Gassama, I hope your lies and double talk are becoming clearer to genuine
Opposition members that were perhaps bamboozled by your bogus political
punditry. What is the difference between saying that Jawara wants to lead
the Opposition Alliance and saying that he wants to be the Opposition
Presidential candidate? You were again caught with your pants down. You know
you are lying about the former president. He NEVER said that he wanted to
lead an Opposition Alliance (using your preferred terminology). He said he
was interested and honored in leading the PPP (NOT the Opposition Alliance;
BIG difference). You planted this lie on G_L so that people can attack
Jawara. I hope you now realize that your games will backfire on you.

From day one all you sought to do was lie about Decree 89 politicians’
aspirations. You dubiously twinned UDP with NCP and NRP with PPP. When we
pointed out the absurdity and double talk in that gimmickry, you sought
other avenues to continue to spin your way out of this disastrous situation
for Yaya; i.e. ‘repeal’ of Decree 89. I told you from the onset that this
was another nail in Yaya’s coffin. The only reason I am wasting time with
you engaging you in your lies is that I do NOT want you to poison the minds
of genuine Opposition members that might be tempted to engage in Jawara
bashing. Otherwise, I would ignore you because I know only fools will
believe you when you say that ‘repealing’ Decree 89 is to Yaya’s benefit.
You still have not answered the question why you are wasting time attacking
Jawara if you were convinced that he was a liability to the Opposition. You
all know that the man can only spell doom for Yaya. The people that were
affected by Decree 89 that wanted to join APRC have already done so; the
Buba Baldehs. Now we are only dealing with die-heart opposition to Yaya.
Challenge for us in the Opposition is to bring these people under one
umbrella. No one is talking about people going to APRC. So, how can the
‘repeal’ of this Decree benefit Yaya?

To answer other parts of your piece. No! it is NOT strange to me that PPP
politicians like OJ are NOT coming out to address your lies. They know they
do NOT intend to field a presidential candidate. OJ had a press conference
where everyone was free to ask him any question. In that conference, did he
say that he wanted to field a presidential candidate for PPP? So why should
he come out now to address lies and rumors from people like you? Let me
refresh your memory with a quote from OJ’s press conference which you
yourself posted to G_L. “O.J. appealed to the former PPP supporters and
sympathisers to return to the party so that IN COLLABORATION WITH OTHER
political parties they could bring back "sanity into Gambian politics."
Emphasis mine.

Now, are these the words of someone that wants to go it alone? In that same
report, OJ categorically said that it was LATE for PPP to start thinking of
fielding a candidate in October. How on earth can you now twist this man’s
statements and say that they want to join the Opposition Alliance to lead
it? Don’t you think these people are aware of constitutional provisions
imposing an age limit on who can run for the presidency? Leading this
Coalition means being its presidential candidate. How can Jawara lead the
Coalition if he is not going to be the presidential candidate?

Reports that people like Shyngle Nyassi are talking to people like OJ is a
great sign for the Opposition. Shows that these people got their eyes on the
ball. They are willing to come together to fight the menace in our society.
Sheriff Dibba is also talking to Assan Musa Camara. Gassama, the writing is
on the wall. Take off your blinkers and see straight. What you have here is
people that recognize that minor differences should be set aside to get rid
of the child murderer in our midst. Hamat Bah, like most Gambians does NOT
want a return to pre-1994. Hamat Bah's comments just echo the sentiments of
most Gambians. We want one of our current leaders to lead us to a Gambia we
have NEVER seen before. You will soon hear PPP, NCP, GPP pledge their
unconditional support to a presidential candidate to be fielded from the
current Opposition. Mark my words. These politicians are NOT stupid. They
know when they are banned by the laws. They also know when political
expediency does NOT permit them to launch a presidential campaign. They also
know that the next president will be better for the PPP, NCP, GPP and the
whole country; far better than the thief you support.

Finally, I caution you to quit misquoting people and newspapers. Some of
your utterances are actionable for libel. I don't know whether you realize
that if you deliberately lie about OJ or Jawara or the Independent, they can
sue you in court.
KB



>From: Jungle Sunrise <[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:Jawara's Lost Opportunity
>Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 15:09:57 +0000
>
>Dampha,
>
>I have never said that Jawara wanted to come back and be a presidential
>candidate. What I said is that he (Jawara) clearly stated that "he is
>willing to lead an opposition alliance IF THE OPPOSITION SO DESIRES". Now
>refer me to any posting in which I said that Jawara wanted to be a
>presidential candidate. For your information, even Hamat Bah was quoted as
>saying that the Gambian people will not accept return to the old system as
>it would inevitably lead to them (the PPP) wanting revenge and this may
>destabilize the country. Isn't it strange to you, that to date, no member
>of
>the PPP has tried to clarify this issue? Are we all cuckoo in thinking that
>the PPP wants a leading role in an opposition alliance, when they claim
>that
>all their structures are in place and that the PPP will soon be regaining
>its former glorry? Isn't it strange that they are urging their former
>supporters to come back to the party and give it their support? What is
>your
>interpretation of Shygle Nyassi's membership of the interim committee of
>the
>PPP? My friend, the oppostion, with the exception PDOIS, are in a dis-array
>and you know it. No matter whatever you wish for, I still stand by my
>prediction that Yahya will win come October. By the way, do you know that a
>former national mobiliser for the PPP, Bakary Santang Bojang, is now the
>APRC regional mobiliser for the APRC in Brikama? I await your response.
>
>have a good day, Gassa.
>
>>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:Jawara's Lost Opportunity
>>Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:00:17 -0400
>>
>>Gassama, I indulged you and reread the Independent piece but still could
>>not
>>figure out the point you are trying to make. What is your point again?
>>That
>>Jawara is a liability to the Opposition? Then encourage him to come back
>>and
>>lose the Opposition some votes. Clearly, Yankuba Touray does NOT think
>>that
>>Jawara is a liability to the Opposition. Otherwise, Touray would not be
>>terrified and start threatening the ex-president.
>>
>>When I read the Independent piece earlier on and again when I reread it
>>this
>>morning, what I saw was a good case made against a Jawara presidency. But
>>what has been mind-boggling to me all these days reading and hearing
>>various
>>arguments made against a Jawara presidency, is that I just cannot believe
>>how certain people will engage in this exercise in futility. With all due
>>respect to the Independent (a Paper I hold in very high regard because of
>>the invaluable services they are rendering to the Gambian public), I think
>>they got carried away by the shenanigans of the APRC propaganda. Now, it
>>is
>>in APRC’s interest that we make Jawara the topic of conversation and
>>forget
>>for a moment about Yaya’s horrendous record. It is in the APRC’s interest
>>that certain people in the current Opposition be lured into saying certain
>>things to demean the Jawara record. It is in the APRC’s interest that when
>>certain things are said to the PPP stalwarts, those PPP supporters will
>>NOT
>>support the Opposition. So, how does the APRC get the Opposition to have a
>>field day on Jawara and jeopardize the chances of having PPP firmly in the
>>Opposition? APRC propagandists lie about Jawara saying that the man wants
>>to
>>return and lead the Opposition. The calculation is that once this is done,
>>the current Opposition will make anti-Jawara utterances that will
>>discourage
>>the man and his supporters from supporting the current Opposition. Simple
>>as
>>that.
>>
>>I reiterate that these are nothing but vicious and blatant lies. I told
>>you
>>Gassama that you lied about both OJ and Jawara. You NEVER came back to say
>>that you were telling the truth when you said that these people wanted to
>>lead the Opposition. OJ NEVER said that. Jawara also NEVER said that.
>>Matter
>>of fact, these politicians expressed sentiments that are totally opposed
>>to
>>what you Gassama have said. Every Gambian that knows anything about
>>today’s
>>Gambian politics and that is honest to himself, knows that there is
>>ABSOLUTELY no way that Jawara can contest this election as a presidential
>>candidate. For crying out loud, now what is the point in writing an
>>article
>>about why Jawara should NOT be a president? This is like arguing during
>>the
>>American presidential elections that Ronald Reagan should NOT be the
>>presidential candidate as opposed to George Bush Jr. It is absurd. This is
>>a
>>non-issue. The man has NEVER said he wanted to be a presidential
>>candidate.
>>The law STILL prohibits him from running. He is politically dead as far as
>>President 2001 is concerned. What paper will waste space arguing that
>>Pierre
>>Sarr Njie should NOT run in October 2001? Making a case against a Jawara
>>presidency in October 2001 is an exercise in gross futility.
>>
>>Now, let us use our heads to analyze exactly what the PPP people are
>>saying.
>>I am relying here on what I heard and read on BBC and also the various
>>reports in Gambian newspapers about the press conference at OJ’s. PPP
>>wants
>>to come back to the political scene. They choose as their leader someone
>>that CANNOT run in October as a presidential candidate. Right there that
>>is
>>a signal to the current Opposition that PPP is NOT looking to field a
>>presidential candidate. Their leader (Jawara, who in my opinion is just a
>>figure-head as far as October is concerned), instructed those on the
>>ground
>>to negotiate with the Opposition to mount a united front against Yaya. Yet
>>another signal that these people want to play ball with the current
>>Opposition. The de facto leader of the Party (OJ) held an open press
>>conference in the country. NO Paper reported that OJ SAID that he wanted
>>to
>>run as a presidential candidate or that the PPP wanted to field a
>>presidential candidate in October. NO PAPER whatsoever. Apart from the
>>lies
>>from the likes of Gassama, no one can tell you that PPP wants to lead an
>>Opposition Alliance. So, why fall into the APRC trap and start engaging in
>>PPP bashing?
>>
>>I reiterate that this theorizing (arguing against a presidency that will
>>NEVER happen) only helps the APRC. What it does is alienate potential
>>Opposition supporters. Even if the only support Jawara had was 100
>>supporters from Barrajali, let us try and get those people to vote for the
>>Opposition instead of the APRC. The Opposition will NOT get those votes by
>>making a case against Jawara that need NOT be made. The man is NOT running
>>for anything. Why argue that he should NOT be president? Why argue that
>>Gambia should NOT win the World Cup? We are NOT going. But this argument
>>against Jawara is NOT just irrelevant, it is going to lose the Opposition
>>some votes. What is more disturbing is that we have Opposition members
>>doing
>>APRC’s dirty job for them. This was the ideal time for the current
>>Opposition to kick back and let APRC and PPP argue about their respective
>>records. But no. Some Opposition members will rather jump in on the side
>>of
>>APRC and bash PPP just to appear to be righteous and fair. Well, let us
>>all
>>be ready to be accountable for our actions. I would have thought that
>>politically conscious Gambians living in the U.S. would have at least
>>learnt
>>from the Ralph Nader debacle from the last U.S. presidential elections.
>>Nader’s misguided self-righteousness ended up putting in the White House
>>some one far more hostile to Nader’s cause than he could have imagined.
>>Now
>>the question is, are we going to be pragmatic and canvass for as many
>>votes
>>as we can get or are we going to be blinded by hatred for one man (Jawara)
>>to the extent that we are prepared to unleash a child murderer on our
>>people?
>>
>>Using a false premise (Jawara presidency in October 2001) to attack the
>>man,
>>is NOT only intellectually dishonest, it is politically suicidal. I
>>sincerely hope that the leaders on the ground have their priorities right.
>>I
>>hope that they will NOT waste time making a case against a Jawara
>>presidency. That is NOT on the cards. I hope our leaders will NOT be lured
>>into this absurdity of trying to bash PPP in order to preempt a Jawara
>>presidency. I am encouraged by the maturity leaders like OJ, Hamat Bah and
>>Waa Juwara (the only leaders I have read their comments) are approaching
>>this issue. We in the Opposition should avoid unwittingly justifying the
>>July 1994 ‘coup’. The people that staged the ‘coup’ CANNOT even justify
>>their case. Why should we (that wants the PPP supporters) now make the
>>APRC
>>case for APRC? I am yet to hear one coherent argument making a case
>>against
>>the Opposition canvassing PPP supporters. All I hear is arguments against
>>a
>>non-issue (a Jawara presidency).
>>KB
>>
>>
>>
>>>From: Jungle Sunrise <[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:Jawara's Lost Opportunity
>>>Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:37:13 +0000
>>>
>>>Dampha, Hamjatta and co.
>>>
>>>Please take note of these developments. Do not say I did not warn you.
>>>
>>>Have a good day, Gassa.
>>>
>>
>>
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