Ebrima, that was a thoughtful summary of the interpretation of democracy
within the context of the current debate on Jawara and Jammeh.  I hasten to
add that when Jammeh overthrew the PPP government in 1994, one of his
charges was that his predecessors violated the third generation rights of
the Gambian people; third generation rights in human rights parlance being
economic rights (e.g. the right to education, right to development, etc.).
Decidedly, he in turn abused the civil and political rights of the very
people he had promised to liberate.

I am of the opinion that African governments should adapt traditional forms
of democracy into the Western models that they've been unsucessfully aping.
We have seen the social, economic, and political roles played by councils of
elders, age and other social groups in contemporary African societies.  I
guess the erudite Ugandan scholar Mahmoud Mamdani, among others, has dilated
on these traditional forms in his numerous writings, just as you rightly
pointed out.

It is important though that the Opposition reconcile their differences
through genuine dialogue and tolerance. I think Dr. Saine could not have
re-emphasized that better in the article he addressed to the Gambian press.
As many people have said here, every single vote for the Opposition counts
towards the realization of meaningful change for our country.  Even the
parties whose support bases are considered small, hence insignificant could
easily tip the balance in favor of one of the presidential constestants.

As we march forward to a better Gambia, we have to re-examine the mistakes
of our past and present governments to make sure that never again will our
people's destiny be decided by the whims and caprices of a single
individual.

Hamadi.






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

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

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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------