Do not let them turn you mean, Kebba, though I
understand the anger . . .

If they want your clothes, let them have them
If they want your shoes, them them have them
If they demand your blood, let it bleed
But if they want you dignity, they must not have it
If you must fall as we all may, never fall upon your
   knees

****Longspear***

--- Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Since I joined the list, I have read your postings
> with interest and admired
> some of your invaluable contributions. I don't think
> anyone on the list or
> who follows your activities vis-a-vis the Gambian
> community doubt your
> sincerity in wanting to bring about change in The
> Gambia in a peaceful and
> democratic way. I commend your efforts with Senator
> Feingold. Having said
> that, I wish to lodge my disagreement with some of
> the methods you advance
> for getting rid of Yaya. In particular, I take issue
> with your denunciation
> of Colley and Jatta for advocating that Yaya should
> be removed by all means
> necessary. To further your argument, you tried to
> make a distinction between
> the use of force and the treat of force in Yaya's
> overthrow of Jawara. I
> think that was just semantics. The truth of the
> matter is, Yaya used
> unconstitutional means to overthrow a democratically
> elected government at a
> time when Gambians had a better opportunity to get
> rid of the government
> through a free and fair election. Am sure some
> people will take issue with
> my last assertion. So I want to save their time by
> just stating a few facts
> here. At a later date, I can debate anyone who want
> to convince me that we
> couldn't have removed Jawara through elections.
> Wade's recent elections
> victory in Senegal shows that the benefits of
> incumbency are surmountable by
> effective opposition persevering over the years.
> Secondly, I have seen top
> PPP candidates lose elections in The Gambia.
> Moreover, the PPP candidates
> would petition the courts to overturn elections of
> opposition candidates and
> still lose those petitions. That's all I would say
> here and would challenge
> anyone who want to tell me that elections were not
> free and fair in Gambia
> before Yaya. Right after Yaya took over, I was in
> The Gambia and watched in
> amazement as PhDs in The U.S. blinded by their
> hatred for Jawara jumped on
> the Yaya bandwagon and condoned the changes. Don't
> get me wrong. I don't
> like the Jawara regime either and was saddened by
> the fact that cronies like
> Saihou Sabally begged him to return to politics
> after he decided to retire.
> In my humble opinion, this was the beginning of the
> end of peace and
> tranquillity in our beloved country. Going back to
> the issue at hand, I know
> it is unfortunate to have to resort to advocating
> the use of force in order
> to remove Yaya. I share your sentiments here which
> is why I consistently
> opposed the Yaya regime from the first day they took
> over the country. But
> apart from the fact that Yaya has to be taught a
> lesson, now more than ever,
> it is virtually impossible to get rid of Yaya
> through constitutional means.
> Look at Sierra Leone for instance. Giving Mada Biyo
> a big pension and asylum
> in the United States did not do much, if anything
> for the Sierra Leoneans.
> What you had, was another gang taking over the
> government and demanding to
> be given scholarships to go abroad and study. That's
> the mentality of these
> people. They are prepared to do anything if they
> know they can get away with
> it. Laws of nature teaches us that with patience and
> perseverance,
> everything comes to an end. I have no doubt in my
> mind that Yaya will meet a
> brutal end in The Gambia. But believe me ….if he
> knows that he can kill and
> torture people and steal money from the country and
> retire to Kanilai
> without punishment, he will continue the murder
> spree. People like Colly and
> Jatta are needed in order to keep Yaya a little
> honest. They give him
> sleepless nights which our rhetoric and emails and
> petitions cannot do in a
> million years. So I say …..don't condemn Colly and
> Jatta or people who
> espouse their views. And lastly, what Yaya did on
> July 22, 1994 should be
> condemned in no uncertain terns. No academic
> justification should be sought
> for it. Let's call a spade a spade. Taking over the
> government the way he
> did was wrong. The only reason people weren't killed
> was because the
> Americans evacuated Jawara to their military vessel
> and he agreed to go
> without trying to fight back. It was not because
> Yaya and his gang were
> peace lovers or deserve credit for the lack of
> bloodshed. Again, I hold no
> brief for the Jawara regime. But I think people like
> Colly and Jatta should
> not be condemned for advocating the removal of Yaya
> by all means necessary.
>
> >From: "Katim S. Touray" <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing
> list
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: SOLDIERS OF THE GAMBIA ARMY
> >Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 01:40:48 -0700
> >
> >Hi folks,
> >
> >Despite the fact that I REALLY should be going to
> bed, I decided to send in
> >a comment or two about this e-mail I'm replying to,
> and also others that
> >preceeded it.
> >
> >First, I'm alarmed by the following, and previous
> e-mail messages from
> >Landing Jatta, as well as Mr. Ebou Colly.  While I
> whole-heartedly endorse
> >their calls for President Jammeh to go, I am firmly
> opposed to the idea
> >that
> >once again, we have to force to efffect change in
> our country.  We should
> >have known that almost all benefits that came our
> way by virtue of Jammeh
> >overthrowing Jawara (not by force, but by the
> threat of it) would be wiped
> >away by the constant possibility that many other
> soldiers would take their
> >cueue from him, and do like him, whenever they got
> dissatisfied.  It seems
> >that postings from these two are tell-tale signs of
> rumblings that cannot
> >be
> >encouraged.
> >
> >Without a doubt, the military and their sister
> agencies can have a role in
> >ending the Jammeh government.  However, the best
> service they can render
> >our
> >country would not be to cause more bloodshed (no
> matter whose blood) but to
> >make sure that President Jammeh would NEVER be able
> to use them to
> >terrorize
> >our citizenry, and even kill them.  I think if we
> ever get to the stage
> >where Jammeh knows that he cannot count on his
> troops to execute his
> >inhumane orders (whether they are issue directly or
> indirectly) we then
> >would be at the dawn of a new era in The Gambia.
> >
> >Given the above, I think efforts at involving
> Gambian security forces in
> >working toward the end of the Jammeh government
> should be along more
> >creative and less traditional lines.  First, they
> have families, and as
> >such
> >we can work toward reaching out to the general
> population to constantly
> >work
> >on convincing their relatives in the Army and
> Security forces that they
> >should never again be used by Jammeh to kill
> people, improperly imprison
> >them, or harass them.  Such a campaign can be
> one-on-one, private (between
> >relatives), and certainly beyond the reach of
> Jammeh and his people.
> >
> >Second, I am very interested in the idea of making
> the security forces
> >realize that their long-term interests cannot be
> met by Jammeh.  For
> >example, when a global lobbying campaign against
> Jammeh is launched, it
> >should also include a component that targets the
> perks and previlidges of
> >the security forces.  This way, they will be made
> to realize that they
> >cannot enjoy the good life (at least not for long)
> as
=== message truncated ===

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