Brother KB,
When I first read that Jammeh had refused to accept the findings of both the 
Coroner and the Commission, I was reminded of the ancient aphorism that a 
leopard is born with spots and will die with spots - some things in life will 
never change. But then some of us are on the record for opposing both the 
Coroner and the Commission not in principle but the terms of reference and 
the expedient nature of their wherewithal that literally turned them into a 
damage limitation strategy. Time, that refuter and debunker of illusions has 
proven our case again. I say and write this without any slight hint of 
gloating but of regret that we have allowed a fat head like Jammeh hoodwink 
us into another scam. It tells you a lot about the state of the Gambia - 
morally, politically, socially and intellectually. If Gambians let Jammeh get 
away with the murder of our brothers and sisters, without raising hell and 
ungovernability by agitating through peaceful and decent means, then we might 
as well throw our towels in and ready ourselves for life in exile - forever! 
Our indifference and lack of proper response to the Jammeh Mess can only lead 
to the Sierra Leone type of situation.
Just look at the PDOIS response - I'm still trying to comprehend the 
breath-taking naivety of this once-upon-a-time sophisticated, radical sincere 
and smart party! After all we have gone through with Jammeh, these guys still 
naively think Jammeh has the moral wherewithal to act sincerely and see to it 
that justice is not only done but also seen to have been done. And their 
obsessions with commissions? Especially truth and reconciliation commissions 
and the ahistorical analogies of South Africa's Apartheid and the Gambia's 
Jammeh Tyranny. Do I have to tell them that reconciliation can only come 
after oppressors' machinery of oppression had been laid asunder and not vice 
versa? The calling for a truth and reconciliation commission is not only 
logically absurd at this stage but more importantly it exposes a fundamental 
flaw in their reasoning: The idea that this immoral regime of fat heads and 
low- lifers are genuinely interested in the dispensation of swift and fair 
justice.  Do these guys really believe that criminals genuinely set up stuff 
that will land them on the downside? Do they honestly believe that that 
tooth-less and muscle-less commission and coroner can effectively dispense 
the justice needed after the April murders? Do they honestly? Frankly, I have 
to come to accept their low-risk and soft criticisms of this regime but it is 
on the naïve bit I have some catching up to do. 
Well, at least they have released a statement condemning the gov't's 
rejection of the findings of the both the Coroner and the Commission. As you 
rightly queried, what about the other players - The UDP, NRP, and the rest of 
civil society? I have once said somewhere - can't quite remember where 
exactly - that the reason why we have come this far with a fathead like 
Jammeh is the general lack of faith in Gambians and the virtual non-existent 
of any civic society that under circumstances would coalesce and fight a 
common enemy. People think faith is just going to mosque and dispensing with 
nominal duties of a practising believer! In my book, faith starts off as an 
abstract leitmotif and remains at a rock bottom abstract. What do I mean by 
this? Faith is not so much about the lengths you to be seen to be doing 
nominal and routine believers stuff but how far you let your conscience be 
the guardian of your actions and the extent you let it tolerate or even 
accommodate injustice or evil. Going by the aforesaid paradigm, clearly the 
Gambia has a faith problem. But then the recent hypocritical howling for 
"sharia" after a mass murderer, thief and sinner moots the idea just about 
exposes how faithless our society really is.
Brother, I still think that us that think and view Jammeh differently can 
practically and positively fight against the evil that has hijacked our 
country. Brother I saw it reported a while ago in one of the local papers one 
family of the victims of the April murders called for civil litigation 
against the gov't. We should look at this very seriously. Stuff happens that: 
In a society where there is what Tony Giddens calls "civic liberalism", the 
families of the victims would have coalesced and formed a support/pressure 
group that will independently fight its corner. I suggest we liase with the 
folks on the ground and help them form such a group; we might even call the 
group - Families/Victims of April 11 Support Group. Then those who are really 
interested in justice can contribute whatever they can lay their hands on to 
push forward the agenda of those who are still traumatised by the April 
events. I'm sure there some good lawyers out there who wouldn't representing 
this group on a pro bono basis and sue the gov't for its shabby, despicable, 
disgusting and odious handling of the welfare of the victims of the April 
events. Above all, I'm of the conviction that courts of law would in the very 
end be far more effective in unravelling the truth behind April events and 
establishing a premise for one to ponder an international litigation against 
the gov't, if need be.
Brother, I thank you for your vigilance, resilience, wisdom and above all 
your sense of justice that from had inspired and to this day continues to 
inspire.
Hamjatta Kanteh               

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