KB,

This is a good suggestion we have to pull resources together and give the opposition our fullest support.  You are right we should call our friends, families and relatives to vote  for the opposition. People should be aware that voting Jammeh means reaffirming and giving him more chance for a continous murder, torture and humiliation. 

Situation at home is so devasting, the poverty level is at its peak. So it is not suprising that Jammeh is using the same condition and situation he and his governement created to rigged the by-elections.  This is a manifestation of  extreme poverty in the Gambia, if Gambians should be paid D25 for a vote. What is D25 in Gambia today. People should be aware that they can take the monies and not vote for AFPRC because this money belongs to them. Alternative they can say no  and resists to any harrassment  from AFPRC. You take the D25 and vote for AFPRC this means that you are contributing to your own starvation, because this i where the AFPRC governement is leading Gambian people.

I believe it is not only enough to put resources in place taking into consideration the way things are going. We have to make sure that mechanism are in place to safe guard the fair ttreatment of our people. People should not be threaten or harass by Jammeh and his Gang, the gambia is at a very fragile stage and it is only us who can safe guard it. Jammeh and his government care less about what happens to the Gambian people and this should be made clear.

No one will convinced me that AFPRC won these seats without any form of cheating. Infact these information are good, they will give us more room for a strong alliance against the Dictator. We are making our statements loud and clear that we will not allow any style of cheating be it buying votes, threating people, harassing or even ghost voters.

The Struggle for a peacefull Gambia is a matter of live and death to me. Down with the AFPRC.

The Struggle Continues!!!

Ndey Jobarteh

 

NB:

I  have so much to do and this affects my participation on the debates @Gambia- L. Hopefully i will soon settle down.

>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: The Case for Bridled Scepticism
>Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 14:57:41 -0400
>
>I join Hamjatta, Saul and other List subscribers and respectfully
>counsel
>that we wait for an Official word from the UDP leadership before we
>throw in
>the towel and declare a clean APRC victory and start blaming people
>for
>voting the way they did or for not voting at all. My initial reading
>of the
>results in Kiang leaves no doubt in my mind that this election was
>stolen.
>In that vein, Saul, I would not retract what I said the other day if
>I were
>you. But for the rigging of the votes, APRC would have been
>humiliated.
>
>My reason for saying this is very simple. If we factor in the people
>that
>were registered but did not vote, the APRC majority in Kiang will
>evaporate.
>We do not need an UDP official word to decipher what went on here as
>far as
>vote-buying is concerned. Crimes were committed. Vote-buying is
>illegal even
>under our watered-down electoral laws. That is what went on here. I
>am not
>trying to condone the behavior of people that would sell their souls
>in this
>way. But think about it. Some of these people wait for two months to
>even
>see ten dalasis. To a person like that, it would not be difficult
>for him to
>part away with a voter’s card if he is offered 25 dalasis and the
>assurance
>that his vote will not make a difference. Still, this despicable
>ploy by the
>APRC should have been countered vigorously by the Opposition. The
>less than
>800 votes APRC bought, would have cost them less than thirty
>thousand
>dalasis. This should be money we in the Diaspora can avail to the
>Opposition
>back home. Some of us also send more than $3000 back home. We could
>have
>called our friends and families and ask them to vote for the
>Opposition.
>These simple gestures make a difference.
>
>But instead of using the money to illegally buy the votes of our
>opponents,
>we will use the money to safeguard the votes of our supporters. Let
>us put
>money up and buy all the votes we need to defeat Yaya. Let us keep
>the cards
>until election day and give the cards to our supporters to vote for
>us. This
>is not as over ambitious as it might sound. It is doable. We can
>prevent our
>wavering voters from selling their inalienable right to vote in
>October and
>next January. Together with safeguarding the voters’ cards, we have
>to (in a
>more forceful way) communicate to voters that every vote counts. The
>power
>to get rid of Yaya in a peaceful way, lies in the hands of the
>people. If
>they do not want other means to be used in order to get rid of the
>murderers
>of our children, they should exercise their right to vote Yaya out
>of office
>and parade him before the regular courts where all criminals belong.
>
>There is no point crying over spilled milk now. The Opposition have
>options
>here that they can follow as a matter of principle. As Hamjatta and
>I have
>counseled them before, the firing of Johnson and reinstatement of
>Roberts
>was going to taint this election no matter who won. Since the
>Opposition was
>pursuing that matter in the courts, they can continue to see where
>that suit
>will lead them. If Roberts’ appointment is vacated by the courts and
>his
>actions at the IEC declared ultra vires, there might be
>possibilities for
>another by-election. It is entirely up to UDP to pursue this avenue.
>Frankly, I think I would have sorted out the IEC mess before
>partaking in
>the by-election. But like I said, there is no point dwelling on what
>could
>have been done.
>
>UDP also have another option with the courts if they see it fit to
>pursue
>that. There are clearly some electoral mal-practices here. And
>those
>irregularities could have made a difference in Kiang. If we just
>take the
>number of people that did not vote, that amount overshadows the APRC
>victory. If UDP can get affidavits to show that those voters’ cards
>were
>bought by APRC stalwarts, the election would be overturned. This
>ground for
>overturning the election, does not take into account other
>irregularities
>that UDP people on the ground might have witnessed. For instance,
>did we
>have multiple voting? Did we have people that were ferried to Kiang
>from
>neighboring constituencies? Did we have UDP supporters that were
>prevented
>from voting by Baba Jobe and his thugs from the July 22 Movement?
>UDP need
>to probe these and other tactics APRC might have used to steal the
>election.
>We are dealing here with vermin that will do anything to stay in
>power.
>
>On the other hand, UDP might decide to accept the results and
>regroup for
>next October and January. The APRC candidate that won Kiang, would
>just have
>one of the shortest stints in parliament. We should meet fire with
>fire and
>outspend these people. As far as ideas are concerned and moving the
>country
>forward, UDP, NRP and PDOIS are no match to APRC. The difference
>here is
>money and gutter tactics. We should be prepared to get into the
>gutter with
>them. This is life and death. Electing this man, translates to
>murdering our
>children in broad daylight and denying their families justice. This
>moron
>has nothing to offer us but misery.
>
>This is not time for arrogance and questioning the integrity of our
>potential supporters. We should avoid alienating people that we
>might need
>in October 2000 and January 2001 because an APRC rubber stamp is
>going to
>parliament for a few months. We should not be demoralized by these
>results.
>Let us look behind these results and see how we can avoid them in
>October.
>We should not allow Yaya to steal the elections again. I entirely
>associate
>myself to the call Hamjatta made yesterday that the Opposition
>parties
>should liaise with the organizations in the Diaspora to see how we
>can work
>together to get rid of Yaya through the ballot box. If we miss this
>opportunity, I can guarantee you that there are others ready,
>capable and
>willing to get rid of Yaya through other means.
>KB
>
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