of two options. It either had to cancell the whole
ceremony and disappoint her invited guests or proceed with a ceremony
which would fall short of swearing him as President of the Second
Republic.
Apparently, they chose to hold a ceremony just to further
confirm that the President-elect is the President-elect without
taking oath to uphold and defend the 1996 Constitution so as to bring
it into force.
Let us now state the points raised by Halifa Sallah in his
letter and then proceed to show how the government tried to avoid a
constitutional crises by changing the essence of its inaugural
ceremony on 18 October, 1996.
THE MAIN POINTS IN HALIFA SALLAH'S LETTER
Halifa referred to paragraph 2 Schedule 2 which states categorically
that "The person duly elected President of The Gambia in accordance
with the Elections Decree 1996 shall be the first President of the
Second Republic of The Gambia and shall assume office as President on
the date he or she is sworn in. The first President shall hold office
of President in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
This Constitution shall come into effect upon the swearing in of the
first President."
It was pointed out that as far as the Constitution is
concerned, th first President of the Second Republic had to assume
office once he or she is sworn in; that he or she had to hold office
in acordance with the provisions of the Constitution; that the
Constitution had to come into effect once he or she is sworn in.
In short, if the President-elect had assumed office in
accordance with the provisions of this Constitution it would have
been his duty to uphold and defend this Constitution as the supreme
law of The Gambia as established in section 61 of the Constitution.
The President would have had to appoint a Vice President and
Secretaries of State to excercise executive power, etc.
It was pointed out that once the Constitution comes into force
only the National Assembly would have the power to pass Bills.
Section 100 states that "The legislative power of The Gambia shall be
excercised by Bills passed by the National Assembly and asserted to
by the President."
It was explained that once the Constitution comes into force
neither the council nor cabinet would have the power to make laws for
the country; that international treaties would also have to be
ratified by the National Assembly in accordance with section 79 of
the Constitution. It was also pointed out that once the Constitution
comes into force there can be no detention without trial; that
according to section 19 of the Constitution, within three hours after
arrest one must be told why one is arrested and that within seventy
two hours one must be taken before a court or be released.
Halifa Sallah pointed out that if the President -elect is sworn
in as President of the Second Republic, he would finnd it impossible
to govern without a National Assembly which cannot come into being
until after December after the National Assembly Elections.
Apparently, the message was clear to the legal advisers of the
government. Hence, they took some legal steps to prevent the crises
situation.
The President elect took oath.
1. To be faithful and true to the Republic of The Gambia and dedicate
himself to the services and well being of the people of the republic
of The Gambia.
2. To bear true allegiance to the Republic of The Gambia, and to uphold the
sovereignty and integrity of the Republic of The Gambia.
What is clear is that from both oaths is that President-elect
Jammeh did not swear to uphold and defend the Constitution of the
Second Republic and to act in accordance with its provisions.
FOROYAA's OBSERVATION
What is, however, still puzzling is the statement in President-elect
Jammeh's speach during the ceremony that "The new draft Constitution
has been agreed for submission to the new National Assembly for
finalisation and adoption."
This does not speak the language of the 1996 Constitution
which shall come into force once the first President of the Second
republic is sworn into office. It is therefore, important for all
speaches given by the President-elect to be vetted by legal advisers
if there is any legal position to be communicated.
______________________________________________________________
In relation to a question raised by Tony on the issue of
deposits of candidates to the National Assembly elections, here is
part of the above mentioned letter that Halifa Sallah wrote to
Jammeh and other authorities including the press.
FOROYAA 39/96
"You have been heard to claim that you stand for the
empowerment of the people. Now, may I ask: What do you call a system
where the poor teacher or public servant who is qualified to
represent a given constituency is deprived by virtue of financial
incapacity to stand as candidate? It is certainly not a system for
the poor. It is my view that the decision to raise the deposit of
candidates for the National Assembly election from D200 to D5000
serves as a fetter to the participation of genuine servants of the
people in the political management of their country. This provision
needs to be repealed if your gopvernment is not to be accused of
relying on financial power to restrict the participation of poor
wouldbe candidates in elections. The deposit of D200 ought to be
restored or reduced. When large sums of money are required as
deposits, patronage must come into politics. In that respect,
candidates will owe allegiance to patrons rather than the
electorate....
A candidate for National Assembly election should not be subjected to
other restrictions such as being resident in a constituency for one
year to qualify to be elected to a national office...
I hope you bear in mind that the National Assembly is designed to
be an effective tool to check the excercise of power by the
executive inorder to avert misrepresentation. where this institution
is transformed into a talking shop where people go just to praise
the executive, the members of the executive must become complacent
with its mistakes or shortcomings. Good governance must ultimately be
the casualty.
During the transition period, i did temper my comments to
ensure that they are not utilized to foster national disintergration.
now that we have an elected government, it is the role of good
citizens to criticize all shortcomings so as to prevent the type of
misrepresentation that is likely to promote unconstitutional
intervention in our body politic."
_______________________________________________________
Peace
Momodou Camara
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 08:26:03 -0800 (PST)
From: "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
To: Gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Forwarded message of Lamin Drammeh
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.95.961031082212.30155A-100000@saul4.u.washington.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Here comes the second part!!
On Thu, 17 Oct 1996 16:15:32 JST +900, binta@mlsv.iuj.ac.jp wrote...
>Dr. Nyang,
>
>Words cannot express how much I have gained from your postings. More
>and more, I have come to realise that education is an unending
>process. Your unbiased and articulated way of thorough analysis has
>won you my envy.
>
>What made your this mail special to me is that nobody else found it
>worthy of discussion. At least no other member of the List responded
>to the question. Your response is not only timely, it has also lifted
>my spirit knowing that there are others out there who care.
>
>For me, our understanding of Africa's predicament and how it got into
>this unfortunate situation is the first step to a better future.
>Rationalising solutions will remain useless if we do not understand
>where we were. The three or so reasons you outlined are quite apt.
>They have raised my curiousity even further. For example, how do we
>go about reversing the uncensored westernisation of our people; a
>people who have come to equate western eating behaviours, food, and
>lifestyle with perfect civilisation. Take our country as an example.
>Today, you are considered a fool if you decide to live within your
>salary. You may even not get a beautiful wife or a wife from a good
>family; your family and friends put you under pressure and you may
>even be ridiculed; education is subordinated to wealth(ill-gotten or
>not). No wonder many of our youths suffer from the `nerves' syndrome.
>
>In sum, we are presently in the negative zone. The reversal of these
>ills will take us to level zero from which we can develop. Africans
>need a lot of soul searching. Many of us cannot boast of a culture.
>We are neither Western nor African; a total understanding of those we
>copy seems to elude us, our own has receded beyond reach.
>
>Finally, I think the western media has done us little good. Perhaps
>my Aussie pal's knowledge is clouded by what he saw and read about us
>since his childhood. But even when we rally to reverse this trend we
>falter. Isn't it a shame on us the the Pan-African News Agency(PANA)
>based in Dakar is still crawling as governments deliberately dig their
>heels and renege on their financial commitments. PANA was supposed
>to counteract the bad news on Africa but it has not. Perhaps only two
>out of ten Africans know about its existence let alone its function.
>
>Finally, finally(laugh), in my mindset, one of our greatest problems
>has to do with our myopia. We do not have enough sense of the future.
>The long term does not enter our decision process and hence, we have
>never been prepared for eventualities. I consider this our major
>pitfall. Far-sightedness is what the Asians have and this is what
>distinguishes them from us.
>
>Thanks for your valuable time and effort. With respect.
>
>Brother Lamin.
>
>PS: If you find our two comments interesting, please forward them to
>the List. I think there are many of our people who need to read your
>superb comments. Dr. Nyang, the merit of having luminaries like you
>in our midst is to educate others. You have always risen to that
>challenge. If it pleases you, I instead may send them.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 08:33:25 -0800 (PST)
From: "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
To: Gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Forwarded message of Dr Nyang to Lamin.
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.95.961031082618.30155B-100000@saul4.u.washington.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Gambia-l,
I am still curious to get a feedback on The Banjul Mafia, which I posted
yesterday. Can anybody with information on them to please respond.
Thanks
Tony
========================================================================
Anthony W Loum tloum@u.washington.edu
Supervisor, Business Administration Library 206-543-4360 voice
100 Balmer Hall 206-685-9392 fax
University of Washington
Box 353200
Seattle, Wa.98195-3200
=========================================================================
Gambia-l,
I am forwarding the discussions Dr. Nyang and I had before. I hope
you find them interesting and now worht of discussion.
Lamin.
On Wed, 16 Oct 1996 15:20:08 -0400 (EDT), Sulayman Nyang wrote...
>From:Sulayman S. Nyang (nyang@cldc.howard.edu)
>Brother Lamin, your two questions are relatedand should not be separated.
>You wondered why Africa is poor and you thought that your Australian
>friend did not mean to hurt your feelings. With respect to the second
>question I have the following points to make. First of all, please note
>that African poverty is not different from poverty in historical and
>contemporary times.What differentiates poverty in contemporary Africa from
>species of poverty elsewhere in the world or evenin ancient or
>pre-colonial Africa lies in the nature of the global political,economic
>and cultural systems impacting on modern Africans. The Africans of the
>post colonial period are caught in the web of global politics. This has
>resulted in their loss of political,economic and cultural control of their
>societies and cultures. As a result they imitate more than they
>create.Their leaders have not done anything to change this state of
>affairs.By maintaining lifestyles which are based on the misappropiation
>of limited incomes from African exports to the European and American
>socieites, they set standards of conspicuous consumption which are
>detrimental to their societies.This is one of the reasons for the
>impoverisation of our people in Africa. The second reason for African
>poverty lies in the failure of Africans to develop their own natural and
>human resources. By maintaining the inherited colonial states without any
>radical and significant transformations, they have allowed their economies
>to be fully subordinated to foreign industrialists and
>businessmen.Corruption of a few has led to the poverty of the majority.The
>third reason for the African kind of poverty rests in our cultural
>systems.Much as I celebrate African communalism,I would be the last to
>suggest that we insist on collective sharing without any serious efforts
>to increase productivity.This attitude has resulted in making successful
>people the bearers of familial and clan burdens of responsibilities
>without the benefits of the old principle of reciprocity. the present
>erosion of this principle of reciprocity has made it difficult for the
>people to improve their individual and collective wellbeing.Development
>presupposes the synchronization of minds and bodies in a number of
>areas.You do not need to make robots out of your citizenry,but in order to
>develop your people you must make sure that their value system rewards the
>hardworking and penalises the slothful.African cultures have mummified the
>old value system that reinforced communalism.Let us move mummification to
>the resurrection of the New Africa who appreciates community without
>burdening and depriving the successful.The last point about Africa's
>poverty is that Africans must learn not to consume what they do not
>produce. They must also learn not to be culturally dominant to the point
>that their lifestyles are not home-grown.These attitudes and behavioral
>patterns have conspired to keep Africa and her peoples at the bottom of
>the human social pyramid.Brother Lamin, let me know whether this message
>adds to your body of knowledge about the African condition. Time does not
>allow me to write a longer piece. Good luck and know that I really enjoy
>your postings and occasional interventions when the temperature rises a
>little bit. Keep the faith,
>
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 12:06:03 -0600 (CST)
From: Yaya Jallow <yj0001@jove.acs.unt.edu>
To: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.95.961031114536.23801A-100000@jove.acs.unt.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Fellas,
Musa,
I find your following statement to be of great concern.
"The unfortunate group is once again the MANDINKA INTELLEGENTIA. They have
been marginalised before and they will be exterminated now." This smacks
of a tribal paranoia. No one is exterminating anyone. Let us stop this
innuendos. Our discussions of political phenomena back home should not be
rooted in tribal rhetoric. We should examine and analyze our problems from
the focal point of Gambians and not mandinkas, wolofs, etc. Doing
otherwise would send our nation on a dangerous slippery slope of tribal
determinism.
Yaya
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 12:09:19 -0600 (CST)
From: JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu
To: GAMBIA-L@U.WASHINGTON.EDU
Subject: REPLY TO LAMIN
Message-ID: <01IBAI2KKPXU8WXNER@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
LAMIN,I DID NOT KNOW OF YOUR NEW SERVICE IN JAPANESE COURTS AS A JUROR IN
DECIDING THE GUILTS OF PEOPLE OVER HERE IN THE STATES. BUT SERIOUSLY PAL,
WHY YOU MADE THOSE OUTRAGEOUS COMMENTS IN YOUR POSTING IS CERTAINLY BEYOND ME.
YOU GROSSLY MISREPRESENTED ME TOTALLY. WHILE I WAS READING YOUR POSTING, FOR A
MOMENT, I WONDER WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.
PAL YOU KNOW ME BETTER THAN THAT AND TO SUGGEST THAT I SHOULD WITHHOLD MY
COMMENTS WITH REGARD TO SIR DAWDA IS ABSURD AND REPUGNANT. WHAT IS YOUR LINE
OF THINKING ON THIS, PLEASE TELL ME? I WAS NOT IN SIR DAWDA'S CABINET NOR
DID I SERVE AS AN ADVISER TO HIM; WHY SHOULD I NOT EXPRESS MYSELF JUST LIKE
ANYBODY ELSE.YOU GUYS HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO BE FAIR. CAN'T YOU LEARN TO
GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE, SIR DAWDA WAS ONE OF THE BEST STATES MAN IN
AFRICA AND HIS RECORD CAN'T BE SHAKEN BY SOME OF THE ABSURD COMMENTS I
READ DAILY IN THIS NETWORK.
GUYS PLEASE WORK AT IT.
MUSA.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 21:20:19 GMT+1
From: "Famara A. Sanyang" <famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no>
To: binta@iuj.ac.jp
Cc: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <10C94FB73A2@amadeus.cmi.no>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
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Lamin,
Thank you very much for a well written contribution. I think you've
partly answered Tony's question about the "Banjul Mafia". Thanks to
to the other list members for their contributions.
Lamin, although I agree with most of your piece, I have problems with
the following statement:
" Both you and Famara are now guilty of the
> same crime. I think this is the reason why many of us decided to stay
> out of your(Famara before and now you) way."
I would like you, Lamin to tell me in what way I am guilty of this
horrible crime of tribalism you are referring to. May be you
misunderstood my postings. In all my contributions on the "tribal issue"
I totally condemn this backward way of thinking. I even went as far
as associating it with Nazism and Fascism. My point throughout the
tribalism discussion was that, if anyone meant that their was
tribalism in the new regime, they should point it out so that it
could be discussed openly and condemned. It does not help to
"bury ones head in the sand and wait for the disappearance
of the problem". I think it will do more harm than good, to avoid
discussing the issue openly as Gambians. I said this because some
list members have been referring to tribalism in the new regime
without concretising. I also openly criticize and condemn UDP's
tribalism during the election campaign.
I think if you Lamin and "the others" you are referring to had
participated in the discussion things would have been clear.
I am tempted to refer to the abstinence from the discussion as
cowardice.
My other question is : if I am guilty of tribalism, what tribe am I
favouring?
To say it mildly, Lamin, your statement is an insult to my
intelligence and reasoning capacity.
I hope this is not and will not be counter productive, but I will like
you Lamin to either justify your statement or withdraw it.
Shalom.
Famara.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 17:24:24 CST
From: "SAL BARRY" <SBARRY@osage.astate.edu>
To: JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu, gambia-l@u.washington.edu,
GAMBIA-L-owner@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: REPLY TO LAMIN
Message-ID: <3CDE325D5@osage.astate.edu>
Musa,
The piece I e-mailed you unfortunately was not distributed to Gambia-L
I was in a hurry and I apologize.
Reading you reply to Lamin, I couldn't help but notice a point you
Made "CAN'T YOU LEARN TO GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE, SIR DAWDA WAS
ONE OF THE BEST STATES MAN IN AFRICA AND HIS RECORD CAN'T BE SHAKEN
BY SOME OF THE OBSURD COMMENTS I READ DAILY IN THIS NETWORK"
You are right Jawara's record can't be shaken because it's horrible.
List 3 good things that came out of Jawara's regime. Jawara should be
put in the back burner were he belongs. I am critical of Jawara the
president for almost 30 years not the private citizen. The lesson
future presidents should learn from Jawara is corrupt and weak leader-
ship wouldn't be tolerated by the Gambian people. We are tired of
being played by public officials.
Sal Barry
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 22:11:39 +0300
From: BASS KOLLEH DRAMMEH <KOLLS567@QATAR.NET.QA>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: REPLY TO LAMIN
Message-ID: <309674EB.559E@QATAR.NET.QA>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
JAWARAMB@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu wrote:
>
> LAMIN,I DID NOT KNOW OF YOUR NEW SERVICE IN JAPANESE COURTS AS A JUROR IN
> DECIDING THE GUILTS OF PEOPLE OVER HERE IN THE STATES. BUT SERIOUSLY PAL,
> WHY YOU MADE THOSE OUTRAGEOUS COMMENTS IN YOUR POSTING IS CERTAINLY BEYOND ME.
> YOU GROSSLY MISREPRESENTED ME TOTALLY. WHILE I WAS READING YOUR POSTING, FOR A
> MOMENT, I WONDER WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.
> PAL YOU KNOW ME BETTER THAN THAT AND TO SUGGEST THAT I SHOULD WITHHOLD MY
> COMMENTS WITH REGARD TO SIR DAWDA IS ABSURD AND REPUGNANT. WHAT IS YOUR LINE
> OF THINKING ON THIS, PLEASE TELL ME? I WAS NOT IN SIR DAWDA'S CABINET NOR
> DID I SERVE AS AN ADVISER TO HIM; WHY SHOULD I NOT EXPRESS MYSELF JUST LIKE
> ANYBODY ELSE.YOU GUYS HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO BE FAIR. CAN'T YOU LEARN TO
> GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE, SIR DAWDA WAS ONE OF THE BEST STATES MAN IN
> AFRICA AND HIS RECORD CAN'T BE SHAKEN BY SOME OF THE ABSURD COMMENTS I
> READ DAILY IN THIS NETWORK.
> GUYS PLEASE WORK AT IT.
> MUSA.
MUSA,
I hope you are kidding by saying that FaFa was one of the best
presidents in Africa.You are however right about one thing:his record
cannot be shaken,because he doesn't have one and you cannot shake
something that does not exist in the first place.
Regards Bassss!!!
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 04:46:44 -0500
From: TSaidy1050@aol.com
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Forward: Reuters News
Message-ID: <961101044640_1147628578@emout20.mail.aol.com>
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 31 (Reuter) - Eighteen countries were elected on
Thursday to the 54-member Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for three-year
terms beginning Jan. 1, 1997.
ECOSOC is the principal U.N. organ which coordinates the economic and
social work of the world organisation and its specialised agencies.
Elected with the required two-thirds majority of countries voting were:
Cape Verde, Chile, Cuba, Djibouti, El Salvador, France, Gambia, Germany,
Iceland, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Mozambique, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka,
Turkey and Zambia.
Chile, France, Germany and Japan were among the 18 countries whose
current terms on ECOSOC expire at the end of this year but were eligible for
re-election.
The hardest-fought contests were among the Asian group of states, seven
of which were vying for three seats.
Japan was elected on the first ballot with 127 votes, South Korea on the
second with 128 votes and Sri Lanka on the fourth ballot with 112 votes.
Unsuccessful were Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Syria and Vietnam.
The African group and the group known as West European and Others each
had five candidates to fill five places, making their elections a foregone
conclusion.
The Latan American and Caribbean group had five candidates for four
seats, with Venezuela failing to win election. Two countries vied for one
East Euopean seat, with Latvia beating out Bulgaria on the second ballot.
17:07 10-31-96
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 11:00:22 GMT0BST
From: "BEYAI" <P.L.Beyai@newcastle.ac.uk>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Question for Tombong
Message-ID: <4B3C72475D@TOWN9.ncl.ac.uk>
Can somebody please help me answer the following question:
Has the election process in the Gambia taken a business dimension to
an extent that PIEC has to recover it expenditure from potential
candidates?
Cordially Beyai
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 12:28:33 GMT+1
From: "Famara A. Sanyang" <famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: (Fwd) Re: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <11BB8E03CAE@amadeus.cmi.no>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
Brothers & Sisters,
Lamin send me the following mail. It was meant for Gambia-l. He asked
me to forward it to the group.
Shalom.
Famara.
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: binta@iuj.ac.jp
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 16:42:54 JST +900
Reply-to: binta@iuj.ac.jp
Subject: Re: observation on Musa's posting
To: "Famara A. Sanyang" <famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no>
Famara, Musa and Gambia-l,
Greetings from the land of the `rising sun' where Musa made me a judge!
The art of communication is so delicate and complex that most often
our messages transmit the opposite of what we meant. I hope more
people will react to my posting as that will give me an opportunity
to evaluate how most of us receive it.
Musa is a long-standing pal of mine and I had(have) no desire to seize
his inalienable right to free speech. My message carried an implied
meaning and that is, if Jawara's achievements are very rosy, then a
close relative of his need not do the saying. There are numerous
other people who can adequately fulfill that role without raising
second thoughts in our minds. Bala, remember that we cannot dissociate
the sender of the message from the message. Doing that is
theoritically possible but humanly difficult. My message was not
meant to shut you down, but tell you how I and others may be feeling.
You talking about Jawara's achievements is synonymous to Statesman
Jawara himself telling us so. Do you see what I mean? Jawara's
achievements or otherwise are now indelible. It is history and we
cannot change it. Furthermore, I have praised Jawara before and I
continue to do so when it is appropriate. I was in Sierra Leone while
Jawara was still president. What I saw there is not the least
comparable to Jawara's better regime. But should such facts blind me
to the realities of the day? I think not. Even yourself stated a
fundamental flaw in the old man's leadership. Jawara drifted away
from the facts on the ground which led to his overthrow. The so-called
leniency was too much. Am I wrong?
Famara, I owe you an apology as much as you owe me one. When I said
you and Musa's messages smack of `tribal sentiments', I never meant
that you are tribalist; far from that! Your consistent labelling of
the UDP as a tribalist party led me to what I said. Here I am obliged
to say that I might have read too much into your postings. However,
neither the international media nor the national papers coloured UDP
the way you did. The election results also testify against your
submissions. Additionally, I could remember a member of the List
urging us to validate your claim of tribal propagation by the UDP, but
no one did, not even you. I cannot accuse anyone of tribalism least
of all you, especially given your thoughtful contributions on the List.
The foregoing thus rules out me saying what tribe you favour because I
do not know and I do not believe you want to be identified with one
in a negative sense. Arousing tribal sentiments does not mean you are
tribalist; it merely means that others could feel aroused by what you
wrote. Famara, if the above is not convincing to you, please acceppt
my sincerest apology for you and I have no bones to pick. As I said
earlier, communication of this nature is really difficult. You cannot
guage my gesticulations nor do we have the opportunity to ask follow-up
clarifying questions on the spot. If you accept my apology for the
misunderstanding, please let me know.
Lamin Drammeh.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 13:23:53 GMT+1
From: "Famara A. Sanyang" <famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no>
To: binta@iuj.ac.jp
Cc: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <11CA5254434@amadeus.cmi.no>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
Lamin,
Thank you very much for the clarification. Apology accepted.
In your effort to justify your statement you made certain statements
which need to be clarified.
I am sorry to say, but I don't think I owe you an apology. You "found
me guilty of the crime". And what is the crime? you said my messages
">smack of `tribal sentiments'," Can you tell me which of my
messages. You further contradict this point by saying that
"..The foregoing thus rules out me saying what tribe you favour because
I do not know and I do not believe you want to be identified with one
in a negative sense." You are absolutely right when you said this. All
my effort was to condemn this backward way of thinking, and I believe
the best way is to talk about it, and then "bury it".
You said that the "evidence which was in my disfavour" was the fact
that I was referring to the UDP as tribalist. It is true that I
consistently appealed to the UDP sympathizers and members in the net
to condemn the tribalist tendencies during the elections. May be this
was just an act of desperation from UDP (I hope so). I still stand by
that. I do not think referring to this tendencies was ethically wrong
in anyway.
You further said
"However, neither the international media nor the national papers coloured UDP
> the way you did. The election results also testify against your
> submissions. Additionally, I could remember a member of the List
> urging us to validate your claim of tribal propagation by the UDP, but
> no one did, not even you. "
I think it was Malanding who asked about the validity of my claims. I
answered that on my posting on the 14. oct. In that posting I referred
to the Norwegian media, FOROYAAs summary of the election (send by
Momodou Camara) and conversations with some net members and
friends & relatives in The Gambia. I can forward the message if
you missed it.
You also made a reference to the election results, which negate my
claims. In my reply to one of Dr. Nyang's messages I said that the
election results were a sign of progress in Gambian mentality,
since not all the Mandinkas voted for Darboe. I said this because Dr.
Nyang referred to the use of "ethnicity" and religion to remove the
late P.S. Njie. I think this progress should partly be credited to
PDOIS, who used most of their time on tv. to enlighthen the
electorate about the backwardness of these tendencies.
I did not mean to be counter productive in anyway, I just want us to
get the records straight.
No hard feelings. Once more apology accepted.
Shalom.
Famara.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 01 Nov 1996 07:44:30 -0500 (EST)
From: Amadou Scattred Janneh <AJANNEH@pstcc.cc.tn.us>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <01IBBO8OZZV2003E3L@PSTCC6.PSTCC.CC.TN.US>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
Gambia-l:
I agree entirely with Tombong and Yaya's responses to Musa postings on
the "Banjul Mafia", "Mandinka Intelligentsia," etc. We should not allow
irrelevant distinctions or manufactured differences to tear us apart.
Let us stick to the issues that matter. Jawara is gone. He did an
extremely poor job. No family member or supporter can change that. It's
time to go on!
Amadou
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 14:20:01 +0000
From: momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <19961101132002.AAA19032@LOCALNAME>
During the press conference at Mr. Darboe's residence on
monday 1 October, 1996 he denied being a tribalist. He added that
this father was a Mandinka who supported the United Party against the
PPP. He argued that even though he is a Mandinka most of his friends
in Banjul are Wolofs and that his in-law is a Jola; that this talk of
he being a tribalist is not true.
Peace
Momodou Camara
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 14:35:13 GMT+1
From: "Famara A. Sanyang" <famaraas@amadeus.cmi.no>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <11DD59C1DEC@amadeus.cmi.no>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
> During the press conference at Mr. Darboe's residence on
> monday 1 October, 1996 he denied being a tribalist. He added that
> this father was a Mandinka who supported the United Party against the
> PPP. He argued that even though he is a Mandinka most of his friends
> in Banjul are Wolofs and that his in-law is a Jola; that this talk of
> he being a tribalist is not true.
>
> Peace
> Momodou Camara
Brothers & Sisters,
Darboe's statement in the press conference referred to above, is a giant
step in the right direction. His statement also confirmed what
Tombong said about intermarriage in The Gambia. Tribalism will face
practical problems, because of the intermarriage (especially in the
urban areas). I guess Darboe himself was not active in this tribal mobilization,
that is now history. What is important to now is that his condemnation
of the "crime" will give a strong signal to his follows.
Bravo Darboe!
Have a pleasant weekend everybody!
Shalom.
Famara.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 14:45:40 +0000
From: momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: correction Re: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <19961101134544.AAA19748@LOCALNAME>
Correction:
"this father" should be " his father"
___________________________________________________
> During the press conference at Mr. Darboe's residence on
> monday 1 October, 1996 he denied being a tribalist. He added that
> this father was a Mandinka who supported the United Party against the
> PPP. He argued that even though he is a Mandinka most of his friends
> in Banjul are Wolofs and that his in-law is a Jola; that this talk of
> he being a tribalist is not true.
>
> Peace
> Momodou Camara
>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 01 Nov 1996 10:11:05 -0500 (EST)
From: Amadou Scattred Janneh <AJANNEH@pstcc.cc.tn.us>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: New Member
Message-ID: <01IBBTC4S9B40078FM@PSTCC6.PSTCC.CC.TN.US>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
Gambia-l:
Madi Touray (Howard University) has just joined our ranks. Thanks to
Dr. Nyang for getting him on board. We expect a formal intro. from
Mr. Touray soon!
Salaam!
Amadou
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 09:10:48 -0800 (PST)
From: "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
To: Gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: New member
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.95.961101090823.29256B-100000@saul7.u.washington.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Susan Goma Norton of Seattle and a friend has been added to Gambia-l.
Susan is from Ethiopia and we welcome her. We will be looking forward to
her introduction and contributions.
Thanks
Tony
========================================================================
Anthony W Loum tloum@u.washington.edu
Supervisor, Business Administration Library 206-543-4360 voice
100 Balmer Hall 206-685-9392 fax
University of Washington
Box 353200
Seattle, Wa.98195-3200
=========================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 09:20:13 -0800 (PST)
From: "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
To: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: observation on Musa's posting
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.95.961101091204.29256C-100000@saul7.u.washington.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
I would like to add that not only was Mr Darboe's father, Numukunda
Darboe senior a supporter of Mr Pierre Njie's United Party ( UP ), but he
was also a UP member of parliament who consistently won elections in his
constituency at Bansang. Infact, I remembered during the 60's when Lawyer
Darboe and his brother Dr Momodou Darboe attended St Augustine's and were
class mates to my oldest brother, they used to live at Mr P.S. Njie's
compound which is opposite St Joseph's Convent School at Anglesea and
Buckle Street.
Thanks
Tony
========================================================================
Anthony W Loum tloum@u.washington.edu
Supervisor, Business Administration Library 206-543-4360 voice
100 Balmer Hall 206-685-9392 fax
University of Washington
Box 353200
Seattle, Wa.98195-3200
=========================================================================
On Fri, 1 Nov 1996, Famara A. Sanyang wrote:
>
>
> > During the press conference at Mr. Darboe's residence on
> > monday 1 October, 1996 he denied being a tribalist. He added that
> > this father was a Mandinka who supported the United Party against the
> > PPP. He argued that even though he is a Mandinka most of his friends
> > in Banjul are Wolofs and that his in-law is a Jola; that this talk of
> > he being a tribalist is not true.
> >
> > Peace
> > Momodou Camara
>
> Brothers & Sisters,
>
> Darboe's statement in the press conference referred to above, is a giant
> step in the right direction. His statement also confirmed what
> Tombong said about intermarriage in The Gambia. Tribalism will face
> practical problems, because of the intermarriage (especially in the
> urban areas). I guess Darboe himself was not active in this tribal mobilization,
> that is now history. What is important to now is that his condemnation
> of the "crime" will give a strong signal to his follows.
> Bravo Darboe!
> Have a pleasant weekend everybody!
> Shalom.
> Famara.
>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 11:42:19 -0600 (CST)
From: Alieu Jawara <umjawara@cc.UManitoba.CA>
To: Gambia-l <Gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: some interesting islamic links!
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.961101112147.1237C-100000@toliman.cc.umanitoba.ca>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Hello brothers and sisters,
I would like to forward some interesting Islamic urls to any
of you interested folks. You'll find some beautiful Islamic architecture
and oceans of Islamic links.
http://wings.buffalo.edu/sa/muslim/umma/lang.html#artarch
http://www.nauticom.net/www/alarumaih/islamsoft.html
May I take this opprtunity to welcome Raye Sosseh to Gambia-l. It's
nice to be able to communicate once again! isn't Gambia-l just the best
at reuniting old buddies! I'll talk to ya soon Raye, Bye.
Alieu.
------------------------------
Date: 01 Nov 1996 18:19:17 GMT
From: momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: why are there slaves in Africa ?
Message-ID: <831586270.1622217@inform-bbs.dk>
Gambia-l,
Here is an article by an old pal of Bass, the article had been published in
Djembe Magazine no 12 April-June 1995.
________________________________________________________
They live in slavery
By Garba Diallo
Garba Diallo, a free Mauritanian, reports on the last country to abolish
slavery.
Shocking, incredible, but true.
Don't worry, I am not planning to kidnap you 200 years back in history. What
I
want to tell you about is now, 1995. It is the story about a black
Mauritanian
slave whose name is Abdi.
Abdi is not an ordinary name which free people choose for their children.
Abdi
means slave in Arabic and the name is typically reserved for black slaves.
Even though slavery was officially abolished in 1980, for the third time in
independent Mauritania, slavery and slave trade are still a living reality.
Because of the massive sexual exploitation of female slaves by white male
masters, the slave population has increased to become the largest single
ethnic group in the country.
Mauritania's population consists of about two million inhabitants: 32 per
cent
free black Africans of Fulani, Soninke and Wolof ethnic origins, 28 per cent
white Moors of Arab-Berber origin, and 40 percent black slaves known as Abid
or Haratin.
The slaves belong to the white Moors, who have monopolized the government in
the country since the French colonial regime transferred political power to
them in 1960. The white Moors have no intention or interest in abolishing
slavery, because this may incite the slaves into challenging Moorish
supremacy.
New dimension of slavery
In cultural clashes between the Moorish regime and free black Africans,
slaves
have been used by the regime as buffer and death squads against the Africans.
Slaves like Abdi still identify with, and blindly obey their masters. Thus,
slavery has assumed a new and deadly, dimension. The current military regime
of colonel Taya is aware of this and is exploiting slave power to settle old
scores with the free blacks who resist and challenge Moorish hegemony.
Since the Afro-Arab conflict exploded into violent clashes in 1989, slaves
have been organized into militia groups, which the government uses to
massacre
and deport blacks to Senegal and Mali. Like in the apartheid days of South
Africa, they are being manipulated into black-on-black mutual destruction.
Slave economy
I met Abdi in his master's shop near Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar on
August 3, 1994.
Dakar is not just the capital of Senegal, but also one of the busiest urban
centers in West Africa. Here, one can meet West African students, academics,
elites and officials, who are there to study or to take part in endless
regional forums.
Dakar is also the meeting point for micro and macro business men and women
coming to make or lose money. More colour is added to the urban chaos by all
the foreign tourists who come by the thousands in their red, bare legs every
year.
Established in 1958, the university is one of the oldest and most prestigious
education centres in West Africa. Obviously Abdi did not end up here to learn
in order to join the few elite of the region. He was brought here from
Mauritania by his master, who was seeking profit. The master can work him to
death with impunity and then send for another slave.
Shockingly, no one seems to notice that a black slave is still being kept in
bondage, right in the heart of Dakar by his Moorish enslaver. The modern
chaos
brings certain freedoms to the rapidly growing informal business underworld.
Like in many other parts of the continent, the colonially created state of
Mauretania is withering away. The role of the state has been reduced by the
IMF and World Bank conditions, that ensure the dictator's protection from
being lynched by the hungry and angry urban masses.
So, the Moorish master is not worried at all, that this capital crime might
be
discovered, or that people passing by his shop might hang him in the tree
growing just outside.
Decidedly, the university students who are regular customers of the slave
shop, must have learned that slavery was abolished in the former French
colonies already in 1905.
Prior to the 1980 abolition, slavery had been declared illegal in 1960 and
1966, but only on paper. The slave holders have become so accustomed to
exploiting blacks as slaves for the last thousand years, that they cannot
give up living on the backs of their slaves just like that. Both slaves and
enslavers have internalized the slave-master status quo in such a way, that
it
would take more than just official decrees to eradicate slavery in the
country.
Slave soldiers
The latest abolition was motivated by different factors. After a decade of
catastrophic drought, most of the nomadic masters became so poor that they
were no longer able even to feed themselves, not to mention to keep and feed
a
large number of slaves. Thousands of slaves were therefore released into the
already overcrowded urban centers, where their masters hoped they would be
able to collect a living for the masters' households. Masters are not
supposed
to do manual labour.
While some slaves were recruited as menial soldiers to fight in the West
Sahara War from 1976 to 1979, others hung around and hustled, stealing or
selling basics like water. When Mauritania withdrew from the Sahara War, the
slave soldiers were demobilized and sent to the streets.
Aborded liberation struggle
Enlightened slaves organized themselves and established an emancipation
movement called "El Hor" meaning freedom. El Hor's aim was the total
abolition
of slavery and effective and concrete measures to help the slaves become
economically independent. This was the only way to cultivate self respect and
psycho-social emancipation. Although the methods El Hor chose were peaceful
and mild, this nevertheless created panic within the white Moorish community
and its military regime. The organization was challenging both the
traditional
social order and the military dictatorship.
Their liberation campaign was about to paralyse the slave market and make it
impossible for the masters to sell human beings on the open market.
Outside Mauritania, El Hor managed to draw the attention of international
media and human rights groups to the persistence of slavery in the country.
The result was embarrassing pressures on the regime from abroad.
To prevent a full scale slave revolution leading to real emancipation and the
demise of minority rule, the regime of colonel Ould Haidalla decreed on July
5, 1980 abolition and the imposition of the Islamic Sharia Law.
Sharia gives masters the right to compensation for setting their slaves free.
Thus, the abolition decree stipulated that slavery was abolished throughout
Mauritania, and that a national commission composed of Muslim legal experts,
economists and administrators would be established to assess how much the
masters would be compensated for each slave lost by the abolition.
Nothing was done to free the slaves in any meaningful sense of the word. But
the regime managed to achieve its objectives, which were to deflect both
external and internal pressures, while satisfying the masters at the same
time. The masters are the same white Moors who control the state machinery
for
their own exclusive benefit. In this way, real emancipation was aborted.
Camel torture
For Abdi it was safer to remain with his master, who is morally responsible
for his household and animals. Abdi is not responsible, nor is he a human
being with feelings or the right to make a family. He is a machine, that
works
like hell without pay or rest. Like the machine, Abdi needs only to be fed to
oil his black muscles from cracking. His master can take him anywhere and
make
him carry out any task. He can be legally sold, given away, used to pay a
bride price, or castrated to avoid mating with the master's harem.
The master's right comes before that of God, and he has the right to sleep
with any of Abdi's female relatives, as they are by law his concubines. Abdi
is not even allowed to go to the mosque if his master needs him.
If he tries to escape, the master applies the dreaded camel torture on him.
Abdi is mounted on a thirsty camel with his legs tied under the belly. Then
the ship of the desert is allowed to drink. As the huge belly expands, Abdi's
legs crack and he will never be able to run away again.
If Abdi uses his head "too much", the master sends insects down his ears. A
large belt around his head blocks his ears, while both his hands are tied
behind his back. As the insects struggle to get out, Abdi is driven to
insanity.
The vast majority of the slaves are so brain-washed, that they would consider
it a sin to escape from their masters. Their ancestors were kidnapped into
slavery long ago, and their offspring have been brought up to believe that
Allah created two groups of people: slaves and masters, each playing specific
and eternal roles in society.
Slave and master go to Dakar
Abdi, another slave and their master had come to Dakar some years ago.
Perhaps
the master intended to use his slaves as starting capital for his business.
Small businesses thrive and bring quick profit, especially for a foreigner
with free slave labourers who can melt in as Senegalese in Dakar.
There are no state controlled opening hours, so the two slaves work almost 24
hours a day, and eat and sleep inside the shop in shift.
I coincidentally stopped by the shop to buy a drink. Abdi was busy selling
basic items to customers from the university. There was another man helping
Abdi. I recognized them as Mauritanian slaves, because they were black and
spoke the Arabic dialect of the white Moor community of Mauritania.
This made me curious to want to talk with the two men about their business in
Dakar.
Without telling them that I was actually a black Mauritanian like themselves,
we conversed across the counter of the shop. But they were hesitant to my
inquiries concerning their life in Dakar and the situation in Mauritania.
After a while though, they said that they were running the shop "together"
with their master.
I wondered, where the master was.
Abdi smiled and pointed behind the counter. There he was, a little shabby
looking white Moor, sleeping (see photograph) while his two black slaves
toiled for him.
Before he woke up, I was able to steal a couple of shots of him and his two
slaves.
The silent North
The UN and diplomatic missions are well aware of the situation in Mauritania.
(See box). So, what are the reasons behind the international community's
silence toward slavery in Mauritania?
It is definitely not because of any economic or strategic considerations,
that
the rest of the world does not help to eradicate this evil practice.
In my opion, the most relevant factors are:
l There is little inter-African communication on cultural or political
issues.
Otherwise, Africans would have realized, that the slaveholders consider all
blacks to be either tamed or potential slaves.
l This problem is a part of the Afro-Arab cultural conflict, which ranges
from
the Sudan by the Red Sea to Mauritania on the Atlantic Coast. This conflict
has a clear racial element which has been going on for more than a thousand
years. Both African and Arab leaders prefer not to talk about this dirty and
deadly north-south conflict within the south, because this would suggest a
lack of solidarity within the Third World. The traditional "imperialist North
versus exploited poor South" attitude in international relations could not be
sustained.
l The legacy of trans-atlantic slavery has left a collective and eternal
guilt in the European mind, which makes it difficult for European nations to
take a moral stand on condemning Arab slavery in Mauritania.
l Most European writers who have been to Mauritania belong to the romantics
who worship the magic of the desert and its rough and violent social order.
This love for the desert and the feudal system helps to preserve the evil
system in its racist form.
The Danish connection
One of the leading supporters and lovers of the Mauritanian desert society
was
Henrik Olesen of Denmark.
Olesen was the local UN boss, who preferred to be called 'Le Patron'. He
closed his eyes, ears and conscience to the most brutal violation of human
rights until one afternoon in June 1989, when Mauritanian security police
stormed the UN offices to arrest, undress, torture and deport his black
Mauritanian finance director, Mr. Abdoul Diallo, and his personal secretary,
Miss Roukhaya Ba, to Senegal.
When Henrik Olesen protested in a letter to the government, he was told to
withdraw the letter and shut up or get the hell out of the country.
He left without delay.
Was there any reaction from the UN or Denmark? Nothing but silence.
Another Dane who has been deeply involved with the Mauritanian regime is Poul
Sihm of the World Bank.
When Norway threatened to cut development aid to Mauritania in 1991, because
of the racist violation of human rights, Mr. Sihm sent a fax to the Norwegian
Ministry for Foreign Affairs with the following plea for the slaveholders:
"To stop this development [aid] would, in the eyes of someone who has been
intimately involved in the [Arab owned] livestock sector of Mauritania since
1983 and as such has visited the country at least two times a year, be a
great
mistake."
(Fax number 2791/1, October 24, 1991, by Mr. Poul Sihm).
Liberation struggle
What all this means is, that Abdi and his 800,000 fellow slaves should not
expect much solidarity and support from the Danes, nor other world leaders.
As another slave called Bilal told Le Monde in 1990, the slaves have to carry
out their own liberation struggle to the inevitable victory of justice over
injustice.
Time, history, demography and justice are on the side of the victims of this
brutal practice.
In the meantime, Abdi will work with no pay and without complaining, while
his
master sleeps deeply into the Middle Ages.
For further information on slavery, human rights, the general situation and
latest development in Mauritania, you are welcome to contact the author who
is
a teacher at the International College in Helsingr:
Garba Diallo, Montebello Alle 1,
DK-2000 Helsingr, Denmark.
Fax 49 21 21 28
***********************************
We close our eyes
Few people are aware of the exsistence of Mauritania. Even fewer know of the
continued practice of slavery in that country, which the French author,
Roland-Pierre Paringaux, calls "The Desert of the Slaves".
But, most world leaders, development aid workers and anyone who has set foot
on Mauritanian soil, are aware that slavery is as widespread as the shifting
sand dunes in and around the capital, Nouakchott.
For example, hardly any public or private office is without one or more
slaves
attached to it to make tea, or clean the cars of the white Moors who occupy
the leading positions.
The same slave system apply to nearly all Mauritanian diplomatic missions
abroad, including the United Nations.
In the October 1994 issue of the UNESCO-magazine The Courier, George Thullen
reports on the full knowledge about slavery in Mauritania. Both the 'UN
Working Group on Slavery' and The International Labour Organization, ILO,
have
received reports on the continued and massive exploitation of slave labour in
Mauritania.
In England and Canada, an NGO named 'Anti-Slavery International' is seeking
to
eliminate all forms of traditional and modern slavery.
Anti-Slavery International can be contacted in London at tel: (+44) 171 924
955 55
***********************************
Djembe
Norrebrogade 13, 1.th
DK-2200 Copenhagen N
Denmark
Tel: (+45) 35 36 20 09
Fax: (+45) 31 35 11 96
E-mail: djembe@inform-bbs.dk
http://www.djembe.dk/
Giro: 8 71 75 75
************************************
Djembe is published quarterly by DAPAMDA (Danish Association for Promotion of
African Music, Drama & Art ) in association with the Danish World Music
Association
Djembe is an independent magazine covering African & cross culture as well as
the Scandinavian stage of world music & dance.
Feel free to quote or reproduce any article in Djembe under condition of
stating source
Photos are strictly copyright of photographer. Contents of articles are
purely
the opinion of the author
* cross culture * Africa in Scandinavia * world music *
afro-latin-arabic-asian * dance * drama * cultural news from Africa * art *
fashion * literature * film * sport * debate *
(NB: So far, app. 50-70 percent of the articles are in Danish)
_______________________________________________________
If there is any one interested in writing an essay in Djembe, just feel free
to
either send it to me or to djembe@inform-bbs.dk and we might published it
in the one of the coming issues.
Best regards to all.
Momodou Camara
____________________________________________
Momodou@inform-bbs.dk
or
mcamara@post3.tele.dk
http://home3.inet.tele.dk/mcamara
____________________________________________
--- OffRoad 1.9o registered to Momodou Camara
------------------------------
End of GAMBIA-L Digest 40
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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gambia-l: LOG9611B - Digest 40
