The piece below was culled from the Daily Observer. I think Director General
Ford needs some education on Yaya's real record. Yaya's record of ordering
the murder of more than a dozen innocent children. Yaya's record of ordering
the abduction and unlawful incarceration of innocent Gambians. Yaya's record
of sponsoring thugs that kidnap innocent Gambians and burn down their
properties. Yaya's record of harassing journalists and deporting Gambians
from their country of birth. Yaya's record of stealing millions from
government coffers. Yaya's record of stealing power from a democratically
elected government. Yaya's record of stealing the last elections. Basically,
Yaya's rag to riches story. Someone who five years ago depended on
government supplied uniforms to put clothes behind his back, now boasts of
owning millions of dalasis. Someone who did not finish high school, now
boasts of having a doctorate degree

While educating Mr. Johnson, we must also remember that under Yaya's watch,
Gambians have grown poorer. Gambia has grown more dangerous. The list goes
on. In short, we should endeavor to make Mr. Johnson and the world
'recognize' Yaya for who he really is.

As many can tell from my writing, I am not a diplomat. I will be the first
to admit that it is a big struggle for me to find appropriate words (for
certain audiences) to describe Yaya and the despicable state he has put our
country in. So, I appeal to the better writers in our midst to mount a
campaign aimed at educating Mr. Johnson and his organization. Ebrima Ceesay,
Hamjatta, Saul Khan, Drs. Touray and Saine etc. can all do a superb job at
straightening the record for this clearly ill-informed man. There are
numerous others that can help, whose names have not been mentioned. I appeal
to everyone that can help to come forward with ideas.

As demonstrated by the campaign at Rust, we are doing a good job at exposing
the callousness Yaya metes on our people on a daily basis. But we have to
also recognize that so long as there are people like Mr. Johnson, that means
that we can do a better job. We cannot rely on these people to make a
thorough research of Gambia before they make their clearly erroneous
utterances. We have to be more aggressive with Yaya and his cohorts. This
circle of us reacting to people like Stovall and Johnson has to stop. The
opposition must do a better job of exposing Yaya and painting him in his
true colors before the Johnsons and the Stovalls of this world are fed with
the garbage that comes from the likes of Sedat Jobe.

Should people like Johnson escape the opposition in the Diaspora and end up
going to Banjul, the opposition back home should ensure that people like
Johnson do not leave Gambia with a false impression. Johnson cannot come to
Gambia and escape reading the newspapers. They can claim that they did not
read their own governments' briefings. They can also claim that they did not
do basic research on Gambia on the Internet. What they should not be allowed
to claim ignorance of, is the glaring truth in the country.

When these ill-informed people come to Gambia, the opposition should tell
them that while they bask in their luxurious hotels and ride around in
expensive vehicles, the average Gambian cannot be guaranteed a square meal a
day. These ignoramuses should also know that while they are guaranteed 24
hours' supply of electricity and clean drinking water, we cannot say the
same for our only general hospital in the country. We should also tell them
how parents have to struggle to put their children through the schools Yaya
is trying to claim credit for. We should also tell them about the plight of
our farmers.

If these people come to Gambia and do not hear the opposition organizing
marches, they think that everything is fine with us. If they come to the
country and attend dinners with opposition members and see them talking to
APRC cronies as if nothing is wrong in the country, these visitors go back
home thinking that all is well in The Gambia. If these visitors pick up
newspapers and all they see is lies from Yaya stating how much he is
'donating' to Gambians, they will go home and describe Yaya as a benevolent
man.

We all know that Yaya is a crook and is using our own money to feed his
inferiority complex. The Johnsons of this world should also be aware of
that. At times, I think the people back home are so close to this problem
that some of them has become numb by it. Apart from a few courageous
journalists and opposition party members, very few people raise their voices
against the callousness Yaya visits on them on a daily basis. Some cowards
even go to the extent of denouncing us in the Diaspora for working towards
freeing people from Yaya's tyranny. This is very wrong. Anyone that thinks
Yaya is a good leader for our country needs his or her head examined. I can
understand (though I vehemently disapprove of it) the corrupt Gambians
benefiting from Yaya's regime to stand by Yaya. What I cannot understand is
the behavior of some of Yaya's victims. To take unjustifiable punishment
from an impotent moron like Yaya and then turn around and criticize people
fighting for you, is incomprehensible to me.

Take the case of the former head of the IEC. When he was sacked, some
members of the opposition sympathized with him (against our warnings). The
man did not even have the guts to criticize Yaya's illegal moves. When he
was challenged, he gave excuses, saying that he could not talk during the
festive season. What kind of nonsense is that? How can we enjoy festivities
knowing that we have innocent Gambians languishing in jail, courtesy of
Yaya, and we have families that lost their children in the senseless
massacre of April 10 and 11, 2000, and we have children still in hospitals
suffering from their wounds from the senseless state sponsored terrorism?
Now that the festivities are over, what is the man's reason for not speaking
up against Yaya's clearly unconstitutional and undemocratic behavior?

We must not be lulled into complacency. We must attack each and every
illegal move this government makes. They are nothing but a bunch of
criminals. We must not stop until we get rid of them.
KB

_____________________________________________________________________

GAMBIA TO HOST WORLD CONFERENCE OF MAYORS
The director general of the World Conference of Mayors, Mr Johnny Ford,
today made a courtesy call on President Yahya Jammeh at State House to
inform him about their proposed plans to host the next World Conference of
Mayor in The Gambia, June, 2001
Declaration
According to the director of press and PR at State House, Mr Ford made the
below declaration after his audience with president Jammeh: We are very
pleased that the World Conference of Mayors are to honour President Jammeh
because of his strong and positive leadership for The Gambia. As you know,
The Gambia is not a big country in terms of geography but its impact is
being watched and observed throughout the world. It is a democratic country.
It is a country that is moving forward. When you look around the country and
see the progress that is being made, the schools that have been built, the
development that has taken place... the attractions of investment is all due
in great part to the leadership of the president of this country. That is
why the World Conference of Mayors which represents mayors from throughout
the world, are to pay honour to this young and dynamic leader. We want him
to know that we appreciate his leadership, we appreciate his courage for
standing up.
Because indeed, African leaders must stand up. Africa has a tremendous debt
that they are faced with. Many times, the assistance that was coming to
African countries are being withdrawn and the World Conference of Mayors are
going to say that we want Africa to be supported and we want the world to
recognise leaders like the president of The Gambia. President Jammeh will be
honoured by the World Conference of Mayors for his strong positive
leadership for The Gambia."

_________________________________________________________________
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