Mr. Ceesay, you are quoting me out of context. What i am trying to say is
that we have to try our cases in court first before we assume that the
judges will not give a fair verdict. If Taf construction is awarded
ownership and development right on our land we will sue both State Land
Department and Taf Construction for wrong doing. If we believe that the
supreme court is unfair in their judgment, we will continue our case when a
competent judiciary is in place. Since Taf Construction is a fictitious
legal entity in The Gambia, we can pursue this land dispute even the next
hundred years. We are not dealing with Tafa Njie as a person. Going back to
elections, it would have been interesting if a Gambian or a political party
contest the last presidential result in court. Trial is nor failure, event
or history!

Mr. Ceesay, the message i am trying to put across in my previous postings is
that both counting systems are safe under the current conduct of election
procedures. It does warrant a boycott if the oppositions have
representatives at polling and counting centers. What really calls for an
immediate withdrawal and or boycott of elections, is the unfair campaign
practices. The opposition seems to be overlooking this fact. We should fight
for equal access to public media, places and vehicles, Soldies, NIA and
other security forces should not intimidate or use force during campaign, we
should ensure that only Gambians are registered, etc. If we work out our
campaign carefully and more importantly, this would-be opposition alliance,
victory is in our hand.

Personally, i am really impress about our electoral system.

Hey, next time, please paste my whole sentence or paragraph when making
comments or reference to them. That will give a clear picture to your
readers.
I will love to continue with this debate when the opposition alliance thing
is over. That seems to be the most burning issue presently. I also have a
lot of paper works about last presidential election in The Gambia and i will
scan and send them on the L later.
I know where the loop holes are Mr. Ceesay, not with counting or
transportion of ballot boxes.
Cheers
LPF Manneh

>From: Ousman Ceesay <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Att. Mr.Ceesay and Dampha- on-spot counting of votes
>Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 23:28:02 EDT
>
>In a message dated 8/16/01 4:03:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
>
> > the opposition alliance will lost the forthcoming presidential
> > election. And who to blame, innocent IEC officials.
> >
>
>Manneh
>
>I am not putting an iota of blame on IEC officials. I know for a fact that
>IEC officials..the majority of which  on election day are recent school
>graduates, are hard working people with noble ideas for our country. I
>never
>point a finger at the IEC during any of our dialog so don't put words in my
>mouth. What I have been trying to put across all this time is the
>experience
>I had during the referendum with the officer commanding Mansa Konko. Not
>once
>did I mention that the then PIEC is complicit in any wrong doing.
>
>Talking of pathetic isn't it ridiculous that you can only count a single
>instance where the judicial system ruled against the government in an
>election case. If our judicial system is as independent as you would like
>folks to believe, then why in the world is it taking them forever to even
>render a decision in the case of Bishop Johnson? This case you would agree
>with me goes to the very core of the constitutional provision that
>establish
>the independence of the IEC.
>
>Furthermore you know very well that the judiciary is at the mercy of the
>government and to say otherwise is just mind boggling to me especially
>coming
>from someone like you who a couple of weeks ago was fighting to keep his
>ancestral land from been illegally grab by the government. Why didn't you
>trust the courts to settled this matter now instead of talking about legal
>action under a future government? Talk about trusting the judiciary to rule
>against the government huh!
>
>You can sugarcoat all you want but any reasonable person following events
>in
>the Gambia understands that leaving the courts to decide any dispute in the
>presidential elections ala Florida will not happen because it will never
>get
>that far and if it those no decision detrimental to the government will be
>rendered.
>
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