I completely disagree with the AG’s effort to conceal information about the buyers of government tenders. All government tenders are by definition public tender. This of course means that the effort to hide information from those entitled to it has no legal basis. There is no law between a person and their property. In the US, all information about government, meaning, the public, tender bidders and buyers is by law available to the public. The AG must therefore, at his office premises, make such public information available for review and research by both the media and the public. The rights of the owners of tendered material, overrides government’s desire to hide information about the bidders and buyers of public tender. The AG forgot who he is working for. Hint: the Public.
And about toll charges at the bridges raised Adama Barrow, I’d have to agree with his decision to a point. Anyone who purchases fuel for a vehicle, can afford a nominal toll tax. Foot and cart traffic should be exempt from such taxes. The requirement to charge toll fees is not uniform around the world. Some governments exempt foot and bicycle traffic paying toll fees. Knowing to some degree conditions in Gambia, I can comfortably say that most in the category of foot and bicycle traffic can’t afford the toll fees, and shouldn’t be burdened with it. The ball is in government’s court.
Mathew K .Jallow
USA
WhatsApp groups
Last night a buddy of mine sent me a message on Facebook practically excoriating me because I’ve not been participating in a WhatsApp forum I’m a member of. I see this buddy as a big brother and couldn’t say much besides apologizing. He said the reason he sent me a message on Facebook is because he knows I’m always on Facebook. I was tempted to say that’s not accurate but again, this is a big brother of mine and I had to be mindful of what I say to him and how I speak to him. I meekly apologized and promised to do better.
Are you a member of any WhatsApp forums? What’s the purpose of the forum? What are the rules? How active are you in these forums? Is there anything people do in these forums that annoys you or things people do that you find irritating?
Here’s a confession. I don’t like working with or collaborating with people trapped in this colonial space. And let’s say the problem is not the people; it’s me. I’m the problem because I can be cynical and not very trusting of others. But not to worry, I’m working on being better. However, until such time that I become a better version of who I am today, I remain very selective of what WhatsApp forums I choose to be a member of. One, I am a bit of a loner and two, I am not a big fan of fluffiness and I find a lot of useless speeches in these forums. More importantly, my attention span is not the best and so if you have to greet everyone, play pious, pray a long prayer, tell us the type of person you are, all before you get to the point you want to make, you’d have already lost an audience in me! Sometimes, I cannot even go beyond the prayers!
But here are a few things that make me lose interest in these forums. The Juma Mubarak messages people copy and paste to the group and then send to individual members of the group! These meaningless motivational quotes people send simply because someone else sent it to them. The unending prayers folks send to everyone! The aimless banter that’s really about nothing. The various banal stickers! The moral stories, virtue-signaling entreaties based on the false notion that we are all brothers and sisters, all make me roll my eyes and slowly lose interest. What about you?
Alagie Saidy- Barrow
