Folks,
Tomorrow is purported to mark a watershed in our struggle for Freedom,
Justice and Development in The Gambia. It is essential for us to remember
that our current struggle is not being driven by personal motivations. We
instead have very serious disagreements with the A(F)PRC regime based on
principles and issues.
On April 10th/11th 2000 when more than twenty thousand students from
throughout the country took to the streets, we were not asking government to
give us scholarships, or improve student welfare in schools; we were simply
asking for justice to be done pertaining to acts of rape and murder
perpetrated against some of our members. We engaged the Gambian authorities
at various levels as a pressure group to ensure that our greviances were
addressed. We were the ones who initiated dialogue and streneouslly
endeavoured to maintain it. Their entire strategy was tailored around
"talking tough and acting tough" with us. Our's was centred around "treating
them as public servants" and nothing more.
In our engagements with them, we discovered that the separation of powers
with regard governance in the Gambia had become history and that there was
only one voice that pervaded all the corridors of power, which was and still
is the voice of Yaya Jammeh. We made maximum use of our good offices and the
contacts available to us to make sure our case was heard at all levels. And
we made it obvious to all and sundry that we had only one demand, and that
was for justice to be done. To this effect, we wrote a letter of demands
concluded with an ultimatum to the Inspector General of Police(IGP), and
copied it to the offices of the Secretaries of State for Education and the
Interior, as well as the Presidency. We never thought it was in our line of
duties to tell them their responsibilities, but we were convinced that it
was our right to direct their attention to our greviances and try to rally
their support to effecting redress for those greviances.
In the build up to April 10th/11th 2000, we were not only insulted and
dismissed by the police( except Landing 13 Badjie and Tamsir Jasseh),  but
we were threatened that if we should manifest our greviances in an organised
public manner, more than ten of us would be killed. There should therefore
be no doubt in anyone's mind that the massacre of Gambian students four
years ago, was deliberately planned from within the leadership of the
A(F)PRC. It was in line with their policy of scariny the wits out of the
Gambian masses through terror. We are convinced that they have the capacity
to do it again and again. They have that amount of evil in them!
Politicising April 10th/11th was part of their strategy of absolving
themselves of their evil and heinous acts. For four years they have failed
to convince a credible number of Gambians and none Gambians alike to this
effect. Their propaganda of lies and slander have always and will always
boomerang on their ugle and sinful faces. And like all cowards that resort
to murder and rape to satisfy their stupid egos, they will perpetually be
kept on their toes and looking behind.
But to you our fathers, mothers, uncles and aunts and aunties, we have this
to say this time: When Yaya Jammeh was giving his infamous orders for our
massacre, he is reported to have said " kill those bastards". In effect he
called us all bastards. We cannot answere to this pronouncement on us as
your legitimate children. If we are bastards, you should let us know so that
we would not have to be holding our heads high with some foolish pride,
while ignorant of the blemishes you have printed on us! For us this
represents the worst insult of our lives time. We are therefore resolved to
follow you in whatever it takes to get rid of Yaya Jammeh who has proven
himself rude and arrogant beyond description. We vow to follow you in
whatever legitimate action you determine it would take to get rid of him. In
this noble and honourable task, we render you our unconditional support, but
we are determined that you must get rid of the tyrant by the end of the
2006/07 elections. We are convinced that it is arithmetically impossible for
Yaya Jammeh to win the forthcoming elections. If he is declared winner by
his surrogates in the  so-called Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), we
look forward to you to lead us in a mass resistance against such
illegitimate authority throughout the Gambia from Banjul to Kartong, from
Kartong to Koina, from Koina to Palodi, and from Palodi to Barra. But if you
fail to liberate the Gambia from this mad dictatorship so that we rightfull
inherit it from you, we shall go on our own and do whatever it takes to
liberate our beloved motherland.
Those who know us will tell you this is not mere hot air. When things went
wrong, all the actions that followed on our part were taken not because we
trusted Yaya Jammeh and his surrogates, we suspended action because we have
absolute respect for you our elders. We will never return Yaya Jammeh's
insults because we definitely do not aspire to be like him, and we have
tremendous amount of respect for his parents as our parents. That is what
you our elders have taught us! But it is time that we tell you that "enough
is enough,". You must prove to us that you are really our parents and
elders. If you dont get rid of Yaya Jammeh and his surrogates by the end of
January 2007, we shall take the mantle for the struggle for liberation from
you. This is not the time for us to tell you what we shall do in case you
fail to deliver. Time will tell!
To you our dear comrades: dearest brothers and sisters! we wish to remind
you that those of our friends who were maimed and murdered suffered those
fates because we were imbued with tremendous love for ourselves and
compatriots. We loved all those who wielded guns against us, and our
struggle was to see justice done. Thus we did not harm even a single member
of the security forces and the A(F)PRC's forces of evil, though we could
have murdered some of them with our bare hands. We had the potentials to run
them down, but that was not our purpose. Now we have got to a point where it
is obvious that our own brother Yaya Jammeh and his surrogates cannot
address our greviances. Our gallant comrades who laid down their dear lives
for justice four years ago,must be honoured and vindicated. We must dedicate
the rest of our lives to their lost ones. In these momentous and sad days as
we remember everyone of them, we urge you all to turn to God in prayer for
eternal peace to our fallen comrades, and strenght to those of us alive so
that we can effectively conclude this great struggle for justice, even if it
takes a lifetime.
We wish you all peace and strenght, while THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!
Omar Joof,
Exiled Ex-prexy, GAMSU.

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