Sorry that I couldn't reply to you much sooner 'course I was a bit tied up. You see I have never denied that voter buying did take place. All I wanted to do was to caution the opposition and to draw their attention to the possibility that there may be other more important contributory factors to the UDP defeat. My political leaning might be different from many on the list, but I hope people will understand that I am also a Gambian who may have something to contribute. As far as I am concerned, Gambia comes first. You wrote: "Finally, i agree with you that there is a need for tolerance, decency and respect in our exchanges/discourse. Since these virtues are mutual and earned, and your declaration of respect for me, i will strive to return the said compliments in any exchange - so long as it is mutual and earned." I appreciate this and we should expect nothing less. You also wrote: "To the "dubious character" label i pinned on you earlier, i will gladly retract it and apologise for such characterisation if you can tell me what position you hold in the civil service and where you live [not home address but area/region in the Gambia]. The reason for this is simple: You claim you are a civil sevant, but the checks i have done on you so far have proven negative. We need to ascertain the facts so we can engage in constructive exchanges. I'm beginning to suspect you are more than one individual. All these factors will, however, not impinge upon what i have declared above - that i will from henceforth treat your contributions with respect and seriousness even if we disagree - provided you remain honest and return the compliments. Mean time, i look forward to the daunting task of changing your heart about our pea-brained "president"." Your appology is accepted and I thank you for your humility. As for my identity, well I will try to give you a some insight into who I am. No, I am not more than ONE person. My name is Kebba but I am using my namesake's surname to be anonymous. The reason is that if I were to disclose my identity I will not be able to participate in these debates. You see, today's opposition could very well be tomorrow's government and some seemingly good politicians of today could become tomorrow's nightmare. You just have look at Chiluba of Zambia or even the record of Africa's man of the millenium, Dr. Osagefoe Kwami Nkrumah. He inacted one of most represive legislations Ghana has ever known namely the Preventative Detention Act (PDA). This wrecked havoc on the lives of many innocent people. The little information I wish to divulge about myself, which I hope will be sufficient for now is as follows. I am a senior civil servant in my mid 40's who was born and bred in the Niani District of the CRD, attended Armitage school, studied Mathematics and engineering at the universities of Canterbury(kent), Plymouth (Devon) and the National university of Singapore (NUS. I am also a grauate of the Thunderbird, American graduate school of international management in Glendale, Arizona. I am married with 4 children. The first time I ever voted was in England when I once voted for Dr. David Owen, now Lord Owen when I lived in Devonport. In Gambia the only time I ever bothered to vote was in the referendum, presidential and national assembly elections. Happy Tamharit, KB Jobe. ========================================================== "There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see, yet small enough to solve" (MIKE LEAVITT) =========================================================== _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------