My Fellow Gambians,


We have debated over and over again:  we have assessed Yahya Jammeh’s
misrule over and over again:  we have complained and complained again about
Jammeh’s brutal and mismanaged regime:  we have talked at length about his
undoubted and well documented butchery, corruption and inefficiency in every
aspect of government and public life.

Therefore, now is the time for real and decisive action:  now is the time to
put our words and thoughts into effect:  now is the time to exercise our
civic duties as voters as enshrined in our Constitution, and vote Jammeh out
of office next Thursday.

Now is the time to prove to Yahya Jammeh and his criminal colleagues that in
the final analysis, it is the people who call the shots and it is the people
who hold the real power.

Now is the time to show directly and unequivocally to Jammeh himself, the
depths and breadth of his unpopularity in our beloved Gambia.

Now is the time to show Jammeh that there is nothing that can stop the
people’s will.

In the final analysis, the people’s power as a collective whole is
irrepressible and irresistible.

Now is the time to get ready for the next phase in Gambian history:  when we
shall be prosecuting Jammeh and his cohort for all the dreadful misdeeds of
the last seven years.

Next Thursday should be the time to close the "Jammeh page" and open a new
page in all our lives - a page that will offer us liberty, dignity, respect,
prosperity and progress. God willing, a new chapter will be opening in our
country’s history next week, when Gambians will again live in harmony,
co-exist in peace, solidarity and mutual tolerance:  a time when we can
forge links together, reconcile our past differences, and see Jammeh and his
entourage as true culprits who will be held accountable for their misdeeds:
a time when we will recognise in full that Jammeh is the prime cause of our
national disunity, our impoverishment and our degradation as a nation.

We shall be opening a new page where we shall all work in tandem for the
upliftment and betterment of the lives of all our people.  We are
anticipating a time when there will be genuine accountability, transparency,
probity:  a time when politicians should be made to understand that they are
OUR servants and NOT our masters, and that they are accountable to none
other than us, the Gambian people.

Come next Thursday, we shall be ushering in a time when there will be higher
standards in public life, and a greater degree of professionalism in those
who work on our behalf.  We will see a new start, where people will be
appointed to key positions on the basis of qualifications, experience and
merit, rather than on connections or nepotism.

My Fellow Gambians, we now have the opportunity to usher in a new chapter in
our country’s history:  after all the seven years of waiting, the time has
almost arrived: 18th October, 2001.

But remember the old adage that "opportunity comes but once". This is an
opportunity which we cannot afford to lose:  we have to capitalise on it.
Come October 18th, all Gambians whether at home or abroad, should be
toasting the end of a corrupt and brutal era and welcoming in a victorious
Opposition candidate.  We should all be celebrating the defeat of Jammeh,
and doing it with fireworks, drumming and dancing!

We have everything in our own hands:  it is up to us.  The decision is ours.

For these many years since 1994, Jammeh has shown disrespect to us and to
our parents and to our children.  He has been the repressor and the
brutaliser of our people, and of our Gambian society.

It is now our bounden duty to teach Jammeh a lesson, and to show him very
clearly that he is not fit to rule us:  he is not fit even to look after a
dog.  We have to reject him and all that he represents.  He is a disgrace to
the Gambian nation and to the Gambian citizens.

The hardship we have all experienced under Jammeh is enormous:  now we have
the opportunity to unseat him from the presidency of our beloved country.

We have all of us been direct witnesses of Jammeh’s misrule:  his government
has been characterised by repression, corruption, nepotism, inefficiency,
hatred and distrust amongst Gambians:  by disunity amongst Gambians, by
human rights violations, by brutality and murder.

The poverty and the deteriorating economic situation of today is Yahya
Jammeh’s gift to the Gambian nation.  I am told that the once busy business
area around Wellington Street is now deserted and quiet:  that businesses
throughout the Gambia are in the doldrums:  that taxi fares have risen
again:  that the prices for basic commodities such as sugar, rice, oil,
candles, petrol have escalated:  that the breadwinners of families have been
arbitrarily sacked from their jobs or been made redundant:  that employment
opportunities throughout The Gambia have shrunk:  that young people have no
job prospects.

I am reliably told that people can now no longer afford to eat two decent
meals a day, and that in the provinces, many people struggle to eat just one
good meal a day.  Our hospitals are without paracetemol or anti-malarial
drugs, without bed sheets and without qualified staff:  our government
offices are understaffed and lacking adequate telephone and stationery
resources:  our schools lack books, teachers and even the most basic of
resources such as chalk.  Farmers’ groundnuts remain unsold or have been
purchased with promissory notes.

People in The Gambia are desperate for money to survive the daily struggle
for existence. Recently, I sent a mobile phone to a friend in The Gambia and
was surprised when he told me that the money would have been preferable.

This story is repeated every day throughout the world where there are
Gambians trying to support family and friends at home.  Where once people at
home prayed for valuable consumer goods, they now ask their supporters and
benefactors for hard cash.  What a dreadful situation our people find
themselves in – and all thanks to Jammeh’s mismanagement.

Our Gambian reserves have been drained and we are now a nation drowning in a
huge debt burden:  foreign currency is scarce (except of course in State
House or Kanilai).  There are no set standards for the accounting of
government funds:  Yahya sends Baba Jobe or Abdulai Kujabi direct to the
Central Bank and asks them to withdraw millions in foreign currency.

There is nobody to stop them.  There is nobody who dares to ask why the
money is being withdrawn and for what purpose.  The Gambian purse has become
Jammeh’s private property.

Jammeh and his cronies are into drugs trafficking, into the illegal blood
diamond trade:  there are regular and reliable reports that certain
government ministers and some senior officials are involved in the sexual
exploitation of young Gambian girls.

Jammeh and his cronies have given away our Gambian land to their friends,
and there is now no formal procedure for the acquisition of land.  One needs
only to go to Yankuba Touray, to Baba Jobe, to Abdulai Kujabi, to Jammeh and
tell them that one has a need for land in a prime position, and it is given
(if you are one of their brigade of brigands).

My Fellow Gambians!

The whole Gambian scenario under Jammeh is a joke.

But it is more than that.

These people are playing with our very future:  they are playing with the
future of our children and of our grandchildren.

These people are so criminal in their nature and in their thinking, that
they would go to the extent of selling a portion of The Gambia itself if the
right money was offered to them.

They have destroyed every aspect of Gambian life for the vast majority in
the country.

Their mediocrity and inefficiency continually amaze me:  senior Government
officials cannot even write a decent report and yet they are key advisers.
You listen to GRTS news and wonder what world you are living in:  government
speeches are written as if by Lower Basic level students.

No wonder that this government has lost the respect of people throughout the
world.  In fact, a friend of mine at the BBC is even convinced that if
Jammeh were allowed to speak in the local languages, he would still be
incapable of making a coherent and convincing argument.

It is therefore time for us to act.  Time for us to do something about the
status quo in The Gambia.  Time to rid our country of the menace of Yahya.

All eligible Gambian voters should be ready to vote Jammeh out of office
next Thursday. Each vote will count:  don’t let anyone persuade you that
your vote will not make any difference.  You know the true story.  You know
that your vote for an opposition candidate is of crucial importance.

I urge you to draw inspiration from what has happened in Senegal and in
Ghana.  History has shown us that whenever the people are determined on
change, then nothing can stop that change from occurring.

With your determination and your good judgement, change in The Gambia will
be inevitable.

Voting is your constitutional right, and you need to exercise this right in
a prudent and carefully considered manner.

If you have a voter’s card, make it a sacred point of duty to go and vote.

Your vote could be the decisive one to see the back of Yahya Jammeh.

The politicians are supposed to be our servants.  We are the ones who will
determine who will govern our affairs and we have to use wise judgement and
elect leaders who can deliver the goods, and fulfil their promises.

Jammeh cannot do it:  he has had seven long years to prove himself, and he
has failed miserably.

However, it is not just a matter of going to the polling station and voting
for the opposition.  It is much, much more than that.

You have to be a police officer yourself:  this is a regime which is
desperate and which has installed an "Independent" Electoral Commission full
of its own cronies.  This makes it all the more important for you to monitor
the voting and counting next week. If Jammeh can cheat, then you can be
absolutely sure that he will.

As I understand it, there will be foreign observers overseeing the
elections, but this is not enough.  You too have a vital role to play in
ensuring that the elections are free and fair.

Make sure that you familiarise yourself with the symbol of your chosen
opposition candidate before Thursday, and make sure that when you go to
vote, you put your ballot or your token into the right opposition
candidate’s box.  Do not listen to what others tell you to do.  Be your own
master or mistress.

Make sure you see to it that whoever has voted, has his or her thumb
indelibly marked so that they may not then vote again.

If you witness anything dubious, then you should report it immediately to
the opposition leaders, to the IEC, to the police and to the international
observers.  Do not be frightened of making a public fuss if you see anything
of a suspicious nature.  Take nothing for granted, and be on your guard.

Also make sure that after the voting is closed, you act as a concerned
citizen and follow the ballot boxes to the counting centres:  do not let the
ballot boxes out of your sight.  Complain loudly if you see that the ballot
boxes are removed from public scrutiny and the public eye.  Witness the
actual counting itself and be on your guard for malpractices or unfairness.

This is a life and death issue.


I now call upon the IEC:

* To ensure that the actual elections are free and fair and that the voting
and the count truly reflect the views of the people.

* You have a solemn duty to conduct impartial elections.  If you fail the
Gambian people in this, then you will be held accountable for the
consequences.


I urge all Gambians at home in The Gambia or overseas, to ensure that this
29th message is circulated to as many people as possible at home and abroad.
  You are civic educators with a vital role to play in setting our country
back onto the path of peace and prosperity.


Tomorrow, I shall endeavour to paint the picture of what will happen if the
Gambian electorate do not vote Jammeh out of office on the 18th October.


I pray that Almighty God will bless our country and ensure a decent future
for all its citizens wherever they might be in the world.

Ebrima Ceesay,
Birmingham, UK


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