Thank you sir/madam. Am touched that soemeone like
you, someone with so much courage and a non exhustible
sense of justice, finds me worthy of praise. But like
you sir/madam, I know that the alternative to fighting
for true democracy in the Gambia, is not an option.
Yes! there are times that I too feel frustrated,
frustrated at the many unfutile efforts of trying to
get my fellow citizens to stand together and act
before it is too late. And sometimes, I can't even
believe the answers that I get from people, or may I
say the excuses that I get from people, as being the
reason why they do not participate in the fight for
our beloved country's future. Answers like, "Oh, I
want to go back to Gambia someday and if I speak out
against Yahya, it will not be safe for me to do so.
Or they may harass, jail, or kill my family members
back home" And ofcourse that answer is ridiculous.
For what about people like you, Ebrima's sources, who
are on the ground and still risking their lives and
those of their families in this our fight for justice?
How about those kids that laid down their lives in
facing gun toting killers all in the name of justice?
And the irony of it is that, they do not realize that
if they do not act, their families back home will
never be safe. And they will never be able to find a
safe haven to return to in the Gambia. For Gambia at
present, is surely following the footsteps of Sierra
Leone, Liberia, etc. And then what? Where would be
the so called safety that supposedly made them allow
themselves to be lolled to inactivity? I have heard
excuses such as " Oh, I have a family member who is
high up in the government, so for his/her safety, I
cannot participate" and statements such as the one
from the friend of mine whom I called to ask her to
try and attend the demonstrations in New York since
she lives there, and to let her know that I was
attending, "Oh Sigga Am Nga Jott Deh! You are coming
all the way to New York to demonstrate?" I just shook
my head and could not help saying to myself, "No
wonder an ignoramous like Yahya Jammeh is getting away
with hijacking our country and killing our people.
Because it seems like most of us do not care or do not
feel that it is important enough to warrant their
action or to warrant them taking the involving risks."
But then I remember people like you sir/madam who
are doing everything they can, whenever they can, for
the love of their country. And then I remember April
10 and 11. And I renew my vow to keep fighting for
the future of the Gambia.
And sir/madam, I shall continue to fight, because like
I keep saying, the alternative is not an option. And
I do thank you and commend you for your courage. And
I take comfort in knowing that the Gambia still has a
chance, as long as there are people like you who love
the motherland enough to risk their safety and their
lives.
--- Ebrima Ceesay <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Gambia-L:
>
> This is an old e-mail from one of my sources in the
> Gambia. It is already
> stale, but I thought I should nonetheless send it to
> the L. Take note that I
> am sending it unedited.
>
> Ebrima
>
>
____________________________________________________________________
>
>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Is it worth the pain and agony?
> >Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 14:35:29 GMT
> >
> >Ebrima,
> >Well here we are again, trying to keep Gambians
> abreast of developments in
> >our dear country and to show the sufferings of our
> people in the hands of
> >an inhumane, corrupt and undemocratic regime. For
> almost a year, your
> >sources have been providing information which even
> the regular newspapers
> >do not have access to and thus turning the Gambia-L
> as a major source of
> >reliable information for the local press. I do not
> need to tell you the
> >risks involved in our endeavours because we have
> discussed them at great
> >length over the past months. But as I said before
> these are risks worth
> >taking. One cannot attach a price tag to FREEDOM.
> But in order gain
> >freedom, one must be prepared to sacrifice,
> including one's own life. But
> >how many of us are prepared to sacrifice even one's
> time to follow-up on
> >the issues forwarded to the Gambia-L. Very few
> indeed.(Please note that
> >Mr. Massry committed suicide last month because of
> his involvement in the
> >oil deal I mentioned here-more on this story next
> week). In fact, I
> >sometimes have the sneaky feeling that some members
> of the L see these
> >messages from your sources as entertainment pieces
> rather than a valuable
> >piece of information provided to the membership to
> act upon in various
> >ways. To illustrate my point, take the issue of the
> resumption of Military
> >Assistance by the UK. This to me is an extremely
> important matter which
> >has serious implications if Gambians do not
> register their opposition to
> >the British Government. Dr Saine urged members to
> petition the British
> >Government which fell on deaf ears. Hamjatta
> Kanteh tried pleading with
> >memebers without success. Ms Sigga Jagne went to
> the extent of posting her
> >own petition to the British Government which I
> thought might trigger our
> >sense of duty to our people and country; yet to no
> avail. Thank you, Sigga
> >for your commitment and determination to ridding
> Gambia of Jammeh and his
> >henchmen. Kebba Dampha's attempt to provide the L
> with the implications of
> >the British decision to resume their military
> assistance seems to have
> >pushed the rest of us into deep slumber. To KB, I
> say, keep on the fight
> >for the cause is right and just. Those kids who
> were murdered in cold
> >blood on the 10 and 11 April shall never be
> forgotten and I can assure you
> >that all those responsible will one day account for
> their actions in a
> >court of law. Am I frustrated with recent
> performance of the L? Most
> >certainly. I know what we can achieve if we act in
> unison as it has been
> >ampting demonstrated on several occasions in the
> past such as the effective
> >Dumo petition drive and the coordinated efforts of
> the L during Yahya's
> >visit to the UN. Yahya never thought that Gambians
> had the courage to
> >confront him until after his UN visit. He has not
> yet fully recovered from
> >it. So why allow him to recover when we already
> had him on the ropes? For
> >your information, the few petitions received by the
> Foreign and
> >Commonwealth Office (FCO) is already having an
> impact which has resulted in
> >the British High Commissioner responding directly
> to our opposition to it.
> >I have received a reply from CFO and so has Ebrima
> and a few others who
> >bothered to petition to register their disgust at
> and hypocricy of the
> >change in policy. I have very little doudt in my
> mind that the policy will
> >be reviewed.
> >
> >As I write this message, Yahya Jammeh and his
> henchmen have left Kerewan
> >heading for Farafenni to face the wrath of the
> farmers who have been denied
> >their livelihood for two consecutive years. This
> year will not be
> >different because the Alimenta issue has not been
> resolved. Instaed of
> >concentrating on finding a solution to the problem,
> Cheyassin Secka is busy
> >lining up, yet again, another Swiss firm to
> purchase the farmers groundnut
> >produce. We are already in October and still
> nothing on the ground to show
> >that this session will be different from the two
> previous ones. Yahya has
> >been playing with the lifes of Gambians for far too
> long and it is time for
> >him to go. And GO he must. The rural population
> who bore the brunt of the
> >economic hardship under Jammeh, continue to tell
> him enough is enough. The
> >turn out at his meetings are embarrassingly low and
> will continue to be
> >that way throughout his so-called Meet the People's
> Tour. We must have
> >read last week's papers concerning the ESCOM deal
> falling apart after so
> >much broohaha early in the year. There will be no
> improvement in the
> >electricity supply situation in the near future.
> Our parastatals,
> >GAMTEL,GPA,GCAA,NAWEC are all banckcrupt thanks to
> Yahya Jammeh and those
> >corrupt henchmen of his. Fellow Gambians, it is
> time to resist this regime
> >at all cost. I therefore appeal to all to resume
> our agitation in order to
> >apply more pressure on this trecherous governement.
> It is worth the pain
> >and agony afterall. Thank you
> >
>
>
_________________________________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at
> http://www.hotmail.com.
>
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>
>
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