Dear Alieu,
I have just gone through your last postings and this time I have just to say
that our understanding of politics is to some extend far from each other but
at the same time it seems that we have a common desire,which is a society free
from all human oppression and exploitation.But the fact that you are still
insisting that colonialism is as a result of the lack 0 political maturity of
the African people is very disturbing,we never entertain colonialism,this is
why we have heros like E.F.Small,etc .We fought against it since its
birth,because we knew what the economic,cultural and political consequences
will not favour us,it was not to our interest,there was no colonial master
that did not have a standing army,with all the brutalities that our people
were exposed to,the killing,the torture etc of men women and children.We owe
much more to these people than to justify their suffering was as a result of
mature political resistance.As said to you in my first postings these are just
lies by Western political write to justify colonialism,these were not even
meant for our consumption,but for their home opinion.Colonialism ,like all
other forms of economic exploitation and political oppression is a product of
greedy human activity.There is a history to colonialism,it did not emerged out
of the blues but when through a process,different political stages and out of
concret political and economic needs/situations.Without going deeper into this
,but face to face with our own world, we see that human beings are subjected
to one of the most brutal form of expolitaion in human history.Take the Usa
were millions are without basic human needs,food ,shelter,health care guaranty
etc in the richest country of the world,are you to tell me that the existence
of the system in the USA that is denying these millions such a basic human
need is as a result of the lack of political maturity of the American
people.Tell me if the racist situation in the USA is because of the lack of
political maturity of the millions of black people.No I dont think so,What I
believed is that there is a political system that is oppressing these
Americans and they are daily struggling against this system.If you still
insist on this position I will challenge you to justify that the near police
state situation in our country is as a result of the lack of political
consciousness of the Gambian people .
To the second point,yes I do maintain that if Dr jammeh had stick to his
promises then we would have a country with a political system that we would
have been very proud of,because the opposition will not be subjected to
unnecessary harassment,there would be a free press and freedom of speech,with
"transparency,accountability and probity",you cannot just fear the position of
the opposition .We dont need an opposition party that would not be able to
work with political maturity.Alieu,what I see to be our big difference also is
that you have an ideal of a society that have no foundation,coming from
nowhere but out of vacuum.Believe me,we cannot build any type of society
without going through a process .Even if you have to fly to that society you
must prepare your self to fly.With "transparency,accountability and probity"we
would have been heading to a big political victory.
I have no problem with your own definition of "power base as the degree of
popular support and the ability to maintain stability and cope with the the
opposition" This should not be a difficult task for any sincere political
force and we must continue to wish and work for such a political atmosphere in
the Gambia and the continent at large.Keep on the good work brother.
For freedom
Saiks
Dear Saiks,
Glad that we are at the threshold of agreeing to a framework of analysis. It
is extremely necessary that we set out on a firm basis. That will make the
discussion more enligthening.
Just to address few things before embarking on my second part, understand
Power and Politics here to be referring mainly to how a person/s is/are able
to both establish himself/themselves in a secure position to rule, in this
case, a country, and at the same time enjoy the undivided confidence of the
ruled or the led. If at all and according to the way you put it, that Gambia
would have had a different story to show to the World if the President had
kept to his promises, then that would enough not fit into my ideal society.
I can only qualify it under the category of my No. Two Hypothesis. Remember,
I have defined Power Base as the "degree of popular support" and the
"ability to maintain stability and cope with opposition".
Yes, one can rightly conclude or expect that, if the Gambians had had course
to enjoy from those beautiful hopes as declared by the President, then the
regime would certainly would have a resonable degree of popular support from
the people - again as I define it. I now ask. Is that really enough? Does
that make the opposition dormant? Does that deter outside threat? I mind,
does it say much about how dynamic a regime is to both outside and inside
forces? Certainly not. Under such circumstances therefore, Gambia wouldn't
have still been stable, so to speak. It is how concious we are to addressing
these factors together as a whole which is crucial to my ideal type of
society.
So, perhaps if you had mentioned that the President wanted to look after the
peoples' welfare and also indicate and justify why the President sees it fit
to fortify himself so as to continue satifying the task of looking after the
peoples' welfare, then that could be considered to fit into my ideal type of
society that would ultimately bring about stability.
I will labor, as I progress, to detail further with my own examples how this
can come about, I will be looking at questions such as what the role of
opposition should be and that of those who wish to bankrole such an
opposition in my ideal society. I am to inform you that most of political
societites in Africa do not share characteristics of my ideal society.
I would wish to reintroduce my opinion on Political Maturity in relation to
colonialism and the Monicagate issue. They may either implicitly or
explicitly appear in the discussion as we proceed. I will throw more light
on them later.
To be continued.....
God blesses us all for a better world.
Alieu
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