Hi folks,

I promised a few days ago to send you information about my getting off as a
Gambia-L manager.  The following is from an e-mail I sent to Momodou Camara, and
I hope it provides detail about my attitude to managing Gambia-L.  For your
information the Kary mentioned in my e-mail refers to Paul Karagianis, who is
responsible for running the St. Johns University list server, which runs
Gambia-L.  Also, please note that the lines starting with >> are qouted from Mr.
Camara's original e-mail, and those starting with > are quoted from my reply,
which I'm forwarding.

With regards the management of Gambia-L, I've had nothing to do with it since I
had Momodou Camara remove my e-mail address from the list of Gambia-L managers.
Furthermore, as indicated in the e-mail below, I have continued confidence in
the work Mr. Camara is doing providing an invaluable service to us all.  I would
urge all of you to lend him any and all support you can to see the continued
growth and usefulness of Gambia-L.

I would like to take this opportunity to comment on the recent exchanges on the
list.  It's really unfortunate that many people bit the baits sent to the list
to distract them from important issues.  It does not take a rocket scientist to
figure out that everytime something important comes up, we are confronted with
unproductive shouting matches and name-calling that does nothing but sows
discord, and divides us all.  The latest example of this is the Jerreh Jarju
thing that's got a lot of people worked up for nothing.  The fact of the matter
is that no one can vouch for anyone's identity on this list.  Afterall, this
e-mail you are reading from me is nothing but, as I've seen someone put it,
"100% recycled electrons."

Let's remember that we can only deal with each other on this list on the basis
of names that may or may not be real.  That's just the nature of the beast.  For
this reason, who cares if this or that person uses this or that name.  And by
the way, it seems to me that many of these President Jammeh supporters use their
Netnames to say things they otherwise would not dare say.  Furthermore, it is
ironic that them that support those with the guns and the power are the ones
that have to hide behind the anonymity provided by the Internet.

The only thing that would worry me, and I've said this before, is what we had
sometime back when George Sarr impersonated Tombong Saidy, and posted a message
in Mr. Saidy's name.  That's a totally different and terrible ball game, and
would be of concern to me.  But other than that, I really don't care if
President Jammeh or anyone decides to have multiple personalities.  I would
judge them on the basis of what they say on the list, and not get drawn into
unproductive arguments.  And I would like to remind all of a saying:  "Never
argue with a fool; people might not notice the difference."

Have a great Easter, and best wishes.

Katim

----- Original Message -----
From: Katim S. Touray <[log in to unmask]>
To: Momodou Camara <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, February 23, 2001 9:41 PM
Subject: Re: List issues - Joint statement


> Hi Momodou,
>
> Please pardon me for replying a bit late to your e-mail.  I missed it, and
only
> saw it as I was searching for another e-mail!
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Momodou Camara <[log in to unmask]>
> To: Katim S. Touray <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, February 19, 2001 1:15 AM
> Subject: Re: List issues - Joint statement
>
>
> > Good morning Katim,
> > I will go ahead and remove your address/s from the list header. However, I
hope
> > that you would respond whenever your assistance is needed.
> > BTW, I can't remember receiving a mail with the conditions for us using the
St.
> > John's server. Is there a place on the web where I can read about their
terms?
> > Do you have the mail from Kary when you informed him that I will be taking
over
> > your role? Sorry for waiting until now to enquire about such things.
> >
>
> You know, I don't recall getting a formal list of dos and don'ts from Kary
about
> hosting our list on their server.  He agreed to host the list for us in part
> because, I believe, they were already hosting the African Association of
Madison
> list, which I helped run.  I suppose there might be a guideline on their site
> one searches for it. Otherwise, you or I can write to Kary to get the
> guidelines, if they have them.  Either way, I don't think we should worry much
> about that because I think they are fairly reasonable about the use of their
> servers.
>
> Regarding the e-mail I received from Kary when I mentioned to him that I
wanted
> to handover the list to you, I think I might have it on file.  I'll look for
it,
> and send it under seperate cover.  However, I  remember him suggesting that I
> probably should not completely handover the list.  His feeling was that
whatever
> it was that was making me want to give it up would go away in time, and that I
> should just hang in there.
>
> The problem is that I would like to transfer ownership and administration of
the
> list to you because of a number of reasons.  First, I strongly believe that
> owning the list should be rototated.  Given how much we call for democracy and
> all that on it, we should also trust each other to take full control of it.
Why
> should we call for term limits for the presidency in The Gambia if we do not
> have faith in other Gambians taking over Gambia-L?  You see my point.
>
> Second, and this is a recent reason, with plans for launching
> concernedgambians.org well underway, it will be impossible for me to do a good
> job of getting involved in Gambia-L management.  As my high school teacher
used
> to say, anything worth doing is worth doing well, and for this reason, I would
> rather another person be allowed to do a better job than I can.
>
> Also, I would like to provide other people the opportunity to learn.  As you
> well know, running Gambia-L is not just about issuing commands, and similar
> technical issues.  There is also a lot to learn about other people, customer
> service, and probably more importantly, about yourself.  For this reason, it
is
> important I think to enable as many people as is possible have the opportunity
> to learn and serve the Gambian community.
>
> > Even though I know that you will still be on the list, I am already feeling
sad
> > that you want to be removed from the list management. Please feel free to
> > advice me if you feel that I am making a wrong judgement.
> >
> Please do not have any doubts about my committment to the list.  I will be
> available to provide any support I can, and I hope you would not hesitate to
> contact me if you need any information from me.  We are all in this together,
> and for this reason, I will be foolish to see such a valuable resource fail
for
> lack of input on my part.
>
> And I will keep in touch on a whole number of other issues.  I am working on
> other projects I would like to touch base with you about, and for this reason,
> you can expect to hear from me as time goes on.
>
> I hope the family is doing fine, and that everyone is OK.  Have a great
weekend,
> and best wishes.
>
> Katim
> ps:  I'll go ahead and remove my name from the list header.

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