Hamjatta,

I found your last piece very stimulating -intellectually. And like Halifa
pointed out, one may totally disagree with what you have to say, but you
sure know how to get people on their toes. In general, we agree more than we
disagree about PDOIS and Halifa vis-a-vis Yaya Jammeh. But having just read
Halifa's reply, I think you should let the gentleman go. Just cease fire.
This is simply because, they(PDOIS)are engaged in more things than politics
as pointed out by Halifa. When I met Halifa last May, I was struck by how
much older than his age he looks. I suppose the gentleman sleeps very little
for the fact that he's trying to do a thousand and one things at once:
school admn, Foroyaa running, Letters to xyz, etc. To be honest, I really
wonder how the man juggles all that act. There are some things that one
simply cannot fake. Nothing precipitates quick aging than stress. So, from a
personal stand point, there's no need to add to that unless one has to.

So what next? Do what I did! When I met Halifa in DC, we agreed to disagree
on the issues where we don't see eye-to-eye, and move on. It's for that
reason that I resolved to abstain from distracting him. He really has more
important things to do. Let's just accept the fact that we have different
views of Yaya Jammeh and how to deal with him. Let Halifa continue his quest
his way, and some of us who are clearly less patient/tolerant can find other
appropriate outlets. Maybe, some day when you've graduated, and Halifa is a
co-prof at Gambia University, we'll have the chance to witness a fruitful
debate on national TV. Nothing would be more stimulating. But right now, the
timing is simply not right. Even as I write this, Yaya Jammeh's boys are out
terrorizing citizens for no reason. Who knows what sad news we'll read in
tomorrow morning's papers? So, in the scheme of things, we're spending too
much time on the one dollar issue when the one Million dollar one is
waiting.

And regarding the debate, I thought it was a joke from the word "go." I
mean, what is there to accomplish? You're talking about a few hours meeting
(two, three, fours hours? The sure thing you can bet your life on is that
when they say "come at 2pm," most of the audience -probably including some
of the main proponents, would not show up until 3:30pm.) So Halifa takes an
hour, and you take an hour. Meanwhile, the owners of the hall/venue are
getting impatient b/c the meeting was to have ended two hours ago! Get my
point? But, basically get this: anybody who isn't convinced by any of you to
side with you after all these exchanges, won't be convinced by a few hours
debate. And that is for the fence-sitters. From what I'm seeing, most of the
people planning to attend have already chosen sides! So, this debate is
nothing but an "event" that would offer them the opportunity to reinforce
whatever preconceptions they already have. Read the transcript of Nelson
Mandela's Rivonia trial in the early 60s vis-a-vis the judge's role, and
you'll get my point. The verdict is already set. And I mean on both sides.
Like most debates, each debator's supporters in this one, will be looking
for inconsistencies in the other's utterances. Hardly anything will change.
So, why not just meet the gentleman and have a thorough one-on-one, to
establish/disagree on some things?

On the L, most issues get blown out of proportions, or taken out of context
in my view. Like Halifa alluded to, it's not fair to paint him, or diehard
PDOIS supporters into neat little boxes. The man is a little more complex
than that, and some of the diehards aren't that simple. But equally, it's
unfair for the supporters to dismiss you as someone who just jumps up to
criticize baselessly. These are both very convenient ways of examining
rather complex issues. Your views regarding Halifa's treatment of Yaya
-especially, are not totally wacky. I'll give you a first hand example.

When I was approaching Halifa at the Park where the ALD rally was held last
May, I was beaten to him by a lady. What ensued next took me by total
surprise. That woman said a lot of very unflattering things about Yaya
Jammeh, what he's doing home, and PDOIS's "relationship" with him. I was
really stunned, because she was very blunt, and absolutely convinced of what
she was saying, which in not so many words, was what some of us took Mr.
Sallah to task for on this List. And when this woman finished her "sermon,"
she turned her back on Halifa, and the gentleman had to literally rush and
hold unto her arms to get her to hear his side of the story. And even then,
she clearly wasn't convinced.

For a moment, I thought the woman was "corrupted" by us on the L. So I
approached her, and introduced myself. Her name is Tuku Jallow; yes, she's
new to the US; yes, she has a problem with PDOIS b/c of how they've been
supporting (her words,) Yaya Jammeh; no, she has NEVER been on the Net; yes,
she's in America b/c of Yaya's tribalism/nepotism; yes, she was fired from
her job at some bank in Banjul, etc, etc. When I spoke to her, she was with
four gentlemen including a former Director, and they were all in agreement
with what the woman was saying.

Question: if Hamjatta is such a quixotic critic, how does one explain why a
Tuku Jallow, who has never been on the Net, reflect similar views that he
keeps repeating? The woman is clearly not the bookish type. (Those who doubt
the encounter can ask Mr. Sallah to tell them the story.) I was just two
feet away, and I've never seen any Gambian woman who's so blunt in a
face-to-face exchange.

So, my whole take on Halifa is that the man made some mistakes in his
approach towards Yaya Jammeh. While he wisely passed up a cabinet spot, and
challenged degrees on principles, he said some wrong things when some of us
who realized our foolishness that we've been duped woke up to the fact. And
like I pointed out to Halifa before, his failure to admit that mistake is
what fuels these criticisms. What should have been chucked down to
experience as a "honest mistake" swirls around for want of culpability.

Because my twelve-hour day has taken it's toll on me, I can't think clearly
any more. So, I'm urging Hamjatta to desist the critiques for now. Saying
this, I feel like Comrade Jassey-Conteh, but there is a lot of wisdom in his
advice. We should just accept each others' positions and move on to fight
Yaya Jammeh the best way we know how. Blame any incoherence on a sleepy
brain.

Good night.

Saul.


Hamjatta,
>
>I see that you are becoming a tactician and a strategist for the
>transformation of The Gambia. When will you come home to lead your people
>to


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