Ginny,

Ginny,

I promised earlier that I would comment on some of your thoughts. But
first a motorbike taxi is precisely just a taxi. It carries you to a
specific destination for pay. Some of the issues you raised are
practical questions which might just sort themselves out with time. I
mean some drivers will instantly turn their taxis into female transports
because they make better company and as one man said in the story " they
(women) are more generous".

Generally, I think many African Islamic communities are watchful of what
goes on in Nigeria's sharia states. The violence and continuous tensions
implementation of sharia law in some of these are themselves awesome
deterrents to muslims wishing to follow suit. Even though the Gambian
state, under President Jammeh has become stronger (through coercion), it
is religious strife that may bring down regimes like his, if it
continued its de-secularisation tendencies of the past. He cannot
continue playing Bush's buddy in the Texan's war against international
terror while he encourages militant Islam in Gambia. As I indicated
earlier, his radical embrace of Arab friends has ended somewhat. 
But there is a marked difference between the 9/11 backlash on muslims in
America (story posted by Ylva Hernlund) and the Africans' experience of
religious intolerance. In both cases, I think the identities of people
come under assault, but in Africa this assault has always been of a more
thorough and brutal kind. Both Islam and Christianity came from outside,
Islam through jihadist violence while the latter in the wake of imperial
domination. Both of them literally forced Africans to shed their
identities completely. Animist traditions, Africa's own indigenous
religions, are so marginalised that most Africans associate them with
paganism. 

In Uganda, there is an important surviving legend: One of the Baganda's
(a distinct ethnic group) reigning Kabaka (Baganda king) at the dawn of
imperial conquest summoned both muslim imams and catholic priests
competing to convert his people to their respective religions. The king
summoned all his people to the village square and begged them to listen
to the two missionaries looking for followers. He also requested the two
religious leaders to take turns to explain to his people the nature of
their faiths.
When they were done explaining and answering questions, the King said to
his people: "...these religions are asking us to abandon our own and pay
allegiance to them. Whatever we do, both demand a lot of sacrifice from
our own way of life".

Cheers,
Momodou S Sidibeh 


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Från: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] För Ginny Quick
Skickat: den 16 augusti 2005 01:27
Till: [log in to unmask]
Ämne: Re: SV: SV: SV: SV: Kanilai Cocktail - II

Hello, Momodou, I put the link to the article you posted on my blog.  I
have
a lot of questions about the implementation of this new law.  Firstly,
are
we talking about traditional taxis?  If so, are the taxi drivers taking
a
group of people, or jost one or two?

     What is a motorcycle taxi?  What are they used for?  If the
authorities
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