Very well said Katim. Now, the ball is in their court. This certainly
provides a chance to set up a forum for discussion, cooperation and
harnessing the potential of the internet to help our nation move forward. If
our governent is truely interested in moving us forward as a nation, and with
the cooperation of all of Gambia's citizens which is absolutely essential for
any government to succeed, then they will rise to the challenge and
invitation.

Jabou Joh


In a message dated 11/18/99 9:59:31 PM Central Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

 Hi folks,

 Following is my Open letter to His Excellency the President, Yahya A.J.J.
 Jammeh.  I wrote the letter in a bid to set the record straight about what
 Gambia-L is all about (at least from my perspective) and to invite President
 Jammeh to join and help us make Gambia-L and the Internet even more
beneficial
 to The Gambia.  It is my hope that the letter will, together with current
 efforts on Gambia-L, help move us along a path of cooperation, mutual
respect,
 and a long-lasting, healthy debate.

 I faxed the letter to the State House this evening (Thurs., Nov. 18), and
sent
 copies to The Point, and The Independent newspapers.  For some reason, the
fax
 number for The Daily Observer was not working, so I could not send them a
copy.
  I will be sending seperate e-mail versions of this to both Foroyaa and
Tombong
 Saidy (of GRTS) instead of faxing them their copies.


 I haven't had time to read all postings that we've received on Gambia-L in
the


 Katim

 ------------- Start of Open letter to President Jammeh  --------------------
 Nov. 17, 1999

 His Excellency the President, Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh
 State House
 Banjul
 The Gambia

 Mr. President,

 AN INVITATION TO HELP INCREASE THE BENEFITS OF GAMBIA-L AND THE INTERNET TO
THE
 GAMBIA:

 I am writing to invite you to help increase the benefits of Gambia-L, and the
 Internet to The Gambia.

 Gambia-L is an electronic discussion forum (sometimes called a mailing list)
on
 the Internet created in January 1996 for discussing issues related to The
 Gambia.  It is presently hosted, for free and along with many others, on a
 computer at St. John's University in New York, NY, USA.  Electronic mail
 (e-mail) sent by a subscriber to Gambia-L is automatically distributed to
other
 subscribers who can, in turn, distribute their replies to that message by
 sending them to the list.  This way, the almost 600 Gambia-L subscribers from
 all corners of the world in effect have online discussions, and exchange
 information on various issues of concern to them.

 Discussions and announcements on Gambia-L cover a variety of topics ranging
 from job and business opportunities, marriages, obituaries, and activities in
 Gambian communities around the world.  As you can expect, discussions have
also
 dealt with current and topical issues about The Gambia, and the whole world.
 For this reason, many opinions have been expressed about you and your
 government on Gambia-L, and the debate continues round the clock, and every
 day.

 Not all of the postings on Gambia-L flatter you or your government.  In the
 eyes of some people, Gambia-L is nothing but a forum for what they call
 "anti-Jammeh people."  I have received suggestions that I for one created
 Gambia-L because I oppose your government.  While I do not agree with some of
 your policies, I did not help start Gambia-L to provide a forum for your
 critics. Gambia-L is in fact a result of my efforts that started as far back
as
 1993 seeking help setting up a mailing list to discuss Gambian issues, and
 assistance in connecting The Gambia to the Internet.  My interest in seeing
The
 Gambia take her rightful place in the global Internet community also prompted
 me to write a two-part article about the Internet that I made available, for
 free, to "The Daily Observer" newspaper in The Gambia.  The article was
 published around April 1994, well before most people had even HEARD of the
 Internet, and certainly before you came to power.

 Following your overthrow of the Jawara government, I started using one of my
 e-mail accounts in early in August 1994 to discuss developments in The Gambia
 with few of my friends.  This system was semi-automated, but the number of
 people participating in the discussions continued to grow.  We were finally
 able, in January 1996, to find a more convenient host for the list at the
 University of Washington (UW), Seattle, Washington, USA.  We named the list
 Gambia-L, and still kept it's objective as a forum for the discussion of The
 Gambia and related issues.

 UW hosted Gambia-L until last May when we were forced to find a new host.
The
 reason we needed a new host for Gambia-L was that a number of Gambian
 subscribers to the list started threatening a Gambian employee of UW who
 sponsored the list there.  Those who threatened the Gambia-L sponsor did so
 because they were dissatisfied with discussions on Gambia-L, especially the
 many postings on the list that were critical of you and your government.

 Fortunately, I was able to get St. John's University to agree to host
Gambia-L,
 and we successfully migrated the list to its new host without serious
 interruptions in service.  The move to St. John's University has been a
 blessing in disguise for the simple reason that postings to Gambia-L are now
 archived on the Web at http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
and
 accessible to Internet users anywhere in the world.

 Gambia-L continues to be managed by a number of volunteers, including me, who
 are responsible for approving requests for subscriptions, and handling other
 administrative details.  Subscription to Gambia-L is open to everyone, except
 for the case of one previous member who was expelled because of his rudeness,
 and insults to people on the list.  All postings to the list are
automatically
 distributed, without the intervention of any of the managers.  This
arrangement
 is different from what obtains on other lists, called moderated lists, where
 list managers have to approve postings sent for distribution.

 The fact that Gambia-L managers do not intervene in the distribution of
 postings to the list, coupled with the free and open nature of subscriptions
 means that Gambia-L could not possibly be aimed at providing a forum for
people
 to thrash your administration.  While it might be true that most postings are
 critical, rather than supportive of your government and policies, this is
only
 because your supporters and/or government officials have failed to respond to
 the criticisms of your government on Gambia-L.

 For example, in the past few weeks, there have been postings suggesting that
 your government has a list of Gambians overseas who are black-listed and
being
 watched-for at border crossings by your immigration officials.  Another
posting
 mentioned that some Gambians were having their passports seized when they
 submit them for renewal because they are deemed opponents of your government.
 I was, to say the least, disappointed that only one government official,
 Tombong Saidy, of the Gambia Radio and Television Service responded to these
 postings.  It would help a great deal if other government departments and
 agencies would get more involved in the dialogue on Gambia-L to help set the
 record straight, and dispel rumors.

 It is my strong opinion that contrary to what some of your supporters are
 saying, Gambia-L and those who criticize you on it are valuable resources to
 The Gambia government.  As you know, Gambians are susceptible to telling
people
 what they want to hear and not necessarily the truth.  This, in my humble
 opinion, was the reason that former President Jawara was blind to obvious
 shortcomings in his government, and ultimately paid the price with his
 downfall.  For this reason, I suggest that rather than dismiss Gambia-L as a
 forum for your opponents, you should use it as a source of valuable
information
 and advice you will never get from those in your inner circle more interested
 in self-preservation than what is best for our country.

 May I mention that the importance of getting sound, truthful feedback has
been
 demonstrated amply in history.  You will recall that the late Shah of Iran,
 Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, General Mobutu Sesse Seko of the former
 Zaire, and Samuel Doe of Liberia, to name a few, all died in disgrace and/or
 violently after being overthrown from seemingly unending dictatorships.  The
 one lesson each of these people failed to learn was that the greatest
insurance
 against a shameful end to power is to give the truth a chance to be heard.
 And, Sir, if you think for one second that you are the exception to this
rule,
 you should think again.

 I would like to reaffirm my commitment to the idea that Gambians all over the
 world have a right, like anyone else, to exchange information and ideas with
 each other.  For this reason, I would like to see Gambia-L used as one of the
 many tools that the Internet has provided people around the world to enhance
 communication, and increase understanding.  We would be foolish to use
 something that continues to unite people the world over to divide us, and set
 us further back in our quest for national prosperity.

 In this regard, I am pleased to inform you that there has been an increased
 interest in Gambia-L subscribers to start a dialog between various Gambian
 interest groups the world over.  In particular, a recent Gambia-L posting
from
 Dr. Abdoulaye Saine of Miami University of Ohio in the United States has been
 received with enthusiasm by many subscribers who are ready to work toward our
 common good.  I invite, and strongly encourage you to join us in charting a
 course of action to increase understanding, and foster a healthy debate among
 us.

 Toward this end, I would like to offer some suggestions about how we can make
 Gambia-L, and the Internet even more beneficial to The Gambia.  First, I
would
 like to suggest that Gambia-government Departments and agencies either
 subscribe to the list, or make sure that they have a system in place for
making
 sure that they receive all discussions that relate to them.  The Gambia
already
 has Internet connectivity, and I see no reason why there should not be an
 effort to ensure that every government Department has at least one
 Internet-enabled computer.

 Second, I would like to suggest that every Gambia government Department set
up
 a Website.  This effort should be coordinated to produce Websites that are
 informative, engaging and of consistent quality.  Such Websites will be a
 valuable link between the Gambia government Departments and Internet users
all
 over the world.  Furthermore, the huge and increasing numbers of worldwide
 Internet users means that developing an Internet-presence strategy for the
 Gambia government will be a valuable investment for many years to come.  I am
 willing to offer any help I can in this regard, as I'm sure many Gambians the
 world over will be willing to given the chance.

 In conclusion, I would like to say that it is my sincere hope that the
appeals
 for reconciliation and healthy debate on Gambia-L will be heard, acted on,
and
 that we work to make the forum and the Internet a valuable resource to our
 nation.  To paraphrase a Wollof saying, "you should dance when God claps for
 you."  It is my belief, Mr. President, that we've started dancing to a tune
of
 cooperation on Gambia-L, and I invite you to join and help us use the medium
to
 improve the welfare of the Gambian people.

 Thank you very much for your consideration, and I wish you all the best in
your
 endeavors.

 Sincerely,

 (signed)
 Katim S. Touray, Ph.D.
 Madison, WI
 U. S. A

 ------------- End of Open letter to President Jammeh  ----------------------

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