The prepared speech of
the moron attests to that. I am not familiar with the latest Gambian

Mr.Dampha:

I am always eager to read your contributions because of the depth of your analysis, but your tendency to
wrapp it sometimes with name calling dilutes its important. I absolutely do not care for President Jammeh,
but resorting to name calling not only trivialize your analysis but also the Presidency. It will not be a bad
tactic to make your opponents to even respect your point of view,

Musa Jeng
Dampha Kebba wrote:

> Beran, thanks again for forwarding this article. After reading this and
> other media where the visit of the Commonwealth officials have been
> reported, am still at a lost why the visitors were hailing Yaya's move to
> amend our Constitution. I might be missing something here or perhaps the
> journalists did not quote the Commonwealth officials properly. If we have
> laws such as Decree 89 that are clearly repugnant to natural justice and
> constitutionally guaranteed rights such as freedom of association and
> freedom of speech, I do not know what repealing those laws has to do with
> amending the Constitution. Decree 89 does not need a Constitutional
> amendment or court declaration to render it inapplicable. That Decree is now
> toilet paper. People should challenge the government to try and use the
> Decree. When that happens, people will then realize how useless that piece
> of garbage is. The APRC lawyers discovered that and that is why they
> counseled Buba Baldeh to defy the Decree. If other politicians defy the
> Decree, nothing will come out of it. To paraphrase Yaya, 'any Decree that is
> inconsistent with the Constitution will remain null and void to the extent
> of that inconsistency'. So if you have a Constitution that guarantees its
> citizens the right to belong to political parties, any Decree that tries to
> unjustifiably curtail that right, is null and void. The prepared speech of
> the moron attests to that. I am not familiar with the latest Gambian
> Constitution, but I think I can safely guess that the Constitution granted
> citizens freedom of association and also made the Constitution the supreme
> law of the land. Therefore, no constitutional amendment is necessary in
> order to get rid of draconian laws like Decree 89. The Commonwealth
> officials should ask the authorities to be more specific about the proposed
> amendments. And they should demand from the authorities explanations that
> make sense. The reason given by Yaya, as reported in the papers, is
> illogical. I hope this was not the explanation the Commonwealth officials
> got from Yaya. If it was, the visitors should have asked Yaya whether Decree
> 89 was part of the Constitution and therefore needed a constitutional
> amendment before it could be repealed. Before such international observers
> give legitimacy to the utterances of morons like Yaya, they should endeavor
> to get all the logical facts. This revisiting of the Constitution is only
> aimed at one thing; that is, to perpetuate Yaya and the APRC. These
> amendments have nothing to do with giving ordinary Gambian citizens more
> rights and doing what is right. If it was, there will be a provision
> imposing term limits on the presidency. I respectfully urge the opposition
> to be very vigilant in this exercise. Pap Cheyassin Secka and Yaya are only
> interested in taking away rights from the citizens. If we do not watch our
> back, Secka will help Yaya bring in more laws that will make it more
> difficult for ordinary citizens to be defended in court. This is the same
> Secka who thinks that it is constitutional to hold innocent citizens in jail
> for several months incommunicado. These people are only out to deprive us of
> the little rights we currently have. Commonwealth officials and opposition
> party leaders should not assist the AG and Yaya in this fraud.
> KB
>
> >From: "Jeng, Beran" <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: FWD:1997 Constitution Under Review
> >Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2000 11:14:15 -0500
> >
> >Daily Observer
> ></publishers.html?passed_name=Daily%20Observer&passed_location=Banjul>
> >(Banjul)
> >November 21, 2000
> >Pa Kalifa Sanyang
> >Banjul
> >The head of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group(CMAG) delegation to
> >the
> >country, Alhaji Sule Lamido, told newsmen yesterday that his delegation
> >received
> >assurances from President Yahya Jammeh that the 1997 Constitution is
> >undergoing
> >some amendments.
> >Alhaji Sule whose delegation held a closed-door meeting with President
> >Jammeh at
> >State House yesterday, said the constitutional amendment is aimed at
> >repealing
> >some laws that are inconsistent with the Constitution. The Nigerian foreign
> >affairs minister said President Jammeh had quoted a section of the
> >Constitution
> >which says "any law which is inconsistent with the constitution will remain
> >null
> >and void to the level of that inconsistency", describing it as a "very
> >encouraging" remark by the President.
> >Asked whether specific reference was made to decree 89 which has been a
> >subject
> >of widespread controversy, the Nigerian foreign minister said, "The
> >President
> >talked about a process of constitutional amendment based on a certain
> >constitutional provision and if my conclusions from what he had said are
> >right,
> >that particular decree is obviously on its way out." He said President
> >Jammeh
> >had indicated to the delegation that all obnoxious and exclusive decrees
> >that
> >were passed during the transition period would be brought in line with the
> >Constitution according to the aspirations of the Gambian people. Alhaji
> >Sule
> >explained that his delegation's mission is to assist The Gambia in
> >effecting
> >internal reconciliation so that the entire country can forge ahead as a
> >family.
> >During their 3-day assessment mission, the Commonwealth delegation will
> >hold
> >talks with secretaries of state, leaders of political parties, Non
> >Governmental
> >Organisations and the media. At their last meeting in September this year,
> >the
> >Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) agreed on an early dispatch of
> >a
> >mission to The Gambia at the invitation of President Jammeh.
> >The group also expressed the desire to see The Gambia government foster a
> >more
> >inclusive political environment, and in particular, repeal decree 89 which
> >proscribed certain political parties and banned certain individuals from
> >partisan politics. The group also expressed concern at other restrictions
> >imposed on political parties and the media. The delegation included Hon Tan
> >Sri
> >Dato'Musa Bin Hitam, a special envoy of the Malaysian president, and some
> >Commonwealth Secretariat staff.
> >
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