Hamjatta, allow me to go further and say that the whole country (except
Foni) is for PRESIDENT DARBOE. Samba Faal’s and Tombong’s pathetic attempts
to spread untruth through Observer (APRC Daily) is yet another manifestation
of the desperation of these people. I thank you for showing them that Yaya
CANNOT win Banjul. The ISSUES that affect Banjul are NOT in Yaya’s favor.
That is a sound basis for political punditry. One does NOT just wake up like
mental midgets like Tombong, Fatoumatta Jahumpa and Samba Faal, and say that
Yaya is going to win with a landslide. That conclusion has to be premised on
sound grounds.

Earlier on this week I alluded to this ‘Oko-marabout’ meeting in Banjul
organized by Kofi-Harris. The meeting was a total flop. This so-called
well-attended rally they are talking about, attracted less than 100 people.
Contrast that with the Alliance rally that attracted (thousands) crowds at
‘Tati-Park’ from Primet to Ingram (under the rain). Of course the people of
Banjul are NOT going to vote for Banjul. They suffered the brunt of
AFPRC/APRC misrule and brutality. The dismemberment of the civil service
affected more families in the urban area. The massacre of our children
affected more families in the urban area. The flamboyance and corruption of
the AFPRC/APRC (from ill-gotten gains) is more visible to people in the
urban area. People in the urban area know that the streets of Banjul were
paved before Yaya stole power. The vermin CANNOT steal those ‘projects’.
When price of fuel goes up because the government increased the tax on fuel,
it is the urbanites that feel it most. Only slaves in the urban area will
follow Yaya around and sing his praises. And I can tell you that some of
these people will NOT even vote for Yaya when they are in the lonely
confines of the voting booth. Some of these people are just opportunists
that are too scared to dissociate themselves from Yaya. I can guarantee you
that people that know Samba Faal well will tell you that when they talk to
Faal, he tells them that he is NOT an APRC fanatic. This man evinced the
same loyalty for James Gomez (former mayor of Banjul) as he is parading for
Yaya now. These people have very shaky principles. Clearly, Yaya CANNOT win
on the ISSUES.

But moving from Banjul up country. Yaya will be lucky to poll 20% in URD.
Hamjatta, reports reaching us say that when Darboe arrived at Dampha Kunda
(at 2 a.m.) there were throngs waiting to welcome him at that LATE hour.
Darboe was overwhelmed by the support and almost wept. Brother, Yaya is
FINISHED. Although the Alliance was prevented from going further into URD
because of alleged ferry problems, there is NO DOUBT that URD is Darboe
Country. I pause here to note a pattern with this ‘ferry problem’ business.
There were reports that Hamat Bah could NOT make the crossing because the
ferry had a problem. Now the Alliance CANNOT make the crossing because the
ferry had a problem. I hope this is NOT a deliberate ploy by Yaya stooges at
the ferry to prevent Opposition leaders from campaigning like the Jolas are
preventing people from campaigning in Foni.

This CANNOT stop the momentum for change in URD. Brother, the ‘benevolent
Yaya’ gave 200 thousand dalasis (D200,000) to one village in URD. The wise
villagers accepted the money knowing that it actually belonged to them in
the first place and then turn around and gave the money to the Alliance. The
message the villagers sent to Yaya is that they do NOT need ‘his money’. Our
people need FREEDOM. People need for Yaya and his thugs to stop holding the
country hostage.

Yaya is also FINISHED in LRD. Although he ‘gave’ D45,000 to voters in LRD,
the people will REPUDIATE him on October 18, 2001. This BRIBERY will NOT
work. The fundamental problems of our farmers CANNOT be taken care of by
these hand-outs. Since Yaya has lost the battle up country, let us see what
he is going to manage in the Kombos. I understand that one million dalasis
(out of his nine million dalasis war-chest) has been earmarked for the
Kombos. I say to the people of Kombo, do like your brothers and sisters in
URD. Take the money knowing that it is yours to begin with. BUT NEVER vote
for him because of the money.

In order to anticipate the LIES of Yaya’s propaganda machinery about the
turn-outs at their rallies, I respectfully urge Alliance supporters to have
envoys at these rallies to guage the ‘crowds’. I heard that the people of
Sanyang said that when Yaya comes to town, they would go to the beach for a
picnic and NOT attend his rally. I say to them, leave some few folks behind
to tell us how many bus-loads Yaya brought to town from Foni.

You move from Sanyang to Gunjur and word is that the APRC chairman in the
region has resigned from his post. Such defections prompted Yaya to declare
openly that he trusts no one except TWO chiefs (Alhaji Tabora Manneh and
Eric Tunde Janneh). Mind you, he hand-picked most of these chiefs and was
relying heavily on their support. Now he is saying that he does NOT trust
any chief in the country.

Hamjatta, as you can tell, Yaya is FINISHED. Now the hostage-taker is held
hostage by vested interests surrounding him. I sincerely believe that left
to Yaya alone, he would bolt. He believes he has enough money to lead a
‘flamboyant’ lifestyle in Cuba. But if he bolts what would people like
Edward Singhateh, Yankuba Touray, Tombong, Fatoumatta Jahumpa etc., do?
KB


>From: Hamjatta Kanteh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Banjul is for President Darbo
>Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 07:44:58 EDT
>
>Only the Daily Observer will - with the aid of desperate APRC spin meisters
>-
>proclaim Banjul as APRC territory. Given what APRC did to innocent Gambian
>students in April last year, only a desperate fabricator will venture
>against
>evidence into saying that Banjul is APRC territory and not an Alliance one.
>As a "waa Banjul", and knowing full well the city's problems and how Jammeh
>manipulated these in his early days as a military ruler; and how his empty
>promises have evaporated into nothingness as Banjulians continue to be
>deprived and repressed; i can say and, indeed, confirm that Banjul is for
>President Darbo and the Alliance.  Consider the person who proclaimed that
>Banjul is for Jammeh - Mayor Samba Faal. Had Banjul been an APRC
>stronghold,
>why then has the party hold out on the slated but much delayed mayoral
>elections, that Samba Faal is said to be front runner for the APRC ticket?
>The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. APRC delayed the
>local government elections because it knew precisely that it was heading
>for
>an electoral routing that will all but leave it in tatters - morally and
>electorally.
>
>Under this APRC regime, Banjulians - especially, the youths - continue to
>be
>at the receiving end of their maladministration, corruption and repressive
>acts. Through Jammeh's politics of envy, the youths of Banjul have become
>the
>targets of all sorts of victimisation - be it in the APRC's attempts to
>leave
>the country for overseas or their general freedoms to be, as Jammeh sent
>his
>paramilitary outfits on the rampage against the youths. The long-term
>unemployment of the Gambia, which is as a result of Jammeh' slash-and-burn
>economic policies, has not spared the youths of Banjul. Without any source
>of
>legitimate income to survive on, Banjulians have largely resorted to
>travelling abroad to ameliorate both their personal and family
>circumstances.
>But Jammeh - ever the envious and hypocritical politician - is discouraging
>and constraining this trend. Ironically not through helping the youths get
>good jobs; rather, through making travelling abroad more difficult, and in
>instances ridiculously accusing the Opposition of master-minding the mass
>exodus of youths to foreign countries in search of better. Nowhere has
>Jammeh's policy towards "waa Banjul" become more sinister than when he
>starts
>pitting Banjulians against the some regions of the country, which to a
>large
>extent is responsible for much of the hostilities that continues to exist
>between the security forces and Banjul youths. This unfortunate trend is
>now
>becoming part of the urban scene.
>
>When Jammeh unveiled Arse 22, as Prince O'Brien rightly calls it, he
>ignorantly claimed that it will come to symbolise Banjul's new status as a
>great city. Yet, Arse 22 continues to stand as a monolithic nonsense white
>elephant project in the entrance of Banjul. The nonsense and worthless
>structure has come to represent APRC's maladministration, repression and
>lawlessness. Arse 22 has contributed nothing to Banjul's socio-economic
>renewal; rather, Banjulians look at the worthless and nonsense white
>elephant
>structure and sigh with frustration as per how the monies squandered into
>the
>white elephant project could have been best utilised for socio-economic
>regeneration of the city's dilapidated economic life. Today, Arse 22 has
>come
>to symbolise Jammeh's waste, graft and mismanagement of our dear country,
>the
>Gambia, as poor Banjulians and the rest of the country continue to be
>deprived and repressed.
>
>Clearly there is an alternative to Jammeh's corruption, maladministration
>and
>repression. Banjulians have a great choice in voting for President Darbo
>and
>Alliance, who continue to show that they have what it takes to help the
>poor
>regardless of social origin, religious creed, ethicity or any other
>irrelevant characteristic. Banjulians should, therefore, now seize the
>opportunity and give Darbo a chance to help turn things around for the
>better. A vote for Darbo is a vote for liberal decency, tolerance and
>progress.
>
>Hamjatta Kanteh
>
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