EBRIMA:

It is an absolute excitement for me to see you back. WELCOME BACK! And this
is the best time to welcome you: On Easter Sunday and in the Week in which
every Gambian all over the World remembers April 10-11 brutal massacre of
our beloved Children. To that end, Ebrima, Welcome Back to the Struggle; and
very many thanks for exposing K.B. JOBE(Mr. Bye 4 now)

Ansumana Kujabi


>From: Ebrima Ceesay <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Where is Ebrima Ceesay?
>Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 17:37:58 -0000
>
>Gambia-L:
>
>
>I should like to thank all those who have written privately to me, as well
>as those on the List who have been asking about my whereabouts of late.
>Thank you for your concerns about my absence from Gambia-L.
>
>I have to reassure you that I am well, but that the pressures of my
>academic
>work have meant that I have been unable to follow the Gambia L for over six
>weeks now.
>
>It would be my dear wish to follow the List on a daily basis, but the
>realities of being a full time research student and needing to keep up with
>my family life have made it almost impossible.
>
>This Easter vacation has given me some free time and the opportunity to
>check my E-mails – more than 500 of them, and I am still in the process of
>reading them and catching up on Gambia-related issues.
>
>My mind is always on the Gambian struggle, and I have to express my deep
>appreciation to the indefatigable Kebba Dampha, to Hamjatta Kanteh, to Ebou
>Colley, to Ansumana Kujabi, to Jabou Joh, to Lameen Barrow, to Prof. Assan
>and to Saul Khan for keeping the struggle alive and kicking.  I should also
>like to thank Joe Sambou and Dr Saine for their contributions, direction
>and
>guidance.
>
>As for myself:  well,  I should like to be contributing on a regular basis
>to the Gambia L, as well as passing on information from my many sources
>close to the heart of the Gambia government.  However, given my current
>work
>commitments and tight academic schedule, this is not yet feasible.  Those
>who are engaged in full time, post-graduate research will confirm the
>pressures !!
>
>As for my sources, I am happy to say that they are all fine, and that they
>understand that I have had time constraints recently. We have spoken
>together and have now decided that because this is such a crucial period in
>the history of The Gambia, I shall resume forwarding their messages to the
>List, not on a daily basis as in the past, but at least regularly once each
>week (unless dramatic events unfold at home).
>
>Apart from my sources, there are also many concerned Gambians and friends
>of
>The Gambia who have, in the past,  sent me invaluable information and news
>on the regime at home.  My doors are always open to these people, and they
>are always welcome to send messages for me to forward to the Gambia L.
>
>Could I ask these people to copy messages both to my Hotmail Account and to
>my e-mail address at school ( [log in to unmask]) so that I do not overlook
>them.
>
>Now that elections in The Gambia are fast approaching, we need to be
>focusing on the pragmatics of change in our country.  We need to be looking
>at how we can work to unseat Jammeh from the presidency, and what practical
>steps need to be taken to ensure our success.
>
>To this end, I have decided to work directly with The Gambia’s Development
>Partners, with Political Parties directly on the ground, and with other
>concerned Gambian groups in the Diaspora in order to expedite the necessary
>changes in our dear country.
>
>All our debates (no matter how important it is to engage in discussion and
>debate) have now got to be followed through with direct action.
>
>I spoke recently with a member of one of the Opposition parties in The
>Gambia, and he says that although the idea of a United Opposition (or
>Coalition) has been talked about, so far the practicalities of making it
>happen have not arisen. The modalities have not been thrashed out.  It
>seems
>to me to be acutely critical to start work on these at the first
>opportunity.
>
>In Senegal, the Opposition alliance that was formed in the second round of
>the elections, proved initially successful, but in recent weeks, Prime
>Minister Niasse has been dismissed by President Wade and the alliance is
>under some strain.
>
>Similarly, in Ghana, the Opposition alliance again formed in the second
>electoral rounds, proved successful.  However, there are already some
>accusations that the new Ghanaian government is pro-Ashanti, or pro-Akan,
>and cracks in the alliance are becoming discernible.  I do have to say
>however, that Elizabeth Ohene, the former Deputy Editor in Chief of the
>BBC’s Focus on Africa programme, who is now the Minister for Media
>Relations
>in Ghana, is neither Ashanti nor Fanti, but from the Ebe tribe.
>
>The idea of a United Opposition in The Gambia is an excellent one, but it
>does have to be well thought through, well documented and agreed.  It is
>crucial that those of us calling for Coalition in order to unseat Jammeh
>and
>the APRC, should spend time thinking and planning for the HOWs of making a
>workable and strong alliance.  We need to be able to quell the fears of
>those who are suspicious of alliance in order to persuade them to join one
>wholeheartedly.
>
>I feel it to be my bounden duty as a concerned Gambian, to contribute as
>fully as possible to the struggle for democracy in The Gambia.  Therefore,
>over the next bit of time, I shall be working on a document – a manifesto –
>a blue print for a United Opposition, which will spell out the modalities,
>both pre AND post election.
>
>My aim will be to have a draft document prepared by the end of this month,
>which I shall submit to Opposition Parties in The Gambia, as well as to the
>Gambia L.  I shall welcome constructive comments and suggestions before
>submitting a final version.
>
>I am absolutely convinced that we have to initiate alliance in the very
>near
>future, if we are to have success in our aim of overthrowing Jammeh and his
>regime through the ballot boxes.
>
>Reading through postings on the Gambia-L, as well as private mails, I have
>been amazed at some of the messages I have read, which raise doubts about
>the reasons for my recent silence on the Gambia-List.  I have to assure all
>those who have written to me, or contacted me by telephone, thinking that I
>had been scared off the List by pro-Jammeh elements, that nothing could be
>further from the truth !!
>
>Those who know me well, will know that this would NEVER be the case.
>
>
>I am sending my best greetings to all my friends and colleagues on
>Gambia-L.
>
>
>Ebrima Ceesay
>Birmingham, UK
>
>
>PS:  Brother George Sarr:
>
>In going through my e-mails, I read that you had been hospitalised some
>time
>ago.  I send you belated get well greetings, and am pleased to know that
>you
>are making a good recovery.  I hope to see you in person in your neck of
>the
>woods before the end of the year !
>
>
>Brother Buharry:
>
>I send you my belated and heart-felt condolences on the sudden death of
>Anna
>Secka in London, UK.  Please convey my sympathies to her husband Adama
>Crooks and son, small Yusupha.
>
>_________________________________________________________________________
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>
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