Mr Ngum,

Exposing and criticising the evil deeds of the past and the present in order
for us to avoid paddling in the same boat in the future is fair enough. The
brutality and savagery of the Jammeh/APRC/AFPRC regime is still being
experienced even by the ordinary person in the streets. The days of the coup
witnessed untold suffering meted out to sometimes very innocent people, and
at other times to people who have never been taken before a court of law to
be fairly tried. This was just a reminiscence of the days of Hitler.

However, it is also appropriate that we remind those who were in positions
of authority their deeds. And I think you are right in reminding Chonga
about his actions. The lesson that we all need to learn is that in the final
analysis, no single individual has any power on to himself. Power belongs to
the people.

The aftermath of the 1981 coup d'etat was also a very dark part of our
history. Some of us who witnessed it at the then Depot remember detainees
being forced to crawl on wet cement floor, and being told to groan "hee hoo!
man maam laa", meaning in wollof, "I am a donkey". I could quite remember
people like Alieu Sallah tied on the rear of a Senegalese military being
dragged round the football field at Depot. It was unbelievable that human
beings can go to that level. It was at that same time that O.J. ordered a
very young innocent life to be taken.

I also remember just recently when Ebou Colley (Samsudeen Sarr) was the army
commander - his pompous display of authority and arrogance, especially after
the Farafenni and Kartong attackers were captured. These young "mercenaries"
were so brutalised that it would beat the imagination of anyone with
conscience that human beings could inflict such pain to other human beings.
And interestingly enough Sam was right infront of the whole nation
mystifying State House and its security. He categorically indicated that
anybody who was thinking of attacking State House was an idle dreamer. It
really makes me wonder how serious Sam is when he calls on people to
confront the Jammeh government with arms.

All what I am saying is that we can all share our experiences, but we must
be mindful of people who helped the regime to consolidate, and after falling
out with Jammeh want us to rally behind them to fight an onslaught. This is
no sincerity, but real opportunism. Imagine Cheyassin Secka, after all the
bad things he did, writing in the Gambia-L, condemning Jammeh, and
soliciting our support and sympathy. What will it be like?

No hard feelings, but a cautious comment.

Batch
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