Mori Kebba,
I have just been reminded that your memorandum was printed and left on my
desk for response. Accept my apology for not responding earlier than now.
Thank you very much for the generous words. There would not have been any
need to respond since you are simply expressing an opinion. However, we see
a genuine desire for dialogue. In that light, it is necessary to clarify
certain things so that they will not be the subject of any misconception.
You wrote: "I believe you will agree with me that my debate is not based on
political innuendo as you have stated earlier and I do not intend to drag
you on to make any statement because that opportunity has come and gone when
your party was mute condemning the violence. I stand by my statement that
there are three opposition parties in the Gambia -NRP, PDOIS and UDP."
Your comment is not a fair one. We still believe that you do not know what
exactly happened between Gambisara and Numuyel nor do you fully comprehend
what happened after the Chamoi bridge. We still insist that the matter has
become a legal one and it will be most unfair to the UDP to dwell on the
substance. I would not mind sending you a personal memorandum to explain the
substance and leave you to analyse whether we should take the approach that
you expect us to take.
Furthermore, you wrote: "We do not need official declaration by the UDP
about what I said. The events clearly spoke for themselves about what is in
the government's mind regarding the UDP. Why has the UDP been a constant
thorn in the flesh of this administration? I am surely not an official
member of the UDP but the persistent injustice they have been facing daily
is purely political because
of continuous revelations of misdeeds of the government in the
administration of our country."
Again, this is an opinion. PDOIS could also claim that it is more consistent
in exposing the whole system which prevails in The Gambia today. We hope you
will visit our website when it starts. We hope all the parties will do the
same thing. Then people will be able to judge for themselves which parties
are engaged in thorough exposure of what is happening in the country, and
which parties are engaged in sensationalism. We will leave that to you to
decide.
Notwithstanding, we agree with you that as an opposition party we will
contribute our quota in ensuring that when change comes from the ballot, it
is accepted.
You indicated that: "In order to discourage political ambushes henceforth
every peace loving individual including PDOIS as a political party must
condemn all
forms of political violence. Silence will not only encourage it but escalate
it further. If your party's position is known on political ambushes and
mid-night kidnappings perhaps people who do it will calculate the public
reaction and think again,that effort must be led by the opposition."
Morri Kebba, what you are implying is far from the reality. PDOIS is not
silent on political violence, ambushes or whatever name we give them. PDOIS
is an activist party. That is its difference with all the parties in this
country. Someone sleeps in our office. We are operating almost 24 hours a
day. Our telephone is a hot line and we maintain contact with every single
person or their families who is subjected to this type of violence. When the
UDP delegation was in the Basse Police Station, we reported to Gambia-L what
was happening in Basse and Banjul at the same time. When they were being
transported from Basse to Banjul, we monitored the process. We were in touch
with the delegation left behind after the departure of those charged. We
never abandoned them until they reached their respective homes. We do more
than we publish, Morri Kebba.
Take the question you have raised: ".... were you not aware of the arrest of
a UDP national assembly member for Kiang East ? for allegedly expressing his
opinion about the tragic deaths. At the same time following that incident
you wrote an open letter on behalf of your party expressing your general
concern of the crisis therefore I don't think there has been any better
occasion than this to do what is a right thing to do."
Yes, we were most aware, Morri Kebba, and we were in close touch with his
family. We did more than that.
When our Central Committee met, Sidia Jatta was mandated to raise the issue
with his colleagues in the National Assembly so that a meeting of the
committee responsible for the welfare of National Assembly Members would be
convened and the Secretary of State for national Assembly affairs to be
contacted to immediately work for the release of the member of the National
assembly, failing which he would have recommended to be mandated as
Secretary to the Parliamentary Association to alert all Parliamentary
Associations they are affiliated with so that immediate action would be
taken to call for the release of the National Assembly Member.
We could tell you what happened to this initiative, but that would implicate
others. You may write to Mr Kemeseng Jammeh and ask him what happened to
this initiative.
You see, Morri Kebba, we do not just write. Every arrest you see in this
society, know that we are spending day and night going up and down to ensure
that sanity prevails.
We hope things are getting a bit clearer. Notwithstanding, you may pose more
concerns for further explanation.
Greetings.
Halifa Sallah.
----- Original Message -----
From: Mori Kebba Jammeh <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2000 11:34 PM
Subject: Re: THE UDP LEADER AND 24 OTHERS
> Mr. Sallah,
>
> Thank you for your response about my personal opinion on the
> political situation in our country. First and foremost, I am happy to
> commend your party leader for his generosity to Wuli constituency as well
as
> his brilliant argument in parliament on issues which are very important to
> Gambian people. I also seize this opportunity to personally thank you for
a
> recent declaration by you that about the possibility of liaison with
other
> parties should a runoff be necessary. I commend you for that and I hope
> other opposition will followsuit. Whilst I agree with you on that I think
we
> should not count on that possibility too much instead we could look into
the
> possibilities of a united opposition now rather than later
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