Dampha,

The record was already straight. For me, the only interpretation I could
gather from all your postings since the BBC broadcast is what you have
reemphasized here: Jawara, like all other former politicians, to join the
opposition to uproot the dictatorship. You were in fact explicit about
supporting an alliance of all opposition elements under the leadership of a
current opposition figure.I don't know where the issue of Jawara coming back
as presidential candidate comes from! We have been told here that even if
Jwara were to come back on those terms, he might not even qualify as far as
the constitution goes- ie upper age ceiling. So maintain your normal cool,
and don't bother about statements that do not reflect your very clear and
insighful postings.

I also agree with you about the contribution Jawara can make to the efforts
of any united front. Regardless of anybody's jawaraphobia, the old man's
record is defendable vis a vis the records of the majority of African
leaders during his time. On the economic front, which is less well known
than his human rights record, the Gambia, along with Uganda, Ghana was one
of a handful of african countries whose economic performance records were
considered by the World bank asexamplary in the late 80sto early 1990s. To
day, the top 10 performing econmies in subsaharan african (World Bank site)
still include Uganda and Ghana- but certainly not the Gambia.

Finally, Dampha, as you said yesterday the selection of a leader to head an
alliance may not be easy. So let's pray that Allah guides their
deliberations in reaching a strategy for the immediate task of uprooting the
dictatorship and for the long term interest of the Gambia.

AT


>From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Putting the Record Straight --- Decree 89 Politicians
>Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2001 11:44:45 -0400
>
>Anybody that says that I (personally) advocated for the return of Jawara as
>a presidential candidate will be telling a blatant lie. I might have been
>one of the most vocal advocates for Jawara’s return. But in what role? I
>have categorically stated that the man should be encouraged to return and
>support the presidential candidate that is going to be selected by the
>CURRENT OPPOSITION LEADERS. Jawara can be very effective in defending the
>PPP record and discrediting AFPRC/APRC justification for taking over.
>Rather
>than current Opposition leaders tackling Yaya when Yaya tries to compare
>himself with PPP, let the PPP fight that battle. Simple as that.
>
>For people now to twist this logic and make it appear as if I am advocating
>for Jawara to become our next president, is just mind-boggling to me. To
>this day I can only name one person in the Opposition on G_L that is saying
>that the Decree 89 politicians should also be given an opportunity to lead.
>One person. Granted, I delete a lot of mails without reading them, but I am
>pretty certain I would have read a mail under my heading advocating for
>Jawara to return as a leader. To my knowledge, only Jassey-Conteh said that
>we should not close the door on Decree 89 politicians’ chances of leading
>he
>Coalition. Although I do NOT agree with Jassey-Conteh on this, I respect
>his
>stance. Now, where is all this talk about people advocating for Jawara’s
>return to the presidency coming from? Let us shoot straight and quit
>talking
>in innuendo.
>
>I still firmly believe that the man should be encouraged to come home and
>defend his record and lend his support to the Opposition presidential
>candidate. Even if I am convinced that the current Opposition can win
>without Jawara, I will NOT recommend to the Opposition to snub Jawara. If
>the Opposition can canvass for 90% of the votes, why settle for less? No
>one
>can deny that Jawara still has a following back home. Would we rather have
>those people vote for APRC or abstain from voting for the candidate the
>current Opposition is going to choose? If we want the support of these
>Gambians (that are still loyal to Jawara) we do NOT go around alienating
>them by attacking their leaders. What does the Opposition seek to gain by
>attacking Jawara? Preventing him from becoming the next president? This is
>premised on the notion that he wants to become the next president. Not a
>single person can truthfully say here on G_L that Jawara said that he
>wanted
>to become the next president. Like I already said, apart from
>Jassey-Conteh,
>there is NOBODY in the Opposition is even remotely saying that they want
>Jawara to become the next president. And even Jassey-Conteh is NOT saying
>that he wants Jawara per se. It is practically impossible for that to
>happen. So, why use this false premise in order to attack the man?
>
>Attacking the man serves one purpose. It helps Yaya and his gang stand up
>and say that it was justified for them to take over. Attacking Jawara is
>NOT
>helping us right old wrongs by preventing him from gaining power again. The
>law already says that he CANNOT run in October. Besides, it is practically
>impossible for the man to go back and run a political campaign that is
>going
>to overshadow our current Opposition leaders. Our current leaders are lot
>stronger than that. I hope the leaders on the ground will embrace the
>Degree
>89 politicians and ask for their support. We need NOT force these people to
>the APRC camp or away from us. The ex-PPP politicians, in particular, are
>very important because (among other things) they need to defend their
>record
>against attacks from APRC. We would rather that PPP fight that battle than
>say UDP, NRP or PDOIS. For example, if Yaya wants to boast about a
>University and belittle PPP, rather than Darboe tackling that, let Jawara
>explain how Yaya built on what already existed in the form of GTTI, MDI,
>Hotel School, Nursing School, Yundum College, etc.
>
>That is the wavelength some of us are at. Division of labor. Tactical
>Alliance. Now, if the Opposition wants to use PPP in this manner in the
>Coalition, we do NOT go around singing APRC songs like Jawara was here 30
>years and did not do a thing.
>KB
>
>
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