COMPATRIOTS AND FRIENDS,
The A(F)PRC dictatorship  and its reactionary cohorts are still relentless 
in their attacks on your gallant actions for Truth and Justice on April 
10th/11th 2000. On behalf of my colleagues with whom I led the actions, I 
wish to assure you that we are still resolute in our determination to defend 
your self-less actions without fear. For us, any attack which represents an 
insult to the memory of our gallant comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice 
in those two momentous days, is unacceptable. A comment in a recent 
publication of The Gambia Echo, an online newspaper, falls in this category.
I must confess that I have not personally read the story, but a good number 
of of our associates, comrades and students are believed to have done so as 
far as the private emails and phone calls I have received are concerned. 
According to my sources, the writer of the piece, one " Amadou Hawa....", 
indicated that at the time of The April 10th/11th 2000 student 
demonstrations, The Jammeh dictarorship had placed its stoogies in The 
Executive Committee of GAMSU (The Gambia Students's Union). The said " 
Amadou Hawa...." is reported to have also claimed that " even Omar Joof who 
is credited for organizing the student demonstrations, was an agent of the 
APRC".
Compatriots and friends, this assertion is a complete fabrication. Is it 
imaginable that the demonstrations would have gone on if I were truely an 
agent of The dictatorship? In The build-up to those fateful two days, I 
fired most of the shots and pulled the most strategic of the strings. I was 
the first to arrive at the scene of our initial action, and personally led 
the manifestations. Even my track record as a student leader contradicts Mr 
"Amadou Hawa's" assertion. Where was he when I co-signed a letter to the 
AFPRC military junta on November 7th 1994 criticizing their detention of 
journalists and urging them to return The Gambia to civilian democratic rule 
immediately? where was the bread and butter journalist when with the top 
brass of the national student leadership I took part in a demonstration at 
the gates of state house in Banjul on november 19th 1994? where was the 
half-baked journalist when with my colleagues in the student leadership of 
The Gambia College I took on Sana Sabally and Sadibou Hydara at the peak of 
their influence at The Brikama campus of The Gambia college? I can go on and 
on, but that would be unlike me. Thus it suffices to say that neither 
"Amadou Hawa....." nor his allies have evidence to back his assertion. We do 
not know them and what they represent, except for the fact that they are 
liars!
We are not known to be cowards, and I wish to make it clear that we are 
ready for the likes of "Amadou Hawa....." and whoever may be behind them. 
The leadership of The April 10th/11th 2000 Student Demonstrations render 
whatever credits attained for now and posterity to the membership of GAMSU, 
including all students at home and abroad. And we are indeed aware that some 
vile elements are jealous of that credibility. Instead of talking big and 
doing nothing, we challenge them to do just half of what we have done. But 
they will never, as they simple lack the nerves!
Contrary to "Amadou Hawa's" assertion, The A(F)PRC had no stoogies in 
GAMSU's executive at the time of the student demonstrations. As president I 
made it obvious to my colleagues that holding positions in the organs of 
established political parties was unacceptable. For nearly a decade, I had 
preached to Gambian students the essence of maintaining the dividing lines 
between apolitical and political activities in an environment of multi-party 
democratic culture. It would be madness for anyone to even think that I had 
llinks with The A(F)PRC. I have never had connections with them which 
connote comitment, and if I had, I would have said so even if it means 
giving up my life. Therefore I challenge anybody who has evidence which he 
or she believe supports the essence of The Gambia Echo story. It should be 
noted here that infact some of those who sponsored my candidature for 
President thought the student movement was being steered too close to the 
Jammeh dictatorship. Immediately I took over the presidency,the Executive 
made certain strategic decisions to safeguard the non-partisan status of the 
organization.
Finally, "Amadou Hawa....." argued that I refused to return to The Gambia 
because I knew that the A(F)PRC would never forgive me. If he was keen about 
my return to The Gambia, he should have suggested it. The only people who 
suggested my return were members of the dictatorship. Nobody from within my 
family, circle of friends or colleagues in the student leadership suggested 
it. Infact through my hosts RADDHO( A Senegalese human rights NGO), I 
requested for a quarantee of my personal security by the Gambian government 
to be witnessed by the diplomatic community, but the dictatorship refused to 
commit itself. It may be true that Yaya Jammeh and his cohorts will never 
forgive me, but it would be very silly and simplistic for anyone to conclude 
that is because I was allied to them. I have never asked for any sort of 
accommodation with them, and I will always have great pleasure to challenge 
people I believe to be the friends of murderers and rapists. "Amadou 
Hawa....." and those behind him should note that the final decision which 
pre-empted my return home even in the medium term was a colletive one, taken 
by GAMSU's executive at the end of a series of meetings in the Senegalese 
capital Dakar.
On another note, we wish to remind you that we are at the peak of the 
political season. The 2006 presidential elections are a matter of only hours 
away. The man(Yaya Jammeh) who gave the order for his forces of shame to gun 
down our brothers six years ago, is seeking a mandate which he wishes would 
entrust the destiny of our beloved country in his bloody hands for the next 
five years. We have argued before that those who support murderers and 
rapists are not in anyway better than them. A vote against Yaya Jammeh is a 
vote for Truth and Justice. Furthermore, we urge you all to vote for NADD's 
presidential candidate Halifa Sallah. A NADD victory will for the first time 
make change a characteristic of the political culture of The Gambia. It is 
indeed worth mentioning that if Halifa Sallah wins, he would be  president 
for only five years. We therefore urge you not only to give him your votes, 
but to urge your family members and friends to vote for him.
THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!
Omar Joof,
Ex-prexy,
GAMSU.

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