Home of the Mandinmories

In the [Los Angeles] Sentinel interview, Young was asked about whether he was concerned Wal-Mart causes smaller, mom-and-pop stores to close.

"Well, I think they should; they ran the 'mom and pop' stores out of my neighborhood," the paper quoted Young as saying. "But you see, those are the people who have been overcharging us, selling us stale bread and bad meat and wilted vegetables. And they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they've ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it's Arabs; very few black people own these stores."...source

Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Think about this quote for a second and ask yourself, does the series of letters exchanged between UDP/NRP alliance and NADD bring them any closer to forming a viable and united front against the APRC? Instead what it has generated into is a one upmanship between the two alliance leaders. One concludes his missive with the line: in the service of the truth and the other uses: in the service of the nation. No kidding. What is this in the service line all about. Sincerely will do just fine, but what do I know. This is a contest in letters between a sociologist and a barrister and little people like me will not understand. But if I read one more time another one of those lines, I swear I will puke.

Who are they kidding. In the service of the truth/nation? Come on people. What truth? What nation? These guys can't agree on nothing. Now they all got on their high horses and wanted to bamboozle us into thinking the other guy is the bad apple. If they have the interest of the nation above their personal ego, they will be pragmatic enough to come together. Blaming the other party for the disintegration is so yesterday. Obtusely demanding your opponent to join you on your terms is nothing short of authoritarian. And that is exactly what both parties to these letter writting series are doing.

It is time to stop the insanity and focus on the price. Gambia is a "multiparty democracy". If your parties can't convince the electorate to oust the APRC, so be it. At that point the electorate will have spoken. It is their nation and the consequences of their decision will be visited upon them. That is democracy. It is messy. Get over the recriminations and campaign your hearts out. The envisioned NADD project has failed. It is a three way race and may the best candidate win.

We in the UDP/NRP Alliance have since had a meeting of our joint National Executive Committee. The joint Executive Committee has mandated Mr. Darboe to pursue the discussions with NADD as quickly as possible. We have since been waiting to hear from Hon. Halifa Sallah so that discussions could resume. The membership of UDP/NRP Alliance and NADD are well conscious of the fact that the elections are just around the corner and there is not much time at our disposal. In view of the time constraint the UDP/NRP Alliance formally invites you to consider the following proposals for a united front of opposition parties and these are:

1) The UDP/NRP Alliance be expanded to include NADD

2) ‘That the new Alliance adopts a single flag bearer to contest the 2006 presidential elections.

3) That the whole activities of the elections be governed by the dictates of the present Constitutions.

4) That the issue of allocating portfolios and responsibilities be shelved and that the Alliance concentrates on the principles of regime change which will ultimately lead to a system change.

5) That after the elections and provided that the expanded Alliance wins the elections arrangements be made for organizing a National Constitutional Review Conference within a period of three months after the National Assembly Elections.

6) The recommendations of the Conference will be the subject of a referendum and thereafter be submitted to the National Assembly for adoption and ratification. It is our belief that only the Gambian people can determine how the affairs of this country should be administered and all other actors are to abide by the dictates and the will of the people.

Your first proposal is for the UDP/NRP Alliance to be expanded to include NADD. The position of the NADD Executive is unequivocal. The executive members are convinced that after the second round of voting was eliminated no opposition party or its leader could be promoted to win an election on the basis of its individual strength. NADD wants the UDP/NRP Alliance to take note of the current state of their parties. It wishes to go on record to affirm that NDAM, NRP, PDOIS, PPP and UDP are still registered parties in the country; that the registration of NADD was not designed to kill other political parties and it has not killed other political parties. 

That is why the UDP/NRP Executive members who were in NADD could go back to their original parties as fast as they could write their signatures. The Executive Committee wishes to reiterate that all the other Executive Committee members of NADD decided to create this umbrella party and register it so as to galvanize the collective strength of the opposition parties to remove the present regime and then give life to each party to contest the next following election on equal footing on the basis of its own merit and that of its candidate. The creation of NADD cultivated a sense of common ownership that no alliance around a single party can create. The Executive Committee further observes that a UDP/NRP/NADD Alliance will not be recognized in law. 

Any candidate would have to be under UDP NRP or NADD ticket. Hence your proposal is considered to take NADD back to square one when the opposition parties were considering whether to contest the election under an umbrella party or under the leadership of one of the existing parties. It is therefore maintained that the NADD arrangement provides the best opportunity for collective ownership of the candidate and the campaign process to guarantee victory. This is the first point. 

Secondly, you propose that the new alliance adopts a single flagbearer to contest the 2006 presidential election. The Executive Committee of NADD considers the proposal to be incomplete. It would like to know how the selection is to be conducted. NADD had established a selection process based on consensus or voting by party chairmen, chairwomen and youth leaders. If no mechanism is proposed there is no way the NADD Executive can make a decision on this matter. 

Thirdly, you propose that the activities of the election be governed by the present constitution. The Executive Committee does not understand what this means. The constitution has been amended so many times that it gives the president monarchical powers. A President now rules without term limit. The President can appoint and dismiss the Chiefs; dismiss the members of the IEC and can even dissolve the National Assembly. Are you implying that the flagbearer should not give commitment on a political platform not to seek a second mandate or support another candidate in the next following election? Should we not have a transitional arrangement to curtail the monarchical powers of the presidency which should be propagated on our political platforms? Should the flag bearer not be urged to give commitment in public to combat and uproot such powers that legitimize impunity? This is the corner stone of NADD’s attempt to put an end to self perpetuating rule. The NADD Executive strongly maintains that this platform of putting an end to self perpetuating rule and impunity is the best weapon the opposition has in winning popular support. This is one platform it has been propagating to the wide approval of the electorate. How to reverse this process without being accused of being power hungry is a dilemma we need to give careful consideration to. 

Your fourth proposal is for the alliance to limit itself to regime change and that the issue of portfolios be shelved. The NADD Executive wishes to convey that the issue of creating a cabinet based on shared responsibility by member parties should not be mistaken to be an attempt to share the cake of power. NADD aims to keep the opposition parties alive and facilitate a healthy multiparty system after a five year transition by implementing the policy of collective leadership. Nothing is explained why such a general undertaking to operate a government based on the participation of all member parties and representatives of civil society should be shelved. 

The NADD Executive maintains that the first five years after Jammeh, should be a transition period to genuine democratic and constitutional rule. All the basic rectification programmes that should be made should be known to the people, so that no leader will be able to betray their aspirations without being challenged and removed in the first five years. It stands to reason that if a future president, elected on the basis of merit is expected to accept a two term limit why should the first president of a post Jammeh government not accept one term to build the culture of establishing term limits for the presidency? 

The fifth point is for a National Constitutional Review Conference to be the held within a period of three months after the National Assembly elections. In our view, the review of a constitution should be done through civic education programmes designed to enable the people to know what is in the constitution followed by a nationwide debate on the need for amendments through the auspices of a constitutional review commission. This is part of the NADD programme of action. 

Your sixth point is that the recommendations of a national constitutional conference will be subjected to a referendum and then presented to the National Assembly. The Executive Committee of NADD considers such a proposal to be of a general nature. No issue has been raised. It is not clear whether the recommendations will be transformed into a bill that would require the approval of the National Assembly before a referendum. We don’t know what recommendations will touch on the entrenched clauses to warrant a referendum. Hence there is no point to make a decision on. To conclude, allow us to indicate that the best way forward for any party which thinks that it has the might to remove the APRC regime is to proceed to do so and ask other parties to support its programme. However if all opposition parties are convinced that an alliance is the best instrument to remove the present regime then the NADD arrangement appears to have earned popular appeal. The flagbearer of NADD has stated in no uncertain term that he will be ready to vacate the seat in favour of anyone who can be a unifying factor of all those who are dissatisfied with the existing regime. The NADD Executive therefore calls on the UDP/NRP Alliance to do a critique of the NADD MOU and make recommendations on what to delete to make it acceptable to them. The NADD Executive will review any recommendation with objectivity. While anticipating a swift and practical response, we remain yours in the service of the Nation.... read the rest of the letters here...

The seven charged were, Abdoulie Kujabi, former Director-General of the NIA, Foday Barry, former Commissioner of Police, Kanifing Division, Baba Saho, former NIA Director of Operations, Vincent Jatta, former Chief of Defence Staff, Kemo Balajo, former NIA Director of External, Gibriel Secka, former NIA Director of Operations and Alieu Singhateh, former NIA Director of Intelligence.

In this case, it all began after 9:00pm that fateful Saturday when Bajinka was resting and meeting with love ones that three armed officers led by Bamba Manneh rudely invaded their privacy and told Bajinka that he was under arrest. According to our unassailable sources, the urbane Major Bajinka quickly opened his suit case and pulled out his military pistol. His message? "Leave right now or all of us will be dead." At this stage says a source "Manneh and the two other officers decided to return and call for reinforcement." However, according to a Presidential aide in Banjul, President Jammeh and the entire top brass of the Army and the NIA were "irritated at Banjika’s show of bravery and hurriedly put up a team of killer marks men to either arrest the major or take him out." Luckily for Bajinka while the marks men were en route to his residence, a loyalofficer called his mobile phone and hinted that "they are coming and are ordered to kill you in the same fashion they killed Dumbuya and Lt. Almamo Manneh, so please surrender". According to our lead source, the seasoned soldier quickly called his superiors and admonished them that it was not necessary to cause chaos; that he was on his way to report himself.

Using a funeral at a church or a mosque to score a political or debating point is something that has been battle-tested and used time and time again. The only problem is; it doesn't work. Grandstanding at funerals is very tasteless and unsavory. People who act on the impulse to do it never understand how bad they look when crashing a funeral or stomping from the pulpit. Most funeral attendees see them as nothing more than pompous opportunists taking a cheap shot at people who can't respond to them out of respect for the deceased. The real meaning of a funeral eludes them. But I will attempt to tell them this and it is a word for the wise:

Hey mister! You see that person in the coffin? It is about them. You are at a funeral for them. It is not about you and your grievances. Not now. Not this time.

Sheesh!

The point newspaper decry the extremes young Africans take to make it to the shores of Europe in this editorial:

There is a lot of debate these days about African immigrants trying to enter Europe through what many call “the back way.” Like many African countries, The Gambia has lost many of her citizens, mainly the youths, on the dangerous seas between Spain and Morocco and despite the recurrent and grievous nature of the loss of lives, many are still willing to brave the precarious conditions to enter Europe which Africans youths have for decades looked forward to as a greener pasture. Alas, how sorrowful, considering the price the adventure is costing many a hope-starved African youth!

The editorial went on to report what these people claimed is responsible for their extreme risk taking thus:

Many African youths attribute their extreme decision to the inability of their home countries to provide them jobs or, when they could, the remuneration is not comparable to wages in Europe.

I was with the inpression that the point editors do not have to attribute the reasons to the travellers. They knew what is going on the ground. They are daily witnesses to the deprivation that is taking place in the country.

The following slideshow and accompanying music catches the epitome of the human tragedy brought about by the exodus of what the point editorial called "hope starved african youth" to the greener pastures of Europe at any cost.The music is in Wollof but the visuals are captivating in their own right.

Click on the link below to listen and watch SUNUGAAL ( OUR BOAT) ...a studiosankara production.
SUNUGAAL

The slideshow isn't working any more. The host for some reason disabled it. You can read the lyrics accompanying the slide show at the link above. It is in english, french and spanish.

If defending and advocating for your race is a bad thing, it should be bad across the board. Disband the congressional black and hispanic caucuses. Shutter the NAACP, which has become nothing more than a clique of partying elitists who give out awards to pedophiles. Why are racial minorities allowed to honor their race, while whites are not? Why is there a stigma against being proud of your white skin, but not black or brown skin?

I’m going to say this e-x-t-r-a s-l-o-w-l-y so maybe even the terminally stupid Ms. Barber can understand:
1. Fun fact about white people: we can, and do, join white ethnic organizations all the damn time, and nobody says anything. When you poke your head in the local Polish-American club, do not expect to see a Benetton ad. Expect to see lots and lots of white people. Ditto the Italian-American club, the endless Irish-American organizations, etc., etc. It all seems rather pointless to me, but they tend to have cheap beer, so I keep these sorts of idle opinions to myself.

This isn't an issue of ignorance. The idea that the NAACP is the same as Prussian blue is not rooted in a lack of knowledge on Lashawn’s part but willful, malicious spite. Everyone knew the Nazis were a murderous bunch of lunatics backed by a hateful state machinery. And even if you don't know anything about the NAACP, you know it doesn't advocate genocide and it sure as hell is not backed by any state machinery. So there's obviously no equivalency morally or otherwise between the two groups. Even the ignorant couldn't make this mistake. And La Shawn Barber knew this all along. She is just been spiteful and as usual passing aspersions on people of color to fit in “the club”.

Summit of the despots taking place in what used to be the smiling coast of west Africa (the Gambia) is going smoothly except for a few malapropos here and there. Case in point is Libya's Ghaddafi. He proposed the perennial cry of Pan Africanist ...the uniting of African states as reported by the point in this story:

The 7th Edition of the Banjul AU Summit is expected to discuss, among other things, the creation of a United States of Africaproposed by Libyan Leader Muammar El Gaddafi.

However Mr. Ghaddafi didn't find it important to attend the opening session of the summit he is purportedly in Banjul to attend. Angolapress reports that:

Libyan leader, Col. Moammar Kadhafi was absent from the hall at the opening session of the 7th African Union (AU) summit of heads of states and governments, which began in Banjul Saturday, it was observed by PANA correspondents in Banjul.

How do you expect people to respect and debate your proposal if you refused to be in the same room with them. The Libyan delegation is covering for their quintessential dictator by saying that his absence is a protest against a "possible" decision to withdraw African troops from Sudan. Personally I believe that would be catastrophic on the part of the AU unless the United Nations decides to take over their mission. However the operative word here is "possible". The decision hasn't been made. Ghaddafi will serve his position well if he sticks around and argue his point. Walking out in protest from a room full of despots will not help you much especially if the issue you are protesting over is still under review and open to debate. No?
Not to be left out of the charade and never one to pass out a chance to lashed out at the west and the united states for that matter, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Ahmadinejad were at their demagogic best in this anglopress piece.

Infected by the World Cup fever, two sadhus play football on the banks of the River Ganges in Allahabad...




Something to lighten your day...

The point newspaper and AllAfrica are reporting that President Yaya Jammeh has invited Iran's president Ahmadinejad, Venezula's Chavez and the vice president of Palestine. The last invitee going by the name Farouk Kadoni didn't make a lot of sense to me. Palestine has a president and a prime minister (whose government is as we speak under siege by the Israelis looking for an abducted soldier). However this might be a mistake on the part of the point.

But the question that came to mind after reading this story is what in the world is Yahya thinking inviting such international pariahs when the rest of the world is watching? What value is the Iranian, Venezulian and Palestinian governments to the advancement of the Gambia's interest? Wouldn't this tantamount to poking a stick in the eyes of the western countries that contribute more to the development of the Gambia and happen to be in a delicate nuclear negotiation with Iran?

The United States recently suspended the Gambia from the Millennium Challenge assistance citing human rights abuses. In a statement release by the board of directors they stated thus:

The board based its decision on documented evidence of human rights abuses in the country and increased restrictions on political rights, civil liberties and press freedom by the government, as well as worsening economic policies and diminishing anti-corruption efforts, an MCC statement said. To support its decision, MCC considered reports from several organizations, including Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the World Economic Forum, the Economist Intelligence Unit and the U.S. Department of State....read rest of the release here

Could this be the reason why Yahya Jammeh is been intransigent by inviting Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez ... two of the most belligerent adversaries of the United States?

The two actions might not have any correlations, but I don't take anything for granted when it comes to the irrationality of Yahya Jemus Jammeh.

I am not one of those people who think the Gambia shouldn't host the African Union summit. Au contraire. What I have issues with is the governments indulgence in building structures that are not necessary for the successful implementation of the summit at the expense of more pressing infrastuctural needs such as the Brikama-Basse highway.

The goverment spent $5.5 million to build fifty two villas for visiting heads of states. I will argue that these heads of state could stay at the numerous hotels, pay their bills and in the process contribute to the economy of the host country. But Yahya will have none of that and in the pursuit of grandeur and infantile economic thought, he decided to spend that much money to build villas for a two day summit. Here is a snapshot of the villas.



The condition of Roads in the Gambia are horrible. The Brikama -Basse highway has become a nightmare for travellers. The Government spent a little over 2.5 million dollars to construct the Essau- Kerewan road(a 52Km road on the north bank).It is safe to say that 5.5 million dollars will go along way in alleviating the suffering of travellers along the Brikama -Basse route without causing any significant hardship to the heads of state coming to the Gambia for the AU summit. The Gambia have enough Four and Five star hotels to cater to their needs for the two day event. The economic impact of a reliable road infrastructure cannot be over emphasis. The prices of goods will go down significantly for starters. You don't have to be an economist to know that but alas dictators prefer grandeur to economic sense. See below a snapshot of road conditions in the Gambia and tell me if you don't think the money would have been better utilise fixing them.



And this one in the heart of Serrekunda...the largest city in the Gambia



The Gambia is a sovereign member of the African Union and as such is entitled to host its heads of state summit. However it will be helpful if the government went about it in a way that makes economic sense. In my humble opinion it went about it in an irresponsible manner as far as those villas are concerned.

I wonder why this man finds it necessary to apologise to Gambians for the inhuman actions of his forbears. He could have done that in his neck of the woods. There are millions of descendants of African slaves in the United Kingdom. They are the people who bear the brunt of slavery. But I guess he knew that they will not tolerate his clownish behavior. So what better place to put up a clownish masquerade than the Gambia. Read the rest of the story below.

Descendent of slaver apologizes in Gambia

BANJUL, Gambia, June 23 (UPI) -- A descendent of an Elizabethan buccaneer has made a formal apology for slavery in an African country where many slaves were taken.

Andrew Hawkins, wearing chains, appeared in a stadium in Banjul, the capital of Gambia, The Independent reported. He knelt down to express his regret for the actions of Sir John Hawkins, who is believed to have been the first person to sell African slaves in the Caribbean. Hawkins, a youth worker in Cornwall, went to Gambia with the Lifeline Expedition, a British group. His apology was part of the Roots Festival, which marks the events described in Alex Haley's book about his family.

"It was one of the most memorable things I've ever done," he said. "It was a learning experience. You see just how deep the wounds left by the slave trade are. As someone with family links to the slave traders, it was a very difficult thing to see the consequences of their actions."

Isatou Njie Saidy, Gambia's vice president, accepted Hawkins' apology and removed his chains.

I have been so busy lately and thus the lull in postings. Today been Fathers day, I decide to recycle a fathers day tribute I wrote last year. Happy fathers day to all responsible dads out there. Here is the recycled post:

Thank you Dad.

As a rule, I'm not a fan of Hallmark Days - those occasions when we're obligated to celebrate and tithe to the tinsel titans who compel us to compassion or guilt.

But Father's Day has always had a special spot on my calendar - not only because I like fathers who stood up to responsibility, but it serves as day for me to reflect on the sacrifices of a man who once called the Village of Saba home. The man with the loud voice, but a gentle heart. The joke on our side of the village is that my old man will scare the living hell out of a lion with his voice but the soul behind the man we called Dad is as gentle as they come.

Father’s day is a day of remembrance for me. I remember the phone call that broke the terrible news… the demise of my father. It is still vivid in my memory as the morning dew. But I will not dwell on that sad news, because his is a life worth celebrating.

Frankly, I don't know why Dad doesn't slam the door on his way out. Considering the abject poverty that bedevils the life of an illiterate African villager; who live literally from hand to mouth.

The reason he doesn't is because fathers, when they are true fathers, don't do that sort of thing. They don't act childishly, throw tantrums, pout and demand attention. They take the guff and keep on trucking or in the case of my old man keep on farming and doing any odd job to feed his family. It's a very grown-up thing.

Before everyone who had a bad father or a lousy husband starts typing my name, allow me to disclaim: The world is full of good and bad men, some of whom have managed to procreate, as well as good and bad women. Ditto. But this is not about them. This is an ode to a man I grow up to respect and even more after he gasp for his last breath.

This is my appreciation for my father’s patience and understanding. His strength and reliability in spite of the forces arrayed against. This is the reason I celebrate father’s day. If only I can give ol' dad a call.

Below is the email I received from MichiGambia president informing me and the rest of the community that I have been deleted from the community mailing list. The bold letterings are my response to specific points he made in the email:

There was an article recently distributed to our community mailing list that doesn't help our cause or represent the image of the executive well. Several members in the community have contacted me concerning these articles and expressing disappointment about their misleading and negative implications. The article in question was written by Ousman Ceesay and was very unnecessary and not in line with the humble job the executive and our community as a whole are doing to help make a difference back home.

I will like to think that the people contacting you will have the cojones to speak their minds when they read what I wrote. But again this is more about the executive than anyone else. What is misleading about what I wrote? Please indulge me.

After reading the article which stated the following:
"The Michigan Gambian association has been conned by the embassy who is taking credit of the Medical supplies instead of the Gambian Community and he went on to say that Tijan Ceesay is currently in the Gambian waiting for the container to present it to the President." This is the most inaccurate statement at any level. Tijan Ceesay did not go anywhere. It is totally unnecessary for someone to fabricate such false statement.

I am flabbergasted at the dastardly way the executive decides to quote me. Nowhere in the said article did I say what they quoted me as saying. But like everything else they do incompetence is the norm. I was narrating the talk making the rounds in the Gambian community.

These allegations are not only uncalled for but not healthy for our community who is just doing with the little we have to send help back home.

What allegations Monsieur de la Presidente? That Tijan tried to outsmart your leadership and nearly succeeded. You can’t be serious. Everybody and their mama know that is a fact. Don’t tell me what is healthy for the community. The free flow of information I imagine is healthy for any community. No?

When we received the acknowledgement from the President's office thanking the
community for a generous donation, he was proved wrong and forced to write the
following:
Ousman ceesay wrote, "Michigambia finally get an acknowledgement of their efforts and the allegations that I made that they may have been conned by the embassy proved false." For Ousman to enlighten his readership about the mistakes he made on his blog and never attempt to correct the misinformation he has been cascading to our community shows how passionate he is about attacking the executive of this association and the community in general.

Lawdy …forced to do what? You guys are comical. I did that out of a sense of fair play. Something you guys obviously have no clue about. You confused criticism of your ineptitude to that of the community. When did critiquing the executive become synonymous with attacking the community? Get real. I am part of the Gambian community in Michigan. My best friends are part of that same community that you claimed I attacked but can’t bring forth any evidence to prove your point. What a joke.

This unsubstantiated allegations and unnecessary attacks to the executive have to stop. We are not being paid for doing the job we are doing but strictly volunteering our time and resources.
Therefore we don't deserve to be treated as such. When he is not only criticizing us but went to the extend of pointing out individuals of the executive and calling them names we have to do something. Because if we let people engage in name calling and sending it to the community mailing list, then that will defeat the purpose of this email list. For that being the case Ousman is being deleted from the email list effective immediately.

Now that is what this is all about. Your mighty executive should never be criticized. Like the fictional Napoleon in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, you are always right. Your little princesses shouldn’t be called out for their prank. Well, you are wrong and you are barking up the wrong tree. If you guys think you can silence me by deleting me from the email list, then you got one coming. If I have to do anything all over again, I will do the same thing. No regrets.

We will not engage in a war of words with anybody for any reason. If anybody thinks he or she is able to help this association in anyway, shape or form, you are more than welcome to come forward and help for the good of our community.
I am willing to accommodate anyone at any time if he or she believes they can make a positive contribution. Remember that our monthly meetings are on the second Sunday of every month (or every three months). Bring any ideas or discussion that you want to have with the executive and we will be glad to listen to you!

Oh please save me the patronizing. You guys deleted someone for criticizing your work and in the next breath solicit input. If that is not hypocrisy at its height, I don’t know what it is.

Thank you very much and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Modou Jatta
President of the Gambian Association of Michigan

But don’t take my word for it. Here is what Cherno Baba Jallow (a member of the community) has to say about this saga:

It is beneath my comprehension that the executive committee of the Gambian Association of Michigan can stoop so low as to "silence" its critics. Why expel Ousman Ceesay from the mailing list? Because he has written an "inaccurate" article? He attacks the executive? Does not support the cause of the Association? Are these justifiable reasons to expel somebody from a forum?

The executive had the chance to respond to Ousman's write-ups when he posted them on this mailing list, but it chose not to. If Ousman had written a misleading article, it is important --- isn't it? --- for the executive to respond to the charges, rebut and clarify where necessary. That will have done two things: Set the record straight, a net benefit for the Association; and help
us all being roundly informed about the issues pursuant to Ousman's revelations.

The reality is this and I hereby allege: the president and the executive of the Gambian Association of Michigan decided to expel Ousman because they did not like his criticisms. Ousman was once arbitrarily removed by Modou Jah from the mailing list. It was only after complaints were lodged that he was re-instated. So Ousman's removal was well thought-out; it was carried out with a whiff of vindictiveness and partiality. It is wrong.

Recently, the executive decided to kill my column on michigambia.com and never even bothered to inform me. I was never served a notice and nor was I extended an invitation to any meeting where I could have had the opportunity to address any concerns or issues pertaining to my writings on the website. The committee just decided to yank my column off, showing no recourse to professionalism and courtesy. At least, I ought to have been formally notified given the fact that I contributed immensely to the development of the website, needless to say the time and energy expended on the information there-in. But one thing is clear.

This executive has competency issues to resolve. It also suffers from arrogance of power. It lacks the professional approach to handling issues and people. It is a microcosm of the leadership crisis we have back home, when a few people arrogate themseleves the power to censor and silence people. It is a disgrace, the way the executive of the Gambian Association of Michigan has willfully blinded itself to the fact that in the marketplace of ideas, the cure to free speech is more speech.

I am a strong supporter of free speech and I will donate my last pint of blood to the cause of freedom of _expression. That's why I take my removal from the website and even more painful, the arbitrary delisting of Ousman Ceesay, with umbrage. Therefore:

I will not be a party to a mailing list that censors and silences critics. My respect for the ideals of free speech is too unalloyed to permit my continued stay on the mailing list. I hereby ask to be removed from the list. And I also hereby request that the Association not send me solicitations for funds. I will not contribute to an Association whose executive has no or little regard for
freedom of expression. Paging President Modou Jatta.
...Cherno

They can try to frame the issue in whatever way they want, but the fact remains and I have said this before: that the executive of Michigambia take opinions critical of them personally and act accordingly irrespective of the consequence. They are not the most humble bunch and they tend to think they are not in need of much outside input or advice. That is the crux of this saga.