Beran, thanks once again. This is an interesting piece you have sent us
here. The Editors of the newspaper made a very shrewd observation. I can
understand why Yaya did not mention the elections time-table in his speech.
Like the Paper, what I am having difficulties with, is why the opposition
did not make the elections a focal point in their speeches. We all know that
Yaya and his cohorts are not interested in elections they know they are
going to lose if the elections are free and fair. That should explain why
Yaya did not mention anything about a time-table. Simply put, Yaya does not
want elections in 2001. His speeches talk about elections, all right. He was
giving us clear signals about how they are going to intimidate the
opposition and rig the elections (if there are any). There was a lot of
incoherent mumbo jumbo about the undesirability of democracy. There was
infantile tirade about how opposition candidates would not be allowed to
insult APRC officials. There was a lot of rhetoric about how opposition
elements will not be allowed to hide behind the ideals of democracy. To me,
these are code words for saying that there will be no free and fair
campaigns. What Yaya was saying was that, thuggery will be the order of the
day come election time. Yaya was sending his puppet, Roberts, a message
saying that Roberts should do everything possible to ensure that the
opposition cannot exercise their freedom of speech and association. So Yaya
is talking about elections, all right. He is sending us a message we do not
want to hear. A message we should not tolerate. Like the Paper said, Yaya
should have been busy talking about a time-table and modalities for a free
and fair elections. If am not mistaken, I think the British High
Commissioner was the only person that talked about elections in a (remotely)
deserving way. In my humble opinion, the opposition back home is doing
itself and the Gambian public a disservice by tolerating some of the
insanity that goes on in that society. The way things are going, I would not
be surprised if elections are not held this year. What is more troubling is
that I am also afraid that live will still go on as usual if Yaya decides to
thwart the will of the people. Case in point is the 2000 Local Government
elections. Yaya canceled those elections with impunity. Instead, his AG is
pushing legislation to ban Local Government elections altogether. Their
reasoning: we did not have such elections under Jawara. My point is, if they
want to maintain the status quo during Jawara's reign, then why stage a coup
in 1994? People want to move forward. The government is trying to take away
rights given to the people by the 1997 Constitution. It is no justification
to say that people did not have that right during the former regime. We are
talking about this regime. If come 2002 Yaya is still in power and there is
another student demonstration and this time around 100 children are
murdered, then all opposition leaders (including those of us outside The
Gambia) need to find other occupations. It is unacceptable that a mental
midget like Yaya should hold the whole country at ransom and deny people
their inalienable right to choose their leaders. We have to take our destiny
into our own hands and force Yaya out. Victory will not come on a plate
through an election. The opposition back home should realize that and work
with those abroad towards forcing Yaya out through the power of the people.
We must not have another April massacre and the numerous abductions and
incarceration without trial. We must not allow Yaya and his cronies to take
advantage of our farmers again. The way this government treats the most
vulnerable in the society, is despicable. They murder children, rape women
and steal from farmers. What kind of government will bring crooks that
cannot buy the groundnuts from our farmers and put the lives of our citizens
in jeopardy? To add insult to injury, when one points out the shortcomings
of the government viv-a-vis the farming community, Yaya apologists challenge
you (the critic) to buy the groundnut. What kind of nonsense is that? Is the
government now equating itself with ordinary citizens? I submit that before
Yaya and his cronies challenge their critics to buy the groundnut, they
should relinquish power to their critics and see whether they will be able
to get the job done. These people should be ashamed of themselves. We in the
opposition, have every right to criticize Yaya and his inept officials for
their failure yet again to deliver to the farmers. They are the ones in
power. They should deliver to the farmers. Taxpayers are paying them to do a
job. No taxpayer is paying Darboe or Halifa Sallah to ensure that they do
Yaya's job. So it is ridiculous to challenge opposition figures to do a job
that Yaya is being paid to do. Together with what taxpayers pay Yaya, he
steals money from us and when he is called upon to do his job, the moron
thinks he is doing us a favor. This is laughable. But I know it is not funny
to those farmers toiling under the sun back home or to those families that
lost their loved ones to this callous regime. I wished Gambians knew who
Yaya really is. Then we will all realize that we are suffering the brunt of
a very nasty fraud. Like I keep saying, these nonentities have nothing to
offer us. Any idiot can do a better job than Yaya did since he stole power
in 1994. In my book, the next regime will not have my support if the only
thing they can tell me is that they did better than Yaya or the Jawara
regime. Both these regimes failed the Gambian people. To do better than
them, is a very easy threshold to reach. To outdo a mental midget like Yaya,
who before 1994 could not even run a household, is no feat by any stretch of
the imagination.
Finally, I would respectfully urge the opposition to remain vigilant. Yaya
will not leave without a fight. The coward is surrounded by opportunists,
like Pap Cheyassin Secka, Amadou Samba, Saja Taal, Sedat Jobe et al, who are
a lot smarter than him and will use Yaya's thuggery to intimidate ordinary
Gambians. We should take this people on. I for one have resolved to pursue
means other than elections to get rid of Yaya. I will continue in my
endeavor to convince other associates that it is a waste of time to wait for
elections to remove Yaya.
KB



>From: "Jeng, Beran" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: FWD:Good Morning Mr. President, We Are In An Election Year
>Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 07:37:27 -0500
>
>Good Morning Mr. President, We Are In An Election Year!
>
>  The Point (Banjul)
>
>EDITORIAL
>January 8, 2001
>
>Banjul
>
>Mr. President, Gambians and the world at large were expecting you to
>address the
>issue of this year's programmed elections in your New Year message, but
>they
>were all disappointed. There was no word about the said elections, although
>you
>outlined other issues that your government intends to address in 2001.
>
>Prior to your message, precisely before it hit the airwaves, President
>Eyadema
>blamed the Electoral Commission of Togo for being late in its programming
>of the
>elections. Another African head of state also opened the floodgates for
>their
>election agenda.
>
>The above is meant to explain how these issues are important in the life of
>a
>nation. We are not asking for the impossible nor the unconventional; what
>we are
>saying here is that all your programmes would be nothing without the
>mandate
>from the people through their votes, hence the importance of the issue of
>elections.
>
>You just laid emphasis on your achievements and plans for agriculture,
>health,
>education, communication, road construction, youths etc. etc. But all these
>are
>subject to the outcome of the proposed 2001 elections, which ensure
>continuity
>or otherwise.
>
>You should have alerted your fellow citizens, your administration, the
>bodies
>charged with the issue and the international community for their support in
>this
>area.
>
>Such a segment of your speech could have included an update on the
>situation at
>the Electoral Commission depicting your government's commitment to the
>dates set
>by the former leadership of the body. This is very important as it relates
>to an
>issue that is exercising the minds of Gambians and, more importantly, it
>casts a
>shadow of doubt on your commitment to free and fair elections. In the same
>vein,
>you could have also declared without any ambiguity your own commitment to
>free
>and fair elections.
>
>We believe that you are the first President who had failed to mention in
>his
>message for the New Year an important happening such as a national election
>scheduled for that same year. Where were your advisers? Or don't you have
>advisers? Or maybe, as rumoured, do you act in isolation - as implied by
>the
>Secretary for Justice when he said that you do not need to consult Cabinet
>about
>certain issues.
>
>Coming from a lawyer, such a statement is alarming, for it is an admission
>that
>those who surround you are not doing justice to their jobs as servants of
>the
>nation.
>
>Collective responsibility is and has been the name of the game in all
>governments. People who serve in governments must have honour and dignity,
>and
>if these are not respected, they should honourably bow out and seek other
>jobs.
>
>Coming back to the issue of the Election Year, as the President and the
>Chief
>Executive of the nation you should have led the way in making
>pronouncements
>about this our Election Year. But, for there is a but, the Opposition also
>failed to do the same.
>
>WE hope that this mishap be corrected by all those concerned as soon as
>possible.
>
>Good Morning!
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
>Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>You may also send subscription requests to
>[log in to unmask]
>if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your
>full name and e-mail address.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------