My Fellow Gambians,
As we enter the new year, i wish every member of the post a long life and progressive 2005. We should also continue to pray for our departed colleague Deyda Hydara. He died on a just cause. We should make it as a point
of duty, in our day to day gatherings to observe one minute silence for Hydara. We also wish speedy recovery for Ida Jagne and Nyan Jobe. We hope and pray that the almighty God will preserve their lives and protect the Gambian independent media
from this hostile and undemocratic Jammeh administration.
Fellow Gambians, enemies of freedom in our dear country will be defeated sooner or later. Let us remain united in our quest to restore democracy in our fragile country. The struggle will continue despite moves by the current administration to silence dissent and freedom. The year 2004 was characterised by
murders, attempted assassinations, arrests, torture, abductions arson attacks and the butcher of our National constitution. The perpetrators of these heinous crimes are walking scout free in the streets of Banjul and it environs. They are provided blanket immunity by Jammeh not to face any prosecution.
They are licensed to kill Gambians with impunity.
The killing of Deyda Hydara in my mind was calculated to scare the private press from exposing Jammeh's dubious plans of rigging the pending 2006 polls. The regime will do everything possible to cling to power, even though it no longer enjoyed public support.
As a senior editorial staff of the Point newspaper, i could vividly remember the late Deyda Hydara drawing my attention to a statement made by president Yahya Jammeh in Brikama in his so called "Dialogue With The People Tour" that his critics making noise will not be a living
witnesses of the 2006 polls. Based on this alarming threats, i was assigned by Hydara to solicit reaction from the opposition. Femi Peters of the United Democratic Party (UDP) was interviewed and this what he had to say" Jammeh's threats of killing us is serious and
he Jammeh should be held responsible for the killing of any member of the opposition. We are concerned about his pronouncements and we are not taking it lightly".
Little did Deyda Hydara knows that his life was on the line at the time. Hydara was a great lover of freedom and hate to see Jammeh's statement go unchallenged. I can remember him telling me "Pa Nderry you should talk to the opposition to find out how they feel about
Jammeh's threats. It should be documented for the purpose of posterity. These boys are capable of doing anything. This is a worrying statement."
Now the questions right thinking minded Gambians are asking are " Was Deyda Hydara among those targeted by dictator Yahya Jammeh for elimination? Was this killing a pre-election message for the opposition and Gambians in general? We hope Jammeh will help us with the answers to these questions.
Deyda was on record for having said in one of his writes-up that he and his editorial staff were targeted for possible killing. "You can bring your machetes, rocket launchers, AK 47 rifles and ammo tanks, but will continue to publish the truth" Hydara said in response to a tussle
with the the Gambian army. He was at logger heads with the army spokesman Captain Bunja Darboe over news torture stories against the GNA published by the Point.
Few months prior to his death, Deyda was also threatened by a Swiss National contracted by Yahya Jammeh to manage the Kairaba Hotel, which was sold to the Kuwaiti multimillionaire Muhammed Karaffi. The swiss national was apparently angered by a story carried by the point that he was held by the NIA over certain business
activities relating to the sold hotel. He sent a rejoinder to the point describing the paper as a "Tapalapa" newspaper and vowed to deal with Deyda if he fails to retract his arrest story. The Swiss manger went as far telephoning Hydara. " The Swiss national also brags that Jammeh was one his boys and he
can do things with impunity. I could remember writing series of stories about the swiss man's bad relation with the hotel local staff. Due to his violence nature, he even fought with one of his staff members. He even pulled out a gass spray for the sacked staff.
My Fellow Gambians, I am not trying to link the swiss National to Deyda's death. But i thought it necessary to highlight the amount of persecution Deyda suffered in The Gambia prior to his murder. All these are vital clues for investigations. I do know that he was not in the
good books of Jammeh and his army. The Point had been on the forefront in exposing torture related stories linked to the Gambia National Army. The local beach boys widely known as bumsters have on numerous occasions stormed our offices with injuries on their bodies claiming to be victims of army brutality. The Point never hesitated in publishing
their claims. Deyda will always refer such complainants to me for interview. Our office is kind of a police station, because Gambians and non-Gambians alike will come with all kinds of complaints against the state. I can remember receiving two Sierra Leonian refugees in my office complaining that they were nearly tortured
to death by the National Guards. They were accused of harbouring a man who was being trailed by the Army.
My Fellow Gambians, Deyda died in the cause of serving his country. He had sacrificed his life to defend the poor and the voiceless. Confronting a dictatorship is not an easy task, but with unity and determination, we will emerge victorious one day. God bless The Gambia and her people.