Gassa,
perhaps the passages you quoted would have sounded very well if not for this serious flaw:
"Because they are citizens, who are going to spend their lives in Gambia, they eschew a responsibility to the society in general, and so cannot be expected to behave like hustlers who see Gambia as a half-way-house to New York or Paris, and whose concerns are purely mercenary. .......". It should have read:
"Because they are citizens, who are going to spend their lives in Gambia, they do not eschew a responsibility........."
Sidibeh
----- Original Message -----
From: Jungle Sunrise
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, June 10, 2002 5:30 PM
Subject: Re: Putting things in their proper perspective.
Sidibeh,
On the contrary, I found your piece highly informative and interesting. It is very unfortunate that I cannot give you a comprehensive response on many of the issues that you spent so much of your valuable time explaining. These days i am extremely busy but I hope things would ease in the next few days or early next week.
For now, I would like to reproduce the following quote from your piece that really caught my eye. You wrote:
"It is important that Gambian youth are convinced of the integrity of the political system that controls their lives if they are to sincerely engage in commercial activity with the conviction that it could mean the difference between poverty and economic well being. Because they are citizens, who are going to spend their lives in Gambia, they eschew a responsibility to the society in general, and so cannot be expected to behave like hustlers who see Gambia as a half-way-house to New York or Paris, and whose concerns are purely mercenary. They need to know that as long as they are willing to work hard, their political allegiance would have no impact whatsoever on their rights to run a business as long as this is legitimate. Bluntly put, government must see to it that even political opponents can start and run successful businesses without fear of official interferance.
Secondly, there must be a sincere and visible return to the old slogans of ATP : ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, AND PROBITY. The mere sight of millionaire leaders ruling a multitude of poor and tired citizens reeks of a society engrossed with inequality. If it is legitimately suspected that the quickest way to wealth and influence and pomp is to become a minister, why on earth should all the poor not want to become one? People in power must not just declare their wealth; the source of such wealth must be transparent to every Kanjura, Kekoi, and Keluntang!"
The main reason I picked the above quotation is that last week I read the first part of a series Mr. Charles Sam has started, on the opinion column of The Daily Observer which somehow expresses similar sentiment to yours. I plan to put it on the L when he finishes and I am less busy. I really liked his first installment as he does not mince his words.
I might respond to some other specific aspects of your piece later.
Have a good day, Gassa.
There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see, yet small enough to solve. -Mike- Levitt-
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