Dear Mr. Forster,
In case you haven't heard, at least 12 school children
have lost their lives in The Gambia and as a result
the entire country and friends of The Gambia around
the world are in mourning. I consider your posting to
be ill-timed and in poor taste to say the least. I am
not being rude, just brutally frank.
Sidi Sanneh


--- Thomas Forster <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> I forwarded Ebrima's piece on poverty eradication to
> a friend who is
> a Ugandan and below is his response.
>
> Tom
>
> ***********************
>
>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> This is my response to Ebima. I don't know how well
> he
> understands Ugandan history. But if he does then he
> misrepresented the facts. There is no double
> standards on this
> issue by the west. In Uganda today, we enjoy the
> best African type
> of democracy. To say  that Uganda is a one party
> state shows how
> little he understands our system of government. We
> don't have
> parties. All party activities are banned. We all
> belong to a
> movement system whereby anyone is allowed to stand
> for office on
> his/her own merit rather than voting so and so
> because he/she is
> from labour party rather than Alliance despite
> his/her short-
> comings. We vote according to capability. Is the
> individual
> capable? If by any chance he/she is incapable for
> one reason or
> the other, the electorate has the right to recall by
> a vote of no
> confidence. Other than the government, where else in
> the world
> does this type of democracy exist. Not even at the
> cradle of it in
> UK where you can change parties and still represent
> the people
> who did not vote for you.
> >
> > And talking about Western double standards, let me
> inform you that
> > while your Foreign Minister, Robin Cook, is
> calling on President
> > Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to hold multi-party
> elections in Zimbabwe in
> > May 2000, as scheduled, there is in fact a country
> in Africa, Uganda,
> > which is still a one-party state, and yet, as far
> as I know, Mr Cook
> > is not saying anything about it.
> >
> > In Uganda, opposition parties are banned, but the
> West has never
> > complained about it. In fact, didn't President
> Bill Clinton visit
> > Uganda in 1999, during his Africa tour? Well, let
> me now tell you why
> > the West refuses to take President Museveni of
> Uganda to task: The
> > Western Governments like President Museveni
> because he is a strong
> > defender/proponent of IMF and World policies in
> Africa, period.
>  To say that President Clinton also visited Uganda
> in 1999 is
> another sign that Ebima does not understand what
> takes place in
> Uganda. I think there few African leaders who can
> take a stance
> and stick to it. In uganda there have been some IMF
> policies which
> the government has refused to implement and some
> which have
> been reenegotiated. So it is a matter of leaders
> standing up and
> explaining in unequivocal terms to the west what
> they want. The
> west will listen.
> Another reason is that since 1971 Uganda has been in
> turmoil until
> 1986 when Museveni came to power. It is the same
> parties which
> were involved so with their participation in
> violence how can
> someone be sympathetic.
> In 1996, there was presidential elections whereby
> anyone was
> allowed to stand, Museveni won.
>
> Freedom of speech is very important and anyone can
> say what
> she/he likes so some opposition politicians have won
> seats and
> sad bad things about Museveni, but they still live
> in Uganda, not in
> prison as it used to be, so how can someone who
> understands our
> history advocate for political parties?
> >
> > Anyway, let me conclude on a brighter observation;
> by saying that in
> > any case, those of us who are here, should, all
> the same, thank God,
> > because despite all these minuses in Western
> Societies that I have
> > cited, ranging from abject poverty, multiple
> crimes to homelessness,
> > the Western World, in my honest view, still offers
> more opportunities
> > for man than other places in the world.
> Doesn't the above paragraph really say much about
> his inclination?
> >
> > Yes, the system here doesn't favour minorities,
> especially blacks, but
> > one can still find consolation in the fact that a
> man/woman can push
> > some of these prejudices and discrimination behind
> him/her and do well
> > for himself and his family.
> >
>
>
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