Can Jammeh Run The Country From Kanilai? The persistent rumours that led to our question "is it true that Jammeh will stay in Kanilai for 6 months because State house is being renovated?, seem to hold water for there was no government reaction . If Jammeh is really going to stay for that long he needs to consider the following: Can he run the country from his residence in Kanilai? Although nothing seems to have been said about the above in the constitution, it beats the imagination of many Gambians that Jammeh can effectively run the country from Kanilai The reason is simple: Kanilai is remote and the roads leading to it are not that practicable . what about conventional practice, telecommunications , space for aides , logistics and security . We vividly recall that the late justice Sam Forster advocated during the first legal year that in view of the change of the Senegambian confederation, Gambia should think of relocating the capital farther than closely to the borders. He found Banjul not far from Karang. Of course, the suggestion brought laughter but his point was made for what it s worth Now history teaches us that governments were forced by circumstances to move in to other locations for emergency reasons like war or serious internal conflicts The late Lamine Gueye convened the Senegalese national assembly to his private residence to vote a no confidence of Mamadou Dia who got troops to throw MP's out of parliament building . Kabila went to Lumumbashi when the going was tough for him. De Gaulle moved to London to fight Hitler . We do not think that we have similar situations here that warrant the Kanilai option. State house is not a small name. It ids a symbol of sovereignty of the nation , and the president as the first citizen must uphold that symbol of nationhood ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------