Halifa Sallah,
Thank you for your memorandum. You rightly pointed out the purpose of
exchanging memorandum is to understand each other. I will want to be crystal
clear this time as much as possible and hopefully this piece will be my last
peace on this issue.
With regard to the National Assembly member of Kiang East, I thought I was
very clear of what I was talking about. When I was talking about Kemeseng
divulging information to me, I was exactly referring to your "initiative"
that was followed and whom it was going to implicate as you stated. Of
course, you expected Kemeseng Jammeh to divulge information about the
"initiative" following the MP's arrest. Since you suggested for me to write
to "Kemeseng and ask him about what happened to the initiative". Let me tell
you that I was in no way expecting any divulging of information to me about
developments at Basse or allegations against Darboe, to buttress my
point, I would like you to note the use of the word "initiative". When was
it
first mentioned in this exchange with me? It was first mentioned because of
PDOIS effort to secure the release of Hon. Buba Samura,so that should tell
you very clearly that I was not implying for Kemeseng to divulge any
information to me regarding Basse or Darboe and I hope that record is
straight.
I don't accept your claim that I was wrong about your efforts to release the
MP for Kiang East. I brought up his case as a parallel to the events of the
April 10 & 11 massacres in the Gambia as follows "Halifa, you may argue that
the April 10 and 11 massacres and the attack in Basse are totally different
scenarios but you failed to understand that the security forces of bloody
April and the defunct July 22nd mobsters are all working towards a common
goal i.e. the preservation of a rogue regime that is bent on engendering
fear in the heart of all who dare dissent with them.To substantiate that
statement, were you not aware of the arrest of a UDP national assembly
member for Kiang East ? for allegedly expressing his opinion about the
tragic deaths. At the same time following that incident you wrote an open
letter on behalf of your party expressing your general concern of the
crisis therefore I don't think there has been any better occasion than this
to do what is a right thing to do".
Therefore by virtue of the above self quoted statement I was implying that
if you have condemned those massacres why not the Basse attacks. Mr. sallah
I stick to my argument until you accept your responsibility as a
representative of the people. I was not trying to contravene what Mr. Darboe
said on Radio 1 FM but what I was referring to was even if they killed him
they must have acted in self defense. I know there are very capable lawyers
in the Gambia to take care of that case in the courts.
Peace,
Mori Kebba Jammeh
Mori
----- Original Message -----
From: foroyaa <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2000 8:57 AM
Subject: Re: THE UDP LEADER AND 24 OTHERS
> Mori Kebba,
>
> I believe the objective of communication is to be understood. The more we
> exchange memoranda, the more you seem to misunderstand our position.
>
> You raised the question about the National Assembly Member for Kiang East
as
> follows: ".... were you not aware of the arrest of a UDP national assembly
> member for Kiang East ? for allegedly expressing his opinion about the
> tragic deaths. At the same time following that incident you wrote an open
> letter on behalf of your party expressing your general concern of the
> crisis therefore I don't think there has been any better occasion than
this
> to do what is a right thing to do."
>
>
> Then I wrote: "When our Central Committee met, Sidia Jatta was mandated to
> raise the issue with his colleagues in the National Assembly so that a
> meeting of
> the committee responsible for the welfare of National Assembly Members
would
> be convened and the Secretary of State for National Assembly affairs to be
> contacted to immediately work for the release of the member of the
National
> Assembly, failing which he would have recommended to be mandated as
> Secretary to the Parliamentary Association to alert all Parliamentary
> Associations they are affiliated with so that immediate action would be
> taken to call for the release of the National Assembly Member".
>
> " We could tell you what happened to this initiative, but that would
> implicate others. You may write to Mr. Kemeseng Jammeh and ask him what
> happened to this initiative".
>
> It is abundantly clear from this that the initiative I referred to is the
> one to free the National Assembly Member for Kiang East from detention. I
> cannot understand how you could miss this point and went on to make the
> following statement: "Again how will talking implicate others when you are
> suggesting for Kemeseng Jammeh divulge to me the initiative that was
> followed. Who will it exactly implicate?"
>
> Where have I suggested for Kemeseng Jammeh to divulge anything regarding
> developments in Basse or allegations against Darboe? What is abundantly
> clear is that I was implying that the initiative for the National Assembly
> to take a stand on the detention of the Kiang East Member of the National
> Assembly was frustrated by those who should have been very keen to take a
> stand so that such a practice will not reoccur again. I hope you have come
> to accept that you are clearly wrong in implying that we did nothing when
> the Kiang East Member of the National Assembly was arrested. Please
> acknowledge this if you want me to take you as an honest, concerned
Gambian.
>
> Secondly, we wrote: "Your comment is not a fair one. We still believe that
> you do not know what exactly happened between Gambisara and Numuyel nor do
> you fully comprehend what happened after the Chamoi bridge. We still
insist
> that the matter has become a legal one and it will be most unfair to the
UDP
> to dwell on the substance. I would not mind sending you a personal
> memorandum to explain the substance and leave you to analyse whether we
> should take the approach that you expect us to take."
>
> In your response, you wrote: "With due respect Mr. Sallah, from the day of
> the attack, we had an avalanche of credible reports by members of this
> reputable forum and from other international news organizations. My
opinion
> then, was based on those reports as well as reports by some of my
personal
> sources about the incident. I have never heard you refuting the
credibility
> of a single report at that time. So to assert that "I do not know what
> exactly happened between Gambisara and Numuyel nor do I fully comprehend
> what happened after the Chamoi bridge" is a great misrepresentation of
> reality.
>
> "Mr. Sallah, I must hasten to tell you that any personal memorandum you
may
> want to send to me will only be admissible in public domain."
>
> This is very interesting, Mori Kebba. I guess it is as a result of your
full
> understanding of what happened in Basse which led you to draw the
following
> conclusion: "But what is important in the first place is whether the case
> against the UDP and 24 others has any basis, they act in self defense and
I
> hope the prosecutors will see it in that light." May I inform you that
> Radio 1FM had an interview with Darboe and the claim is that none of the
> members of his entourage killed Alieu Njie. You are talking about self
> defence. Have you consulted Darboe's lawyers before coming to your
> conclusion? You still cannot see why we maintain that certain comments
could
> be prejudicial to the case. Anyway, you have a right to stick to your
> opinion. Any day that you want a report of our own review of what
transpired
> between Gambissara and Numuyel and the eventual catastrophe after Chamoi,
we
> will be more than glad to brief you. It will be your prerogative to post
> that in the L if you so desire.
>
> Greetings.
>
> Halifa Sallah.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mori Kebba Jammeh <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, July 21, 2000 12:01 AM
> Subject: Re: THE UDP LEADER AND 24 OTHERS
>
>
> > Halifa Sallah,
> >
> > Thank you for your response. I quote you "We still believe that you do
not
> > know what exactly happened between Gambisara and Numuyel nor do you
fully
> > comprehend what happened after the Chamoi bridge. We still insist that
the
> > matter has become a legal one and it will be most unfair to the UDP to
> dwell
> > on the substance
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
>
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
