Joe Sambou:

Many thanks for your eloquent posting.  Taking the Olive Branch, if meant
sincerely, is yet another strategy among others.  It is not abandoning the
principle to fight or a softening of our demands.  It is too late for that.  It
does not sap our will to fight but could strengthen it.  Nor does accepting
Jammeh's offer mean that we ignore his record.  As you suggested, it would be
another card in our hands.  Strategy and flexibility are important. We use that
which has the potential to meet our goals and use it appropriately.  This is
Diplomacy 101.  Go to war, but if the opportunity to negotiate avails itself or
is forced upon you, take it, but remain prepared to resume war.     The
historical backdrop that you took time to develop and to reveal how in South
Africa and other places varying strategies were used toward liberation, helped
in clarifying issues a lot.

I must say that the debate is healthy and fruitful. It is truly an exercise in
democracy. These are agonizing times for us all, especially the overseas
opposition.  We should remember that we are all in the same boat(including the
victors). Thus, drawing lines between those who support or oppose accepting
Jammeh's Olive Branch as representing those on the side of justice or tyranny,
is a false division and not a useful position.

In conclusion, the threats to life and limb to which the opposition (parties/
leaders/supporters ) are exposed and the daily indignities that accompany them,
should make us redouble our efforts to support the opposition parties at home
FINANCIALLY.  Otherwise, all this debate is meaningless.  If most of us
contributed generously as well as we debated (so eloquently), the election
results could have been different.

I humbly join Mr. Johnson and others before him to again call for donations to
the opposition.

Abdoulaye
No justice, no peace!



Malamin Johnson wrote:

> Mr. Sambou:
>
> I am ready to work with you and any other opposition sympathiser to raise
> some real money for the opposition parties granted they agree to contest the
> parliamentary as ONE UNITED OPPOSITION. If we have to go door to door
> looking for Gambians not on Gambia_l so be it. Yahya can be stopped by
> denying him(APRC) a majority in the house. I know his cronies will raise
> that point. He will throw a lot of money behind his candidates. Are we going
> to send another $2000 to compete against Yahya' $100,000(conservative
> estimate) or some real money? Beside investigating and curbing Yahya's
> excesses, an opposition house majority will likely make sure Gambians
> overseas exercise their rights to vote. If we voted in the presidential
> elections the outcome would have been different. We can be a very powerful
> lobbying force outside the country. This the time to regroup and strategize.
>
> A Rejuvenated
> MJohnson
> MJohnson
>
> >From: Joe Sambou <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: Here is the article I referred to
> >Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 18:10:25 +0000
> >
> >Malamin, thanks for your post.  I agree with you that we've got to provide
> >financial support to the opposition.  We can talk all we want, but without
> >our financial backing we can forget it.  We have the numbers in the
> >diaspora, so what seems to be the problem?  I hope we do not repeat the
> >same
> >mistake in February.
> >
> >Chi Jaama
> >
> >Joe Sambou
> >
> >
> >>From: Malamin Johnson <[log in to unmask]>
> >>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> >><[log in to unmask]>
> >>To: [log in to unmask]
> >>Subject: Here is the article I referred to
> >>Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 15:34:00 +0000
> >>
> >\ambians Re-Elect Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh
> >>
> >>
> >>President Yahya Jammeh was on Thursday, October 18 re-elected President of
> >>the Republic of The Gambia with a majority of 52.96%. Jammeh polled
> >>242,302
> >>votes (52.96% as compared to 55.76 in 1996), Darboe got 149,448 (32.67% as
> >>compared to 35.84% in 1996), Bah poled 35,671 (7.80% in constrast to 5.52%
> >>in 1996), Dibba, 17,271 (3.78% compared to 22% in 1992) and Jatta,
> >`>13,841
> >>(3.03% in contrast to 2.86% in 1996).
> >>A close scrutiny of Jammeh’s victory shows that Gambians are still
> >>attached
> >>to the desiderata to hang on to the incumbent as it used to be the case in
> >>the former Jawara regime. The devil you know is better than the one you
> >>don’t.
> >>In addition to this, the incumbency factor, further galvanised by Jammeh’s
> >>military antecedent, also played in his favour. Another pointer for the
> >>win,
> >>which is constantly echoed, is the resources factor as exemplified in the
> >>mastering of logistics, mobilisation and the donations he made
> >>country-wide
> >>even if argued that they were meant for mosques.
> >>Another factor that Jammeh constantly employed is the argument that his
> >>was
> >>a government that delivers and which intends to deliver more if
> >>re-elected.
> >>This allowed him and his aides to enumerate their achievements in the
> >>areas
> >>of education, air transport, road construction, etc. etc. The above
> >>factors
> >>helped Jammeh forestall the perceived sanction vote that the opposition
> >>were
> >>banking on.
> >>At this juncture, one must point out that his personal involvement in the
> >>campaigning saved the APRC. It would be recalled that Jammeh earlier
> >>announced that he would not campaign. But when echoes of the failures of
> >>his
> >>aides to make significant inroads reached him, he had a change of heart.
> >>According to APRC sources, Jammeh wished for a 70% majority at least when
> >>the projected 80% was no longer feasible.
> >>For the UDP/PPP/GPP Coalition, the debacle came as a result of the
> >>following
> >>factors: a) The coalition suffered from serious lack of resources, as it
> >>had
> >>to contend with both financial and material problems. THE BIG TALK OF
> >>FUNDING FROM OVERSEAS YIELDED ONLY SOME 2000 DOLLARS, ACCORDING TO
> >>SOURCES.
> >>AND WHAT’S INTERESTING IS THAT SOME OF THE CONTRIBUTORS DEMANDED THEIR
> >>MONEY
> >>BACK WHEN DIBBA OPTED OUT OF THE COALITION. OF COURSE ONE WOULD BE
> >>FOOLHARDY
> >>TO BELIEVE THAT THE COALITION’S CAMPAIGN RESTED ON THIS INSIGNIFICANT
> >>OVERSEAS CONTRIBUTION ALONE.(Emphasis mine) But the reality on the ground
> >>is
> >>that whereas the APRC was able to move mountains, the coalition could only
> >>move heaps of sand in terms of logistics and other organisational
> >>paraphernalia. This led one leading PPP sympathiser to opine that Gambia’s
> >>future elections results would hinge on the availability of resources to
> >>the
> >>contending parties.
> >>b) Another factor hinges on the poor performance of the coalition in
> >>erstwhile PPP strongholds like the Jarras, the Serekundas, the Kombos,
> >>etc.
> >>Save Basse where we are told Housainou Njie and Omar Sey made the
> >>difference, Kiang West where allegiance to BB Darboe came to play and
> >>Sandu
> >>where also the former MP’s community backing was a plus, the former
> >>strongholds of the PPP became APRC strongholds instead. Observers see
> >>these
> >>shortcomings as deadly blows on the PPP as a former ruling party.
> >>c) The coalition also seems to have lost supporters on the last days of
> >>the
> >>election as clashes led to the death of a young man and one lady. Crowd
> >>control punctuated by firing in the air had also its psychological effect
> >>on
> >>the peaceful people of The Gambia, leading to options in favour of the
> >>status quo. For Hamat Bah, Sheriff Bojang recently recalled that when the
> >>man was dismissed as a non-starter, we recognised his potentials in
> >>September 1996.
> >>The last five years have allowed Bah to nurture his charismatic political
> >>acumen and industry. His powerful oratory output, coupled with his student
> >>leaders’ verve, strengthened his debating ability and political prowess.
> >>His
> >>current national acclaim from almost all quarters is well deserved as he
> >>retained his constituency and consolidated his gains as a presidential
> >>candidate as seen above. Hamat also suffered from lack of resources, as he
> >>was most of the time hosted by the people he visited according to our
> >>reporter who followed his campaign trail. For our brother Sheriff Dibba,
> >>from the onset he had to fight with wild rumours peddled about his alleged
> >>collusion with the APRC. As he himself made clear, his seven years absence
> >>from the country’s political battlefields affected him very seriously. He
> >>also had practically no resources as verified by our reporters.
> >>For the PDOIS, Halifa Sallah has himself over GRTS painted the situation
> >>as
> >>Sarja Taal did in 1996. Sallah emphasised that the PDOIS dealt with issues
> >>in their campaign contrary to the others who were bent on politics of
> >>sentiments.
> >>Our own view is that the PDOIS does not engage in usual campaign
> >>techniques
> >>where rhetorics mesmerise people and this affected their scores which
> >>however increased compared to 1996. Voters like to be cajoled and coaxed
> >>for
> >>their votes. The PDOIS candidate told the people to vote for the person
> >>they
> >>viewed as the right man for the job. The party had also limited resources.
> >>All said and done one important element that was beneficial to Gambians
> >>was
> >>the party’s great contribution in the sharpening of the awareness of the
> >>Gambian people regarding governance and other issues.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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