8 Years ago, The Gambia had its first taste of what
President Jammeh had in offer. Some seasoned soldiers
were massacred for no other reason other than the
desire of the junta to purge the Gambia National Army.
In memory of all those who died on that day, I have
decided to send you a copy of Ebou Colly's famous
version of what tarnspired on November 1994. May their
souls rest in perfect peace


--- ebou colly <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > COUP IN THE
GAMBIA ELEVEN
> My program for this week and next is so tight that I
> almost cancelled this posting. But on a second
> thought, and especially not to disappoint my readers
> I
> decided to come up with a short one.
>  However there are some comments I like to make on
> two
> special issues; i.e., the opposition's great boost
> to
> finally boot the Yaya dictatorship out of power in
> October, in the wake of the death of Decree 89 and
> the
> role the armed forces is expected to play in the
> campaign, voting and final declaration of the end of
> the APRC government.
> To start with there is no doubt in my mind that the
> repealing of the decree added more firepower to the
> arsenals of the opposition force. With or without
> the
> decree, I was positive that the Gambia had had
> enough
> with "Yaya Bokassa Jammeh" the second dictator in
> the
> history of modern African politics to order the
> massacre of armless school children on ordinary
> demonstration. That crime alone, forgetting all the
> other heinous crimes committed by Yaya during his
> reign of terror is enough to see him gone for good.
> And I know for sure that the Gambian people as a
> result would not allow him to remain another minute
> that day in October when the people's votes show it
> clear and indisputable to the whole world.
> What the Gambian electorate should brace up for is
> the
> possible futile resistance Yaya would attempt to put
> up to stay in power by force. General Guai of Ivory
> Coast tried it; Milosovic also tried it; but as
> typical of dictators in their last moments, they
> always end up being victims of the very forces they
> built to protect them. For instance, in the cases of
> Ivory Coast and Yugoslavia, the tyrants became wimps
> when the security forces realized that the future of
> the nation far outweighed the interest of one person
> whose record as their leader merely brought them
> embarrassment, horror and death. So they turned the
> cannons on their master and stood by the popular
> voices of the people.
> To think that Yaya abrogated this decree out of
> logical analysis and politically-fair conclusion,
> and
> that he deserved to be commended for it is at best a
> seriously misplaced judgement. Yaya's decision on
> this
> one came out of a no-other-choice option. Anything
> otherwise would have pitted him against the wrath of
> the Gambian opposition forces and the international
> community at large. He was aware of the intolerance
> of
> everybody towards his intransigence on this decree.
> He
> had "bilahi and walahi" the world on numerous public
> forums swearing never to compromise the decree or
> allow the banned politicians to participate actively
> again. He had also threatened them with more verbal
> terror, with his notorious six-feet-deep warning.
> But
> when he realized that the likes of Mr. Omar Jallow (
> O.J.) were no longer intimidated by his childish
> threat, coupled with the fact that the international
> community was no longer prepared to accept his
> stonewalling attitude in this issue, the dictator
> bowed down in fear. Yes, it was nothing but fear
> that
> drove him to such a decision. For that reason I
> believe all commendations should be saved for the
> international-pressure forces and those dynamic
> opposing elements that kept up the heat on Yaya to
> the
> end.
> O.J. was awesome in this battle for reasons
> genuinely
> justifiable. Despite his total innocence of any
> given
> crime other than being a former minister in the
> former
> PPP government-if that was a crime at all- like Buba
> Baldeh was, O. J. on numerous occasions was
> arrested,
> tortured, incarcerated and humiliated in every way
> imaginable. But like Mr. Lamin Waa Juwara, every ill
> treatment they received from the hands of the
> bandits
> merely galvanized their fortitude and determination
> to
> fight harder for their holy course. These are the
> men
> who deserve the special commendation. For Yaya, he
> was
> like a wanted psychopath on an evasive trail until
> cornered at a dead end and given an ultimatum to
> either surrendering or faced the risk of being
> smoked
> out with lethal gas (a classic fate of a fat "dirmo"
> with a relentless hunter). The guy therefore should
> at
> most be laughed at and classified as nothing but the
> coward he is.
> It was also funny to learn that the six-feet-deep
> threat was repeated at the time of his unhappy
> abrogation statement to those opposition elements
> affected. Well, that was a good tactic to reassure
> his
> blind followers and give them the hope that he was
> still the same tough idol they should continue to
> worship. That was the child in him entertaining his
> hopeless ego.
> As I said earlier, I was left with no doubt that,
> come
> October, the Gambians will get rid of Yaya even with
> Decree 89 in place; but now that the moron has been
> forced to abrogate it, I would say that the die is
> finally cast. Yaya has put the last nail on his
> coffin.
> My warning to him now is to be mindful of his last
> days. They are as dangerous as things were in the
> beginning when treachery, betrayal and individual
> interest characterized the actions of those very
> close
> to him. It would be a costly mistake if he tries to
> use the armed forces against the popular desire of
> the
> Gambian people. So the easier he tries to leave the
> scene with minimal trouble the better for him and of
> course for those blindly loyal to him who could be
> dragged along with him to the abyss of doom.
> Come October, the majority of the soldiers will not
> be
> part of any ill-conceived plan to force the APRC
> government onto the Gambian people. It is now
> evident
> to most of them that Yaya's administration is for
> the
> benefit of few but not the majority of them. Those
> few
> ones would however try few tricks that they would
> live
> to regret in the end. In the end, those soldiers
> with
> the positive thought of taking the Gambia forward
> would prevail.
> As for those of you who think that Yaya is a
> dependable ally, just stop for a moment and reflect
> on
> those who had once committed their lives to
> protecting
> him with blind zealotry, and the way he rewarded
> them
> in the end. Take for instance the case of the late
> Almamo Manneh who used to say that for anyone had
> intended to hurt Yaya that person must step over his
> dead body first before reaching "Boss". Remember the
> special and close relationship that had existed
> between Landing Sanneh and Yaya. They were like
> blood
> brothers. Sanneh would have done anything to keep
> Yaya
> in power. Now Sanneh is facing charges of treason in
> a
> kangaroo court martial while Almamo was sent
> six-foot
> deep. Consider the number of soldiers murdered under
> Yaya's rule without serious evidence to motivate the
> killing. If these men had been a little more
> cautious
> in their actions to satisfy his whims, perhaps Yaya
> would have also been careful in the manner he
> eliminated them. But because he had given them bad
> names by manipulating them into committing all kinds
> of political and social crimes, he relied on their
> unpopularity and delivered them his killer blows
> When Yaya ordered the shooting of the school
> children
> last year, he came back from Cuba pretending not to
> know how it happened. When Koro Ceesay was murdered
> in
> 1995, Yaya as usual, tried to give the impression to
> the Ceesay family that he had had nothing to do with
> it.
> When most of your colleagues were cold-bloodedly
> executed in November 11th 1994 on his orders and
> dumped latrines pits, Yaya later claimed innocent of
> that crime. In most of the crimes committed under
> Yaya's directive, it had always been the ordinary
> soldier who had been blamed for them.
> In October, however all crimes committed by Yaya
> would
> be brought to the open, and there would be competent
> judges to look at each case one by one.
> Take it from me. The forces that have now been
> assembled to get rid of Yaya this time could destroy
>
=== message truncated ===

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