- Date: Monday, 22-Jan-96 07:48 PM
- From: Saffa J. Kemokai \ PRODIGY:
(GUGP07A)
- To: Hassan Sisay \ Internet: (hassan_sisay@macgate.csuchico.ed)
Subject: The Premise....
If it can be deduced that
there is someone out there to convince the RUF to abandon the
contradictions and allow the people to vote and not to kill them,
go for it. I sat in a group with Karefa-Smart this past summer
(1995) for over 4 hours.
Personally, I did not sense
the possibility that he can pull it for the people of
SL.
Thanks....
Saffa Kemokai @ Browns
Mills, NJ
Hassan Wrote:.
- > TO Mr. Kemokai:
- > I totally disagree with your contention regarding
the impending elections
- > in Sierra leone. You asked " what is there in
this election process that
- > will arrest the RUF's war against the people.?"
There is a lot depending
- > on your political persuasion. For one thing, the
elections might lead to
- > the emergence of a legitimate civilian government
which would negotiate
- > with the RUF. I recall that some time ago, Foday
Sankoh suggested Dr.
- > Karefa Smart as an acceptable intermediary in any
negotiations with the
- > NPRC. For some self-serving and possibly dumb
political reason, his offer
- > was rejected. The government cited Dr. Smart's
leadership of a political
- > party as a primary factor for its negative response
to Sankoh. Since then
- > there has not been much accomplished in the
negotiations arena, and
- > sadly,the killing has continued. Assuming that Dr.
Smart wins the
- > elections,it is likely that he might be able to put
together a strong
- > civilian negotiating team to deal with Sankoh. If on
the other hand he
- > loses, knowing how eager he is to end the war and
bring about stability in
- > Sierra Leone, it might be easy for a new civilian
government to prevail
- > upon him to resuscitate his mediation plan with the
RUF. Ofcourse, he
- > cannot do that at the moment without provoking the
wrath of the NPRC. This
- > is why I support the elections because they provide
a slim possibility for
- > ending the current carnage. This talk about delaying
the elections until
- > peace is achieved is unrealistic. So what if 4 or 10
years from now the
- > war has not ended, should we then wait for an
additional 20 years before
- > ever returning the country to civilian rule ? In the
interim, how would
- > the international community react to our military
government. Can it
- > survive without the support of the donor nations ? I
say let's hold the
- > elections now, and bring in people with new ideas on
how to deal with the
- > RUF. The status quo is definitely not working.
Greetings and thanks for
-
- your commentary on the topic. Hassan