Cedric Ceballos,
Allow me to write most respectfully in connection with your responses to
Ebou Jallow's reaction to one of my earlier postings, and " open letter to
Gambians.
With regards mr Jallow, I was so shocked by his write-up, that I immediately
gave in to Burang Conteh's suggestion that he (Ebou) should be disregarded.
Without disagreeing that the Gambia is going through " tremendous Socio
Economic difficulties and corruption" he proceeds to justify such evils.
That a person of his standing in public life could bend so low as to dig his
long fingers into tax payers money and scamper away with it, is not really
what amazed me, but his refusal to regret, repent and seek for the mercy of
his compatriots, after attesting to his crimes and sins, is just beyond my
imagination.
Omari also asked a valid question pertaining to what Yaya jammeh's problem
may be. The fact is in the Gambia most of us are muslims or christians. As a
muslim, after year five you are taken to the "Darra", where you study the
Islamic scripture and the traditions of the holy prophet Muhammed (SAW).
Between the ages of ten and twelve, a male child is taken to the bush school
where he is taught the great traditions and wisdoms of our people. A
christian child also goes through scripture union and the church where
he/she is taught the virtues of respect to God, elders and good
neighborliness. The combined impact of these institutions is what gave us
our unique identity, so that when the identity card was introduced, you
could hear some Gambians asking police officers whether they could not
recognize us by looking at our faces. These institutions are also known for
being competent at putting certain restraints on us, so that a Gambian who
has gone through them is supposed to be too good for doing certain things.
One of the most important among these restraints, is the injunction never to
insult a person older that you or even to use abusive language in his/her
presence. Yaya Jammeh has now made it part of his agenda to annually insult
all Gambians( including those who are older than him). I therefore accept
the need for Omari's question at this jucture.
With regard the lacklustre performance of the elite towards the overall
struggle for emancipation, I agree with you. But allow me to add that its
like we are all in a ship on a voyage. If we allow it to hit the rocks and
break, very likely, we shall all sink with it. It may never be too late for
anyone to join this struggle for emancipation and justice, but if you come
too late, when victory comes and all and sundry are celebrating(and mourning
for the martyrs), we shall say nothing, absolutely nothing, but just look at
you straight in your eyes. Thus, its about time we have all hands on deck,
our educated brothers and sisters included.
Omar Joof.



>From: CEDRIC CEBALLOS <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Open Letter To Gambians
>Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 09:53:21 -0700
>
>Mr. Omari,
>
>i disagree with this part of your suggestion,
>
>" He also needs someone to help him write what he wants to say. As long
>as he is the president of The Gambia he must keep his mouth shut and let
>those who are qualified by education and experience handle what he has
>shown himself incapable of doing."
>
>because i have extensively studied and researched trends in African
>leadership and came to a conclusion that the very people that are
>responsible tend not to be the dictators themselves, because they are often
>one step ahead of the illiterate masses in the educational ladder, but that
>upper echelon, the highly literate who made it all possible for the
>leadership to rule which ever way they desired. The unfortunate sons of the
>continent who rob their own people of the basics of human life.
>
>If we could learn a lesson, it would be our failures of selfish worldly
>pursuits that had happened a gazzilion times since the beginning of time,
>but we will remain at a state of loss until we return to the very greatest,
>who controls it all. Then and only then can we make progress. Not the
>highly educated, because as far as i am concerned, i think a farmer can run
>that Government and do as good a job as any educated individual since he
>would be representing not only the people but his own situation.
>
>The educated find it so easy to cheat, rob, silenced the uneducated poor.
>We have been doing it for decades.
>
>
>---------------------------------
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