I hope people had taken time to really digest Hamjatta's posting, which in
my humble opinion was lot deeper than some are trying to portray it.
Hamjatta was not merely engaged in baseless name-calling. What I got from
Hamjatta's brilliant posting was a call for pragmatic action on the ground.
Action that was unequivocal and shows the whole world that the opposition
despise Yaya. Am sure if Darboe or Hamat Bah were members of this forum with
supporters as vigilant as the PDOIS supporters, they too will hear from
Darboe. So I do not think Hamjatta is singling out Mr. Sallah for criticism.
Am glad Buharry saw through this and is willing to discuss issues with
Hamjatta. People that chose to publicize their party affiliations and openly
advocate for certain individuals should be prepared for criticism. They
should take the criticism in good faith and parade their records and hope
that they will be vindicated. Opponents are entitled to scrutinize the
record and make their own assessments. PDOIS must have achieved some things
after being in the political arena for so long. But there is nothing wrong
in people calling upon them to redouble their efforts. Hamjatta is right;
taking credit for stuff that would have happened any way would not suffice.
I can understand if the political parties back home tells us that the timing
is not good for them to take certain actions. In that case, people like
Hamjatta can work with them to settle timing and other issues. What I cannot
understand is for leaders to tell us that what they are doing now is
sufficient and that is what they will continue to do. Clearly, the status
quo is not acceptable. Commonsense dictates that if you try something for
twenty years and you are not having success, you should try something else.
Yaya is immune to verbal and written condemnation. We on G_L condemned him
about the rally permits days before PDOIS or UDP wrote to the authorities. I
agree with Hamjatta that those condemnations was not what convinced Yaya to
change his mind. I think PDOIS even recognized that the condemnation will
have little effect; hence their decision to postpone all rallies until UDP
had their permits (a noble show of solidarity). So, we recognize that there
are important steps being taken by the political parties. But we all need to
do more.
To complement Hamjatta's brilliant piece, I would like to bring to your
attention that today is one week since August 8, 2000 (the day the
Commission looking into the massacre of our children on April 10 and 11, was
supposed to submit its report to Yaya). The Observer Newspaper (APRC
mouthpiece) gave us this date. I have been perusing Gambian newspapers on
line for the past few weeks, but am yet to find reports saying that the
findings of the commission has indeed been forwarded to Yaya. I also did not
see any calls for Yaya to publicize the report of the commission, if he in
fact received it. There are similarly no calls for the AG to honor his
promise and appoint an independent prosecutor to take over from where the
commission and the coroner left off. I would have thought by now that decent
Gambian folks would be taking the authorities to task on these issues. The
commissioners are under no gag orders. Journalists can debrief them without
breaking any laws. Any commissioner that refuses to answer questions from
journalists and ordinary citizens can be identified as being a more than
willing participant in this cover-up. As we already said on numerous
occasions, the evidence gathered by these commissioners and the coroner is
virtually worthless. Having said that, it is our right and obligation to
demand to see the contents of these reports and take the next logical step
i.e. appointment of an independent prosecutor. If the opposition back home
is looking for a cause to rally behind, this is it. The opposition spoke
with a united voice in the crude oil investigation scandal. They should also
unite around this crusade. It has been said before and I will say it again:
Never in the history of The Gambia has such an atrocity been committed
against innocent children. We all owe it to those children that died trying
to make Gambia a better place for all of us, to pressurize the government to
ensure that justice is properly dispensed. It would not be unfair for one to
conclude that the UDP supporters did not pursue this case with the same
venom they pursued the case regarding the Basse ambush. We suspect that the
opposition might be reluctant to take the government to task on this issue
because they fear that the government will accuse them of being the
instigators behind the students. If that fear is what is deterring the
opposition from doing the right thing, then that is most unfortunate. We
respectfully urge the opposition  to discard such ridiculous fears. Yaya has
already accused them of instigating the students. Every sane person knows
that these are false accusations. The opposition should just endeavor to do
what is right. It is futile trying to predict moron Yaya and basing ones
tactics on what Yaya is going to say. No one takes seriously Yaya's
ridiculous accusations that the children did not act on their own on April
10 and 11. Gambians should take these goats by the horns. Give Yaya and his
AG an ultimatum to publicize the coroner's and the commission's report and
appoint an independent prosecutor. The ultimatum should contain a time-line
and other conditions relating to the appointment of the said prosecutor.
When drawing the time-line, the opposition should bear in mind the logistics
of organizing a powerful campaign against Yaya when he fails to deliver. If
the government does not deliver on the conditions in the ultimatum, Gambians
should be prepared to demonstrate their disapproval to the government. If
school children can do it on April 10 and 11 in order to protest the death
of one person and the rape of another, surely Ousainou Darboe, Halifa
Sallah, Hamat Bah and their supporters can organize to protest against the
death of 15 children and the assault on hundreds others. What is the
government going to do if hundreds of thousands of Gambians all over the
country rise up and demand justice for our martyrs? Just as demonstrated by
the Banjul youths that defected from the APRC last week, the vast majority
of the criminal elements in this government do not have the guts to take on
the Gambian people. They operate best when they outnumber their opponents
(as shown by the FM arson, even outnumbering opponents 10:1 is not adequate
for these cowards). None of these clowns will show up if thousands of
Gambians organize themselves and embark on a march to Kanilai. If UDP is
prepared to call upon its supporters to break the law and refuse to pay
taxes because they do not want Abdoulie Conteh as their KMC chairman, Darboe
and Waa Juwara should be prepared to call upon their supporters to take Yaya
on regarding the issue of the April 10 and 11 massacres. We can guarantee
them that the cowards will retreat just like the way they retreated in Basse
and the way they retreated by granting Darboe and his supporters bail.
Previously, it was convenient for opposition leaders to say that we should
have faith in the commission and wait for their report. Well, the ball is
now in the court of people that espoused this 'wait and see' attitude.
Hamjatta, thanks again for a great piece. I hope the day will come soon when
you will be able to contribute directly to our national development.
KB

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