Ebrima, I agree entirely with your source; especially her last paragraph. I
think it is incumbent upon the opposition to take this matter up and ensure
that our farmers are not taken advantage of again. Farmers should be
informed that they do not have to part with their groundnuts for prices that
are below market value. Under no circumstances should farmers exchange their
goods for worthless promissory notes. It is very important that when the
farmers sell their goods, they get cash in return. The characters that are
reported to be involved in this scheme are not creditworthy. The opposition
has to inform the farmers of this. Another thing is that the EU and other
agencies that were prepared to get involved in the trading season should be
informed of the background of this Collins fellow and the dubious
businessmen that are supporting him in The Gambia. Ebrima, the bottom-line
is that these people do not have the money that is required to finance the
groundnut buying. Any idiot can do what they are attempting to do. They want
the government to give them the money to buy the groundnuts. The problem is
that the government does not have the money up-front. It tried commercial
banks to no avail. The donors are also reluctant to put their money into a
bottomless pit. A few millions of dollars could have financed the
transactions had the market been favorable to Hilo. But because of the
Alimenta problem, Hilo will have difficulties selling the groundnut it buys
from Gambia. The EU should ask Hilo to show them binding contracts that
manifest that Hilo can sell the nuts expeditiously. This is vital if Hilo
does not have the money (up front) it would require to purchase all the
nuts. My suspicion is that Hilo wants to recycle the $3 million they claimed
to have already invested. If they do not get financing from the government,
they will attempt to use this money over and over again to buy the nuts. The
only problem with this scheme is that they are going to encounter
difficulties selling their nuts. To solve this problem, they will attempt to
give farmers promissory notes. That would be like toilet paper. Farmers
should reject that outright. Ebrima, for now, I think the ball is in the
court of the leaders back home. Tell your sources not to worry about Collins
and Hilo as far as their American operation is concerned. We can guarantee
them that if and when the need arises, appropriate authorities would be
informed of any criminal activities Collins or Hilo might have been involved
in. Collins' collaborators in Banjul might be ignorant of the system in
America, but Collins knows the implications of an IRS investigation. Just
the investigation alone can wreck an organization. Ignoramuses like Amadou
Samba and Tarik Musa can sit in Banjul and spur Collins to engage us because
of selfish motives. But Collins must have realized by now that he eventually
has to leave Gambia and go to an environment where the rule of law prevails;
an environment where one cannot use bully tactics to hide ones criminality.
When the day comes, we will deal with Amadou Samba and Tarik Musa
appropriately.
I also want to take this opportunity to tell the opposition that they should
be prepared for all out war over the impending constitutional amendments.
Reports on the Independent that the government is contemplating
disqualifying Sidia Jatta, Halifa Sallah and Ousainou Darboe from running
for office, should not be tolerated. The opposition should have a plan ready
for what to do if Yaya and Secka are dumb enough to propose such
undemocratic laws. Months ago when the government framed Darboe with these
bogus charges, I was calling for his supporters to take Yaya on and demand
that the charges be dropped. It was in anticipation of such slimy moves from
Secka. I hope the government will rethink its position and not mess with
peoples' rights to run for office. If the government continues in this
senselessness, the opposition should challenge them in the streets of
Banjul. The opposition should also vigorously challenge the government in
its attempt to take away peoples' rights to elect their own local
representatives. With the revelations in the past few days concerning the
contents of the constitutional amendments, I guess the Commonwealth
officials that visited Gambia should now be revisiting the statements they
made earlier on regarding the appropriateness of the amendments. So far all
the reports that I saw talk about depriving people of their rights and not
giving people more power. I cannot see how these proposed amendments can be
hailed as good for ordinary Gambians. This is all a ploy to perpetuate Yaya.
We must not stand idle and watch that happen.
Finally, I hope Gambians learn a lesson from the worthless slaying of
Ansumana Mane. This is what happens to arrogant ignoramuses that disrespect
God. At one point, Mane thought bullets cannot kill him. Ignorant people run
around the sub-region spreading nonsense that Mane has supernatural powers.
Well where were his powers when he was shot like a dog in the streets?
Soldiers that buy into this nonsense will also meet the same fate. It is
high time people get rid of these ridiculous notions. Yaya, Secka, Mane and
all these nonentities have no supernatural powers. People should challenge
them and make them accountable. They are mere mortals who should be held
responsible for their actions. No one should allow Yaya or Secka or their
cronies to intimidate them and feed them ridiculous lies like they are
immune from bullet wounds. That is ridiculous.
KB



>From: Ebrima Ceesay <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Gambian farmers mistrust HILO
>Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 17:48:15 -0000
>
>Gambia-L:
>
>The unedited e-mail below came from a source in the Gambia.
>
>Ebrima
>
>
>_______________________________________________________________________
>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Gambian farmers mistrust HILO
>>Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000
>>
>>Ebrima,
>>
>>Reports reaching me are that the Gambian farmers have lost complete faith
>>in the HILO company after the revelation on the L about the company.
>>Farmers have vowed not to part with their groundnuts without being paid up
>>front.  In fact, a majority of those that I was able to talk to, have
>>decided to sell theirs to Senegal.
>>
>>Gambian politicians should follow-up on this important development in the
>>groundnut sub-sector and demand explanation and an enquiry into the affair
>>before it is too late.
>>
>
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