Saul and Comrade, am glad about your contributions on the above topic. It is
always with reluctance that I speak on such issues. To me, this is a very
serious issue; coming in the immediate aftermath of reports that UDP
supporters were attacked by July 22nd members in Brikama, and one of the UDP
supporters was in coma. If the trend is not clear to the naked eyes of
elections proponents, then God help us. Ebrima Ceesay puts it best by saying
that Yaya is the one soliciting trouble for himself. What are people waiting
for to be really outraged? For Yaya to murder Ousainou Darboe and ban his
party? For Yaya to dissolve parliament, suspend the Constitution and declare
another state of emergency? When I read Ousainou Darboe's reaction to the
letter from Sankung (the IGP), I detected the cries of a man who is fast
realizing the hopeless of the battle political parties are fighting in
Gambia today. Sankung was in effect telling Darboe that they can NOLONGER
hold political rallies. NEVER EVER. I am reproducing Sankung's letter here
for people that missed the first one and the one from Kabir. Pay particular
attention to Sankung's second reason for denying them permission to hold the
rally:
"I am directed to inform you that your application has not been approved due
to the fact that:
a) The UDP have been violating the conditions attached to the approved
permits.
b) From the police view, UDP political rallies always violate conditions of
the Public Order Act, by using abusive words on government authorities or
individuals within the government.
There is already an alleged criminal charge for murder against the party
leader Mr. Ousainou Darboe and 24 others and the case is before the High
Court.
The application for a permit for the use of public address system at mass
rally at the Sixth Junction near to Serrekunda Primary slated for Saturday
15th July 2000 will not be considered until you are prepared to comply with
the conditions attached to permits as stipulated under the Public Order Act.
Sorry for any inconveniencies it may cause. Signed: The Inspector General of
police."
So, as of now, political parties cannot use abusive words against Yaya and
his gang? What is this? Do people still seriously think that Yaya and his
gang are interested in democracy? What words can you use to describe Yaya
and his cohorts? What would you advise Darboe to do under the circumstances?
Go sing Yaya's praises? Instead of holding rallies, to canvass door to door
and talk to people in their bedrooms where NIA agents will not hear them? If
this is not a clear violation of Darboe's freedom of speech, then what is?
In my humble opinion, none of the above advise would be sound advise to
Darboe. What Yaya and Co are doing right now and what Sankung's letter
represents, is the biggest threat to our society. Yet very few people are
speaking out against that. Instead, they attack people with genuine
intentions to rid us of this tyranny. Participation in elections under these
circumstances should be critically assessed. If one cannot reach ones
constituents to spread ones message, then I dare say that one should not
participate in the elections. We repeat, participation in the elections will
only further legitimize Yaya. Maybe, had Darboe and Co boycotted the
previous elections, both Yaya and Guie would be left out of the OAU Summit.
It is not just Darboe. But everyone that thinks that our salvation lies with
the ballot box should speak out against this continued lawlessness and
ensure that there is a level playing field for the next elections. Sankung's
casual letter to Darboe where the former apologizes to the latter for any
"inconveniencies" the letter may cause, says more than meet the eye. Darboe
recognizes that this letter has the potential of spelling disaster for our
country. The government wants to disenfranchise Darboe. What did we say a
long time ago about the bogus murder charges? Yes, it was just meant to
silence Darboe. But we also said something else previously, and that is, if
the law does not provide redress for people, people take the law into their
own hands. These are the laws of nature, not things we are making up. So
Sankung should apologize to the whole Gambian population for the kind of
trouble such letters and policies can bring. The inconvenience to Darboe and
UDP is nothing compared to the potential repercussions of this letter. If
Yaya wants to create an environment whereby we are not free to exercise our
God given rights, then it is only natural for people to stand up and say
enough is enough and take the law into their own hands. As Darboe eloquently
said, this is still an illegal government no matter how you slice it. They
are willing to stay in power by all means necessary. We should forget about
this unilateral disarmament business and take them on. Again, the problem is
Yaya and the people helping him to perpetuate himself in power. Not us. If
people do not want anarchy and chaos to CONTINUE (because it is already
existing in the society) they should take Yaya on and force him to respect
the rule of law. People always make the mistake of predicting anarchy and
chaos and scaring ordinary Gambians off, when they should be concentrating
on the CURRENT CHAOS. Yaya is already killing people, abducting people,
forbidding politicians from reaching their supporters etc etc. Do you
counsel that we still leave him there in order to avoid another Sierra Leone
or Liberia? This is a perverse argument. In the first place, we should not
settle for a Gambia in the state Yaya has put it. We should also not aim for
a situation that would be similar to what is currently happening in Sierra
Leone. We assure you that genuine people are working tirelessly to meet this
noble goal i.e. have a "Yaya-less" Gambia that will not be similar to
Liberia or Sierra Leone.
We urge politicians to doggedly pursue the government and challenge all the
brutal and illegal postures of this government. Before legitimizing the Yaya
regime, politicians should ensure that there is a level playing field.
Continue to showcase the brutality of this government and help us isolate
them further. Yaya's days are numbered.
I would not even waste my time on Sedat Jobe this time. The shameless duo of
Jobe and Taal are beyond repair. They have landed themselves in a List I
would not wish any Gambian to be on at this stage of the struggle. When we
catch up with them, they will wish they never heard the name Yaya before.
Taal invoked the same childish mumbo jumbo two months ago when Commonwealth
officials were talking about monitoring elections in Gambia. This was also
the same time that Jobe was lying to Wade telling the latter that Yaya was
not arming the Casamance rebels. At that time, they heard from us. These
people are the laughing stock of the decent Gambian people and our friends.
When we catch up with them though, it will not be a laughing matter. Even if
Sedat Jobe resigns today, he will not be saved. He already crossed the line.
Just like you cannot "unring" a bell, this man is gone.
KB
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