Mr. Kondeh, thanks for your comments. Everyone is free to express their
ideas here so long as they are prepared to back themselves up. So, you are
free to say your piece. I must say though, that I also vehemently disagree
with your reasoning and some of your conclusions. It would be at the height
of naivete to think that the army is not being used to perpetuate the
illegal APRC government. To try and distinguish the AFPRC and the APRC
borders on dishonesty. Do you honestly think that if Yaya did not have the
backing of his army, he will order the massacre of our children? Do you
honestly think that if Yaya knew that Baboucarr Jatta was neutral, he (Yaya)
would instigate the thugs in the July 22nd Movement to attack political
opponents and burn down properties of private citizens? My friend, Primary
School pupils know that Yaya is in bed with Jatta, the younger Singhateh and
numerous other army officials. So, what do you gain by trying to distance
the army from Yaya? I am all for working with decent soldiers to get rid of
Yaya. But the Jattas and the Singhatehs of this world do not fall in that
category of decent soldiers. The newspaper I forwarded stated that Singhateh
and Jatta were the most recent Gambian graduates from Sandhurst. If you know
anything at all about the Gambian army, you will not need me to tell you
about the sadistic nature of these vermin. So how did Sandhurst help us
here?
Your point about BATT and NATAG is also neither here nor there. Do you think
British soldiers will put their lives on the line to stop Gambian soldiers
from staging a mutiny? You must know something that I don't know. The
Americans were right there when Yaya and his band of bandits marched into
Banjul. Apart from evacuating Jawara and his family, they did not lift a
finger in order to foil the coup. This is not an attempt to criticize the
Americans, British or the Nigerians for Yaya's illegal actions. Am just
trying to set the record straight and convince you that British resumption
of military cooperation with the Gambia is not in the interest of ordinary
Gambians. I do not know this Mendy chap and therefore did not say for
certain that he is going to be an alcoholic murderer. If you read my earlier
piece properly, you will realize that I was saying that based on the caliber
of the people that recently came from Sandhurst, I would not be surprised if
Mendy turned out to evince the same characteristics shown by Singhateh and
Jatta. If the soldiers want to do us a favor, they should get rid of Yaya
and restore democracy and the rule of law in the country. I read enough
between the lines of this 'gift'. Suffice for me to say here that this
'gift' is not about Gambia and ordinary Gambians. This resumption of
military relations is about Yaya, Britain, ordinary British soldiers and
Sierra Leone. That is all I will say for now about that.
No one is trying to drag the army into politics. On the contrary, we work
day in day out to ensure that the army return to the barracks where they
belong. It is the army that brought itself into the Gambian political scene.
And next time before you send postings to the List, try and do some decent
research. It was not 'a well trained and a discipline Armed Force that
managed to avoid crisis happening during the 22 July take over.' This
so-called coup on July 22, 1994 was a fluke that was made possible by
Jawara's cowardly flight to Senegal. What the 'well-trained' soldiers did,
was wait till November 1994 and cooked up a bogus coup and used that as a
pretext to murder their fellow soldiers. Where were these 'well-trained'
soldiers on April 10 and 11, 2000? The justifications the army used in 1994
to take over power now pales in comparison with the current state of affairs
in The Gambia. Yaya is far more corrupt than Jawara. Nepotism is far more
rife in Gambian society nowadays. The extra-judicial killings under Yaya and
the breakdown of law and order is lot more serious compared to what obtained
pre-1994. Next time you want to brag about the superior training of the
soldiers, try and tell us about positive stuff that people like Singhateh,
Yaya and Jatta are doing and have done militarily. Try and reconcile their
actions with the brutality visited on ordinary Gambians on a daily basis.
Let us know why we should differentiate between Mendy on one hand and
Singhateh and Jatta on the other. If Mendy is a decent person, he is welcome
to join the struggle and help get rid of Yaya. Otherwise, he will be part of
the problem and would be gotten rid of when we get rid of Yaya. Lastly, I
just want to point out that joining the army in Gambia does not
automatically translate to being patriotic. If we go by history, the
opposite is more likely. If certain members of the army were really
patriotic, they will get rid of Yaya, return the country to democracy and go
back to barracks where they belong. Again, I encourage you to back up your
points.

KB


>From: Karamba KONDEH <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: After 7 years UK RESUMES MILITARY COOPERATION
>Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 14:35:53 GMT
>
>G-Lers,
>Good Evening    I wish to disagree totaly with you your standpoint, and I
>hope I will be given the oppportunity to be heard, for once.
>The Military, has nothing to do with the APRC party and I hope this will be
>appreciated. It was after careful study that the British Government resumed
>the Military Aid , and I hope this will be understand by all. We obviously
>need a strong and well trained security force to handle security internal
>and external agression. It was only with a well trained and a discipline
>Armed Force that we managed to avoid crisis happening during the 22 July
>take over. If you recall, the BATT was here and nothing like the coup could
>have happened, it was only the when the Nigerians came that they
>'instigated' the boys to take over the Government of the day. If te BATT
>were here it would have been different we would have the PPP Regime, to
>fight.
>Governments come and go,but the Executive stays, the Army is a very
>important part of the Executive, and I personnally expect every future
>seeing Gambian to be able to read between the lines, and see the obvious
>reason resuming training to the Officers of our country.
>It was very disappointing to read comments of some Lers, who commented
>along
>the lines that, this officer is a selfish, drunken murderer. This is
>obviously very unfair, and disappointing for a youngman, patriotic enough
>to
>choose the Army as his career. If he reads these postings he will surely be
>selfish as he has no reward in recognition of his service. He would rather
>join the other camp and support his family, sometimes we need to understand
>how some people act as we may be responsible whether conciously or not for
>their actions. I can't imagine Ebou Jallow being supported by Ebrima
>Ceesay,
>afterall he had the same chance being given to this youngman, give him the
>benefit of the doubt, as you do not know him.
>Exercise your right to criticize but do not involve the non political
>organs
>of the government. Or else you will not be different from those you
>criticize,at least The Gambia has nothing to loose by getting a course for
>our officers to study in Sandhurst. If not to get highly trained, patriots,
>willing to die for the freedom ofthe people of the Gambia.
>Please understand my constraint to make further comment, as I plead for
>your
>reasoning.
>
>
>>From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: After 7 years UK RESUMES MILITARY COOPERATION
>>Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 09:25:56 EDT
>>
>>Saul, Ndey and Ebrima, thank you very much for your contributions on this
>>matter. Ebrima, please thank your source for us for also registering the
>>disgust the decent Gambian folks feel about this matter. Ebrima, am sure
>>you
>>and other young and dynamic Gambians in the UK are highly capable of
>>mounting a vigorous campaign against Yaya and his government. We just have
>>to let the authorities know, in no uncertain terms, that we do not
>>appreciate such types of 'aid'. Ebrima, you can complement your contacts
>>with those of other young Gambians we know that have contacts with some
>>British MPs. Yaya's every action must be attacked. As the High
>>Commissioner
>>in Banjul indicated, this scholarship for Mendy is only a beginning. We
>>should campaign for the British to revoke the scholarship and cease all
>>military cooperation with The Gambia. We should remind the British that
>>just
>>five months ago, this same military massacred innocent children in broad
>>daylight. Up to this day, no one has been punished for that heinous crime.
>>Before the British train our military for regional peacekeeping
>>operations,
>>they should try and ensure that our military is not used by Yaya to
>>brutalize ordinary Gambians.
>>KB
>>_________________________________________________________________________
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