Mr. Kebba Dampha:

Thanks for your pointed comments and observations.  I do not disagree with your
arguments, only that I make them in the longer paper and in more detail than in
the abridged version.   The role of the Diaspora is adequately treated in terms
of the contributions of the MRDGUK, MRDGNY, the DC based Concerned Gambian
Citizens and their letter from Clinton, and the various other contributions of
Gambians in Atlanta, Raleigh, NC and Europe generally, to efforts in building a
united opposition.  In fact, I make mention of Ebrima Ceesay, not in his call
for a united opposition,  we all did, but his numerous messages addressed to the
G-L and Gambians at home.  But more important, I discuss the historic MRDGUK
document that was to serve as a blueprint for unity.  In the end, I argue that
"the failure of the various party leaders to unite, their reasons for not
supporting the limited coalition and the consequent unwillingness on the part of
the Diaspora to support a less than united opposition,  adversely affected them,
financially.   Musa Camara's role is not that significant compared to those
mentioned earlier.  But whether the "PPP was selfless" in its objectives for
joining the coalition, is at best debatable.  I am of the view that the PPP had
a lot more at stake in the elections, than perhaps, even Darboe.  Thus, the
skewed campaign.

About Ousainou Darboe, I do not use the term "stooge."  It is much too strong
and emotional.  But talking about Ousainou and the perceptions people have of
him, is important.  This influenced how people voted, in the end.  In the longer
paper, I state, however, that "in reality Darboe, who runs a private legal
practice of over twenty years, is an independent thinker who resisted PPP
government co-optation to serve as attorney general and minister of justice, for
years."  Thus, your statement pertaining to perceptions and reality were well
addressed.  Put another way, the perception of most Gambians who voted for
Jammeh did so, in part, because many perceive him as having done more for
Gambians, overall.  The reality is different.   Under Jammeh's rule Gambians are
mired in deeper poverty and human rights violations.

Your statement that "it is least understandable for someone in the Diaspora that
does NOT have a clue about who Darboe is to be bamboozled by this ridiculous
argument...."  This is a strong statement, but more importantly, it is wrong.  I
am very familiar with Darboe's career.  In fact, Darboe and I crossed paths in
Ottawa,  Canada, in the Fall of 1978.  He at the University of Ottawa, doing an
M.A. in Administrative Law and I at Carleton University, doing an M.A. in
International Affairs.  We spent many evenings together with friends like Abbie
Coker, Hans and Karl Christenson arguing, discussing Gambian/African politics.
Ousainou's entry into politics did not come as a surprise to me.  Furthermore, I
knew Ousainou when he was at GHS and I at Armitage, knew him when he went to
Nigeria to study Law etc.  So K.B., do not assume that just because I am in the
Diaspora, that I do not know Darboe.  Similarly, how BB Daboe or other
politician are perceived has to do with relations of power and roles they play
in a party/government.  Clearly, B.B Daboe worked for Jammeh, that is why Jammeh
is not called a " stooge."

The longer paper also evaluates the performance of the various parties and their
leaders.  I do spend a lot of time discussing S. M. Dibba in light of his
leaving open the option to ally with the APRC or any other party in contesting
the national assembly elections.  More importantly, I discuss the overall
positive effects that would have been gained if they united and their combined
distrust of the limited coalition. So my analysis did not leave out why NCP,
PDOIS, and NRP refused to join the coalition and began their own campaigns to
discredit all their opponents including, Darboe and the PPP.

Finally, whether PDOIS received the letter from the limited coalition or not,or
it was an over sight, calculated or otherwise, on the part of the limited
coalition, is difficult to verify. I discuss this issue as well.  Thus, caution
must be taken in what conclusion one arrives at pertaining to this issue.  What
is clear , is that during the MID-WEST CONFERENCE OF GAMBIANS in Chicago, last
August, I took Halifa Sallah to task, over the phone, regarding PDOIS'
insistence on certain principles, when insistence on these very principles could
mean a Jammeh victory.  What party leaders decide to own up to in terms of
"truth telling" on issues, is beyond the scope of my paper.  But at the end of
the longer paper, I recommend changes in the electoral process, including the
funding of all recognized political parties by the state and limiting candidate
and party spending to engender a more level playing field.

Thanks for your interest and comments.

Abdoulaye



Musa Camara

Dampha Kebba wrote:

> Dr. Saine, thanks for your piece. In response to your call for ‘comments,
> criticisms and suggestions’ to your piece, I will endeavor to make a few
> pertaining to some very visible positions I took in the run up to and
> aftermath of the elections. Before delving into the substance, let me offer
> a caveat here and state that I am speaking for myself and not for any
> political party or coalition of political parties or any organization for
> that matter.
>
> I understand that what you posted on G_L is a summary of a longer version of
> your take on the election. I hope that version did more justice to the
> genesis of the ‘Coalition’ (hereinafter Alliance). I think it is very
> important that people understand why we did not have a ‘full’ Alliance. To
> answer that question it is also important to deal with FACTS and NOT
> perception and rumor.
>
> Months before the Election almost all the Opposition supporters on G_L (and
> I can say in the Diaspora) agreed that we wanted a coalition of ALL the
> opposition political parties. Many people (Ebrima Ceesay comes to mind)
> wrote articles here advocating a ‘united opposition to defeat Yaya’. But
> some did not just stop at writing on G_L. People went the extra mile and
> wrote comprehensive documents detailing the modalities for a united
> opposition. Parts of that document was what PDOIS was later peddling as a
> plan for an Alliance. ALL the opposition political parties were aware of
> these efforts. ALL the political parties received those documents. I
> challenge any Party stalwart on G_L or on the ground to tell us that they
> were NOT aware of these arrangements. Matter of fact, this challenge is
> actually meant for PDOIS stalwarts because they are the most vocal at saying
> that they were ‘left out’. They were NEVER left out. To this day I cannot
> understand why organizations such as MRDG(UK) never came out to set the
> record straight and tell the whole world what genuine efforts they made to
> bring the parties together.
>
> You couple these efforts with the efforts Assan Musa Camara made to bring
> the Parties together. After Decree 89 was ‘repealed’, there was talk that
> PPP was going to fight the election on its own. PPP did not quell the rumor
> when they proposed to reregister their Party and start talking about Jawara
> coming home. Genuine Opposition members (NOT Oppositions to the Opposition)
> reasoned with PPP and showed them the futility of pursuing a PPP candidacy.
> PPP did the selfless thing and endorsed the candidacy of ANOTHER Party. PPP
> is the ONLY Party that did that. Technically, since Assan Musa did not
> register his Party, his endorsement cannot be recorded as one coming from a
> political party.
>
> I hear people saying: ‘well, they endorsed Darboe because Darboe is their
> stooge’. Although Dibba was arguing that the endorsement was his evidence
> that Darboe was a stooge. See how confusing this is? Which is which? This is
> why I said that we should deal with FACTS and NOT ‘perception’ and ‘rumor’.
> The FACT of the matter is that Darboe has NEVER been a member of the PPP. On
> the contrary, he has taken a lot of high-profile stance AGAINST the PPP
> government. When Darboe stopped working for the PPP government, Yaya was
> still in High School. That is known to any decent Gambian that is interested
> in the truth. I need not catalog here evidence to show Darboe’s
> independence. It would be futile. Certain Gambians will rather go with
> ‘perception’ than face FACTS (‘jaharang’). Take SM Dibba for instance. This
> man was rescued by Darboe from the PPP and he still has the audacity to call
> Darboe a stooge. Therefore it is at least understandable for someone in the
> Diaspora that does NOT have a clue about who Darboe is to be bamboozled by
> this ridiculous argument.
>
> I say it is ridiculous because people making the argument NEVER substantiate
> their statements with FACTS and they end up confusing themselves. I do NOT
> hear anyone arguing that Yaya is a PPP stooge simply because BB Darboe was
> in his cabinet or because Buba Baldeh was the chief APRC propagandist or
> because Nafa Saho campaigned for APRC in Baddibu or because almost all the
> APRC ‘Yai compins’ are from PPP. So why should we buy the argument that
> Darboe is a PPP stooge simply because some PPP stalwarts support him? I am
> all ears.
>
> What your analysis also left out is the FACT that this ridiculous argument
> was NOT just made by Yaya, but it was fuelled by people that were calling
> themselves Opposition members. Right after Decree 89 was ‘repealed’, APRC
> thought that PPP was going to contest on its own and what was more likely
> was that UPD will merge with NCP. So APRC was NOT even lying about Darboe
> then. This thing about Darboe and PPP gained momentum thanks to the
> shenanigans of PDOIS and NCP. They were the ones that perpetuated the
> perception. Granted, towards the end Dibba repented for his sins and set the
> record straight about Darboe. But the damage had already been done because
> focus was taken away from Yaya and reposed on Jawara.
>
> I understand that it is inevitable that Jawara will be talked about. Which
> is why it was important to have PPP in the Alliance to defend their record.
> For the plan to succeed though, Darboe had to be given an opportunity to set
> the stage for the way FORWARD. The Opposition within the Opposition will NOT
> give the man that chance. Instead, they put him on the spot to explain why
> he is NOT a PPP stooge. He was to prove a negative. Tell me whether this
> made any sense. What can PDOIS show for it at the end of the day? What can
> NCP show for it at the end of the day? Hamat Bah had more votes that these
> two Parties put together. Simply pathetic. And they were the noisiest
> AGAINST the Opposition. Talking about Hamat Bah, his ‘strong’ showing
> shatters the hypothesis that the way to go was to castigate PPP and
> associating with PPP was a vote-loser. Unlike PDOIS and NCP, Bah did NOT
> adopt an anti-PPP campaign as his central plank. Matter of fact it was
> reported that he went to Barrajally (the former president’s home town) and
> literally cried about the way the former president was treated by Yaya’s
> illegal government. Bah got rewarded for his stance. On the other hand, NCP
> and PDOIS CANNOT attract the anti-PPP crowd. To this date no pundit can tell
> us why is it that the anti-PPP crowd did NOT vote for NCP and PDOIS instead
> of APRC?
>
> Clearly their calculations backfired. They sabotaged the Alliance in order
> to make PPP the focus of the election. Gambians repudiated them for that.
> This is NOT about perception. This is about cold hard facts. This is about
> votes. One final point about the Alliance. In our hour of need Gambians
> asked the political parties to come together and apart from PPP ALL the
> other political parties selfishly sabotaged that effort. Now it is obvious
> to everyone that when Dibba was pretending to be fighting for PDOIS and NRP,
> the man was up to something else. PDOIS put form over substance (or so they
> said) and boycotted the coalition. They were upset they did not have a
> ‘formal’ invitation from Assan Musa Camara to attend the Meeting. Simply
> pathetic. They do NOT even have the guts to say that they absconded simply
> because they could NOT stand PPP. That is the bottom line. PDOIS knew all
> along what was going on. They were the ones that wanted to put the Gambian
> public in the dark. That is why they were upset that I announced that a
> meeting was going to take place. Even APRC stalwarts knew that a meeting was
> going to take place. PDOIS ought to step up and say what they feel rather
> than hiding behind some ridiculous excuses like not receiving a ‘formal’
> invitation. What is important here is that they received NOTICE of the
> Meeting. They knew a meeting was taking place, they were invited, they
> refused to attend. Period. But they will NOT tell the truth about why they
> refused to attend.
>
> Dr. Saine, this is getting longer than I wanted. I will stop here for now
> but will get back to you on other interesting points you raised about the
> campaign issues and why Yaya actually ‘won’. Thanks again for your
> contributions.
> KB
>
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