Soffie and Norsdam, thanks for your insightful comments on the above subject
matter. Soffie, I just hope that those morons can decipher the profound
meaning behind your posting. The feet-dragging and lawlessness in The Gambia
can only lead to anarchy. As Norsdam and many people on this forum
(non-lawyers I might add) have pointed out, this is a very simple matter.
But a commission of inquiry or a coroner's inquest is not where this matter
should be resolved. It is incumbent on all of us to doggedly follow where
this thing is going and preempt some of the ridiculous positions of this
government; like Colly did with the alleged burglary of their armory and the
use of rubber bullets. That way, we can do our little part to avert an
impasse between this illegal government and the Gambian people. We need to
let the government know in no uncertain terms that we will not sit down and
let them lie their way through this one. If we allow them to manipulate the
justice department and the judiciary and set up toothless commissions to
cook up lies, we would just end up with another massacre. People are going
to rise up again and demand justice and this time around, it will be more
deadly. That is why it is important that we make sure that justice is not
only done in this matter, but it should be seen to be done as well. We will
rely on the Gambian press and private lawyers (excluding Joseph Joof) to
apprise us of what is going on so that we can all make sure that this
government does not commit another fraud against the Gambian people in broad
daylight.
Our reliance on the press brings me to Ebrima Ceesay. Ebrima, do not ever
consider walking out of this forum or any other because of some childish
personal attacks. Contrary to what you believe, a lot of Gambians on the
List and elsewhere appreciate what you do and we do not appreciate or fear
thugs. At times when we counsel restraint, we just want you to avoid
distractions and mudslinging. We know you have every right to defend
yourself if your credibility is on the line. But proportionality is the key
here. You do not have to come here and prove anything. We know about your
humble background from Latrikunda and how you worked hard to be where you
are today. So do not worry about anyone who comes here to question your
credentials. Just focus on attacks aimed at discrediting your stories. We
know that the journalists back home cannot do everything. So it is important
that they have an outlet through people like you and Colly. So do us a favor
and just focus on that. You have a lot of friends and respect from more
worthy people.
KB
>From: Ceesay Soffie <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Commission of Inquiry
>Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 13:38:54 -0400
>
>From Jomo Kenyatta's "The Gentlemen of the Jungle"
>
>".....Then the man decided that he must adopt an effective method of
>protection, since Commissions of Enquiry did not seem to be of any use to
>him. He sat down and said, 'Ng'enda thi ndagaga motegi,' which literally
>means 'there is nothing that treads on earth that cannot be trapped,'
>........"
>
>The seating of the commission of inquiry in Gambia reminded me of the
>elephant in Kenyatta'a story. He was at once the aggressor (Killer Yahya
>against the students) to appear before the commission for questioning,
>(will
>killer Yahya be questioned) as well as the high minister in the jungle
>kingdom tasked with appointing the commissioners. With the scales of
>justice rigged as they are, justice, ultimately, will have to rest in the
>hands of the people.
>
>Of course, the man took action and his problem was taken care of. Action
>will be taken.
>
>Soffie
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dampha Kebba [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2000 11:40 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Commission of Inquiry
>
> As we follow the events unfolding in that silly commission
>of inquiry, we
> feel nothing but utter disgust about what is going on. The
>results of a
> sample polling by Gambian newspapers show that an
>overwhelming majority of
> those spoken to, are either dissatisfied with the
>composition of the
> commission, the questions being asked at the commission,
>the
>responses being
> given or all of the above. Some also saw this commission
>as
>a total waste of
> time. The commission is not interested in getting to the
>bottom of the
> matter: who in particular did the shooting and who ordered
>them to carry
> live bullets in their weapons? If the sole purpose of the
>commission is to
> solicit facts that would enable the authorities to avoid
>another massacre,
> they should just counsel the government to employ security
>experts to teach
> them about crowd control. The people who lost their
>children
>are not
> interested in that. Any self respecting government should
>know how to engage
> school children in dialogue. We do not need a commission
>of
>inquiry manned
> by traitors to tell a government how to protect its
>innocent
>citizens. This
> case belongs in the regular courts where convicted
>criminals
>are put in jail
> or shot before a firing squad. It is almost comical that
>the
>chief justice
> will be so outraged to the extent of threatening witnesses
>with contempt of
> court citations because they are making him wait in court.
>Well, we got news
> for the chief justice. There are Gambian families waiting
>endlessly for the
> murderers of their children be brought to court. We wished
>we had the power
> to put all of you in jail for prolonging the ordeal of
>those
>families. All
> this commission will succeed in doing, is provide the
>murderers involved in
> this massacre an opportunity to rehearse their lies before
>facing a real
> prosecutor. But they should know that that court house
>will
>be burnt down
> and all the books and silly wigs thrown in the sea if
>someone does not pay
> for the heinous crimes committed on April 10 and 11. The
>doctrine of
> collective responsibility should be applied to the
>maximum.
>It is not enough
> for Ousman Badgie to come to the commission and try and
>pretend that the IGP
> can overrule him and Yaya and order the shooting, nor
>would
>it be enough for
> the IGP to come and say that junior officers took the law
>into their hands.
> We realize that the government is still trying to peddle
>that ridiculous lie
> that their armory was broken into. We would not buy that
>either. Colly
> already put that to rest. We think that the commission is
>a
>waste of time
> and should be terminated forthwith. Their inclusion of a
>single female
> member does not change anything. It would not help get to
>the bottom of
> this. The chief justice (who I hope is a seasoned lawyer)
>was sitting there
> when arrogant government officials refused to answer
>legitimate questions by
> invoking some nonexistent privileges (cabinet discussions
>should not be made
> public). I wonder why the chief justice did not cite the
>official for
> contempt of court and force him to answer the question.
>Are
>we going to
> allow these people to hide the discussions that went on
>between Yaya (in
> Cuba) and his cohorts (in Gambia) because they were in a
>'cabinet' meeting?
> Give us a break. Are these the signs of people who want to
>get to the bottom
> of the matter? The judiciary should show goodwill by
>ensuring the
> termination of this bogus commission and also throwing out
>of court that
> frivolous appeal from the AG aimed at putting back our
>children to jail. As
> we said before, the judge did not err in law. This was
>only
>a factual matter
> and the facts do not support the AG's position. The events
>of April 10 and
> 11 should teach us that denying people natural justice
>only
>leads to
> anarchy. If the courts do not enforce the laws fairly,
>people will take the
> laws into their own hands. Simple as that. That is another
>lesson we can
> learn without the aid of a commission. Had the people that
>killed Ebrima
> Barry been brought to court and justice done on that
>matter,
>we would not be
> in this predicament today.
> KB
>
>
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