Burama

I am following your thoughts on the way forward for Gambian public life, and as to what should replace Professor Jammeh, you and I and almost all our colleagues here and elsewhere appear to be on the same page. I am in no doubt a devoted united opposition front can eject the Professor from power. My understanding was that STGDP thought so too, and it was so engaged  from as far back as 2003 or thereabouts.

Below are extracts from a piece entitled "A Case for Coalition"  in 2004. We didn't have a coalition for 2006 but I was told my views mirrored those of the principal unity broker of the day, STGDP

****You and I are on the same page here:

"...We entertain no naivety that hammering a coalition would not present special problems of intense agony. That notwithstanding, we firmly believe that those who aspire to direct the destiny of a nation must be mature and pragmatic enough to appreciate and navigate the bottlenecks inherent to a project of such gigantic and critical import. Trapped as we are under a totalitarian dictatorship in a nation without viable institutions, your challenge is akin to that of America’s founding fathers, those architects of statehood who carved the world’s most distinguished jurisdiction out of extremely acute conditions. Their enduring legacy is not the phenomenal and extraordinary material prosperity of the United States, but the creation of a nation of laws, and a land of liberty..."



****Our distinguished GON Editor and interviewer Demba Baldeh and I are on the same page here because he likes to peep into the thoughts of those he calls "subject matter experts". In  "A Case for Coalition", I referred to them as "sector-based knowledgeable Gambians". Same thing I think
 
"... We challenge you to think through your election agenda and market your manifesto to a people ripe for persuasion. The suffering majority of Gambians are solidly in the opposition camp, and that gain must be maintained and nurtured over the next 24 months. To assume that conditions of general hardship and insecurity means  your mission is universally appreciated will constitute a monumental misjudgement. As part of a manifesto preparation, it may be advisable to consult sector-based knowledgeable Gambians on their vision regarding some key aspects of our national life: education; agriculture; health; trade; public works; local government; tourism; and the judiciary..."



****And finally I share the extract below with STGDP and those persuaded that a fully united front can do the job
 
 
".... As the political temperature in the country rises over this year and next – and it must definitely will – and as the heat pervades Jammehs several abodes, it is not inconceivable for the tyrant to put out feelers for vacating office in exchange for immunity from prosecution. In that eventuality, it is incumbent upon you as national leaders to take a longer and broader view of state security and act accordingly. You need not fret over the despot’s crimes once he is ready to head for exile.
 
If, on the other hand, his rantings are anything to go by, the road to 2006 will bring tragedy and sorrow to a people battered by official criminality in public life. As the struggle to liberate The Gambia enters its most critical phase, your role as party and coalition leaders may expose you to ultimate danger. You must therefore educate the people on the strategy of mass demonstrations as a potent method of political dialogue should government embarked on lawlessness and extra judicial killings in the run up to the election.

To state in categorical terms, once a coalition party leader is killed, the people must come out in their hundreds of thousands to neutralise the thuggish security forces and drive Dr Jammeh and his oppressive regime out of power. This must constitute the key strategic alternative to the election itself. Countries such as Romania, Serbia, Georgia, and Haiti are eminent forerunners in this genre for political change. Their people countered executive lawlessness and ejected their brutal and yet cowardly dictators by the sheer force of their numbers. The Gambia is ripe for such a revolution in light of the extra judicial killings, the arson attacks, widespread economic hardship, and general state criminality which are made routine features of our national life by Dr Jammeh and his thugs..."

****I think your ideas are quite attractive Burama, but many may view them as too deliberative and time is clearly not on our side. Your methodology may give too much time to your Jammeh brother when the hurt is approaching near unbearable. I hope you are not buying time for him. How much was your fee? Just kidding!




LJDarbo
 


On Saturday, 8 February 2014, 10:08, Burama Jammeh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Mr. Darbo

Thanks!

Not claiming any ownership. You’re so far the closest to the diagnoses I have made and arguing on for sometimes. 

However were we still differ is you seem to think a united opposition can defeat Yahya while I don’t think so. He will still use the “all-means” to so-call defeat them. 

Here I suggested amassing “Political Leverage" through some organization(s) of Gambians that will forced Yahya to a political negotiation at a table where things like constitutional reforms, electoral laws and management reforms, governance rearrangement/decentralization, etc - (i.e. A Democratic Republic Agenda and not the narrow election for new president). This is neither easy and/or short term undertaking but very practical and did not overly put any citizen in the cross-fires of the dictator. More importantly we can all play a role based on our expertise and as well deem by our compatriots (no out sourcing of the solution while one is under safe shelters in UK and/or USA).

Again I may have been clumsy with my language but I am also not impressed with the level organization of political parties and/or leaders but I never faulted them our failures as if i their problem than mine or any other Gambia. In fact most of them have already paid a heavy price that I did not.

Bro…………………say it louder…..and keep repeating it!

Good signs in this exchange and my hope is this crowd grow>

Regards

Burama 

 
On Feb 8, 2014, at 2:41 AM, Lamin Darbo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Thanks guys for your thoughtful reactions

As for Karim, I think you answered your own query. In The Gambia, what we have is not governance but brutal power play. As they say, no politician presides over his own destruction and in a free and fair contest, Karim can defeat the Professor with only a month of unfettered campaigning. The point is that there will be no "widening of democratic space such as electoral reforms,  constitution reforms including independent and transparent IEC" as long as Professor Jammeh remains President. I think you answered your foregoing by accurately stating that "the dictator have control all means", including all the police power of the state.

As for "mass demonstrations", the reality can paralyse even those Gambians with the bravest personal constitution. The Gambia is not the USA, not the UK, not any Western European country. The Professor is Assad, Mubarak, Ghadaffi and rulers of that ilk, meaning he will counter "demonstrators with life bullets". We are therefore faced with the mouse community's dilemma of who to "bell the cat". Herein the reason why I do not refer to those on the ground as cowards.

As far as I am concerned, my only issue with the opposition leadership is the failure to craft a united front, and that is why my advocacy is so restricted. Unless I am personally on the ground, I won't call anyone a coward. I won't even insinuate it from the safer shores of the UK. A proper united front can take on the Professor and win, electorally, and even on the streets.


LJDarbo  


On Saturday, 8 February 2014, 2:40, dbaldeh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I think CORDEG can only blame itself for the leak. In a 24hr news cycle you can only sit on information for so long. Even the Whitehouse does have leaks! Infornation sharing is definitely one area CORDEG needs to improve. 

On LJD's concerns they need to take heed as well. There is a high risk of failure when a body like CORDEG's success and mode of operation is associated with an individual leadership. We Gambians tend to wash our hands off an organization once a leader is selected. This put unrealistic expectation on the leader.  Am certain if highly competent people  like Dr. Saine is given the support his committee needs he can craft policies and programs that can yield incredible results for our struggle. 

The fear of CORDEG becoming a dominant political force has been expressed by some members of the opposition as Lamin alluded to. It is therefore critical that CORDEG's neutral stand and policy objectives be spelled out clearly as a broker and mobilizer of Diaspora Gambians to gather resources and support a politically viable force. They have to overcome some of the mistrust from the opposition leadership if they are to be effective as a mobilizing force.

Thanks

Demba


From my Android phone on T-Mobile. The first nationwide 4G network.



-------- Original message --------
From: Musa Jeng <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 02/07/2014 5:47 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [G_L] LJD on CORDEG


A very important distinction, and will allay whatever fears the opposition has as correctly highlighted in Lamin's piece.
Thank you Kejau

From: "kejau" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, February 7, 2014 8:21:05 AM
Subject: Re: [G_L] LJD on CORDEG

Thanks Yero.

LJD is erudite as usual. Always a pleasure to read. 
CORDEG is not declaring a leader of the diapora struggle, though, but only a chairperson of the executive of the committee.  The leak was also not as a result of cronyism at least not of cordeg but by a mole and it was condemned by members as peemature and unfortunate.  
Cordeg infact has not concluded the voting process as such hence the release was regretable and unprofessional.  
Be rest assured your concerns will be taken on board and are infact the xoncrrns


Sent from Samsung Mobile



-------- Original message --------
From: abdoukarim sanneh <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 07/02/2014 09:55 (GMT+01:00)
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [G_L] LJD on CORDEG


Yero thanks for sharing the piece.  It is a good observation and the points raised are open for debate.  My question to Lamin is how long can the diaspora organisations continue to facilitate the political process and in our case is it working for us? Lamin is talking about the opposition in the ground but have they put any strategies which making impact for widing democratic space such as electoral reforms,  constitution reforms including independent and transparent IEC? Are the political parties even democratic?  Are they not existing by names? I have not been following CORDEG and others of recently but ineffective opposition politics is the case the emergence of types of civil organisations. We have opposition politicians who form parties and want to be leaders but the dictator have control all means for.  They don't want to change strategies,  they want to listen,  they have created divided memberships and many are not tolerant to criticism.We have a long way to go with Yahya Jammeh if the language is not change to mass demonstration for political reform.

Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2014 19:12:27 -0600
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: LJD on CORDEG
To: [log in to unmask]

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