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Momodou
Denmark
11512 Posts |
 Posted - 19 Jun 2021 : 17:07:57
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GAMBIA-L Digest 74
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Commit, Cyberspace and The Gambia
by Francis Njie <c3p0@xsite.net>
2) New members
by momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
3) SV: SV: Political conciousness and Education
by "Momodou S Sidibeh" <momodou.sidibeh@stockholm.mail.telia.com>
4) RE: SV: Political conciousness and Education
by BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
5) RE: SORRY! GAMBIA-L
by BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
6) bug killer
by Ylva Hernlund <yher@u.washington.edu>
7) political education and consciousness
by SANG1220@aol.com
8) Somalia peacekeeping(?)
by binta@iuj.ac.jp
9) Re: Political conciousness and Education
by mjallow@st6000.sct.edu (Modou Jallow)
10) alledged tortures
by Gabriel Ndow <gndow@Spelman.EDU>
11) Re: Political conciousness and Education
by binta@iuj.ac.jp
12) Re: political education and consciousness
by Abdou Gibba <Abdou.Gibba@smr.uib.no>
13) Re: Political conciousness
by Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
14) Re: Political conciousness and Education
by Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
15) *Re: Political conciousness and Education*
by Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
16) Re: Political conciousness and Education
by mjallow@st6000.sct.edu (Modou Jallow)
17) Re: *Re: Political conciousness and Education*
by mjallow@st6000.sct.edu (Modou Jallow)
18) REASONS FOR ABSENCE
by Olafiaklinikken Olafia <olafia@online.no>
19) Re: Tips for a tour up Gambia
by Olafiaklinikken Olafia <olafia@online.no>
20) Fwd: /IPS DEVELOPMENT BULLETIN/ AFRICA:
by momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
21) Re: REASONS FOR ABSENCE
by "Numukunda Darboe(Mba)" <ndarboe@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu>
22) RE: THE CANCER OF TRIBE AND LANGUAGE IN AFRICA
by BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
23) fwd: Gambia court sentences four to death for treason
by Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
24) RE: alledged tortures
by MAKE THAT VISION A REALITY <ABARROW@rr5.rr.intel.com>
25) FORWARDING REJECTED MAIL
by ABDOU <at137@columbia.edu>
26) E-Mail Do's and Don'ts
by binta@iuj.ac.jp
27) THANKING
by Olafiaklinikken Olafia <olafia@online.no>
28) culture (fwd)
by Gabriel Ndow <gndow@Spelman.EDU>
29) New member
by momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
30) fwd: Egyptian Court Voids Ban on Cutting of Girls' Genitals
by Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
31) fwd: Muscular Nigeria Proves a Flawed Peacekeeper
by Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
32) New member
by "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
33) RE: Egyptian Court Voids Ban on Cutting of Girls' Genitals
by Ceesay Soffie <Ceesay_Soffie@ems.prc.com>
34) Fwd: AFRICA-TRANSPORT: 'Free' Movement h
by momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
35) GambiaNet Progress Report
by "Numukunda Darboe(Mba)" <ndarboe@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu>
36) Re: GambiaNet Progress Report
by "Malanding S. Jaiteh" <msjaiteh@mtu.edu>
37) Re: GambiaNet Progress Report
by "Numukunda Darboe(Mba)" <ndarboe@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu>
38)
by =?iso-8859-1?Q?Asbj=F8rn_Nordam?= <asbjorn.nordam@dif.dk>
39)
by =?iso-8859-1?Q?Asbj=F8rn_Nordam?= <asbjorn.nordam@dif.dk>
40) Re: GambiaNet Progress Report
by Abdou Gibba <Abdou.Gibba@smr.uib.no>
41) educational group and e-mail
by =?iso-8859-1?Q?Asbj=F8rn_Nordam?= <asbjorn.nordam@dif.dk>
42) RE: (PART2) THE CANCER OF TRIBE AND LANGUAGE IN AFRICA
by BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
43) RE: educational group and e-mail
by BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
44) Re: educational group and e-mail
by mjallow@st6000.sct.edu (Modou Jallow)
45) RE: educational group and e-mail
by Gabriel Ndow <gndow@Spelman.EDU>
46) culture2 (fwd)
by Gabriel Ndow <gndow@Spelman.EDU>
47) About the Gambia University
by "Jorn Grotnes" <gambia-l@commit.gm>
48) Fwd: AFRICA-DEVELOPMENT: More Than Just
by momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
49) Fwd: DEVELOPMENT: Knowledge, a Weapon Against Poverty
by momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
50) Re: About the Gambia University
by O BALDEH <O.Baldeh@Bradford.ac.uk>
51) Re: About the Gambia University
by "=?ISO-8859-1?Q?J=F8rn_Grotnes?=" <gambia-l@commit.gm>
52) RE: About the Gambia University
by BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
53) Re: educational group and e-mail
by Francis Njie <c3p0@xsite.net>
54) Re: About the Gambia University
by binta@iuj.ac.jp
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 23:24:14 -0500
From: Francis Njie <c3p0@xsite.net>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Commit, Cyberspace and The Gambia
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19970622232414.00685754@xsite.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
I wish to join Asbj=F8rn in expressing my excitement about Internet access i=
n
the Gambia as showcased by Commit Enterprises.
Although the Internet's full potential (especially in Gambian education)
will still not be realized without WWW and FTP access to servers outside
the Gambia, Commit Enterprises is still a good start towards a Gambian
information society. The absence of fees for initial setup and web hosting
will certainly make the service more favourable.
Excellent work!=20
- Francis=20
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 09:37:45 +0200
From: momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: New members
Message-ID: <19970623083858.AAB25660@LOCALNAME>
Gambia-l,
Mr. Sam B. Thorpe, has been added to the list. Welcome to
the Gambia-l, we look forward to your contributions. Please send a
brief introduction to: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Regards
Momodou Camara
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 13:50:53 +0200
From: "Momodou S Sidibeh" <momodou.sidibeh@stockholm.mail.telia.com>
To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: SV: SV: Political conciousness and Education
Message-ID: <199706231150.NAA00403@d1o2.telia.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Mr. Drammeh,
Thank you very much for those very kind words. Myself, I think much of th=
e
credit is owed to Mr. Momodou Njie, whose insistent questions and
alternative views have been largely responsible for generating other idea=
s
and positions.=20
You raised a number of questions that need answering. But you must be
joking to think that I have given up for any reason(s) whatsoever! Your
changing the subject broadened the base of discussion to allow others to
join in, which after all is how it should be. The Swedish midsummer holid=
ay
is now over, and that was one reason why I felt i needed a break since
Thursday. But as of this moment I will add my piece to everyone else's.
Sincere regards,
Sidibeh.
----------
> Fr=E5n: binta@iuj.ac.jp
> Till: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List
<gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
> =C4mne: Re: SV: Political conciousness and Education
> Datum: den 20 juni 1997 02:16
>=20
> On Thu, 19 Jun 1997 23:56:45 JST +900, binta@mlsv.iuj.ac.jp wrote...
> >Mr. Sidibeh,
> >
> >Thanks for writing. Foremost, may I reiterate how much I love your
> >presence on Gambia-l. It has been just a few weeks since then, but I
> >admit that your contributions have been educative. I wish we continu=
e
> >discussing these issues without getting bored or abandoning the cause
> >simply because we disagreed.
> >
> >I very much understand your viewpoints but I couldn't help to differ
> >when you intimated that perhaps what we see in Africa today is a
> >manifestation of our disgust with the alien system imposed on us.
> >
> >I have a couple of questions! First, why was it not Africa going to
> >colonise Europe? Perhaps we were too good to disturb others; too
> >upright to think of colonising others; or simply too considerate of
> >other people's feelings? Second, since according to you 'democracy'
> >is alien to Africa, do you mean to justify the havoc our leaders
> >wreaked on us because the democratic system we adopted was=20
> >inappropriate? Additionally, would we justify military intervention
> >for lack of an articulated governance system? You said Africans sold
> >Africans into slavery and I agree. Logically then, we should not
> >blame the Europeans for doing what their hosts promulgated! =20
> >
> >I want to believe that democracy is not new to Africa. The system ha=
s
> >evolved into what we have today in many parts of the world, and it wi=
ll
> >continue to evolve. We just have to swim with the tide, albeit with
> >necessary changes to suit our situation. Yet the substance of the
> >system must remain if we are to make any headway. It must be
> >participatory politics where the commoners are involved in their own
> >governance. Self-perpetuation has been and continues to be=20
> >characteristic of us. I hope you remember the griots saying=20
> >fuulang o lu dang la aning faading o lu dang la' (mandinka), meaning
> >the one who has surpassed his kith and kin! Individualism and a sign
> >of greed at its best! What then is unique to us? (To be continued).
> >
> >Lamin.
>=20
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 17:09:56 +-300
From: BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
To: "'gambia-l@u.washington.edu'" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: SV: Political conciousness and Education
Message-ID: <01BC7FF8.4BB68100@dicd.qatar.net.qa>
MODOU!!
I STRANGELY FOUND YOUR THIS MAIL HIDING SOMEWHERE IN MY Archive.
MY LOVE TO THE FAMILY...............
BASSSSS!
----------
From: Momodou S Sidibeh[SMTP:momodou.sidibeh@stockholm.mail.telia.com]
Sent: 17/OYN/1418 02:50 a
To: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List
Subject: SV: SV: Political conciousness and Education
Mr. Drammeh,
Thank you very much for those very kind words. Myself, I think much of the
credit is owed to Mr. Momodou Njie, whose insistent questions and
alternative views have been largely responsible for generating other ideas
and positions.
You raised a number of questions that need answering. But you must be
joking to think that I have given up for any reason(s) whatsoever! Your
changing the subject broadened the base of discussion to allow others to
join in, which after all is how it should be. The Swedish midsummer holiday
is now over, and that was one reason why I felt i needed a break since
Thursday. But as of this moment I will add my piece to everyone else's.
Sincere regards,
Sidibeh.
----------
> Fran: binta@iuj.ac.jp
> Till: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List
<gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
> Amne: Re: SV: Political conciousness and Education
> Datum: den 20 juni 1997 02:16
>
> On Thu, 19 Jun 1997 23:56:45 JST +900, binta@mlsv.iuj.ac.jp wrote...
> >Mr. Sidibeh,
> >
> >Thanks for writing. Foremost, may I reiterate how much I love your
> >presence on Gambia-l. It has been just a few weeks since then, but I
> >admit that your contributions have been educative. I wish we continue
> >discussing these issues without getting bored or abandoning the cause
> >simply because we disagreed.
> >
> >I very much understand your viewpoints but I couldn't help to differ
> >when you intimated that perhaps what we see in Africa today is a
> >manifestation of our disgust with the alien system imposed on us.
> >
> >I have a couple of questions! First, why was it not Africa going to
> >colonise Europe? Perhaps we were too good to disturb others; too
> >upright to think of colonising others; or simply too considerate of
> >other people's feelings? Second, since according to you 'democracy'
> >is alien to Africa, do you mean to justify the havoc our leaders
> >wreaked on us because the democratic system we adopted was
> >inappropriate? Additionally, would we justify military intervention
> >for lack of an articulated governance system? You said Africans sold
> >Africans into slavery and I agree. Logically then, we should not
> >blame the Europeans for doing what their hosts promulgated!
> >
> >I want to believe that democracy is not new to Africa. The system has
> >evolved into what we have today in many parts of the world, and it will
> >continue to evolve. We just have to swim with the tide, albeit with
> >necessary changes to suit our situation. Yet the substance of the
> >system must remain if we are to make any headway. It must be
> >participatory politics where the commoners are involved in their own
> >governance. Self-perpetuation has been and continues to be
> >characteristic of us. I hope you remember the griots saying
> >fuulang o lu dang la aning faading o lu dang la' (mandinka), meaning
> >the one who has surpassed his kith and kin! Individualism and a sign
> >of greed at its best! What then is unique to us? (To be continued).
> >
> >Lamin.
>
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end
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 17:15:55 +-300
From: BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
To: "'GAMBIA-L@U.WASHINGTON.EDU'" <GAMBIA-L@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
Subject: RE: SORRY! GAMBIA-L
Message-ID: <01BC7FF9.240C4760@dicd.qatar.net.qa>
GAMBIA-L!
MY MAIL THAT PRECEDED THIS ONE WAS MEANT FOR Sidibeh's PRIVATE BOX.IT WAS A FLOP. TERRIBLY SORRY ABOUT THAT!
REGARDS BASSS!!
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 11:14:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ylva Hernlund <yher@u.washington.edu>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: bug killer
Message-ID: <Pine.A41.3.95b.970623111312.50656F-100000@dante32.u.washington.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
I accidently deleted the message about the insecticide (safe, effective
and widely available if I remember correctly...). Could someone please
forward that to me again. Thanks so much, Ylva
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 20:14:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: SANG1220@aol.com
To: gambia-L@u.washington.edu
Cc: SANG1220@aol.com
Subject: political education and consciousness
Message-ID: <970623201426_-825706799@emout12.mail.aol.com>
Wake up Africa and Africans. Witness the recently concluded meeting of the G
7 plus 1 nothing on Africa was disscussed rather their concerns were mostly
Europe and the future of Honk Kong Now perhaps our leaders will get the hint
and start doing for themselves and their citizens.
Sang
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 11:42:00 +0900 (JST)
From: binta@iuj.ac.jp
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Somalia peacekeeping(?)
Message-ID: <199706240236.LAA23875@mlsv.iuj.ac.jp>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Hello,
Some news about peacekeepers in Somalia.
I hate to imagine what it was like for
those poor civilians!
Lamin.
In Italy, Belgium and Italy,
Somalia peacekeeping
scandals growing
24 June 1997
Web posted at: 01:57 CEST, Paris time (23:57 GMT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) When U.N. peacekeepers from 21
countries went to Somalia in "Operation Restore Hope," their
mission was to protect and feed a population suffering in the
anarchy of civil war.
But a far different image of that intervention has been emerging in
recent months. Belgian peacekeepers are accused of torturing
Somali children and Italian peacekeepers of raping Somali women.
A commission appointed by the Canadian government is examining
allegations that Canadian peacekeepers beat a Somali teen-ager to
death and shot other civilians unprovoked.
The 1993-95 U.N. mission staved off mass starvation in Somalia,
but it also enmeshed foreign peackeepers in battles against heavily
armed Somali factions. Dozens of peacekeepers died, and word
increasingly is emerging of foreign troops brutalizing the civilians
they were there to help.
Addressing the growing scandal Monday, U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan said in a statement in New York: "I am appalled and
outraged by these actions, which are unacceptable and counter to
everything peacekeeping stands for."
On the same day as Annan spoke out, trial opened in Belgium for
two members of an elite paratroop unit accused of torturing a
Somali boy by dangling him over an open fire.
It was a playful game meant to discourage the child from stealing,
the lawyer for paratroopers Claude Baert and Kurt Coelus
insisted. Prosecutors asked for a one-month jail term for both men.
Other cases of alleged Belgian atrocities expected to come to trial
in coming months include:
A paratrooper force-fed pork and saltwater to a Muslim Somali
child until the boy vomited again, allegedly to discourage stealing.
Soldiers forced another boy accused of stealing into a closed
container, where he languished in scorching heat without water for
two days. He died.
A Belgian soldier urinating in the face of a Somali, who in a
photograph of the incident appears either injured or dead.
The allegations aren't only against Belgian peacekeepers. Last
weekend, two Italian generals resigned in the face of increasing
evidence that their soldiers tortured Somali villagers. The
resignations came a day after an Italian magazine published photos
that it said showed an Italian soldier raping a Somali woman.
In Canada, the army disbanded an entire regiment over allegations
of abuse in Somalia, including the vicious beating death of a
teen-ager and the fatal shootings of three other Somalis.
An investigating panel is to report its findings June 30 in the
scandal, which already has led Canada's chief of defense to resign
over allegations of a cover-up.
In Belgium, Canada and Italy, the cases center on snapshots taken
by troops while their fellow soldiers pose with victims.
The surfacing allegations and graphic photos have horrified the
nations whose peacekeepers have been implicated and left many
wondering why Somalia, of all U.N. peacekeeping missions, gave
rise to such violent behavior.
"Beyond question, the motives were racist. Unbelievable that this
happens during a peace mission," said Johan Leman, director of
Belgium's government-created Center Against Racism.
At the start of Operation Restore Hope, U.N. peacekeepers were
for the most part welcomed. They safeguarded deliveries of aid to
Somalis, who faced possible famine in a vicious civil war between
feuding clans.
The operation turned sour in mid-1993 after 25 Pakistani
peacekeepers were murdered, and the United Nations decided to
hunt down the killers.
From famine relief, the mission expanded into a small-scale street
war against intransigent warlords.
Before the failed manhunt, peacekeepers were frustrated by a
U.N. mandate that initially forbade the use of force except in
self-defense.
A Belgian defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
cited the stark difference between the pictures in international news
media of a hungry nation, desperately needing help, and the
situation on the ground where peacekeepers were subjected to
constant taunting, rock-throwing and petty thefts by Somalis, and
forbidden do anything about it.
Overall, the U.N. operation claimed the lives of more than 100
peacekeepers, including 42 American troops.
On their own, some soldiers exacted revenge. The score-settling
was made easier by the fact that peacekeepers often were in
remote areas, away from most scrutiny allowing them to act almost
as warlords themselves.
Annan insisted Monday that the United Nations has learned the
lessons of the peacekeeper atrocities in Somalia and taken steps
against their being repeated peacekeepers and commanders are
better-trained today in their responsibilities to civilians, he said.
"Every possible effort will be made on the part of the United
Nations to ensure that such incidents do not recur," he said.
Punishing peacekeepers who err, however, is solely the
responsibility of individual governments, the United Nations insists.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 02:29:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: mjallow@st6000.sct.edu (Modou Jallow)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Political conciousness and Education
Message-ID: <9706240629.AA29266@st6000.sct.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Latir wrote:
> The little good that I believe came from this was the promotion of
> Mandinka culture, but its effect saw the subordination of the rest.
> Part of the reason why all inclusive groups like Ifang Bondi did not
> have the room to grow was because they were an island of true
> nationalism in a sea of still fractured and seperated waters.
Latir, I must say that your piece was very illuminative in adhering to the
regelated fortunes of the cultural divide. once again oyu have shed some
light on an real issues that I have always thought was worth bringing out
to the open.
The Jawara years, despite the beliefs, saw some tenure of power that was
both unethical and ruthless, to say the least. I am at a loss as to how
anyone would consider his regime a convocational one, in which politics
was just another tool of big bereaucracy. Whereas many of us believe that
the Gambia is a peaceful country whose citizens are indigenous, the stigma
of dividedness was in fact culminating in the faces of the minorities. The
Gambia was a country for all, or so they said. But behind the lines of
truth was hidden some ugly altercations that eventually crumbled under
that shade.
Growing up as kid of a minority origin, I have witnessed the untold
subtleties of a divided cultural endowment that pushed a great many folks
to the realm of atrocity. I can remember when, every Saturday while
sitting at my Dad's store in Albert Market, police trucks would pull up
behind the post Office in a routinely anticipated manner. The "Rammasse"
is what they called it. You see the Fula kids and Mauritanians, who have
come alive and made things happen, start running away to find hiding
places along with their Kola nut trays and cigarette hand carts and Afra
bowls. I also remember when I would always overhear my dads neighboring
business partners, who were mostly Mandinkas talk about the foreigners,
the Fulas and Mauritanians, whose delight they said would soon end if only
Sheriff Dibba could win the presidency. Fortunately, my dad did his best
in teaching us to overcome the repulsive shortcomings of a people who have
gone mad. We learned to survive, live and accept the calamities of life.
I was young then, and didn't think much about it. As I look back about 10
years, I feel the momentum of nationalism. I begin to understand why, for
example, I was never fond of IFANG BONDI. Though I spoke Mandinka, wollof
and Jola (for these tribes where my neighbors and friends at school), as
fluent as the native child, I just couldn't grasp their [IFANG'S] rhythmic
messages. On the one hand they relayed a dysfunctional tribal message
that defined the cultural divide of the people. On the other hand,
society itself was not conformitive in aggressively discerning to the
attitudes of the norm. On the same note, one would have attributed most
of the cultural divide to the elasticity of a government that has
forgotten its tribal virtues. For this, I could not condemn IFANG, but the
society under a government whose actions were falsely revealed.
The dynamic of passions and principles within the heads of the society at
that time was that of direful for those who understood evil at its best.
To write about cultural divides not only requires reading a few carefully
crafted speeches but it also demands experiencing the context of these
speeches. Rather than over see what was happening to the divided
minorities, the country was mainly concerned with what was happening in
the inward of politics. Thus a culturally divided society whose identity
was virtuaally unrepresented.
Regards,
Moe S. Jallow
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 02:38:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gabriel Ndow <gndow@Spelman.EDU>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: alledged tortures
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.95.970624022942.24933D-100000@acc5>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Greetings:
I just returned from a trip to D.C. where i heard of alledged attacks
and torturing of three members of the gambian opposition party - udp.
According to the source, the three men were whisked away b
members of the presidential guard. They are said to be in hospital
with fractured bones. One is said to have been severely burned in the
genital area. The Human Rights Organization is said to have photos
of these alledged victims.
Could someone substantiate this claim?
sly awaiting reply in the negative.
LatJor
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 17:33:42 +0900 (JST)
From: binta@iuj.ac.jp
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Political conciousness and Education
Message-ID: <199706240828.RAA27415@mlsv.iuj.ac.jp>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Moe,
I am tempted to say I love your piece, except that I
could not really understand what you are relaying. If
you can be more explicit, that will be appreciated.
I do not know how we understand the principle of
"ramasse' as it was carried out in those days. It may
indeed smack of xenophopic tendencies, but to relate it
to ehtnic favouritism is completely outrageous and
unfair to the former government. I think 1982 is still
fresh in the minds of West Africans when nigeria
deported immigrants from ECOWAS countries on very flimsy
grounds. Very recently, Angola did the same. I was
listening to CNN just yesterday when they showed how
Canadians are responding to the swelling Hong Kong
population in Canada. Most of us on this List live
outside the Gambia, and by now we must have realised how
hospitable the average Gambian is. Don't get me wrong.
We surely have outliers who want to have the whole
country to themselves. The Gambia government (police)
could be seen protecting Mauritanian traders in the
Gambia when that country had border skirmishes with
Senegal. Most Guineans and Malians were at home in the
Gambia. Or are you saying that gambian fulas were
intentionally relegated to the rear?
The 1981 coup saw 'rebels' for the so-called majority
tribes take arms against a government which you believed
sidelined minorities. Isn't this ironic? if whoever
your majority tribes are showed such disdain for the
status quo ante, then who were the previous government
favouring? Let us give the devil its due. Your
examples seem more a case of anti-immigrant sentiments.
Remember that unlike my own Sarahule brethren, the
fulani are a 'majority tribe' in the Gambia! Jawara's
major critics were his 'own people', if you will permit
me to put it that way.
Avoiding the repeat of whatever anomalies were evident
in the past regime should be our focus. But many may
sit back and see a repeat of past divisive tactics,
simply because they cherish the obverse repeat of
history. Let us make a difference.
Lamin.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 10:39:33 +0100
From: Abdou Gibba <Abdou.Gibba@smr.uib.no>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: political education and consciousness
Message-ID: <2.2.32.19970624093933.006dea14@golf.uib.no>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
At 20:14 23/06/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Wake up Africa and Africans. Witness the recently concluded meeting of the G
>7 plus 1 nothing on Africa was disscussed rather their concerns were mostly
>Europe and the future of Honk Kong Now perhaps our leaders will get the hint
>and start doing for themselves and their citizens.
>
>Sang
Right Sang, this is exactly why people like me always insist on African
governments doing what they feel is right for them and their people without
fearing any big brother intimidation - like in the Sissoho case. But it's
sad, most people didn't get that point.
Abdou Oujimai
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 06:39:33 -0400
From: Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Political conciousness
Message-ID: <33AFA3E5.B387747A@earthlink.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Modou Jallow wrote:
> The Jawara years, despite the beliefs, saw some tenure of power that was
> both unethical and ruthless, to say the least. I am at a loss as to how
> anyone would consider his regime a convocational one, in which politics
> was just another tool of big bereaucracy. Whereas many of us believe that
> the Gambia is a peaceful country whose citizens are indigenous, the stigma
> of dividedness was in fact culminating in the faces of the minorities. The
> Gambia was a country for all, or so they said. But behind the lines of
> truth was hidden some ugly altercations that eventually crumbled under
> that shade.
Mr. Jallow, when you say "I am at a loss as to how anyone would consider
his regime a convocational one, in which politics was just another tool
of big bereaucracy", you highlight a point that is almost a separate
issue of its own, thus the change in subject line.
I have always believed, since July 23rd 1994, that the most important
thing we should really use our heads for is to understand not how much
money the old regime and its cohorts stole from the country but how it
actually stole the country, politically speaking, for nearly thirty
years in a manner unlike many (or any) of such long term rule.
I would venture to say that Jawara was the ultimate mastermind at
political convocation. I have heard it said that he was anti Christian,
anti Wollof, anti-this and anti-that but with careful examination you
may find that deep down he was not really any of the above, only pro
staying in power. Indeed, he was once Christian and I believe both his
wives are Wollof. Those thirty years saw varying political climates.
He adapted extremely well to each of them and weathered it all by
appeasing all those he sought to keep under his political fold.
Without dwelling into arguable details, I can only ask you to take a
look at the evolution of the PPP from a small Banjul based Mandinka
association to a divided, almost fractured, all encompassing political
party, whose latter state Jawara ultimately created so that only he
alone could keep it together and thus remain in power. That state may
have been created by various prejudices and xenophobia that he may have
had a hand in but it was motivated not by his own personal prejudices
but his everlasting hunger to retain power. Just look at the initial
pre independence anti Wollof divide that quickly manifested to a post
election anti Christian divide and back to the eventually more
complicated one of Mandinka versus Wollof(plus).
The reason I believe in the importance of all this is because of the
lessons we can all learn.
Jammeh began his administration of the country making it clear that he
did not want the status quo that Jawara left behind to continue. His
actions spoke even louder than his words. However, one factor that did
not enter the equation of the AFPRC rule was politics. It did not
really exist, at least not until the end when it began to cause trouble
for him and his all inclusive socio-political vision.
Some will say that the so-called pro Mandinka feeling that many felt so
prevalent in the past was only subdued because the Jawara regime was
overthrown by a Jola soldier. I would disagree. Whatever feelings may
have existed before, it ended when Jammeh and Company turned the focus
squarely on Jawara, his regime and its almost thirty year rule. Jammeh
forced those who may have sympathised with Jawara to explore whatever
little scepticism they may have held about him. This lead to honest
overwhelming support for Jammeh when that scepticism eventually turned
to outright disdain. Of course there must have been those, that is
Mandinka, who, while also sharing this newfound disdain, feared some
backlash over what may have been previously perceived of them. Jammeh,
quite stupidly I must say, allowed this fear to eventually manifest
itself into considerable political dissent.
I do not speak much Mandinka but those who do have told me that Jammeh
speaks it as well as he speaks any other language, perhaps even Jola. I
say this because as he toured the country several times over, Mandinka
was the most spoken in all the public engagements and all his speeches.
There was no indication, at least in my opinion, that he was trying to
marginalise the language or the people. That is until last summer when
he spoke in the Badibus. Like his subsequent speech to the largely Jola
crowd in the Fonis(?), he spoke in what was then his usual cavalier
manner, down on the people instead of simply speaking to them.
In the Fonis, he said that the notion of Jolas leaving what could be a
more prosperous life in the fields for one of servitude as maids and
watchmen in the Banjul area was wrong and was a waste. This, of course,
caused great shock and unhappiness in the Jola community, especially in
and around the capital, but luckily it soon subsided. This was not,
however, the case in the Badibus, and with many Mandingoes, where he
pretty much said that Badibunka men were lazy and let the women do all
the work in the fields while they take all the credit, rewards, etc.
I remember walking with a friend the next day in Bakau, and passing a
group of men gathered, pseudo Bantaba style, in discussion. My friend
alerted me to stop and listen to what was being said. The men were
speaking in Mandinka so of course I had little idea of what they were
talking about. After listening in for a while, he told me that they
were basically all in agreement that after what Jammeh said the day
before, Sherrif Dibba would be the next president. I was surprised.
Even though I heard about his speech, I also knew that most of what
Jammeh said that could have really been taken offensively was
meticulously edited by both Radio Gambia and The Gambia TV where the
entire tour was being rebroadcast. Word quickly got around, however, of
the authentic speech.
It was no surprise then, to me at least, that just a few days after the
AFPRC announced the lifting of the decree that prohibited any political
discourse and after Sherrif Dibba had already told the world that he
would indeed run for office, that the council also announced a decree
prohibiting anyone who held elected office in the last 27 years before
the coup from contesting in the upcoming elections. Mr Dibba's
aspirations were quickly dashed.
I don't think it would be too speculative of me to say that the majority
of Lawyer Darboe's support in the success - yes I say so given the
circumstances that prevailed around that election - of his presidential
run was indeed Mandinka. It may be slightly more speculative of me to
say that this support was more anti Jammeh then pro Darboe, and that it
probably stemmed from that fateful speech but I can say that the
Mandinka dissent that began to grow after that tour was not there
before. At least not in the couple of trips I took around the country
where the open support for the AFPRC was fascinating.
In my opinion, whatever their consequences, negative or nil, Jammeh's
speeches, both in the Fonis and the Badibus, was not meant to be taken
offensively but rather constructively. Unfortunately they were made at
time when politics was beginning to enter the picture and his rhetoric
required tempering. While his aides might have realised this after the
fact and tried to do something about it, it was to late, the words had
already been spoken and spread.
I believe this is all the reason why we must now hope that Jammeh
continues, perhaps even more vigourously, to advocate true unity and not
allow the country to go through the lack of it experienced in Jawara's
time, again, for political gains. Now that democracy is back and
politics has made a return, I can easily see how some political gains
might be made by purposely ostracizing one group against the other, but
that would truly be unwise. If that path is followed, President
Jammeh's fate will only follow the path of his predecessor and we will
never move forward.
Peace.
Lat
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 06:53:47 -0400
From: Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
To: binta@iuj.ac.jp
Cc: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: Political conciousness and Education
Message-ID: <33AFA73B.3CC59C7@earthlink.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
binta@iuj.ac.jp wrote:
> The 1981 coup saw 'rebels' for the so-called majority
> tribes take arms against a government which you believed
> sidelined minorities. Isn't this ironic? if whoever
> your majority tribes are showed such disdain for the
> status quo ante, then who were the previous government
> favouring? Let us give the devil its due. Your
> examples seem more a case of anti-immigrant sentiments.
> Remember that unlike my own Sarahule brethren, the
> fulani are a 'majority tribe' in the Gambia! Jawara's
> major critics were his 'own people', if you will permit
> me to put it that way.
I am not sure I agree with what you are saying here.
Let us remember that Sherrif Dibba's split from the PPP also saw a
significant split in Jawara's Mandinka following. This may explain some
of the "majority tribe['s]" show of "disdain for the status quo ante" in
the 1981 coup attempt but certainly not the "ethnic favouritism" as
being "completely outrageous."
Peace.
Lat
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 11:42:24 -0400
From: Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: *Re: Political conciousness and Education*
Message-ID: <33AFEAE0.7EE09D23@earthlink.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
List members,
It has been brought to my attention that the last message(s) I sent
could be interpreted to have anti-Mandinka undertones.
That was certainly not the intent and if my message came across so,
please accept my apology. That is completely the opposite message to
what I was trying to present and definately contrary to what I stand
for. If it is seen as an opportunity to begin a negative tribal
discussion, I SINCERELY ask that you do not make it one.
I fear that elaborating here may very well fuel a fire but I do want to
make it absolutely clear that I DO NOT BELIEVE that people of Mandinka
decent have the attitudes I alluded to earlier. All I was trying to say
is that such a perception exists in The Gambia and that I PERSONALLY
HOLD JAWARA RESPONSIBLE for allowing it to.
The example I gave about Jammeh, his speech and MY PERCEIVED
ramification was made only as another example of how I believe this
entire issue has dangerously manifested itself.
Again, on my response to Lamin's reply to Modou Jallow's message, the
point I was trying to make was that the events surrounding the coup of
'81 did not, in my opinion, disprove the notion that "ethnic
favouritism" did not exist and more specifically, for the purpose of my
particular belief, that Jawara was responsible.
Any discussion that contains explicit prejudicial undertones should not
be accepted in this forum and I am a firm believer of this.
Thank you,
Latir
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 14:02:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: mjallow@st6000.sct.edu (Modou Jallow)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Political conciousness and Education
Message-ID: <9706241802.AA32752@st6000.sct.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Lamin, you wrote:
> Moe,
>
> I am tempted to say I love your piece, except that I
> could not really understand what you are relaying. If
> you can be more explicit, that will be appreciated.
Lamin,
OOOps...I must have goofed here :=)))). I did not realize that message
went through until now. My server went down late last night whilst I was
in the middle of editing it. After being warned to log off, I tried to
save the message in my mail folders....but I can now see that it was
accidentally sent. I apologize for the incompleteness....however, I
appreciate your response.
In my message I was merely querrying the notion of idealism as proclaimed
by our nationalistic approach. I am a firm believer of the fact that, if
the issue of tribalism could not be discussed without being labeled
prejudice, then rest assured that we move to nowhere. I felt that the list
has been very open-minded in many cases about national values and public
issues. However, I have yet to understand the fundamental values of such
issues if we become more sensitive about the deliberations of our past
shortcomings.
In my example, I was afraid that some may mistakenly label it as an
"anti-immigrant sentiment", as you have elaborated, that is designed to
show a sign of weakness. Nevertheless, my points are simply that the
Jawara years did increase the disparity of hatred among the tribes of the
minority groups. As for Latir's comments, I do not believe that he was in
any way trying to put the shoe on the other foot by acclaiming a Mandinka
uprising. Whereas we all believe in a non-tribalistic Gambia, most of us
have differing experiences towards the relationship of tribalism and
politics in the former era.
I believe that, more than ever before, now is the time for us to pool
together our intellectual resources to better our chances for a brighter
future. It is still up to us to apply the knowledge that we have developed
for the good of ourselves and fellow countrymen, or to our own detriment.
There's no limit to what we can do individually but we are in an
environment where we have to master the art of "joint effort". Whereas
some people seem to have it all, there are those who seem to have the need
for some help. To be able to overcome our shortcomings, these two types of
people must be willing to "teach" and "learn" from each other if they are
to achieve higher results.
I say to you then, we need to implement or modify our standards so as to
fix what is broken. We can begin by identifying the areas that needs
serious consideration in order to outline the possible conflicts that
hinder our "joint efforts". By doing so, we are accomplishing not only our
own wishes but also enhancing and simplifying our daily work routines.
In this regard, I would like to suggest that we come up with ideas that we
can utilize right now. If we can all communicate within ourselves, maybe
we can improve to the point of a more culturally perfected society. The
thought of constantly being reminded by ourselves that we are not up to
our potential is very unappealing. It's one thing to fear losing one's
identity, but it's a completely different thing to take one's cultural
values for granted.
Regards,
Moe S. Jallow
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 14:09:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: mjallow@st6000.sct.edu (Modou Jallow)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: *Re: Political conciousness and Education*
Message-ID: <9706241809.AA52710@st6000.sct.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Latir wrote:
> List members,
>
> It has been brought to my attention that the last message(s) I sent
> could be interpreted to have anti-Mandinka undertones.
>
> That was certainly not the intent and if my message came across so,
> please accept my apology. That is completely the opposite message to
> what I was trying to present and definately contrary to what I stand
> for. If it is seen as an opportunity to begin a negative tribal
> discussion, I SINCERELY ask that you do not make it one.
A very wise move indeed! Rest assured those who understand your points
will not judge your messages without reading between the lines.
Good luck!
Regards,
Moe S. Jallow
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 13:29:27 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Olafiaklinikken Olafia <olafia@online.no>
To: <Gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: REASONS FOR ABSENCE
Message-ID: <199706251129.NAA03332@online.no>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hello all Gambia-lers
Its been a long time since i have been on the net. A week and a half after
my arrival from the Gambia i have been travelling both nationally and
internationally. During one of my travels which was in the Netherlands my
son whom i am a lonely guardian for was knocked by a car and i have to come
back home. I tayed away from job whilst he was both at the hospital and home
before resuming to school.
This is the reason of absentee from the net.
with kind regards
Omar S. Saho
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 14:08:54 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Olafiaklinikken Olafia <olafia@online.no>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Tips for a tour up Gambia
Message-ID: <199706251208.OAA25383@online.no>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Hei Asbj=F8rn
I would very much help you with current and sufficient documents of being a
tourist or one who is planning to reside in the Gambia. This is a magazine
call CONCERN written by peiople in the tourist industry and politicia and
other independent actors. This is a very brief and concise assistance even
to Gambians. This is the latest issue written i got when i was in the Gambia
in April.
If you would kindly send me you fax number i will photocopy it and fax it or
your private address and i will send it.
With kind regards
Omar S. saho
At 15:20 13.06.97 +0200, you wrote:
>Friends,=20
>please give me small tips, because I will soon start the detailed
>planning of my next tour to The Gambia, october-november 97.
>I have many friends and families, whom I have to see. But this time I
>also want to go up river. Soma, Mansa Konko and FaraFenni has been the
>farest till now. But I would like to go to the far end, the outpost if
>possible !!
------------------------------
Date: 25 Jun 1997 12:37:45 GMT
From: momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Fwd: /IPS DEVELOPMENT BULLETIN/ AFRICA:
Message-ID: <3326336925.115261630@inform-bbs.dk>
Copyright 1997 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 21-Jun-97 ***
Title: /IPS DEVELOPMENT BULLETIN/ AFRICA: Leaders Urged to Stop
Recruiting
Mercenaries
By Moyiga Nduru
LONDON, Jun 18 (IPS) - An international campaign is underway
here to urge African leaders to stop recruiting mercenaries
to fight in Africa. The campaign, launched by the London-based
Africa Research and Information Bureau (ARIB), follows reports
of ne
w mercenary operations in Angola, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
''Mercenaries are a serious threat to stability in Africa,''
said Kayode Fayemi of ARIB during a one-day conference on
'Mercenaries
and Instability in Africa' organised by the group here. ''We
must get rid of the mercenaries from the face of Africa.''
ARIB is disturbed by the presence of soldiers of fortune from
South Africa in Angola and Sierra Leone and equally bothered
by reports of 'mujahedeen' fighters from Afghanistan and Middle
Eastern countries, supporting fellow Muslims against non-Muslims
in the south of Sudan.
Abdel-Fatau Musah, head of the conflict unit at ARIB, says
their campaign would follow the style of anti-landmines activists
who have forced the mines issue onto the international agenda
and come close to securing a global ban.
In the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in the Congo, mercenary
forces were a frequent sight. By the 1970s and 1980s mercenaries
had played parts in coup attempts in Guinea, Equatorial Guinea,
Benin, Togo, the Comoros Islands and the Seychelles.
''Many of the old mercenaries have bought homes in the Caribbean
where they have retired enjoying sunshine,'' says Millius Palawiya
of the London-based NGO International Alert, which specialises
in identifying crises before they break.
But the mercenaries that have followed them, Palawiya says,
are a different breed, cast in the mould of free market
businessmen
championed by former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
''They use the Thatcherite language of private enterprise,
efficiency and investment,'' he says.
General Sir David Ramsbotham, International Director of London-
based Defence Systems Ltd. (DSL) is one such leader of new
'mercenaries'. ''Military forces are being wound down all over
the world and one of the problems that my former military
colleagues
face is the inability to produce the sort of people that the
U.N.
want in the numbers that they want to do the task,'' he says.
DSL was formed in 1981 by a group of former British special
forces officers, recently consulted by the United Nations. The
U.N. was considering the use of private security for its aid
operations in countries where U.N. member states were either
unwil
ling or unable to provide 'blue beret' troop support.
''More and more they are turning to the private sector to produce
the sort of support particularly -- not the front line operations
but the support -- for activities such as convoy protection
and protection of camps of refugees,'' Ramsbotham told IPS
in a recent interview.
DSL maintains that it provides policing support, not fighting
soldiers, but the divide between the two is narrow -- both use
ex-soldiers. According to DSL's promotional brochure, its ''core
business is devising and implementing solutions to complex
pr
oblems through the provision of highly qualified specialists
with extensive international experience in practical security''.
The best known among such soldier-security services firms is
Exeutive Outcomes, a South African-registered security firm.
It has somewhere between 200 and 7,000 employees and is deployed
in Angola, Sierra Leone, and elsewhere, according to sources
in
South Africa.
Executive Outcomes is Africa's best known private army having
operated in Angola and Sierra Leone. It provided troops for
a private security company called Sandline and a disastrous
foray into Papua New Guinea in March.
Offered 36 million dollars to end a nine-year secessionist
rebellion on Bougainville island, the mercenary force's commander
was arrested and his 70 African soldiers kicked out as protests
against the mercenaries led to widespread rioting and the wors
t political crisis in Papua New Guinea since independence in
1975.
The firm has been hired by the Angolan government to protect
oil companies and oil installations against rebel attacks. An
initial contract of 40 million dollars was renewed and increased
in September 1994 to 75 million dollars. Executive Outcomes
is
also reportedly involved in restructuring Angola's army.
Palawiya says the Freetown government had cut its spending
on mercenaries from two million dollars a month to 750,000 dollars
after last year's peace agreement between the government and
the rebel forces in Sierra Leone -- but before last month's
coup
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 97 09:56:59 EDT
From: "Numukunda Darboe(Mba)" <ndarboe@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: REASONS FOR ABSENCE
Message-ID: <ndarboe.1217634659A@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu>
>Hello all Gambia-lers
>
>Its been a long time since i have been on the net. A week and a half after
>my arrival from the Gambia i have been travelling both nationally and
>internationally. During one of my travels which was in the Netherlands my
>son whom i am a lonely guardian for was knocked by a car and i have to come
>back home. I tayed away from job whilst he was both at the hospital and home
>before resuming to school.
>
>This is the reason of absentee from the net.
>
>with kind regards
>
>
>Omar S. Saho
>
Best wishes to your son
May Allah bless him.
Numukunda
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 22:38:06 +-300
From: BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
To: "'GAMBIA-L@U.WASHINGTON.EDU'" <GAMBIA-L@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
Subject: RE: THE CANCER OF TRIBE AND LANGUAGE IN AFRICA
Message-ID: <01BC81BA.C43159C0@q-tel.qatar.net>
GAMBIA-L!
THE CANCER OF TRIBE AND LANGUAGE IN AFRICA
"And Among His Signs Is The Creation of The Heavens And Earth,And The
Variations In Your Languages And Your Colours: Verily In That Are Signs For
Those Who Know"
Quran: Chpt.20
After writing on polygamy, a member of this List asked me to try to write
on this subject this summer.This subject is of course a huge and a
sensitive one,if for nothing else because many of the atrocities committed
on our continent are committed in the name of either language or tribe and
sometimes even religion.Of course, quarreling with or hating or oppressing
or killing others you consider as outsiders of your tribal grouping is no
African monopoly, but that does not make them any less evil.For cruelty
aside,such actions tend to sap much of the valuable energies required for
pulling our continent out of the rot and degradation it is now in.Because
Africa is indeed at present the poorest and the most backward continent on
the face of the planet,even though it has always been and still remains the
most endowed of the continents with material resources both in terms of
quantity and diversity.So,the first best stept towards exorcizing this
energy wasting daemon of ours is to have a complete understanding of both
its strengths and weaknesses.
It is always very helpful in a topic of such complexity to first turn the
mirror on other peoples to see how they have, in their various stages of
development, dealt with the problem.That way, we would be able ,when we
turn the mirror towards ourselves,to have a realistic understanding of our
own situation.But before we do that we need to define the terms we will be
using here.
The word TRIBE comes from the Latin word TRIBUS which originally meant to
'grow from a common base'.It still means that ;but it has since the Roman
Empire acquired a lot of other extra meanings.In Semantics(the study of
meaning) a word can either be DENOTATIVE, which means that the meaning of
the word used has no emotional content and the person using it has no
attitude,good or bad,towards the thing that the word describes or names.Or
a word can be CONNOTATIVE meaning the very opposite of Denotative.So,our
friend, TRIBE started its journey in the Roman empire as a Denotative
Word,indicating the commonality of the origin of the Romans,but we will
find out soon enough what has happened to it since then.
Nowadays,Anthropologists define TRIBE as indicating a group of pre-literate
people sharing common values, general customs and usually a contiguous
territory; and KIN relationships (Nborka / Baadingyaa)are very important to
them.The size of the group can be from a handful of individuals to several
millions.Such a group has a tendency to believe or suppose a common
ancestor for all of them.The group may be genetically Homogenious (same) or
Heterogenious(different) because of absorption of people of other cultural
or genetic backgrounds through adoption, marriage, conquest or political
alliance.So,we can now see that there is a lot more to this word nowadays
than just A Common Origin.Indeed, that is so much so that a B.B.C
corespondent reporting on the squabble between the French and English
speaking communities in Canada would never at any time describe it as an
Anglo-French Tribal strife.On the other hand,she would find it impossible
to use any other expression that to her mind describes a similar situation
better than Tribal Animosity if these two communities were black and living
somewhere in Zaire or Rwanda.The word often used to describe all such
squabbles in the so-called Civilized World is ETHNIC,which means everything
that TRIBE means but without the condescending elements of pre-Literacy and
Backwardness.So,just as the Marlboro that WE smoke in Banjul has more
Nicotine Content in it than the one THEY smoke in New YORK, the word Tribe
they use to describe us has a little bit more poison in its meaning than
the word Ethnic they use to describe themselves.For that reason and more,
we also will use Ethnic and Ethnicity from now on
esp. when we start to talk about the SeneGambian Scene.So,in a nutshell,
Tribe and Tribalism,Ethnic and Ethnicity are the same things
respectively,except that the former pair has an element of looking down
upon the people you use it to describe, whereas in the latter no such
attitude exists.
In our Next installment,we will try to define LANGUAGE and also give a
condensed history of one the most aggressive tribal groupings in the world,
namely,the English Tribe.
Regards Bassss
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 18:29:23 -0400
From: Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
To: Gambia-L <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: fwd: Gambia court sentences four to death for treason
Message-ID: <33B19BC3.426115E7@earthlink.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Copyright 1997 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.
BANJUL, June 25 (Reuter) - A court in the West African state of
Gambia sentenced four people to death for treason on Wednesday, in
connection with an attack on a military camp during which six soldiers
were killed, court officials said.
The four -- Souleyman Sarr, Mbalo Kanteh, Essa Baldett and Omar
Dampha -- have one month in which to appeal.
The prosecution linked the November 8 attack on Camp Farafenni with
a Gambian dissident and leader of an abortive 1981 coup attempt and said
that those who took part were trained in Libya.
Farafenni is in northeast Gambia and is the country's second
largest military camp. It is on the only land route to the capital
Banjul.
President Yahya Jammeh came to power in a 1994 coup in which junior
army officers toppled the elected government of founding president Sir
Dawda Jawara, now exiled in Britain. Jawara denied any link with the
attack.
Jammeh, who left the army to run for president, won elections in
September and his party won a commanding majority in a December
parliamentary poll.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 97 19:39:53 PDT
From: MAKE THAT VISION A REALITY <ABARROW@rr5.rr.intel.com>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: RE: alledged tortures
Message-ID: <9706260239.utk589@RR5.intel.com>
Greetings to all,
Latjor,
To answer your question about the alleged tortures...I have spoken to Yusupha
Cham of Sukuta Village who happen to a victim of this brutal torture.
According to him they were pick up from one of their colleagues naming ceremony
in Brikama on the 9th and were detained through 14th of this month...! They
were never charged until after they were released from .....the
charges according to him was "An Unlawful Gathering"...!
Yusupha said Jammeh was interviewed about the incident but he said he had no
knowledge about it..! So hopeful who ever is responsible for this malicious
act would pay for the price..! But then again I wouldn't be surprise if nobody
pays for price..., cuz I know is like a saying , "A wolf in sheep
clothing"..that's how most African military government are..! History should
have taught us better that, they went to the helm by the barrel of gun and
they are going to rule by the barrel of gun.
We have been through Koro Ceesay's mysterious dead and promises were made that
they were going to investigate the cause of his dead...and as far as I know
nothing came out that investigation. So it is a blessing that Yusupha and his
colleagues are still are a life.
Duty is callin...!!
Regards,
Pa-Abdou Barrow
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 23:45:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: ABDOU <at137@columbia.edu>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: FORWARDING REJECTED MAIL
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.95L.970625234221.8937B-100000@terve.cc.columbia.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
/* THIS MAIL WAS ORIGINALLY FROM JOERN GROTNES */
Hi Gambia-L ers,
I have the pleasure of announcing an e-mail account on the Gambia College.
The account is now set up on the computer to the secretary of Mr. Manneh
(Mrs. Fatou). She will forward mails for Mr. Manneh and generally for the
Gambia College.
The account is gambia.college@commit.gm
We are discussing the possibility of setting up the library computer with
another account (or moving this one) so that mails to and from teachers,
employees or students at Gambia College could go through that.
Of course, when the Gambia Distributed University is a fact, all computers
will be on a network, and the domain name e.g. gambia-university.gm may be
set up...
We welcome suggestions and questions about this.
Another new account is:
sogea@commit.gm (the multinational company SOGEA)
Regards, Joern Grotnes
Commit Enterprises
/* THIS MAIL WAS ORIGINALLY FROM JOERN GROTNES */
*******************************************************************************
A.TOURAY
Computer Science
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027
MY URL ON THE WWW= http://www.cc.columbia.edu/~at137
A FINITE IN A LAND OF INFINITY.
SEEKING BUT THE REACHABLE.
I WANDER AND I WONDER.
ALAS, ALL RESPITE IS FINAL.
*******************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 16:14:34 JST +900
From: binta@iuj.ac.jp
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: E-Mail Do's and Don'ts
Message-ID: <199706260706.QAA29195@mlsv.iuj.ac.jp>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Hello,
I read this on Asiaweek and thought some might be interested in it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-Mail Do's and Don'ts
-----------------------
1. BE CLEAR AND TO THE POINT: Start with the message title; it should
convey the subject. Avoid irrelevant remarks; they waste time and
distract minds. In long messages, highlight key points.
2. SEND IT TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE: And only them, not the whole office.
Carefully review a reply with automatic addresses. You could end up
sending it to the very person you don't want to see it.
3. DON'T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS: Unable to convey tone and gesture,
e-mail is open to much interpretation. If you feel you've been
slighted, don't blow up. Ask for clarification instead.
4. BE SENSITIVE TO OTHERS: Corollary to the previous rule, craft your
messages well to avoid unintentionally hurting people's feelings. But
if injury happens, be quick with apologies and clarifications.
5. KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING: Constructive criticism and open minds
are crucial to getting the most out of e-mail. Another tip: bosses may
have to keep mum to avoid squelching discussions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Lamin.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 10:02:59 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Olafiaklinikken Olafia <olafia@online.no>
To: <Gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: THANKING
Message-ID: <199706260802.KAA16488@online.no>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hello to my Gambia-lers family
I am hereby thanking allof you for the sympathy and prayers for me and my
son. I am really moved and touched. I could realise that this net is not
just were we agree to disagree but one a great big family.
Andrea to answer your questions:, the sriousness of the accident is he broke
his right arm, sustained body injuries and a head injury which was control
by a weekly observation and x-ray. The last observation was on wednesday the
11. june. He did recovered but still could not use his right hand as before.
What happen was he was crossing a four lane traffic zone with a maximum
speed limit of 50 km/h. He came up to the pedestrian crossing and the
traffic from his left stopped for him. He started crossing and on midway
came another vechile from his right with a speed of over 60 km/m and hit
him, he was thrown 12 metres away and was unconcious for a while. The case
is still under police investigation. I cannot relay much from the accident
due to i was attending a conference in The Netherlands when it happened. The
police investigation is not yet concluded.
He is 8 1/2 years old and i am a single parent for him, his mother is
Norwegian. Sometimes i do feel guilty due to i have 112 - 160 trvelling days
in year in relation to my job.But i have to work to give a better life worth
living than hanging on the system.
Once again thanks for the oncern shown.
With kind regards
Omar S. Saho
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 04:17:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gabriel Ndow <gndow@Spelman.EDU>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: culture (fwd)
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.95.970626041619.1414A-100000@acc5>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 02:36:45 -0700
From: latjor Ndow <ndukuman@avana.net>
To: gndow@spelman.edu
Subject: culture
Greetings:
Let me join the discussion on culture by sharing part of an article I
wrote in the magazine I used to publish "Tey Mu Lerr" about two years
ago. The article was entitled "Culture: The Foundation and Guide of a
People".
.... despite the fact that culture permeates all areas of human activity,
relatively little attention has been given to the issue. The leaders of
the day (post-independence) were apparently satisfied (and continue to
be) with the idea that by creating a 'Ministry of Culture' (usually an
appendage of another ministry) they have done their duty towards their
cultural heritage. A commentator once jokingly stated that the day
African governments created 'Ministries of Culture' for the propagation
of African culture was the day African Culture got into deep trouble!
The seriousness and validity of this 'joke' cannot be ignored.
When one scrutinizes the performance of African governments regarding
Culture, they for the most part have reduced it to a National Troupe
with acrobatic dancers and fire-eaters to entertain the public on
aupicious occassions as well as for tourist consumption. The
consequences of their actions obviously escaped the minds of many
regimes over the decades.
How insincere African governments are towards African culture is best
demonstrated by their non-inclusion in the educational curricular of
school-going children. Instead they continue to propagate the cultural
ethos of their former colonial masters. They continue to maintain the
status quo as they had inherited it with minor cosmetic changes to
confuse the people.
The educational apparata of a government are generally designed to
guarantee the future of the nation by inculcating the ethics, mores, and
values of the nation to the nation's young. Since one finds these
principles in the cultural domain and since in Africa, African Culture
is not taught in school, the question that begs to be asked is: 'What or
whose ethics, mores and values are being taught to the millions of
Africans passing through the educational systems devised by respective
African governments?' Of course the answer to this question is many
centuries old.
....
Towards a National Cultural Policy
To discuss what a national cultural policy must entail, it is absolutely
necessary to dig deep into the bag of history and bring out answers to
questions raised similar to the above mentioned one. Others are: 'How
did European Imperialism attempt to destroy African Culture?' What was
the Missionary (Christian/Islamic) input?', etc...
When one studies the history of imperialism carefully, one soon
discovers that there is a definite pattern/method utilized to subjugate
the dominated societies. It matters not whether the invader is from
Japan, Greece, France or where ever. The invader quickly realizes that
by denying the dominated complete control of their language they are
better able to entrench themselves. This is done by the imposition of
the invaders language on the subjugated. The 'new' language becomes the
language employed in government, in education and in the technical
disciplines. It is a trivial matter for me to sight examples of this
occurence. Africa is the stirling example. The great giant of a writer
Ngugi wa Thiong'o describes the alienation this does to the colonized as
taking two interlinked forms:
>an active (or passive) distancing of one self from the reality around; >and an active (or passive) identification with that which is most >external to one's environment. It starts with a deliberate >disassociation of the language of conceptualization, of thinking, of >formal education, of mental development, from the language of daily >interaction in the home and in the community. It is like separating the >mind from the body so that they are occupying two unrelated linguistic >spheres in the same person. On a larger social scale it is like >producing a society of bodiless heads and headless bodies.
The colonized African is now completely vulnerable to exploitation since
his/her actions are now dictated by a mentality that is completely
foreign to his/her environment.
....
In my next posting I shall discuss the 'Vernacularization of African
Languages'.
In peace,
LatJor
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 14:07:08 +0200
From: momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: New member
Message-ID: <19970626130822.AAA55800@LOCALNAME>
Gambia-l,
Nicholas Sambou, has been added to the list. Welcome to
the Gambia-l Nicholas, we look forward to your contributions. Please
send a brief introduction to: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Regards
Momodou Camara
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 08:42:35 -0400
From: Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
To: Gambia-L <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: fwd: Egyptian Court Voids Ban on Cutting of Girls' Genitals
Message-ID: <33B263BB.BD0791C2@earthlink.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Egyptian Court Voids Ban on Cutting of Girls'
Genitals
By DOUGLAS JEHL
CAIRO, Egypt -- An Egyptian court has overturned a year-old ban on the ritual
cutting of female genitals in a decision that has been celebrated by Islamic leaders
but has outraged human rights advocates.
The decision Tuesday struck down a ban on the traditional practice in all state and private
clinics. But it maintained a ban on cutting as practiced by people untrained in medicine,
including the midwives and barbers who use razors and other crude devices in rural
villages.
The ritual was outlawed last July after a campaign by human rights workers, who
condemn the practice as dangerous and say it is not necessarily sanctioned by Islam, as
its proponents suggest.
Polls have shown that 70 to 90 percent of Egyptian women have been subjected to some
form of genital cutting, although for younger urban women the percentage is far less.
Islamic leaders celebrated the victory Wednesday, which marked the latest in a series of
triumphs. In the last three years, they have successfully sued to separate a happily
married academic couple on the ground that the husband's writings made him an
apostate. Islamic clerics have also branded a philosophy professor an apostate and urged
that he be banned from teaching.
Sheik Youssef al-Badri, who led the campaign against last year's ban, issued by Egypt's
health minister, celebrated the ruling. "I will prostrate myself before Allah," Badri said
Wednesday. "This is a return to Islam."
Support for the practice is not uniform across the spectrum of Egypt's top Islamic
scholars, and it has been condemned by President Hosni Mubarak. One of the more
outspoken critics, Mohammad Abdulal, of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights,
said Wednesday that the government was certain to appeal the decision.
But Ameena Shafiq, a newspaper columnist, said the ruling highlights the difficulties that
the government will face in its efforts to eradicate the practice. "The ruling was a disaster
and a serious setback," she said.
Other human rights advocates warned that the mostly secular government faces a serious
challenge from the Islamic forces, who have used the courts repeatedly as a weapon.
"There is a real crisis in Egyptian society; it is half-secular, half-religious," said Hisham
Mubarak, a human rights activist. "The government has not decided what it wants to be.
Egyptian civil society is stuck between a rock and a hard place, between the government
and the Islamists."
In striking down the health minister's ban, Judge Abdul Aziz Hamade said Tuesday that
his ruling did not deal with the practice or its justification, if any, under Islamic doctrine.
He said his ruling focused on the legality of the ban, which he said placed undue
restrictions on doctors.
"Doctors' right to perform their profession according to the law -- which allows them to
do surgery -- cannot be restricted by a ministerial decree," Hamade said.
Ritual genital cutting can range from cutting the hood of the clitoris to removing the entire
clitoris and the tissue surrounding the entrance to the vagina. It is typically performed on
girls between 4 and 12 years old, and its supporters believe that the operation curbs a
girl's sexual appetite and makes her more marriageable.
The practice is carried out in dozens of other African, Middle Eastern and Asian
countries. Most prevalent among Muslims, the practice is also performed by Christians
and followers of traditional religions.
In Egypt, the latest fatality ascribed to the procedure occurred last Friday, when an
11-year-old girl had a seizure and died.
Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 08:55:06 -0400
From: Latir Downes-Thomas <latir@earthlink.net>
To: Gambia-L <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: fwd: Muscular Nigeria Proves a Flawed Peacekeeper
Message-ID: <33B266AA.CA0A5F73@earthlink.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Muscular Nigeria Proves a Flawed Peacekeeper
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
MONROVIA, Liberia -- Almost every day, huge Russian-built helicopters fly out
of James Spriggs Payne Airport here, raising a deafening din as they ferry troops
and artillery to Nigerian positions in neighboring Sierra Leone.
Off Sierra Leone's rainy coast, 250 miles to the east, frigates await orders from Abuja,
the Nigerian capital, to shell the shore in post-independence Africa's first exercise in
gunboat diplomacy.
Nigeria has explained the operation as an effort to restore -- by force, if necessary --
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, the democratically elected president, who was overthrown by
junior army officers on May 25 in a wildly destructive coup. Publicly at least, the action
by Nigeria's military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, has generally been applauded by other
African states.
The military buildup in Sierra Leone, more than a thousand miles west of Nigeria, is one
of many instances in which Nigeria, Africa's most populous Nation, has been flexing its
muscles and extending its influence in a vast "neighborhood" that stretches from
Mauritania to Equatorial Guinea.
In many countries, Nigeria's diplomacy goes little noticed by outsiders.
In Gambia, Nigeria has maintained military advisers to assist a young President, recently
converted to civilian life, who seized power as a captain in 1994. In Chad, Nigeria, a
major oil producer, subsidizes gasoline consumption, assuring itself strong influence over a
long-unstable state. In Benin and Niger, Nigeria brought uncooperative governments to
their knees with the simple act of stopping or quietly slowing trade.
And in Sierra Leone and Liberia, Nigeria has mounted full-blown military interventions
that have shown it to be West Africa's lone superpower: a potentially rich nation of 105
million people with immense oil reserves and a large and capable army that boasts a
unique combination of bluster and a sense of mission.
As Nigeria struggles to impose its own style of order on smaller countries, many people
are asking whether a military dictatorship renowned for its own disorganization and
criminality is fit for the task.
Officials of many West African nations express deepening anxiety over what they see as
an unstable superpower that flouts common notions of democracy at home while
throwing around its weight elsewhere.
For these skeptics, Nigeria's interventions in Liberia and Sierra Leone are best explained
as a grab to control rich mineral resources -- diamonds, gold and valuable hardwoods.
"You won't ask me to believe that all of the operations they are undertaking are driven by
a sense of noblesse oblige," said one senior West African diplomat. "Nigeria has always
seen itself as rightfully dominating this region, and that often involves the grabbing up of
resources by their own generals or for their own companies."
Others see Nigeria's role as largely positive. The West's hasty withdrawal at the end of
the cold war allowed Sierra Leone and Liberia to disintegrate into stateless battlegrounds
between military governments and local warlords; whatever its motives, defenders point
out, Nigeria filled the vacuum.
After seven years of costly intervention to try to end the civil war war in Liberia, the
closest thing to an American colony that has ever existed in Africa, Nigeria's rulers are
now overseeing final preparations for what it is hoped will be this country's first truly
democratic elections, on July 19.
"Imagine you are in a river drowning, and a huge snake swims by, so you climb on its
back, and it carries you to the bank," said Wilson Tarpeh, a prominent Liberian
businessman. "It has still saved your life, even if it remains a snake.
"If we had had the United States or someone else to help us, we would have loved it. But
in the end, Nigeria came in and stopped the carnage here and has brought us peace."
This is clearly the thought that Nigeria's president, General Abacha, a man largely
isolated from the world stage because of his military's human rights record, would like the
outside world to focus on.
"It is our duty to insure that there is peace and stability in our sub-region because if Sierra
Leone were to be destabilized, it will destabilize neighboring countries and would cross to
Nigeria," Nigeria's foreign minister, Tom Ikimi, said recently in a radio interview.
In fact, as in the case of any regional power, Abacha's foreign policy interests are diverse
and sometimes conflict, including keeping his military busy, the better to prevent it from
plotting a coup; making money through corrupt procurement and other business deals;
creating a constellation of friendly neighboring regimes, and improving a tarnished
international reputation by promoting democracy elsewhere.
Of all the motives, many Nigerian critics say that democracy is the smallest element in
the equation.
"Nigeria nearly intervened in Togo in 1961, where there was a military coup which our
leadership decided was a threat to Nigeria," said Bolaji Akinyemi, a former Nigerian
foreign minister who is now a dissident living in exile in London. "That was the birth of
our own Monroe Doctrine. In Sierra Leone, Abacha would have intervened even if it had
been a military regime that was overthrown.
"The point is that he cannot tolerate a coup against a government perceived to be under
his protection, one that moreover is carried out by junior officers."
The results of Nigerian policies have been as mixed as the motives.
Liberia appears to be emerging from its long nightmare of civil war because of Nigeria's
heavy investment in peacekeeping there. But last year the capital, Monrovia, was
destroyed when Nigeria appeared to begin playing favorites with the country's warlords
and allowed Charles Taylor, who started the conflict in 1989, to infiltrate large numbers of
fighters and weapons into the city to attack a rival.
Throughout the civil war, Nigeria has seemed to choose sides, opposing Mr. Taylor for
much of the war by arming rival militias, which worsened the destruction. This program
of selective armament was carried out as Nigeria was spending what its officials estimate
was as much as $2 billion for the Nigerian-led peace-keeping effort.
To compensate for huge expenses in Liberia, Western diplomats say, Nigerian
commanders have done a lucrative business with favored warlords, mining diamonds in
the areas they control, selling iron ore and even stripping railroad tracks and electrical
grids for shipment back to Nigeria for sale.
"By the time the Nigerians really got serious about bringing this war to an end, sometime
last year, by most reckoning they had taken just about everything that there was to take
from Liberia," said one Western diplomat who has long monitored Nigeria's involvement
in Liberia.
Critics of Nigeria's involvement in Liberia say many of the same issues are becoming
factors in Sierra Leone, where Nigeria appears to be poised for a major intervention.
If Nigeria were to arm the Kamajors, a group of traditional hunters in Sierra Leone, to
use them in the fight against the recalcitrant coup leaders, the country could be thrust into
a conflict as prolonged and destructive as Liberia's. There are also signs that members of
the Nigerian military have profited from Sierra Leone's lucrative black-market diamond
trade, and may covet a larger piece of the action, which is now dominated by South
African mercenary groups.
"To those who are happy about being saved by a snake, I would ask this question,"
Akinyemi said. "What do you do when the snake decides to follow you?"
Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 08:31:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: "A. Loum" <tloum@u.washington.edu>
To: Gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: New member
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.96.970626083033.29544C-100000@saul6.u.washington.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Isatou Jobe has been added to the list. We welcome her and will be looking
forward to her introduction and contributions.
Thanks
Tony
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 13:12:43 -0400
From: Ceesay Soffie <Ceesay_Soffie@ems.prc.com>
To: "'gambia-l@u.washington.edu'" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: Egyptian Court Voids Ban on Cutting of Girls' Genitals
Message-ID: <C69DB1B2BFFBCF11B5D3000000000001012BF5@Cry1.prc.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
> Egyptian Court Voids Ban on Cutting of Girls' Genitals
>
> Ritual genital cutting can range from cutting the hood of
> the clitoris to removing the entire clitoris and the tissue
> surrounding the entrance to the vagina. It is typically performed on
> girls between 4 and 12 years old, and its supporters believe that the
> operation curbs a girl's sexual appetite and makes her more
> marriageable.
>
>
BARBARIC!!!!! BARBARIC!!!!! BARBARIC!!!!!
INHUMAN!!!!!!! INHUMAN!!!!! INHUMAN!!!!!!!
Soffie
>
------------------------------
Date: 26 Jun 1997 18:22:49 GMT
From: momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Fwd: AFRICA-TRANSPORT: 'Free' Movement h
Message-ID: <2556276383.121682190@inform-bbs.dk>
Copyright 1997 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 22-Jun-97 ***
Title: AFRICA-TRANSPORT: 'Free' Movement has Limits in West Africa
By Toye Olori
LAGOS, Jun 22 (IPS) -- The Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) has set free movement of persons as one of its
guiding principles, but travellers between member states of the
regional grouping find that there are limits to that freedom.
Take the Lagos-Accra route for example. First-time travellers
who decide to use their own vehicles set out believing that after
obtaining the necessary documents and enough fuel, all they need
is some money for food and accommodation.
However, they generally find out, as Segun Ibitomi did, that
there is more to it than that. Ibitomi needed to go to Accra to
apply for a Canadian visa, so he decided to drive from Nigeria,
across neighbouring Benin, Togo and finally eastern Ghana to the
Ghanaian capital.
''I took my car because I wanted to have fun and enjoy the
scenery between Nigeria and Ghana,'' he told IPS.
Another Nigerian who gave her name as Grace told IPS as she
waited for a visa interview at the Canadian High Commission in
Accra: ''I had thought I would see many lovely sites along the
road so I refused to take a flight to Ghana. Instead I went by
road.''
Following a political fallout between Nigeria and Canada as a
result of sanctions the Commonwealth imposed on Abuja in 1995 to
punish it for human rights abuses, the government of General Sani
Abacha closed its embassy in Canada. The move prompted the
Canadian government to move its mission from Lagos.
Since then, Nigerians wishing to travel to Canada have had to
apply for their visas at the Canadian High Commission in Accra.
But those who think that going to Accra by road is fun discover it
would have been easier - and cheaper - to take a plane.
''I needed a visa and I thought that since there is a protocol
on free movement of ECOWAS citizens within the region, all I
needed were the current documents and a few naira notes, so I left
Lagos with only 4,000 naira and a full tank,'' Ibitomi said. The
naira exchanges at about 80 to the U.S. dollar.
Ibitomi's problems started at Seme, on the border between Benin
and Nigeria. ''There I had to pay bribes for registering the car
on the Nigerian side,'' he said. ''I also had to pay something to
the immigration. The Beninois side also collected some money while
their touts collected a tip before lifting the bamboo-pole
barricade for cars.''
For journalists and security personnel things are easier.
This reporter obtained clearance from the customs and
immigration officials of both countries without having to pay a
bribe, thanks to the word 'journalist' stamped on his passport.
The next step was dealing with the young men on the Beninois
side, who usually demand a fee before lifting the barricade to let
vehicles pass.
''Hey Oga (Sir), where do you think you are going? Let me see
your papers,'' says one of the men. He checks the papers issued by
the customs and immigration officers and orders: ''Pay 400
naira''.
''Officer, I am a journalist, Why should I pay money when my
papers are okay?''
''Sorry Oga, you should have told me before,'' is his response.
Then, after a brief silence: ''What do you have for us?''
Two twenty-naira notes exchange hands.
''Thanks sir, safe journey.''
At the police checkpoints that dot the more than 700 kms
between Seme and Accra, IPS was allowed free passage, but Ibitomi
had a different experience.
''I was delayed at a check point between Cotonou and Lome for
three hours for failure to produce a laisser passer (permit to
travel across Benin),''Ibitomi said. ''After three hours in the
rain, the Benin policeman collected 2,000 naira I had on me as a
bribe.
'''If I take you to the station you pay 50,000 cfa (100 US
dollars)', he had warned me. After giving out the money, I was
left with just 750 naira so I had to park the car at Lome border
to take public transport to Accra. I was almost stranded in Accra
if not for a friend who gave me a loan.''
The ordeal did not end there for Ibitomi, whom IPS met at Seme
on the way back to Lagos.
''At Aflao (on the border between Ghana and Togo) part of the
loan I took from my friend in Accra was stolen off me by touts who
posed as plainclothes securitymen on the Togolese side.
'''Let me see your passport. How much foreign currency do you
have on you?,' one of them asked. 'None,' I replied. I told them
that I have just cedis (Ghanaian currency).
'''Then you have to change it here,' they said and collected
20,000 cedis, which they changed for 2,500 instead of the 6,000
cfa which, I was later told by a Togolese commuter, was what they
should have given me.''
In Benin, he had to give a lift to the wife of a policeman who
had threatened to take him to the station and fine him 6,000 cfa
because his car had no fire extinguisher!
At Seme, he gave 1,000 cfa to another Beninois policeman who
demanded a ''laundry fee'' after some muddy water from a pothole
into which Ibitomi had driven landed on his outfit.
Had Ibitomi travelled by bus, he would have had fewer
difficulties. Minibus drivers make a rough estimate of the bribes
they will have to pay, and graft the amount onto the fare
commuters pay at the start of the journey. That serves as
insurance against delays at checkpoints.
The Nigerians who have to go to Ghana to get Canadian visas don't
blame officials in neighbouring states for the problems they
encounter.
''Abacha should be ashamed of himself,'' one woman who had to
remain in Accra for four days to get her visa told IPS. ''Imagine
Nigerians having to go to Ghana to collect Canadian visas. Imagine
the amount of money in transportation and accommodation, the
insult and the risks involved.'' (END/IPS/TO/KB/97)
Origin: Washington/AFRICA-TRANSPORT/
----
[c] 1997, InterPress Third World Nte: 25 Jun 1997 15:37:43 -0800 (PST)
X-Gateway: notes@gn.apc.org
Lines: 154
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 97 18:14:01 EDT
From: "Numukunda Darboe(Mba)" <ndarboe@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu>
To: "The Gambia and Related Issues Mailng List" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: GambiaNet Progress Report
Message-ID: <ndarboe.1217750881F@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu>
We welcome our newest members to Gambia-L; the largest audience of
Gambians and friends of the Gambia abroad. We apologize for the tardiness
of this progress report which is long overdue. For those of you new members
who may not be aware that we are on the process of getting a Gambian
newspaper on the internet, I take this opportunity to inform you that a
committee, out of this list, has been formed to undertake this formidable task.
A while ago, a questionnaire which is readily available through the
committee has been sent to every member of the list to ensure better quality
service to all subscribers. From the results, we were able to confer that a
$20.00 would suffice the expenses necessary to carry out this task on
condition that we are able to maintain the over 100 potential members who
have pledged to subscribe. Although there are quite a number of people who
have pledged to pay more than this amount.
We have been hosting trial issues at http://www.xsite.net/~c3p0/observer.
This site is one of the committee member's home page. The abrupt
discontinuation of trials is because the internet service provider of our
correspondent in the Gambia had problems, and therefore we were not able to
receive any news letters from the Observer. we will soon resume these trial
issues since the Observer has a new internet service provider. Under the
trials, we only provide the text with no images. We may continue with this
format, but in the future we intend to include some advertisements not
necessarily from the Observer's print version, but could be from other
parties that are interested in making advertisements through GambiaNet.
In order to legally provide a non-taxable US-based online news service, a
non-profit and non-political organization called GambiaNet has been formed.
The online news service will be offered through GambiaNet. Therefore,
having access to the observer will be a result of GambiaNet's services to
its members. Instead of having the site under a subsidiary of www.xsite.net,
we have adopted a domain for it. The domain name will be www.gambianet.org.
For legal and tax reasons, only membership fee for GambiaNet will be
charged, and only the members will access the observer online and other
important stuff. As I stated earlier, the membership fee will be $20.00. For
those of you who have pledged to pay $10.00, you may send that as donation
and ask for a fee waiver. The committee will decide on whether the waiver
should be granted or not.
Some time ago, an announcement was made through the list concerning the
adoption of a logo for the organization. Different designs were invited from
list members, and the winner was going to have a free one year subscription.
Only one person submitted, and it was a very illustrious work. He became the
automatic winner. However, he decline the one year free membership, and
decided to pay. This person is one of our own committee members Mr. Momodou
Camara. The logo can be viewed at:
"http://home3.inet.tele.dk/mcamara/logo.htm" This is just one example of how
dedicated these committee members are not to mention the various tasks
undertaken to obtain certain information including calling the Gambia out of
their own pockets. The committee members have already paid their
subscriptions in order to start things rolling. The bylaws of the
organization are on the process of being drafted and soon as they are ready,
they will be made available to the list.
GambiaNet site will both host contents from and be linked to other
organizations related to the Gambia. A search tool will be available for a
keyword search in GambiaNet. Under the GambiaNet, will be the Observer
online which will be accessible only by password. Once you login, you will
be able to do such things as sending letters to the editor, you can have
access to the archives (old issues), and even make a key word or date or
both searches on the archives. Ideas on improving the site are more than
welcome, and members of Gambia-L can put their organizations on condition
that there is an agreement with GambiaNet.
I urge all of those of you who have not pledged to become members to please
do so. Wouldn't it a pride to be one of the first to access to a native
paper online? To be current on issues about the Gambia is the only way to
helping us come up with solutions to our problems. This is the grassroots of
this list.
Numukunda
GambiaNet committee
------------------------------
|
|
|
Momodou
Denmark
11512 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2021 : 17:10:33
|
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 19:28:20 -0400
From: "Malanding S. Jaiteh" <msjaiteh@mtu.edu>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu, ndarboe@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu
Cc: msjaiteh@mtu.edu
Subject: Re: GambiaNet Progress Report
Message-ID: <199706262328.TAA22398@spruce.ffr.mtu.edu>
Numukunda, I thank you all in the Gambianet committee for your good work. It is indeed an encouragement for those of us in the education committee. By the way, where do we send subscriptions to.
Malanding Jaiteh
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 97 19:18:45 EDT
From: "Numukunda Darboe(Mba)" <ndarboe@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu>
To: "Malanding S. Jaiteh" <msjaiteh@mtu.edu>, gambia-l@u.washington.edu,
ndarboe@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu
Subject: Re: GambiaNet Progress Report
Message-ID: <ndarboe.1217754765H@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu>
>Numukunda, I thank you all in the Gambianet committee for your good work. It is
indeed an encouragement for those of us in the education committee. By the
way, where do we send subscriptions to.
>
>Malanding Jaiteh
>
When we are ready to collect funds, we will inform the list where they are
to be sent to. For now we are trying to wrap up things as soon as possible.
Our cheers to the education committee.
Numukunda
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 07:40:36 +0200
From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Asbj=F8rn_Nordam?= <asbjorn.nordam@dif.dk>
To: "'gambia'" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <c=DK%a=_%p=DIF%l=DKDIFS02-970627054036Z-122@dkdifs02.dif.dk>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Mr. N. Darboe and all the other persons, who had made all of this
possible - A VERY WARM THANKS FROM ME. I have been away for around 10
days, and I=B4m happy to come back and find more progress. Last time it
was the message from the Brotnes` s, which I will answer to right away.
My planned tour to the Gambia in november will be hectic, I can feel it
now. Thanks to all of you for doing all this. Asbj=F8rn Nordam
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 07:42:38 +0200
From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Asbj=F8rn_Nordam?= <asbjorn.nordam@dif.dk>
To: "'gambia'" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <c=DK%a=_%p=DIF%l=DKDIFS02-970627054238Z-123@dkdifs02.dif.dk>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Friends, Sorry my hands are trembling of exitment, so I wrote =
Brotnes=B4s
but it should have been Grotnes=B4s. Sorry. Asbj=F8rn
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 08:29:51 +0100
From: Abdou Gibba <Abdou.Gibba@smr.uib.no>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: GambiaNet Progress Report
Message-ID: <2.2.32.19970627072951.006a5794@golf.uib.no>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Excellent job done so far. Momodou, congrats and keep it up. This goes to
all of you GambiaNet committee members.
Have a nice weekend G-lers
::)))Abdou Oujimai
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 12:28:36 +0200
From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Asbj=F8rn_Nordam?= <asbjorn.nordam@dif.dk>
To: "'gambia'" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: educational group and e-mail
Message-ID: <c=DK%a=_%p=DIF%l=DKDIFS02-970627102836Z-167@dkdifs02.dif.dk>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Friends, I have to come back to the educational group, which was formed
earlier this year on this Gambia-L. Sorry that I have not saved the list
of the group, so now I have to write to the whole list.=20
I think that it was Omar Saho, who reported after a visit to the Gambia
College on the situation there. Later there were a discussion on
computor-hardware and softwares, in which several gave notice. After the
message that a company formed by Grotnes can supply services to put
gambians on e-mail-system, I responded that I should gladly pay the
subscription for The Gambia College and GTTI, IF there was any MEANING
by doing so. I asked for reactions and evaluation on that. Mr. P. Njie
studying in England has direct connection to the Director of GTTI and
will try to inform them of the possibility. Mr. Torstein Grotnes has
allready visited The Gambia College, and made an examination the
computor-hardware. He tells me that the hardware is not the best, when
we think ahead, it=B4s not up to date. The figures of the different
machines say nothing to me, but maybe for some of you, so with his
permission I try to translate his message to me on that. They have two
386-machines with 2 MB RAM, of which the one PS/2 can not be upgraded,
the other can maybe be upgraded, but it needs new "card" (I don=B4t know
if that is the english word for that). There are two 486 machines with 4
MB RAM, a Compaq and Packard Bell, which can be upgraded. Right now the
Compaq mashine is in hands of Mr. Mannehs secretary (Mrs Fatou), and
that machine is now connected (on probation-period) so we can send and
receive e-mails to the college.=20
But if this Institution should be prepared for the future, I think that
we outside must help them with better hardware.=20
My problem is that I have no knowledge of all this. The one I have, is
just installed at my desk and I have never tried to understand anything,
nor been on any courses. But many of You around Gambia-L are EXPERTS.
Maybe you even have acces to cheap hardware (not here in Denmark-it=B4s
expensive here).
Right now I will stand by my promisses, and I will contact Gambia
College and tell them, "That if they after the two-months probation,
want to continuing having this opportunity to write inside and outside
Gambia" I=B4ll pay the subscription. But I think that we should try to
find a way of preparing for the future possibilities, Gambia College on
the internet, and try to find hardware for the future. Also that we can
maybe put up one or two computors in the Library so the students can
communicate with us, and many others around Africa and world wide.
I know that "Commit Enterprises" will have to live from sales and
services, and they are not so glad if we provide from abroad. But I=B4m
sure that they also know that it=B4s a poor country, that the =
educational
institutions do not have the money just for books, materials etc., and
it=B4s acceptable that we outside may help in the way we can affort to =
do
so.=20
What I=B4m afraid of is this: "Can the Gambia College pay the
telephone-bill", if we provide them with the hardvare, softvare and
subscription-fees on this computor-links to the world outside.
On the other hand, how much do you from outside spend on telephone-bills
to the gambia pr. months ? If the connection can be dome by e-mail in
the future, giving you the possibility to send messages every day for
low costs. Is it worth this ? Comments and help is needed - please.
Asbj=F8rn Nordam
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 17:09:06 +-300
From: BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
To: "'GAMBIA-L@U.WASHINGTON.EDU'" <GAMBIA-L@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
Subject: RE: (PART2) THE CANCER OF TRIBE AND LANGUAGE IN AFRICA
Message-ID: <01BC831C.D547B2A0@difb.qatar.net.qa>
*** LANGUAGE AND THE ENGLISH TRIBE ******
Now that we know what Tribe and Tribalism are and how they differ from
Ethnic and Ethnicity in terms of what they refer to,we will now define our
second term,namely,LANGUAGE.It comes from the French word LANGUE which
initially meant Tongue, but gradually expanded to mean A System Of Words
And Combination Of Words Used By A Particular Group Or Community To Express
And Communicate Thoughts And Feelings.It can also be a sign of group
solidarity esp. for a community that feels threatened or marginalised.And
if one of several languages spoken in a given community is considered as
Socially Prestigious ,those who do not command it have limited
opportunities for political or economic advancement.Language is also the
external expression of the totality of the culture of a given community:
its geography, food, shelter,dress,transportation,customs,beliefs and its
understanding and interpretation of physical and social enviroment.So,in
addition to being a tool for communication and an intrument of power ,
Language is also the vessel that contains the past,the present and the
dreams of a given people.
It will be become apparent as soon as we have started talking about our
subject proper why we need to define these Terms above as they will be used
here,but in the meantime we want to look very quickly at the Tribal and
Language development of the very TRIBE that has not only given us the
English Language, but also played,for better or for worse, a pivotal role
in our intellectual development.
Fifty-Five years before the birth of Christ,the Emperor of Rome,Julius
Caesar, told a group of his expeditionary soldiers to cross the channel to
the Britsh Isles.The Emperor wanted
Corn,Cattle,Gold,Silver,Iron,Hides,Slaves and Hunting Dogs to help maintain
the Roman standard of living.When the soldiers got there,the only tribes
there then were the Celtic Tribes(the original inhabitants of the
Isles).Some of the tribal chiefs and their followers who resisted were
killed and others were caught and sent to Rome as slaves.As for the tribal
chiefs who either did not resist or actively cooperated with the
Colonizers,they were rewarded lavishly by the emperror.Their
foods,drinks,furniture and household equipments would now come from
Rome.And Special Roman schools were set up to teach their children Latin
and Roman history, culture and the Roman way of life.And in a space of just
a few years,an efficient system was in place to ensure the flow of human
and material resources from the British Isles to Rome. Thus was the
beginning of Colonialism for this Island.
In around 500AD (after the birth of Christ) three German Tribes (the
Angels,the Jutes and the Saxons) invaded and occupied much of this same
territory,killed lots of its Celtic inhabitants and took much of the land;
and because of the brutality in which this invasion was conducted,the
languages of the invaders became the means of communication on the
Island,so that in just few generations down the line,the entire Celtic
language(the language of the Original inhabitants) was almost dead except
for a handful of words.And so began the long and bloody history of the
Tribe the world now calls the AngloSaxons.
In 870AD,about three hundred and seventy years later,the Danish King by the
name CANUTE,invaded and took control of much of the Island.He also imposed
his language as the official language and the language of the upper
class,even though Latin continued to be taught to the children in
school.And the Danish control also continued for about two hundred years.
And in the famous year of 1066AD,the Duke of the French province of
Normandy,Duke William,Conquered the entire island and declared himself the
King of England and Duke of Normandy simultaneously.Duke William was a
descendant of the Scandanavians who had conquered and taken control of this
french province.The word NORMANS means the people from the north (north of
Europe).So,Duke William and his followers also imposed their language,which
was nothing but a mixture of french and Scandanavian known in France as the
Northern dialect.So,the Norman control also continued for another four
hundred years,during which French became the language of Government, Law ,
the Aristocracy,the Royal Circles,Arts, Literature and Philosophy,even
though schools still continue to teach the children in Latin.
Duke William's conquest is considered as the real beginning of what we now
call the English Language.And it works like this: the Grammar and Syntax
followed the AngloSaxon pattern whereas the vocabulary (words) would be
provided by French and Scandanavian and sometimes Latin.
This, in short, is the Tribal and Language history of the AngloSaxons; and
understanding it will be become very handy for us when we start to look at
our own somewhat chaotic Tribal and Language history,which is what we will
try to do in OUR NEXT INSTALLMENT. And until then?
Regards Basssss!!
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 17:49:25 +-300
From: BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
To: "'gambia-l@u.washington.edu'" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: educational group and e-mail
Message-ID: <01BC8322.B2B89820@difb.qatar.net.qa>
Mr.Nordam!
You have very interesting thoughts.I don't know how much it would cost in
the U.S to upgrade a 386 or 486 processor to a Pentium.But I sometimes
teach English at a Computer company here in qatar,and I am sure I will be
able to get a reasonable discount for the upgrade.But first I need to know
from our friends in the U.S.how much such things cost there.And ,in the
meantime, the Education Committee must figure out how to get the money for
that.
Regards Basss!!
----------
From: Asbjorn Nordam[SMTP:asbjorn.nordam@dif.dk]
Sent: 21/OYN/1418 01:28 a
To: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List
Subject: educational group and e-mail
Friends, I have to come back to the educational group, which was formed
earlier this year on this Gambia-L. Sorry that I have not saved the list
of the group, so now I have to write to the whole list.
I think that it was Omar Saho, who reported after a visit to the Gambia
College on the situation there. Later there were a discussion on
computor-hardware and softwares, in which several gave notice. After the
message that a company formed by Grotnes can supply services to put
gambians on e-mail-system, I responded that I should gladly pay the
subscription for The Gambia College and GTTI, IF there was any MEANING
by doing so. I asked for reactions and evaluation on that. Mr. P. Njie
studying in England has direct connection to the Director of GTTI and
will try to inform them of the possibility. Mr. Torstein Grotnes has
allready visited The Gambia College, and made an examination the
computor-hardware. He tells me that the hardware is not the best, when
we think ahead, it?s not up to date. The figures of the different
machines say nothing to me, but maybe for some of you, so with his
permission I try to translate his message to me on that. They have two
386-machines with 2 MB RAM, of which the one PS/2 can not be upgraded,
the other can maybe be upgraded, but it needs new "card" (I don?t know
if that is the english word for that). There are two 486 machines with 4
MB RAM, a Compaq and Packard Bell, which can be upgraded. Right now the
Compaq mashine is in hands of Mr. Mannehs secretary (Mrs Fatou), and
that machine is now connected (on probation-period) so we can send and
receive e-mails to the college.
But if this Institution should be prepared for the future, I think that
we outside must help them with better hardware.
My problem is that I have no knowledge of all this. The one I have, is
just installed at my desk and I have never tried to understand anything,
nor been on any courses. But many of You around Gambia-L are EXPERTS.
Maybe you even have acces to cheap hardware (not here in Denmark-it?s
expensive here).
Right now I will stand by my promisses, and I will contact Gambia
College and tell them, "That if they after the two-months probation,
want to continuing having this opportunity to write inside and outside
Gambia" I?ll pay the subscription. But I think that we should try to
find a way of preparing for the future possibilities, Gambia College on
the internet, and try to find hardware for the future. Also that we can
maybe put up one or two computors in the Library so the students can
communicate with us, and many others around Africa and world wide.
I know that "Commit Enterprises" will have to live from sales and
services, and they are not so glad if we provide from abroad. But I?m
sure that they also know that it?s a poor country, that the educational
institutions do not have the money just for books, materials etc., and
it?s acceptable that we outside may help in the way we can affort to do
so.
What I?m afraid of is this: "Can the Gambia College pay the
telephone-bill", if we provide them with the hardvare, softvare and
subscription-fees on this computor-links to the world outside.
On the other hand, how much do you from outside spend on telephone-bills
to the gambia pr. months ? If the connection can be dome by e-mail in
the future, giving you the possibility to send messages every day for
low costs. Is it worth this ? Comments and help is needed - please.
Asbjorn Nordam
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`
end
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 10:53:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: mjallow@st6000.sct.edu (Modou Jallow)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: educational group and e-mail
Message-ID: <9706271453.AA25810@st6000.sct.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Absjorn wrote:
> But if this Institution should be prepared for the future, I think that
> we outside must help them with better hardware.=20
> My problem is that I have no knowledge of all this. The one I have, is
> just installed at my desk and I have never tried to understand anything,
> nor been on any courses. But many of You around Gambia-L are EXPERTS.
> Maybe you even have acces to cheap hardware (not here in Denmark-it=B4s
> expensive here).
Thank you for your evaluation of the Gambia College educational situation.
I was under the impression that the idea had died with time since it
hasn't been mentioned for quite a long time. I guess that I was wrong.
I am glad to learn that the campaign to get Gambia college online is still
going on. I believe that there are many list members who may be able to
offer some kind of support one way or the other. As I begin to think about
it, I realize that this is indeed one of the best ways to open up a better
future for education in the Gambia.
I wouldn't call myself an expert in computers but I work on them on a
daily basis. From what I can understand, the hardware in the college is
too old to use for online communication. Most of the sofware programs
nowadays require a large chuck of memory to operate. With PS/2, 286 and
386 computers you mentioned, the problem may be that the hardware may be
too old to upgrade. While the PS/2 is almost oblsolete, the 286 may have a
motherboard that might not be upgradeable at all. Here, we are looking at
memory simms, CPU, Hard and floppy drives and possibly video cards. It
would be a matter of deciding whether it would be cheaper to buy hardware
in parts to upgrade, or to buy USED computers and motherboards. Here
again, one needs to know exactly what kind of machines they have and what
hardware is in them.
As far as communicatin hardware and software, I would like to mention that
I may be able to help provide the necessary hardware. I work for a large
company that manufactures communication equipment like modems, ISDNs,
ADSLs, cable and cellular modems and so forth. If I am still with the
company by the time we get set up, I could provide all the modems
(internals and externals), cables and communication software. With the
advent of HIGH SPEED modems like 336K, 56K and ISDNs, the company has a
huge amount of old 300BPS, 2400BPS, 14400BPS and 28800BPS modems that I
can acquire at little or no cost to me. I also have access to varieties of
old and new communication software that could be used in the initial set
up. If my help is needed in this regard, you can contact me personally
using private e-mail.
> What I=B4m afraid of is this: "Can the Gambia College pay the
> telephone-bill", if we provide them with the hardvare, softvare and
> subscription-fees on this computor-links to the world outside.
> On the other hand, how much do you from outside spend on telephone-bills
> to the gambia pr. months ? If the connection can be dome by e-mail in
> the future, giving you the possibility to send messages every day for
> low costs. Is it worth this ? Comments and help is needed - please.
This is a whole new problem. While getting all the hardware is the most
important beginning, it would be very important to understand the method
and cost of connection. As I see it, the first things we need is the
hardware and software that will enable them to get set up. I do not expect
them to use the computers solely for online communication but that might
be one of the ultimate goals. I see no reason why the telephone bill
coudn't be handled by education department or the college itself, if it
use solely for the intenet. But I could be wrong.
I am looking forward to some more input.
Regards,
Moe S. Jallow
Product Engineer
Hayes MicroComputer Products
Norcross, GA 30092
===========================================================================
mjallow@hayes.com mjallow@sct.edu
===========================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 14:08:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gabriel Ndow <gndow@Spelman.EDU>
To: "GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: educational group and e-mail
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.95.970627140101.6173A-100000@acc5>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Greetings:
Great to hear of the progress report of the educational committee.
I must apologize for having been inactive in this effort. I wish
to inform the committee that by next week the Education Committee
can use the newsgroup site that has beeen established by GASTECH, INC.
Since the mission of GASTECH is 'to act as a catalyst fro the transfer
of technology and the promotion of science education in The Gambia'
obviously the two groups share some common interests.
Let me know what you think. Technical matters would also be better
deliberated on in such a forum.
Regards,
LatJor
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 14:09:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gabriel Ndow <gndow@Spelman.EDU>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: culture2 (fwd)
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.95.970627140910.6173B-100000@acc5>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 04:09:52 -0700
From: latjor Ndow <ndukuman@avana.net>
To: gndow@spelman.edu
Subject: culture2
Greetings:
As promised here is the other piece.
'The Vernacularization of African Languages'
(Towards a National Cultural Policy)
Every language has a vernacular (every day speech) as well as
specialized ones. For example, science would not have advanced among the
English had it relied on vernacular english. Rather, it created its own
language for communicating ideas pertinent to itself. Where would
Chemistry be today without technical words like molecules, atoms and
compounds? Physics without words like quantum, force, resistivity?
Theology without words like omniscience and omnipotent? These are not
words used in every day english speech (i.e. Engliish vernacular). The
same is true for other languages. The Arabic spoken by Arabs at the
bazaar in Cairo is different from Koranic Arab. The point here is that
each language develops a vocabulary specific to the various disciplines
humanity is involved in.
Contrast this with the present day African reality in which African
languages are regarded as vernacular, period! There is absolutely no
discussion of the fact that they contain ordinary and specialized forms
of speech. In primary and secondary schools, African children are
constantly reminded not to speak 'vernacular' less they be punished
severely.
An indelible scar hence is firmly implanted in the children's psyche.
They gradually begin to regard their mother tongues as inferior to the
European ones. Little wonder why there has been so much resistance to
the idea of reincorporating our African languages into the educational
curriculum. This, the most naturaal act that any group or society having
regained their self-determination would quickly do. Except in the case
of Africa! (Those young children of yester-year are now the adults
running the governments of Africa.) Can you imagine a Wolof speaker or a
Mandinka speaker giving a scientific discourse in her native tonge?
Imagine her describing a 250 azimuthal angle in an astronomy class; or
the mutation of a virus in a micro-biology class. If you find this
difficult to imagine then you have finally arrived at the naked truth as
to how alienated we have become from our cultural heritage!
Histpry has provided us ample proof of our mastery in all disciplines
(most of which were developed by our ancestors) in our native languages
thousands of years before the advent of European colonialism (or any
other invader for that matter). This period spanning well over 6000
years from the time when we were residing along the banks of the Nile
river to the time we resided along the Joliba river. Yet today, today we
suffer from mass amnesia regarding our cultural heritage. Today we have
become trapped in trying to coomunicate our worldview through European
tongues, seriously limiting our ability to communicate effectively and
efficiently.
It is of interest to note that those who advocate the continuance of
Africans to use European tongues as their primary mode of communicating
their ideas are those western educated 'elites' of Africa. Since the
60's their voices have drowned the few courageous ones among their ranks
(he Ngugis and Diops) who have argued in favor of African languages.
Apparently the 'elite' believe that they stand to lose the most if such
was to occur. After all the many long years they spent perfecting their
communication skills in the European tongues was to guarantee them
prestige and priviledges among their people. Witness what the Senegalese
poet and former Head of State of Senegal, Leopold Sedar Senghore had to
say for his preference of French over his native tongue:
>Mais on me posera la question: 'Pourquoi, des lors, ecrivez-vous en >francais? parce que nous somme des metis culturels, parce que, si nous >sentons en negres, nous nous exprimons en francais, parce que le >francais est une langue a vocation universelle, que notre message >s'addresse aussi aux Francais de France et aux autres hommes, parce que >le francais est une langue 'de gentillesse et d'honnetete ... On me le >pardonnera. Car je sais ses ressources pour l'avoir goute, mache, >enseigne, et qu'il est la langue des dieux...
(Here's my weak translation)
>But you would pose me the question: 'Why, since then, did you write in >french?' because we are cultural mulattoes, because if we feel as >Blacks, we express in french, because french is a language with a >universal vocation, that our message is addressed to the French of >France as well as other people, because french is a language 'of >gentleness and honesty'... You will forgive me. For I know its >resources to have eaten it, chewed it, taught it, and it is the >language of the gods ...
Words spoken by the first President of the independent nation of
Senegal! Of course such a person would be the only non-Frenchman ever to
be admitted to the Academie Francaise (French Academy), whose sole
mission is to maintain the purity of the french language and culture!
Unfortunately their are many Senghor's found throughout Africa directing
the course their respective countries should follow.
In any case, any meaningful cultural policy would include as a top
priority the inclusion of African languages into the educational
curriculum. Cheikh Anta Diop's recommendations in this domain are
excellent, and should be quickly implemented. To paraphrase him, African
languages will at first be taught the same way other foreign languages
are taught. Then after a reasonable time in which proficiency in the
African languages have been attained, one of the languages will quickly
be raised to the level of Official language to replace the European one.
The European languages will continue to be taught in the secondary
school level as an elective. Of course the selected language must
satisfy certain criteria, cheif among which are; its widespread usage,
and the amount of research work being done in it.
For the pessimist who believes that this would not work, several
examples could be sighted. Within the borders of what is known as Great
Britain, one finds different ethnic group like the Welsh, the Celts and
the English. Yet English is the official language of Great Britain. Of
course in their case the decision to use english as the officail
language did not occur under the baobab tree (or a fig tree in this
case) with all parties consenting to it.
Another example is Japan. Apparently Japanese technical know-how along
with the Japanese economy have risen to prominence despite Japanese
being the official language. Their educational curriculum is in
Japanese. European languages are offered at the secondary level as
electives and apparently they are doing just fine. Today we fine Western
CEO's placing themselves under the gruelling task of learning japanese
with its thousands of characters. As the saying goes; 'what is good for
Pateh must be good for Demba too!'
Of course in this last example, one is speaking of a homogenous society,
whereas in Africa several ethnic groups share the same border. We must
therefore realize that pragmatism is the key in order for us to move
forward. We cannot and should not allow our ethnocentric biases to cloud
our vision. One language must be elevated in each African country or
sub-region to be mastered by all within that country or sub-region if we
are truly sincere about seeing Africa realize her greatness once again.
Some might say: 'What difference does it really make, to speak another
language other than your mother tongue or a European one. Afteer all
they are both foreign?' Diop's admonition will suffice as an answer to
such a question:
>One might say that it makes no difference to a Wolof-speaking African >whether he adopts Zulu or English or Portuguese. This is just not so. >An African educated in any African language other than his own is less >alienated, culturally speaking, than he is when educated in a European >language which takes the place of his mother tongue. Such is the >disparity in cultural interest which exists between European and >African languages - something we must never lose sight of. European >languages must not be considered diamonds displayed under a glass bell, >dazzling us with their brilliance. Our attention must rather be fixed >on their historical development. Creatively, we discover that similar >paths are open to all.
Ref:
1. Ngugi wa Thiong'o, 'Decolonising the Mind' Heinemann Kenya, Nairobi
1991.
2. Cheikh Anta Diop, Black Africa: 'The Economic and Cultural Basis for
a Federated State' Lawrence Hill Books, 1987.
In peace,
LatJor
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 15:07:30 -0000
From: "Jorn Grotnes" <gambia-l@commit.gm>
To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: About the Gambia University
Message-ID: <B0000001034@south.commit.gm>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Gambia-L:
> I know that "Commit Enterprises" will have to live from sales and
services, and they are not so glad if we
Actually, we'd like nothing better than that shipments of computer
equipment enter the Gambia destined for this institution or others like it.
They should even get tax exemption as far as I can tell. For us, insofar as
we sell computer equipment, it is not our major business (selling e-mail
services, repairs, courses and consultancy is).
We also do not see such institutions as our potential customers for
equipmens sales, the alternative for them is to get funds from some
organisations, and most of us should know that this would mean "earmarking"
the monies for purchasing from the country where the funds originated -
often with no contol of what will actually be purchased.
(So as may suspect, my view is that development help today often mean
helping developing the countries _giving_ help by giving fat contract work
to some company, and purchasing equipment in that country at not always
competitive prices. But that's another discussion...)
> > What I´m afraid of is this: "Can the Gambia College pay the
telephone-bill", if we provide them with the
I was estimating to Asbjorn that if they read their mail 3 times a day
(which we recommend as a minimum) and use an average of 30 seconds (our
friend Mr. Kofi at the STS has had great pleasure by timing his download of
mail from our node and has a standing record of 11 seconds on the line -
when receiving one message) it should amount to about 300 (working days)
times 1,5 minutes. And 450 minutes at 0,30 bututs/minute is D150. So as a
yearly cost it is negligible, especially if it can save them some
international faxes each year.
Remember also that we will work to link up as many offices and institutions
as we can, so at the end of the day they may actually save some telephone
time by being able to effectively send messages and documents even
internally in The Gambia.
Regards, Joern Grotnes
Commit Enterprises
------------------------------
Date: 28 Jun 1997 11:23:13 GMT
From: momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Fwd: AFRICA-DEVELOPMENT: More Than Just
Message-ID: <1683861407.130554331@inform-bbs.dk>
Copyright 1997 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 24-Jun-97 ***
Title: AFRICA-DEVELOPMENT: More Than Just Internet Connections Required
by Gumisai Mutume
TORONTO, Jun 24 (IPS) -- As the development of the World Wide Web
roars ahead, only eight African capitals remain locked out of the
global information highway without any immediate hope of logging
in.
The capital cities of Cape Verde, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea,
Libya, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia and Western
Sahara still do not have full Internet connectivity, nor do they
have any known plans of getting hooked up soon, say experts at the
Global Knowledge Forum being held here.
While the fact that Africa will virtually be fully on-line
represents a major leap ahead for a continent that barely had four
countries hooked up in 1993, the major concern now haunting
developers is the lack of local, relevant content produced by
Africans for themselves.
Making the Internet relevant to the majority of the 4.7 billion
people living in developing countries is one of the major
challenges facing the 2,000 policy-makers from 124 countries, non-
governmental organisations and financiers who travelled to Toronto
to attend the June 22-25 Forum.
''There is no point in having full Internet access unless there
is content,'' Mike Jensen, an independent Internet consultant
based in Johannesburg, South Africa, told the conference, co-
hosted by the World Bank and the Canadian government.
Pinpointing another source of concern, Jensen noted that 70
percent of Africa's people live in remote, rural areas and
therefore need innovations such as using satellites for Internet
services.
Out of the countries now with full Internet connectivity, only
Burkina Faso, Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and
Zimbabwe have local dial-up facilities outside of their major
cities.
In this regard, Venancio Massingue, director of the Computer
Centre at the Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, took a
swipe at some donor agencies. These, he said, are only interested
in wiring African capitals, where the country offices of
international institutions such as the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund, and expatriate communities are based.
Even in capitals, huge costs rule out access to the Internet
for the majority of people and, as a result, the Internet in
Africa may remain a tool of the elite for a long time.
''Without competition, the average cost of a low-volume
Internet account is about 65 dollars a month, nearly the per
capita income of Mozambque,'' argues Jensen.
Second-rate telephone lines are another drawback in many
African nations.
Africa has the least developed telephone infrastructure in the
world and not much progress is being made in improving rural
connectivity on a continent where 12 percent of the planet's
population share two percent of its telephone lines.
''Access that is affordable. Access in remote rural areas and
access to women,'' are priority areas, according to Karen Banks of
GreenNet, a non-governmental Internet service provider based the
United Kingdom and one of several organisations that have been
linked to building a communications network in Africa.
A number of large-scale projects to develop telecommunications
on the continent remain on the drawing boards, such as AT&T's
'Africa One' initiative intended to necklace the continent with a
cyber-optic cable. It is yet to be finalised.
In the meantime, experts say, people as producers of
information needs to be the major shift. When African
intellectuals hook on to the Net, it is to consult information
about the continent created largely by Western countries, notes
Massingue.
Lishan Adam, Connectivity Project Officer at the UN Economic
Commission of Africa is also worried about the uni-directional
flow of information. ''Whose content is it?'' Adam wondered. ''Is
it really going to serve the poor rural communities?''
Adam added that once communities begin providing information
relevant to themselves, ''translation will be required to make it
accessible ...''
The Internet, serving some 50 million people worldwide, remains
largely an English-language medium characterised by the
traditional patterns of information flow -- countries of the North
flooding those of the South and setting the agenda.
Some projects have taken off to develop relevant content such
as an initiative by the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) to transfer printed material in African
libraries onto the Net, an InfoDev programme in South Africa to
produce secondary school material and Health-net, which is trying
to bring health information to doctors in Africa.
However, African Internet watchers fear that the sector will
soon be dominated by commercial interests and this will further
marginalise the poor majority. What is emerging is that large
Western service providers such as CompuServe, EUnet and Global One
are moving onto the continent and are likely to grab a substantial
share of the market there.(end/ips/gm/kb/97)
Origin: Harare/AFRICA-DEVELOPMENT/
----
[c] 1997, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)
All rights reserved
------------------------------
Date: 28 Jun 1997 11:25:21 GMT
From: momodou@inform-bbs.dk (Momodou Camara)
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Fwd: DEVELOPMENT: Knowledge, a Weapon Against Poverty
Message-ID: <624033758.130554617@inform-bbs.dk>
Copyright 1997 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 24-Jun-97 ***
Title: DEVELOPMENT: Knowledge, a Weapon Against Poverty
By Lewis Machipisa
TORONTO, Jun 24 (IPS) - Millions of people in developing countries
are unlikely to hear about a conference that opened here Monday on
the vital role of knowledge and information technology in
development.
Only a small section of the global population has used new
information technologies such as the Internet, satellite
communications and computers. In fact, many of the world's people
have not heard of the 'Information Highway' and are bypassed by
the knowledge that travels along it.
This, say developmental experts, explains why poor peasants in
Zimbabwe are often at the mercy of middlemen who know more than
they about the true market value of their products. This explains
why the ill in rural Peru do not have access to information on
modern medicine.
But by Wednesday, the some 2,000 delegates from more than 120
developing and industralised countries attending the Global
Knowledge Forum here hope to unite in a partnership to use new
technologies to help bridge the gap between rich and poor.
''We should measure results not in terms of technological
achievements but by the impact of knowledge made more accessible
by such technology in the fight against poverty,'' said James D.
Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank.
Citing images from his travels in developing countries,
Wolfensohn spoke of villages with no roads and schools without
electricity, windowpanes and toilets. ''I have been touched by the
drama of the gap that exists between the industrialised and
developing world,'' he said, ''but I have been touched by the
opportunities to address the gap.''
''I have met people in Morocco who are doing desktop
publishing for firms in Paris,'' said Wolfensohn. ''Ghanaian
traders are using cellular phones to get their cocoa quotes and in
Brazil, Amazon chiefs are using video cameras and satellites to
communicate with each other.''
Advances in technology may have produced the means to eliminate
hunger, health epidemics and isolation, but the majority of the
world's people still struggle with malnourishment, disease and
lack of basic communications.
Eighty percent of the world's inhabitants, most of them in
developing countries, do not have telephones. It can take years,
even more than five, to get a telephone line in parts of Africa.
While Internet users number about 50 million, they represent
only a tiny fraction of the world's 5.9 billion people. Moreover,
90 percent of Internet hosts are in North America and Western
Europe.
The challenge, said Wolfensohn, is to jump to the next level:
to get the technology to large numbers of people. ''It is not
enough to have a fireworks display to show the capabilities of
technology,'' he said. ''We need systemic solutions, we need to
set targets, and we need to monitor progress and measure the
impact of the poor. We need to innovate and to take risks. We
should not be afraid to make mistakes.''
The United Nations is also concerned about the deprivation and
disparities that exist in the world, according to UN Secretary-
General Kofi Annan.
The ''global dilemma of squalor amid splendor is a creature of
human agency, and ... it can be reversed by human agency,'' Annan
told the Jun. 22-25 conference, co-hosted by Canada and the World
Bank, and sponsored by more than 40 private and public partners.
''The facts are not in dispute,'' he added. ''There are gross
disparities of income, of access to services, and of opportunity
in the world.''
An estimated 1.3 billion people worldwide survive on less than
one U.S. dollar a day. Nearly a billion persons are unschooled,
well over a billion lack access to safe water, some 840 million go
hungry or face food insecurity, and nearly a third of the
inhabitants of the least developed countries are not expected to
reach the age of 40.
Annan argued that development, peace and democracy were no
longer the exclusive responsibility of governments, global
institutions or inter-governmental bodies.
''The great democractisation of power of information has given
us all the chance to effect change and alleviate poverty in ways
we cannot even imagine today,'' he said. ''With knowledge a
potential for all, the path to poverty can be reversed. Knowledge
is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of
progress, in every society, in every family.''
The U.N. Secretary-General is convinced that it is ignorance,
not knowledge, that makes enemies of men, that turns children into
fighters. ''It is ignorance, not knowledge, that leads some to
advocate tyranny over democracy,'' he added. ''It is ignorance not
knowledge that makes some think that human misery is inevitable.''
Without true democracy, the information revolution is
unthinkable, according to the UN head. ''Access is crucial. The
capacity to receive, download and share information through
electronic networks, the ability to publish newspapers without
censorship or restrictions, the freedom to communicate freely
across national boundaries ... must become fundamental freedoms
for all,'' he said.
''Communications and information technology have enormous
potential, especially for developing countries, and in furthering
sustainable development,'' added Annan. ''But that also means that
the information gap is the new dividing line between the haves and
have nots, those forging new paths to development and those
increasingly left behind.''
Bridging the gap requires continued investment in human capital
in developing countries, and in making knowledge universally
accessible, as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni noted.
''In the past, unequal access to knowledge incited the strong
to aggress the weak,'' he said. ''It is only the universalisation
of knowledge that will create a world equilibrium where nobody
will have the edge of knowledge to use to the detriment of others.
''... the aggressive instinct in man is essentially
calculative. You only attack the weak, you only attack the
backward without access to knowledge. It is not profitable to
aggress the equally knowledgeable who, most probably, will be
equally strong.''
Museveni added that, as time goes on and humanity becomes
''civilised, it will be clear to all that knowledge applied to
wars is a waste of time.
''This realisation, however, is still a distance away.''
In the meantime, the world's poorer nations can ill afford to
lag behind in the field of information technology given the
intense competition for new markets that characterises the global
economy.
''Information has become a means for firms to identify new
opportunities, seize new markets, and to satisfy new needs,'' said
Joseph Stiglitz, senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the
World Bank. ''Information is vital to corporate survival and it is
critical to an economy's viability.
''In banking and international finance, tourism and travel,
commodity exchange, and in all export-oriented manufacturing,
economic viability is increasingly dependent on global information
and efficient electronic exchange.'' (end/ips/lm/kb/97)
Origin: Harare/DEVELOPMENT/
----
[c] 1997, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)
All rights reserved
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 15:23:53 +0100 (BST)
From: O BALDEH <O.Baldeh@Bradford.ac.uk>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Cc: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: About the Gambia University
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.970628150849.7131A-100000@kite.cen.brad.ac.uk>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Sir,
Can you tell us why this enterprise should be exempted from tax?
Can you tell us how much this enterprise will cost the government and
particularly the Gambia College,financially and otherwise?
Can you tell us how The Gambia will be able to control the activities of
this enterprise?
I am not against the transfer of technology to the Gambia
but I am I
presently concerned with the tendency of Enterprises exploiting the
the Connevience The Gambian Situation offers to ...
Compare the cost of faxes and the cost of allowing enterprises which....
Ciao
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 16:40:32 -0000
From: "=?ISO-8859-1?Q?J=F8rn_Grotnes?=" <gambia-l@commit.gm>
To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: About the Gambia University
Message-ID: <B0000001086@south.commit.gm>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
> From: O BALDEH <O.Baldeh@Bradford.ac.uk>
> To: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List
<gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Re: About the Gambia University
> Date: 28. juni 1997 14:23
> Can you tell us why this enterprise should be exempted from tax?
Which enterprise? I was talking about the Gambia College - which as an
educational institution should be entitled to it?
I have in no way suggested that our small company (consisting of my brother
and myself) should be exempted from anything.
I am saying that we see sending PCs and other needed equipment to The
Gambia College as a good thing, because more computers in the Gambia is
necessarily a good thing for a company that lives from connecting,
supporting, repairing and teaching abvout computers.
> Can you tell us how much this enterprise will cost the government and
Again, I must ask you, which enterprise? I have suggested no special
agreement or deal. The college have compentent enough people to set up and
use computers, but they do not have a lot of the hardware (nor software for
that matter).
If the College wants to use us they will need to pay for that, no different
than for other companies, although our prices may be adjusted down for such
customers.
> Can you tell us how The Gambia will be able to control the activities of
this enterprise?
If you by "this enterprise" mean our company, Commit Enterprises, I hope
they will not try to control our activities outside of what I see as the
duty and prerogatives of a Government, i.e. taxation, regulating the market
and assuring a level playing ground and a good environment for investment.
> presently concerned with the tendency of Enterprises exploiting the
I may not know a lot about that. Certainly, convenience is not what we
experienced as we were setting up our business, indeed were it not for good
and honest help by our friends here our company would not exist by now.
Commit is not a foreign company, taking money away from the Gambia, but a
local limited company financed by private persons having invested what they
can in this business.
We must find our niche and hope the company and our business ideas has the
power to live. And one of those ideas is to collect and present local
information on our network even before we get a true Internet link. If you
follow the information in this group presented by Momodou Camara about
African development it is excactly what is needed to avoid the culture of
the other countries, having had more time connected to it, to flow
exclusively into the country.
> Compare the cost of faxes and the cost of allowing enterprises which....
This last line I do not comprehend.
I hope my answer clears up any misunderstanding about us wanting to start a
project (enterprise?) with Gambia College or exploit any situation. I would
be very sorry if any initiative to help that institution was to be hindered
by us giving the wrong impression of what is happening here.
I can see the need to be sceptical, but on the other hand I think it is
hard to not agree that if any development is going to happen, it must start
somewhere. A small change is easier to effect than a big one, and more
likely to be controllable.
In this case the small change can be that the College is now reachable
cheaply and effectively, so that anyone wanting to support it can do so by
contacting the relevant persons in a matter of hours. And Commit will not
involve itself in that unless asked to do so.
Regards, Jorn Grotnes
Commit Enterprises
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 20:59:21 +-300
From: BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH <kolls567@qatar.net.qa>
To: "'gambia-l@u.washington.edu'" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: About the Gambia University
Message-ID: <01BC8406.2AAECBE0@dibo.qatar.net.qa>
Mr.Grotnes!
Not everyone is sceptical.I am a Gambian, and I am very,very excited about what you people are trying to do.Power to you and your efforts !
Regards Basss!
----------
From: Jorn Grotnes[SMTP:gambia-l@commit.gm]
Sent: 22/OYN/1418 07:40 a
To: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List
Subject: Re: About the Gambia University
> From: O BALDEH <O.Baldeh@Bradford.ac.uk>
> To: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List
<gambia-l@u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Re: About the Gambia University
> Date: 28. juni 1997 14:23
> Can you tell us why this enterprise should be exempted from tax?
Which enterprise? I was talking about the Gambia College - which as an
educational institution should be entitled to it?
I have in no way suggested that our small company (consisting of my brother
and myself) should be exempted from anything.
I am saying that we see sending PCs and other needed equipment to The
Gambia College as a good thing, because more computers in the Gambia is
necessarily a good thing for a company that lives from connecting,
supporting, repairing and teaching abvout computers.
> Can you tell us how much this enterprise will cost the government and
Again, I must ask you, which enterprise? I have suggested no special
agreement or deal. The college have compentent enough people to set up and
use computers, but they do not have a lot of the hardware (nor software for
that matter).
If the College wants to use us they will need to pay for that, no different
than for other companies, although our prices may be adjusted down for such
customers.
> Can you tell us how The Gambia will be able to control the activities of
this enterprise?
If you by "this enterprise" mean our company, Commit Enterprises, I hope
they will not try to control our activities outside of what I see as the
duty and prerogatives of a Government, i.e. taxation, regulating the market
and assuring a level playing ground and a good environment for investment.
> presently concerned with the tendency of Enterprises exploiting the
I may not know a lot about that. Certainly, convenience is not what we
experienced as we were setting up our business, indeed were it not for good
and honest help by our friends here our company would not exist by now.
Commit is not a foreign company, taking money away from the Gambia, but a
local limited company financed by private persons having invested what they
can in this business.
We must find our niche and hope the company and our business ideas has the
power to live. And one of those ideas is to collect and present local
information on our network even before we get a true Internet link. If you
follow the information in this group presented by Momodou Camara about
African development it is excactly what is needed to avoid the culture of
the other countries, having had more time connected to it, to flow
exclusively into the country.
> Compare the cost of faxes and the cost of allowing enterprises which....
This last line I do not comprehend.
I hope my answer clears up any misunderstanding about us wanting to start a
project (enterprise?) with Gambia College or exploit any situation. I would
be very sorry if any initiative to help that institution was to be hindered
by us giving the wrong impression of what is happening here.
I can see the need to be sceptical, but on the other hand I think it is
hard to not agree that if any development is going to happen, it must start
somewhere. A small change is easier to effect than a big one, and more
likely to be controllable.
In this case the small change can be that the College is now reachable
cheaply and effectively, so that anyone wanting to support it can do so by
contacting the relevant persons in a matter of hours. And Commit will not
involve itself in that unless asked to do so.
Regards, Jorn Grotnes
Commit Enterprises
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`
end
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 16:50:16 -0500
From: Francis Njie <c3p0@xsite.net>
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: educational group and e-mail
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19970628165016.006e6ac0@xsite.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Asbj=F8rn wrote:
>> But if this Institution should be prepared for the future, I think that
>> we outside must help them with better hardware.=20
I think this is a good opportunity for those members of the education group
with a little time on their hands to make some headway in securing some of
the thousands of computers and computer components that annually end up in
landfills, in the US especially, for modest and practical use in Gambian
educational institutions. There are non-profit organizations in the US
whose business is exactly this and we could probably get help from them.
(Send me e-mail for a list of such orgs that someone on gambia-l posted a
few months ago.)
I have been interested in this for quite some time now... but alas, there
are only 24 hours in a day! (Much of my time outside of work is already
occupied with GambiaNet affairs.)
The future of Internet access in the Gambia should not be underestimated--
with first FTP, and subsequently (hopefully) WWW access, Gambian students
will literally have a world of knowledge at their fingertips. (Even now,
increased connectivity to the local network offered by Commit could only
encourage the development of local content... surely a positive thing.)
Sincerely,=20
Francis
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 14:04:06 +0900 (JST)
From: binta@iuj.ac.jp
To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: About the Gambia University
Message-ID: <199706290459.NAA27023@mlsv.iuj.ac.jp>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
I too share the sentiments of Bass. Commit enterprises, please keep up
your good work!
Lamin.
------------------------------
End of GAMBIA-L Digest 74
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gambia-l: LOG9706E - Digest 74
