Soffie,

I agree entirely with this article. The sooner Gambians wake up to Yaya
Jammeh's madness/hypocrisy/megalomania, the better for that country.

Saul.


>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: FW: From the Frying Pan into the Fire - Jammeh's visit (fwd)
>Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 06:42:33 -0400
>
>----------------------  Forwarded Message:      ---------------------
>
>
>Jali Baa     "Public Opinion Organ for SeneGambians "
>                     [log in to unmask]
><mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
>" FROM THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE "
>JAMMEH PAVES THE ROAD TO HELL
>It's been six repressive years since the Jammeh regime was " lifted on the
>saddle of power".  However, we are yet to see any significant difference
>between the Jammeh and Jawara regimes in terms of the social, political,
>and
>economic development of our country. In fact, all evidence shows that the
>Jammeh regime has surpassed all the "corruption" and "nepotism" that
>prompted the overthrow of the Jawara regime. If accumulating personal
>wealth
>took the Jawara regime 30 years to do, these "Soldiers with a difference"
>did in 4 years. The magnitude of their pillage and plunder is yet to be
>exposed.
>EVAPORATION OF A MYTH
>Upon their aided ascension to power, the Jammeh regime, like the rest of
>the
>African military regimes engaged in spouting "pseudo progressive" rhetoric.
>This, to win the support of the Gambian masses who have been known to rise
>to action whenever the call is made to transform our wretched conditions of
>living - only to be betrayed.
>Notwithstanding the blind support the Jammeh regime captured at the
>beginning, we had raised the alarm on the skillful deception and "good
>intentions" typical of the African military.
>The first signs of what they were to become started with the perfectly
>tailored Constitution without term limit and absolute power to amend and
>decree into law the repressive police state that The Gambia is currently
>subjected to.  It was during the transitional period that the Armed Forces
>Provisional Ruling Council - AFPRC entrench the state apparatus that
>assured
>them the sham victory during the elections. The creation of the National
>Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the July 22nd Movement was to fulfill the
>hidden political agenda that the AFPRC had all along.
>The transitional period was rife with human rights abuses such as the
>rampant arrests of innocent Gambians, detention without trials and the
>killing of innocent Gambians-KORO CEESAY, SADIBOU HYDARA, the Ballangharr
>boys and rampant corruption. The millions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts
>and involvement in counterfeiting (operation green medicine) are just few
>examples of Jammeh's criminal character.  The Courts became a den of
>"mercenary judges" from Nigeria and Sierra Leone seeking fortunes from the
>spoils of the regime.
>After civilianization of the AFPRC, the language of these "soldiers without
>a difference" took a drastic change, the words "accountability, probity,
>and
>transparency" virtually disappeared from their vocabulary.  When was the
>last time anyone heard these three words from Jammeh and his gang of
>thieves? Now that they have gotten fat from sucking the people's blood,
>they
>would go to any length to protect the sources of their spoils. The Gambian
>masses are waking up to this deceit.
>WE REFUSE TO BE HELD HOSTAGE
>There is one thread that binds all the military regimes that have befallen
>African Countries; they all became Megalomaniacs to the point of dismay. To
>stay in power, they would apply any trick to divide and control the
>Country.
>Jammeh has resorted to "tribalism" in a subtle way.  All neocolonial
>stooges
>use tribal and ethnic affiliations to frustrate actions towards UNITY.
>Consider the training and arming of the July 22 Movement who in it's
>manifesto vowed to protect and defend their "noble president".  This is a
>flagrant violation of their tailored Constitution, given the fact that the
>July 22 Movement is not an institution or state apparatus that is
>answerable
>to the Constitution.  Rather, the July 22 Movement is only an appendage of
>the monster Jammeh intends to create (a one party state).  The NIA and the
>armed forces are supposedly under constitutional scrutiny. Therefore, why
>is
>Jammeh training members of the July 22 Movement if the army and NIA are
>relegated the responsibility for his  "defense".  Has Jammeh lost trust in
>the army and the NIA?  We await tangible evidence that members of the July
>22 movement are being trained in military combat in an African country and
>upon their return engage in military exercises in the Gambia.
>The only reason Yahya Jammeh thinks Gambia is his personal property is that
>he controls the guns.  Imagine a president saying "if you hate me, don't go
>to my hospitals, don't drive your cars on my roads."  Any government that
>attacks the people is an oppressor government and makes no law that the
>oppressed will respect.
>The Jammeh regime has become a nightmare for Gambians.  He has gone to the
>lowest levels of intimidation by warning people about what happened in
>Rwanda and that if anyone person or group threatens his rule, "the
>consequences would be worst than Rwanda.  Given the already weakened social
>structures in Africa, Gambia in particular, who would trust such a deranged
>mind to have control over an arsenal of weapons?
>Jammeh's tyranny is the biggest challenge to Gambians and there must be
>willingness on the side of the Gambian masses to put a stop to this
>madness.
>The military training of the July 22 movement in addition to the gang of
>bandits in the NIA and army can never stop our resistance.  What happened
>in
>Rwanda, Burundi, and Sierra Leone as abominable as it was for Africa will
>never replicate in Gambia.  Contrary to popular belief, Jammeh and his
>regime of low self-esteem, job-dependent flunkies are very unpopular.
>Besides the so called "middle class" that he claims to have created and
>tamed, the vast majority of the Gambians harbor contempt for the Jammeh
>regime.  We must SMASH TRIBALISM: reactionary ethnic or tribal affiliations
>are not the solution to our problems.  The solution to our problem is
>NATIONAL LIBERATION upon which we can train our own soldiers, safety and
>security officers for our national interest as opposed to the personal
>property of one megalomaniac.
>
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