Hi folks,

I'm glad to report that I was finally able to update the "Framework for change" posting I sent to the list last May.  I will be sending the update in a seperate e-mail titled "The Gambia:  Another African tragedy in the making?"  Please take a look at it, and send me any comments or suggestions you have about making it better.
 
Before I get to a brief introduction of my update, I would like to make some a number of personal observations.  First, I am, like a lot of people, terribly disappointed that the Gambian parliament rejected a motion to investigate the crude oil deal that President Jammeh was involved in.  It is especially sad for me to read remarks made by Majority Leader Tamsir Jallow, to the effect that it would not have been in the national interest to investigate the oil deal, and further, that the documents submitted in support of the case for investigating the deal were not credible.
 
Mr. Jallow was my Biology teacher at Armitage High School, and I still remember very vividly his teaching us photosynthesis.  It is really tragic that somebody like Mr. Jallow, whom I have held in high esteem has managed to be compromised by the Jammeh government, and resort to making public statements that plain empty.  And this is yet another example of the tragedy that is the Yahya Jammeh government.  So many people have compromised their principles in the interest of this or that position or title they have come to enjoy in the Jammeh government.  What they fail to realize is that they are not talking to fools, and furthermore, the pronouncements they make in public will forever haunt them.  Not that people are going be very vindictive against them.  Rather, they will have to live with themselves when this government comes to pass, and they will have a hard time looking people in the eye.

I was also amazed when I read the "Observer" report that Mr. Jallow claimed that the motion to investigate the crude oil deal was politically motivated.  I mean, would someone kindly tell Mr. Jallow that they are all politicians, and EVERYTHING they do and say in their parliament IS politically motivated.  They are not saints.  Furthermore, if Mr. Jallow really wanted to do a great service to President Jammeh, and back up the claim that they are all for accountability, he should have wholeheartedly support any and all efforts to establish the truth once and for all.
 
Raymond Sock is also another person who's name has been coming up, and reminds me of my Armitage High School days.  Ray taught me English Language, but what I remember most about him at Armitage is the fact that he introduced me to Carlos Santana.  The album is called "Abraxas" (I found out from the Santana Web site, http://www.santana.com), and the tracks I remember most are "Black Magic Woman" and "Samba Pa Ti."  I recall visiting his house one day, and found the then young kid he had, Brian, taking a sip of beer!  Ray told me the last time we talked in Banjul (at Pa Njie's shop at Leman Street) that Brian had married, and was infact a family man! (if I recall correctly).  To have someone like Ray be at the service of Yahya Jammeh is just one more dagger into the heart of every one who knows him, and loves The Gambia.  I'm glad to hear that his wife is leaning on him to get out of this government. 

I must also mention the case of Mr. Cherno Barra Touray, who at least one subscriber has written asking whether he was the same Cherno Touray that taught Physical Education at Armitage High.  The answer to the question is a "yes," and furthermore, it is the same Cherno Touray that many Gambians call "Law" after Dennis Law, the famed Scottish football player.  Mr. Touray was also a Director of the Dept. of Youths, Sports and Culture, and is presently the Commissioner of the Central River Division, and based in Janjanbureh (what we used to call Georgetown).
 
Mr. Touray's name came up in the inquiry into the April killings, and specifically when one officer testified that he was informed by Mr. Touray that President Jammeh had ordered that demonstrators should be shot.  Ofcourse, Mr. Touray has since gone on the record as denying saying anything like that.  A position that is perfectly understandable in the circumstances.  This case also demonstrates the sloppiness, and un-professionalism with which the Jammeh government operates.  When it comes to any order of significance, especially when lives are involved, one would expect that everything would be in writing.  Evidently, this simple, common sense, and the-rule-of-law way of doing things was either lost on Jammeh's government officials, or they did not bother.
 
For those of you who don't know, Mr. Touray is my uncle.  Again, that he is in the service of the Jammeh government is yet another example of the success that President Jammeh as had in exploiting and capitalizing on peoples insecurity, and their need to sustain their families.  Anyone who has been paying attention to postings that have been sent on the list would have immediately realized how so many of us have relatives who are serving in the Jammeh government.  Be that as it may, we have no choice but to remain steadfast in our resolve to speak the truth as we see it.  In the end, it all boils down to the fact that a total commitment to what's best for The Gambia comes before whatever personal relationships we might have.
 
May I also mention that I am deeply disturbed by postings that refer to President Jammeh as being after this or that ethnic group.  Even if these allegations were true, it would be a great disservice to the Gambian people to stoop so low to that level of political discourse.  A lot of Gambians have no idea how blessed we are with a blindness toward ethnic identities, especially when compared to other countries.  For example, I am culturally a Wollof, but historically a Mandinka (even though they'll kill me in Ballanghar if I make too much of that!).  For this reason, it would be a waste of time and effort for me to choose one group over the other because I belong to both.  I infact never learned to speak Mandinka until I went to Armitage High School.  In contrast to what obtains in The Gambia, you can tell with 99.99999% certainty what ethnic group a Nigerian, for example, belongs to simply from his or her name.  So I say, please let's deal with President Jammeh for what he is, and not for what he is trying to drag us into.

By the way, I would like to share a Web link I found last year, when I researched the Internet to write my open letter to President Jammeh.  The site is at http://pages.prodigy.net/jtell/Civilwar.html and details the rise and fall of Liberia's late Samuel K. Doe. I never forgot the page, and was fortunate to find it again.  Infact it's the first link that comes up when you search for "samuel doe" on the http://www.go.com Web site.  The Liberian civil war page shows a picture of Doe and 3 of his friends in their happier days.  Over time, all three were executed on the orders of Doe, who himself was executed by his captors during the Liberian civil war.  As the saying goes, he who lives by the sword, dies by it.
 
The lesson for us here is that we must do all we can to avoid the catastrophe that Liberia descended into because of Doe's rule, and it's aftermath.  Like I always tell my friends, it's almost 10 years since Doe died, and Liberia is still a mess.  We will be well advised to ensure that when President Jammeh goes, our country will be better off for it, and not descend into chaos and mayhem.  The only way we can claim that we are breed apart from others in the sub-region is to ensure that we don't go down the road that we already know is littered with tragedy, and national retrogression.

A number of people have also commented on the Gambian military, and what roles, if any, it should play in the post-Jammeh Gambia.  I would like to agree with Mr. "Ebou Colly" that there indeed is a role for the military to play in The Gambia.  However, that role must be properly and clearly defined, and furthermore, the military must be professionalized to ensure that they do not ever get involved in politics again.  I can't remember, but one of us sent in a posting about visiting Jamaica in the heyday of the wars between the Jamaican Labor Party (of the late Michael Manley), and the Jamaican National Party of Edward Seaga.  I remember those days because the two parties were in essence proxies in a back-water cold-war between the free-market (capitalist) and socialist (Mr. Manley's) forces.  At any rate, it is worth noting that as heated as the battles were, the Jamaican military never intervened.  Now that's the sign of a mature democratic system, and a professional military.

I would like to see a Gambian military re-cast in a different mold.  We all know that most Gambians join the military for the same reason they join the civil service:  jobs.  For this reason, I would advocate a military that not only trains soldiers to kill, but also prepares them for the civilian job market by providing training in areas that will find application in the civilian sector of the economy.  Imagine, for example, the benefits that will be derived from a Gambian military that will be the first in the ENTIRE world to capitalize on the current information technology revolution by training soldiers to serve as telecommuting computer security experts for companies the world over.
 
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see the possibility of combining The Gambia's Internet connection, relatively low wages, and abundant labor supply, with a training and marketing program that will position the Gambian army as 21st Century mercenaries that provide protection and security from their desktops back home.  If you're still having a problem following my reasoning, please check out the Indian Web site Planet2001 at http://planet2001.com/services.htm  Scroll down to the section that describes their Telecommuting services and you'll see what I'm talking about.  They are providing India-based workers for anything from $1800 to $2000 a month to provide data entry, system administration, and software engineering to US companies.
 
Now, given the exchange rate between the Dalasi, and the US Dollar (and not counting anything President Jammeh might have looted) $2000 a month is much more than the President's salary.  Thus, any soldier trained, and earning this kind of money will think twice before involving him or herself in activity (e.g. a coup) that will disrupt his or her livelihood.  In short, we need to have a Gambian military that has as much a stake in a stable and prosperous Gambia as any other sector or group in the country.

And then there's the African Development Bank, and their policies that prevent their employees from speaking out on issues that concern their home countries.  I have to say something about this because I was outraged to read that Sidi Sanneh, for example, cannot publicly comment on events in The Gambia.  If the AfDB ("ADB" is for the Asian Development Bank) can (as they should) that they only employ smart Africans, it can only mean that not allowing them a right to speak out their conscience will mean that Africa is being robbed off her most eloquent and articulate voices.  This from an organization that claims to be the continents development partner.  On the other hand, the AfDB can claim that their employees are not necessarily the best the continent has to offer, and I would be prompted to ask when in the world then they expect to help Africa "develop."

I mean, I perfectly understand how complicated the business of international development can be.  I would understand if Mr. Sanneh, say, was asked excuse himself from policy decisions that the Bank has to make in deciding on a loan to The Gambia.  But to say that he cannot express his outrage at the killing of innocent Gambian students is the epitome of arrogance and insensitivity of these "development" institutions.  I say, let someone tell the AfDB human resources people that they need to update their employee handbooks to reflect reality.  As they would say in the US, "Get Real!"

May I also mention that I am sending, under seperate cover, a draft press release that we can use as a template for future releases.  I have seen a number of press releases sent to the list, and they frankly are un-professional.  A press release is a tool meant to achieve an objective: the attention of the press to your message.  For this reason, it is important that you follow convention when you write and send them.

I was fortunate to attend a seminar two or so years ago on public relations for non-profit (or NGO's in the Gambia) organizations, and it covered writing press releases.  But, alas, I cannot find the notes that were distributed then!  However, thanks to the Internet, I was able to come across similar publications, and used them in addition to whatever I retained from the seminar I attended, and reading PRs.

I would urge all of you to take a look at the following sites for more information about writing press releases:

1.  PR Newswire  http://www.prnewswire.com
2.  PRWeb http://www.prweb.com (they have a free PR distribution service)
3.  Xpress Press http://www.xpresspress.com
4.  eReleases  http://www.ereleases.com
 
I guess that's about.  I'm sure I've left some issues out, but I'll be working them out in follow-up postings.  Have a great week, and best wishes.

Katim

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