Mr. Dampha, it is a big disappointment that President Jammeh and the IEC
rejects counting of ballots at a sport. Personally, i think it is a good
idea to count at various polling stations because it is transparent and less
costly. There should be no security concern if no kind of hooliganism is not
in the making. The opposition parties, having heard all these treats coming
from government, must be very careful and explore all worst case scenarios
concerning on sport counting. Our political atmosphere and composition is
slightly different from Senegal. Remember our lout groups like the July 22
movement, the army and NIA. These people are capable of doing anything. The
police, army, intelligent agents and public media were all impartial and
tolerant during the last presidential election in Senegal. Did you not smell
a rat considering all the words coming the the APRC big wing?

I would suggest that the opposition parties start working on alternatives to
decentralized counting system because the IEC and Government will probably
not bend. I strongly believe that if a united opposition front have polling
and counting agents throughout the country, the APRC will have no way to rig
the counting. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible to cheat
elections on election day without being caught. Most irregularities happens
before election day itself. The oppositions should also work on the kind of
securities to put in place in order to avert any irregularities during the
transportation of ballot boxes. I bet a competent Returning Officer will
detect any vote rigging as soon as he/she started counting.

One thing i will strongly recommend for next general elections is to install
a hidden counting device in the ballot boxes that will count every single
vote caste in each ballot box. This technology is possible since Gambia uses
a marble ballot during election. The counting device will be hit sensitive
engulfed in the bell inside the ballot drum. So instead having only the
conventional bell to detect any double voting, a modified version can be
installed to do the counting simultaneously.

Finally, the way i conducted the last presidential election in Janjanbureh,
i see no problem with centralized counting provided that polling agents are
allowed to guide their political party's ballot boxes freely to counting
centers and surrender them to their counting agents.
Cheers
Lamin PF Manneh

>From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: FWD:Counting on the Spot Is Just A Mere Dream - President
>         Jammeh
>Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 09:58:31 -0400
>
>Beran, thanks for forwarding the various messages you sent from the Point
>Newspaper. The battle lines have been drawn. The Opposition wants a
>TRANSPARENT and FAIR and FREE system of vote counting and Yaya, the APRC
>government and the IEC want to STEAL the elections by TEMPERING with
>ballots
>while they are being TRANSPORTED to a CENTRAL location. As Waa Juwara
>stated, the Opposition is NOT going to accept this form of RIGGING. It will
>NOT happen. But the Opposition should NOT just stop at communicating this
>impasse to the moron. We should tell them in no uncertain terms that come
>October, Yaya is going to be evicted from the State House. Even if APRC
>shenanigans prevent us from having an election, the Opposition should
>mobilize its supporters and storm the State House and get rid of the
>vermin.
>Enough is enough.
>
>As has already been said, the whole world knows that the reason given for
>centralized counting is a bogus reason. The Gambians know that. The
>diplomats in the country know that and have already communicated such to
>their governments. So even before we have started, the international
>community has declared the elections (held under the circumstances Yaya
>wants), as NOT FREE AND FAIR. In common parlance this declaration translate
>to NO AID and LOANS from certain places. This means more suffering to the
>Gambian people. This means our farmers will go another five years without
>their groundnuts being sold. This means by 2006, instead of 61% of the
>country being destitute, 81% of the population will fall under that
>despicable category. If we allow Yaya to rig the election (and our nation
>branded as a Dictatorship), it means our people will be poorer in 2006 than
>they are in 2001, which has registered poverty numbers only better than
>war-torn countries like Sierra Leone.
>
>In other words, these vermin should NOT be allowed to enslave our people
>further while they charter private planes to go abroad and shop with their
>families. Some Gambians are so poor that they CANNOT even recognize it when
>someone is stealing from them and giving them back the money. All they see
>is the money being given back to them. They will kill their own children to
>get that money. The Opposition has to communicate with these Gambians to
>inform them that they do NOT have to pay such a hefty price for their
>resources. They need not trade the lives of their children for some bogus
>‘developments’. The only price we need to pay, is get rid of that callous
>moron that is driving our country down. One Yaya Swiss Bank Account can
>finance a whole groundnut trade season and still have change to buy
>generators to electrify the country and build news hospitals and equip them
>and build new classrooms and man them with qualified teachers. The vermin
>will NOT talk about the Swiss Bank Accounts. They know they are all
>thieves.
>What Yaya has in Kanilai is only the tip of the iceberg as far as
>AFPRC/APRC
>corruption is concerned. Yankuba Touray wants to deflect attention by
>talking about only that when he talked about Yaya’s corruption. Kanilai was
>the product of CSE bribes from contracts to build roads etc. We are NOT
>talking about dalasi bribes. We are talking about tens of millions of
>dollars in Swiss Bank accounts. To lay the matter to rest and in the name
>of
>transparency, let Yaya reveal what happened in the Ebou Jallow case. Let
>the
>Attorney General’s Chambers publish the papers in that case.
>
>Yankuba Touray’s empty threats against OJ and Jawara should be treated with
>the contempt it deserves. OJ and his supporters should just be ready for
>war. The coward (Yankuba Touray, who was NOT even part of the ‘coup’) can
>do
>NOTHING to anyone. The vermin is NOT even Gambian and now he has the nerve
>to have soldiers and thugs around him and go around threatening Gambians
>that have contributed immensely to Gambia even being a reality. This
>foreigner comes to the country and wants to belittle Gambians that helped
>get the country independence from Britain. Who does this vermin think he
>is?
>Just 1994 the low-life did NOT even have a home to call his own. Today he
>is
>running around as if his parents own the country. Isn’t this the vermin I
>heard naturalized to become a Gambian in 1996? These shameless nonentities
>are out of their minds.
>
>Fancy the super-moron (Yaya) inviting people for a debate on the merits and
>demerits of having ‘on site’ counting. This is someone who CANNOT construct
>one coherent sentence without threatening people’s lives. The coward is
>always trying to use force to enslave people. Now, he wants to debate. Does
>he realize that debate is about ‘brain-power’ and convincing people? This
>is
>NOT about AK-47s and using vermin like Baboucarr Jatta and Ousman Badjie to
>intimidate people.
>
>The Opposition should stand its ground against these bunch of low-lives.
>The
>bandits have nothing to offer our people but misery. We should NOT allow
>them to attract sanctions to the country and render our people poorer than
>they currently are.
>KB
>
>
>>From: Beran jeng <[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: FWD:Counting on the Spot Is Just A Mere Dream - President Jammeh
>>Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 08:44:02 -0400
>>
>>Culled from The Point
>>
>>
>>Friday, August 10, 2001
>>
>>
>>
>>  Counting on the Spot Is Just A Mere Dream - President Jammeh
>>
>>President Yahya Jammeh, has said that there wouldn't be any counting of
>>votes on the spot in the coming Parliamentary and Presidential elections
>>and
>>the oppositions should not ever dreamt of such electoral practice. The
>>Gambia Leader made this declaration on Saturday, before the state
>>television, during an interview with a Senegalese journalist. "There is no
>>provision in the constitution which says there should be counting on the
>>spot. We have 800 polling stations. Can the Police provide Security for
>>all
>>the polling stations. Even without security consideration we are not going
>>to do it. For 30 years there has not been counting on the spot. Said
>>President Jammeh who maintained that there would be centralise counting
>>explained that after the voting process the IEC will sealed all boxes and
>>would be escorted by Security Personnel and party agents to counting
>>stations.
>>
>>Explaining how counting is done in this country President Jammeh, said
>>after
>>all votes are counted party agents who are present at the counting centres
>>usually certify the results signed. "What is more free and fair than this?
>>Asked President Jammeh pointing out that it would be difficult for the
>>Police to contain an aggrieved crowd that is engaged in quarrelling and
>>insulting. "We will need 8000 police for counting on the spot" said
>>President Jammeh. Jammeh added that his opponents would always alleged
>>electoral fraud when they are defeated and that the GRTS cannot provide
>>800
>>Cameras to cover the whole country on the polling day. He conceded that
>>counting on the spot was done in Uganda but a similar situation would not
>>be
>>done in The Gambia, because according to him "other countries in the
>>sub-region might want to emulate the Gambia if that happened and it might
>>created problem for Africa on the issue of democracy, President Jammeh
>>argued that there is no democracy in the world and he challenged any
>>Western
>>head of state, who is disputing his claim to a public debate.
>>
>>President Jammeh said he is prepared to engage anybody for debate to prove
>>his assertion. According to President Jammeh the west who have been
>>advocating for democracy had in the past enslaved Africans. He described
>>the
>>west as crazy. Commenting on his sad moments President Jammeh made
>>reference
>>to the Farafenni Army Barracks and Kartong armed attack, in which some
>>soldiers were killed. The Gambian leader also cited the past foiled coup
>>attempts. President Jammeh also made reference to the April 10 and 11
>>student unrest, claiming that the students were used to revolt against his
>>government. He also highlighted the achievements recorded by his
>>government
>>especially in the areas of health, education and agriculture.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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