There are sentiments that most people on the L are tired of the debate, and
most including myself seem to see a regurgitating of the same issue. To speed up
this phase of the debate, I will briefly conduct a post- mor-tem of this long
debate.

Halifa got himself a challenge from a new generation of Gambians. Guys that are
not easily intimidated and are very comfortable discuss contemporary political
issues. Some will even go further to say that while Halaifa has dominated
political discourse in the Gambia with a less than sophisticated older
politicians, intellectually intimidated, and could never see the political
advantage of debating Halifa; these new breed of pundits are less intimidated
compared to their parents. Could we characterized what we witnessed these past
two months helpful to our democracy, or a mere demagoguing of the issues

The other question is, did Halifa actually hurt himself by engaging in such a
fierce debate that his own credibility, as a serious public official be
questioned. As a public official, Halifa has invested so much in political
capital to the Gambia, and in important political issues. Clearly, the debate
started out with important questions, but later the rhetoric and the tone of the
debate deteriorated. It can even be said that even if the guys lost the main
issues of the debate against Halifa, they were at least able to de-mystify
“Halifa Sallah”. Ironically, Halifa is not the type that would like to be
mystified, or be seen as anything more than a normal public official. Halifa has
never been interested in being idolized, mystified, a common weakness among
African leaders. It is interesting that one will ask why would Halifa continued
the debate with these gentlemen, who clearly were not to be convinced, or win
over. Or was Halifa actually interested in reaching the wider audience on the L
forum and enable him to widen his political base. Also, Maybe this point can be
characterized a bit farfetched, but is it possible that Mr. Sallah is a
political junky, and these guys have given him the high that he always sought
for. Whatever the reason is Thank you to Mr.Sallah, Mr.Khan and Mr.Hamjatta for
the education, and for keeping the L interesting.

To Saul, Hamjatta, and Fatou Ceesay, and the newly Halifa Sallah’s critics,
which can be a euphemism for Jammeh haters. (laugh) Directing their anger to
Jammeh alone has not given them the solace they sought for, and Halifa is seen
as a person that did not put up a fight to help their guys. They have searched
for the Halifa that when after President Jawara, attacked him at every
opportunity, and to found that Halifa Sallah with a different tactic galled
them. To any objective and fair minded person, Halifa Sallah has always been the
same person, he is consistent in his political beliefs; therefore, opportunism
and capitalizing on the political drama of the day does not in any way drive Mr.
Halifa sallah

Interesting, Interesting, that there is even talk of past prophets, OJ Jallow
(Dusuba of SK/East), Lamin waa Juwara and Mr. Nyassi, as for Mr.Nyassi, he has
become a political victim that people are willing to use to justify any
political message. Fatou Ceesay is touting these guys as our new vanguards that
Mr. Sallah does not measure up to. How often do we Africans easily forget, and
repeat the same mistakes over and over again?  Both OJ Jallow and Waa Juwara,
are part of the Jawara regime, and as Mr. Saul khan indicated from his past
postings, a corrupt regime that was never interested in real development of our
country. These gentlemen did not do anything bold, nor have they contributed in
fighting against that oppressive status quo, instead they exploited it and
fought for the continuation of our socio-economic underdevelopment. Let us not
let our frightening experience with President Jammeh give us a temporary moment
of amnesia. Like I indicated in my previous postings that, every politician and
organization has to be judged on its own merit, and it seems our experience
today is making the politicians of yesteryear to suddenly become very palatable
(politically speaking). Like most opportunist Gambian politician, Mr. Waa Juwara
was introduced to the Gambian political scene in the late seventies, when he ran
as an independent candidate. He was a formidable candidate and lost to Mr.
Saihou Sabally by a close margin in Sabach Sanjal constituency. Like most
Gambian politicians of that generation, he managed to become part of the PPP
regime, and was comfortable with the status quo. Now he is considered a hero
because he is willing to fight against the people that deprived him of his
dream. The only thing I am convince with Mr. Juwara, is his willingness to fight
the Jammeh regime for depriving him of his political clout and social status,
and to call that a hero is rather rush to judgement with our annointment of
heroes. And to compare him with Mr. Sallah, who has always been driven by
principles, commitment, and what is in the interest of the Gambia, can only be
seen as disingenuous at best.  Remember that it is about consistency, beliefs,
commitment, and not politics of the moments.

OJ Jallow, a person I personally liked and admired. He has a tendency to be what
we called in the US, a populist politician, and a man of the people. But this
man has never done anything to fight a corrupt Jawara regime for thirty years,
very comfortable with the status quo. What has he actually done as an
Agriculture Minister, please let us judge the person on his record. A Fodau
Dusuba of what, carrying the Jawara Presidency on his shoulder while S/K east
buried in urine. To compare any of these politicians with Halifa is down right
dishonest

It is fair game to put all these politicians under the microscope and judge them
on their record. I fully support the lifting of the ban on all political
parties, and it would be interesting to see Mr. Jawara, Mr. Dibba, Mr. Jammeh,
Mr. Sallah, Mr. Darboe, and all the rest of the gang duke it out in the October
2001 elections, and let the Gambian people decide. Personally, none of these
guys come close to Halifa, in terms of having the honesty, the integrity, the
message and the program that can put the Gambia on a road to democracy,
political stability and socio-economic development.

These are the facts, and just the facts, Mam

Musa Jeng






saul khan wrote:

> Mrs/Ms Ceesay,
>
> You're one courageous lady to be saying on the List what you've said. In
> truth, I've received numerous private e-mail messages from Gambians living
> in Gambia, Scandinavia, Western Europe, South Africa and different parts of
> the US saying basically what you've said. Majority doesn't necessarily
> equate with being right, but if this were an election, Halifa has just lost
> his fourth bid. Simply, for every Jabou Joh or Musa Jeng, there are TEN
> Fatou Ceesays! And you're right on the money regarding the fact that we are
> not the first to raise these issues with Halifa, and we won't be the last.
> Some people seem to believe this whole debate is a conspiracy to sully the
> image of Halifa Sallah. Well, if it is, then god help Halifa because
> literally thousands of Gambians are in on the conspiracy! And it's the most
> diverse group of citizens you can think of: illiterate Market vendors, watch
> men, civil servants, politicians, students, professionals, and
> intellectuals. But somehow, we're all liars, hypocrites, and dishonorable
> people. If that makes sense, then sensibility has a whole new meaning.
>
> In any case, the debate lost steam not because of the intervention of
> pro-Halifa saboteurs, but because of Halifa's own intransigence. He has
> employed all types of tricks; from totally ignoring direct questions, to
> turning his own 1996 public pronouncements into a "logic" issue. This is
> someone who said he DID NOT see anything wrong with Yaya Jammeh turning the
> APFRC into a political party and running for office in '96. Asked about
> that, you saw how he turned the whole thing into a "logic" issue: "your
> crude logic tells you ..." What has MY logic got to do with what the man
> said in '96? Nothing! And it was the same style on the other issues. Yet, he
> is the one who has been consistently accusing us of insincerity.
>
> But to be honest, I've enjoyed the exchange. It showed me a part of Halifa
> Sallah that I had to see to believe. I have most of the exchanges on my
> Desktop folder, and I read thru some quite often for fun. Some of the
> tricks/mind games the man plays on people are hilarious. I'll leave you with
> my favorite [He was responding to one of my contentions:] "...ANYBODY WHO
> BELIEVES THAT IS EITHER GUILTY OF CLUMSY TRICKERY OR CRASS STUPIDITY." But
> wait a minute Lady, because Mr. Sallah is very Polite, for he continues "I
> HOPE NONE OF THAT APPLIES TO YOU." Great guy this man! You come to Jarra,
> and declare that all Jarrankas are fools, but even before your declaration
> sinks in, you try exempting the Alkalos. Here he is, giving me an "either
> or" choice, but simultaneously feigning politeness by hoping none of the
> choices applies to me! And he probably thinks I missed this. Well Mr.
> Sallah, I didn't. I had a field day! But Fatou, that has been the most
> revealing line for me throughout our exchange. Simply, it betrays the
> psychology of someone who likes to have it both ways, and thinks none will
> be the wiser. That's why I'll go with the Waa Juwaras, the Shingle Nyassis,
> and the OJs (Foday Dusuba of S/K East.)
>
> I thank you for your opinion.
>
> Good morning!
>
> Saul.
>
> ps. By the way, my mother loves to talk about Foday Dusuba. The story of
> Kebuteh is pretty familiar.
>
> >From: Ceesay Fatou <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Is it not Halifa sallah who is dwelling?
> >Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 16:37:14 GMT
> >MIME-Version: 1.0
> >
> ______________________________________________________
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