EDITORIAL

We are surprised that the NADD leadership in Banjul is not  responding to
its supporters call for a major show down action  to be organised to
condemn the illegal arrest of Halifa, Hamat, and OJ.  Waa, Darboe, Sedia
and others  should resign from politics,  if  you  are not prepared to
take to the streets. Whether you know it or not, Yahya Jammeh, is using
Halifa and others as "Guinea Pigs" to experiment  NADD'S preparedness,  in
the event he (Jammeh) wanted to employ politics of violence come the 2006
Presidential elections.  It is time to act now to end  impunity and
dictatorship.

We welcomed condemnation statements issued by Lamin Waa Juwara and NADD as
a whole.  We are saying that mere condemnation is not enough. You need to
be action oriented.  We expect Waa, Darboe and Sedia  to  mobilise their
supporters and demonstrate.  It is unfair for these men to seat in their
rooms enjoying freedom, when their colleagues in the struggle are being
imprisoned for no just cause. Even it will cost all of you to be
imprisoned  in the name of restoring freedom in  The Gambia, it Worth it.
Such demonstrations should be peaceful and orderly.  Let Yahya and his
killers continue to imprison Gambians.  The truth will prevail soon.

In the interest of democracy and rule of law, please do justice to these
detained men and take to the streets.  After all,  it is not illegal to
demonstrate in The Gambia. It is time to teach Yahya and his cronies a
lesson they will live to regret.

The other day Lamin Waa Juwara,  told me that they wanted  to exhaust
legal remedies, before thinking of any other action.  That NADD is
considering the legal implications of such actions,  as there are efforts
to secure their release.  It is good to go to  the courts,  but in a
situation like this  demonstration is the most appropriate action to take.
 Just yesterday, I read on the BBC online that some Sierra Leoneans took
to the streets demonstrating the detention of an opposition leader.  If
Sierra leone  can take to the streets why not The Gambia?  It is sad that
, we have a weak and dormant opposition in The Gambia.  Our political
leaders should depart from the politics of "compromise" and engage the
Jammeh dictatorship.  Anything beside this,  will be unacceptable to
Gambians.

The NADD leadership should also bear in mind that what happens to Halifa,
OJ and Hamat could equally happened to them  and any other Gambian,  as
long as Yahya Jammeh continues to be Gambia's President.  Together, we can
end impunity in The Gambia.

We are pretty sure that Halifa, OJ and Hamat will be shocked by the slow
pace of NADD'S reaction to their illegal detention. It is now getting to
one week and yet NADD is silence about the detention of their colleagues.
We are pissed up with press releases. It is time to take to the streets.
How long will NADD afford to allow Yahya imprisoning its officials?  Is
this the usual MANDINGKA saying"FANKUNKUNG" meaning people should be
concerned about their own problems first before thinking about Pateh or
Ebrima.  We are not implying that the NADD leadership is thinking on that
line, but the bottom line here is that all indications suggested that the
NADD leadership is buying time.

NADD is technically crippled by Jammeh. There efforts to name a flag
bearer in December is frustrated, because most of their key executive
members are languishing in prisons.  Why should you allow Yahaya to hold
your colleagues for no justifications?  Buying time is not the answer to
Gambia's problem. You either resign from politics or take on Jammeh.
NADD will be doing disservice to its supporters and Gambians,  if they
fail to organise a  protest match.

NADD should respond to its Youth Wing leader's call Lamin Darboe to take
to the streets.  Here this message from Mr.Darboe"We will show Yaya and
his criminal government that we are angry over his actions. We want to see
Halifa and others released. We think that such a demonstration will compel
him to release NADD officials." What a patriotic call from Lamin Darboe.
We need to put aside personal interest, fear and take to the streets.

Believe it or not, failure to take to the streets, will shake the moral of
your detained colleagues.  They have good reasons to embark on silence
syndrome,  if released since  NADD is condoning Yahya's bully tactics.
This editorial is  a  wake up call for the NADD leadership to break the
culture of silence and engage the dictatorship.

NADD admirers, supporters and sympathisers are equally shocked by their
slow pace of action on the side of their detained colleagues.  They expect
you to greet violence with resistance and not to allow one man to hold the
country into ransom.

It is imperative to note that Gambia's freedom lies in the hands of
Gambians and not any outside force. We must start to help ourselves, if we
want to  win any international sympathy.  The Zimbabwean opposition,
which is a role model today in Africa, fought  for their freedom on their
own. Despite Mugabe's bully and repressive tactics, they are fighting all
out to defend the freedom and liberties of Zimbabweans.  Such a crusade,
attracted the attention of  the United  States and the United Kingdom to
come to their aid.  Sometimes, one wonders if there is an opposition in
The Gambia.  with all the constitutional violations, killings, arson
attacks, illegal arrest, torture and persecution,  our opposition is
watching by.  I never remembered a show down action organised by our
opposition  under Yahya's rule..  We expect our opposition to be active
participants in our fragile democracy and not to serve as spectators so to
speak.

The Press Union under our former leadership, organised a major
demonstration some years ago to condemn the repressive Media Commission
Act passed by the Jammeh government.  We were ready for anything at the
time. With or without police permit, we were ready to take to the streets
and that is  exactly what we did.  We expect the opposition to follow the
same foot steps and not to put your  hopes on the battered judiciary.  If
you cannot stand the heat, you should get out of  the kitchen.  Period.
We are calling on the NADD leadership, supporters and sympathisers  to
read this editorial with an open mind.  Take to the streets or resign from
politics.  Have  a great day.

The author is the former Secretary General of The Gambia press Union and
also a former Voice of America radio Banjul Correspondent. Mr. M'Bai who
now resides in the US State of North Carolina Raleigh was a leading
political and crime reporter with the Point and Daily Observer newspapers
respectively. He can be reached by email at the following addresses:
[log in to unmask], [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]

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