The Ghanaian authorities have now independently confirmed what most of us
knew about this massacre. The heat is on Mr. Dirimo. If you keep on chewing
on anything that smells good, some day you may bite on something you cannot
handle.

-BambaLaye
 ====================================================================================================

Yahaya Jammeh ordered massacre of 44 Ghanaians

Two years after 44 Ghanaians and 10 other ECOWAS nationals were reported
killed in The Gambia, evidence is emerging that The Gambian President,
Yahaya Jammeh, ordered their execution.

The Ghanaian Times newspaper, quoting Ghana Police sources, said on Thursday
that the order for execution came apparently because Jammeh was made to
believe that they were dissidents preparing to overthrow his regime.

"Intensive investigations by the Criminal Investigation Department of the
Ghana Police in The Gambia and Senegal, have established that all the
victims were butchered at the command of The Gambian Head of State," the
paper said.

Still quoting top officials of the Police CID, the paper said a full report
has been submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration
and NEPAD which requested the investigation.

At the CID head office in Accra on Wednesday, the paper learned that at
least one Ghanaian survived the massacre and has given a detailed account of
what happened on July 22, 2005. His name was given simply as 'Kyere' and he
is said to be currently living in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The Ghanaians and their colleagues, according to the police, were using The
Gambia as a transit point, possibly for migration, to Europe in search of
greener pastures.

Mr. Kwasi Osei Adjei, Minister of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that the report
has been submitted to his office. "I will study it and take the necessary
action," he told the Times.

"I was asked about the murder of the Ghanaians during my vetting in
Parliament. It is a matter of serious concern to Ghanaians that innocent
countrymen could be cruelly murdered simply because they have been found in
a fellow ECOWAS country," he said.

Information linking the murders to the Gambian President began to make the
rounds in The Gambia recently, when a top Gambian police officer broke ranks
with the administration and went public with details of the atrocities in a
report to Freedom Newspaper, Gambia's premier online publication. He termed
it "state-sponsored genocide" against "innocent Ghanaians."

The Internet publication was reproduced by a Ghanaian newspaper, Public
Agenda on Monday, July 9. It alleged that the Gambian officer, who
identified himself as Sekouba Jadana, gave vivid account of how the
Ghanaians and other nationals were summarily executed by state security
guards and dumped in a bush.

"The debate on the issue has been going on for sometime now and I believe
that it is time for the whole world to take note and prepare ways and means
of bringing His Excellency, Dr Alhaji Yahaya to justice. Jammeh should face
the International Criminal Court since he spearheaded the 'Ghanaian
genocide' in the Gambia," Jadana said in his statement.

"The Ghanaian Government should ensure that justice is seen to be done in
this high-profile crime against humanity. Sincerely, I was not present when
the gruesome murders of the Ghanaians took place on that fateful night in
the Gambia, but I was involved in the investigations at the preliminary
stages," Jadana added.

Giving the background, Jadana alleged that President Jammeh and a host of
his ministers were at a cultural jamboree in Banjul, the national capital,
organised as part of activities marking the country's independence
anniversary, when a telephone call came from an official of the National
Investigation Authority. It said that some West African nationals had been
arrested and that their motives were to destabilise the anniversary
celebrations and that there was an imminent security threat.

An order was allegedly given for their arrest with further instructions from
the Head of State to deal with them. "His Excellency was advised to return
to the State House immediately and walahi (swearing) he ran, and was saying
deal with them! deal with them! and he was trembling while going home."

Jadana further alleged that even though the ferry over the Gambia River had
closed at the time, an order was given for it to transport the captives
across the river and head towards Brufur, a town at the other side of the
river.

"Our investigation team went to Brufur and discovered that the bodies were
scattered all over the bushes with deep cuts from heads to eyes and broken
noses."

According to Jadana, who allegedly dispatched his findings from the Police
headquarters in Banjul, there was news blackout on the discovery of the
bodies. 'The news of the brutal murders was not covered by the national
radio and television at all," he said.

President Jammeh failed to turn up in Accra for the Summit of African Heads
of State and Governments held in Accra on July 1-3. Observers believe the
murder of the 44 Ghanaians and other nationals was the principal reason why
he failed to turn up.


Source: Ghanaian Times
 Story from Myjoyonline.Com News:
http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/200708/7440.asp

Published: 8/9/2007

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