Every Human Being (Gambians included) aspire for Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness. These three aspirations are not just listed herein in
this order because it rhymes with the storied Declaration from the United
States. I listed these three aspirations in their order of importance and to
illustrate the interdependence of these wants/needs.

If some one is dead, that person cares less about liberty or happiness in a
country on earth. There are very few people in this world that will happily
die for the liberty or happiness of others. But even if you ask those
martyrs, they will be the first to honestly tell you that they would have
preferred to safeguard the liberty and happiness of their compatriots
without having to die for their cause. I am sure if one were to question our
children that were massacred April 10 and 11, 2000 and ask them whether they
value their lives more than the pursuit for happiness or losing their
liberty through unlawful incarceration, almost all the children would have
replied that all they want is to breathe the fresh air in The Gambia.

Without dear life, our liberty or the liberty of others is virtually
meaningless. If you are dead, you cannot even fight for others liberty.
Granted, in some places when someone achieves martyrdom, that person can
invigorate the general public to fight for their liberty. Not in Gambia of
2001. Our children were energized by the martyrdom of Ebrima Barry (who was
tortured and murdered by Yaya security officials). What did our children get
for standing up for their liberty and that of ordinary Gambians? Fourteen
children were slain by Yaya security forces in broad daylight and numerous
others were injured and some arrested and jailed. Did this martyrdom
energize the Gambians? Absolutely not. We have Gambians blaming the victims
that were massacred. We have Gambians peddling endless lies in order to
absolve the perpetrators of the Massacre. We have Gambians partake in the
most elaborate cover-up in Gambian history all in an attempt to render the
murderers of our children scot-free. Lastly, we have Gambians passing
decrees that render the culprits of the massacre immune from prosecution and
encourages the security forces to kill some more children. In short, in
Gambia martyrdom does not guarantee invigoration of the masses. So right
there as things stand now, we realize that we cannot trade the lives of our
children for the liberty of the rest of us. Our children died, and we are
still not free. It is absurd to even talk about trading ones life for ones
own liberty.

It is also absurd to talk about trading ones life for ones happiness on
earth. If you are dead, you cannot watch GRTS. Let us explore whether we can
trade the lives of our children for the happiness of other Gambians. First
we have to decide on what makes Gambians happy? Are Gambians happy because
Yaya built hospitals? Are Gambians happy because Yaya built schools? Are
Gambians happy because we now have a TV station? Are Gambians happy because
we now have an Arch at Independence Drive? I think people get my drift. How
pretentious are these gullible Gambians that want to define happiness in
terms of buildings people can see?

Would these Gambians give their lives up so that other Gambians can watch TV
when there is electricity? Would these gullible hypocrites trade the lives
of their children so that tourists can get to the hotels from the airport
faster? Surely someone like Alieu Mbye (father of Yusupha Mbye one of the
victims of the April Massacre) would be happier if Yusupha was out there
earning a living and contributing to his family and society, rather than
languishing at some hospital bed at RVH. Alieu and Yusupha do not care if
Yaya build roads they cannot use. They do not care if GRTS is on. For crying
out loud, they do not even have electricity supply on a regular basis. Is it
fair to ask this man to trade the life and liberty of his son for Yaya's
token developments? Is it not a mockery to tell these victims that you
support Yaya despite their plight? Is it not callous to ask Alieu Mbye to
support Yaya because we have GRTS or we are about to have a hospital in
Bwiam to treat MFDC rebels? Is it not irresponsible and despicable to ask
Gambians to elect a president that will not hesitate to order the massacre
of innocent and defenseless children? Do these 'projects' Yaya stole from
PPP entitle him to lead and continue to brutalize Gambians?

These token developments are not worth the lives of our children. In the
first place these 'developments' are not the focus of happiness for most
Gambians. Our farmers up country have no interest in GRTS. What makes them
happy is when they can sell their groundnuts and feed their families. It
does not make sense to ask Gambians to tolerate child murderers, rapists,
thieves and abductors because we have some token developments.

So, DESPITE all the token developments, I will always despise the vermin and
CANNOT SUPPORT him. The lives of ordinary Gambians is simply more precious
to me that these token developments stolen from PPP. I would not even
sacrifice our children for the REAL development in the United States; let
alone developments that continue to impoverish the ordinary Gambian. Despite
the murder of our martyrs, there is still no LIBERTY in the country and
people are still UNHAPPY. Yaya CANNOT satisfy the ASPIRATIONS of Gambians.
The sooner we get rid of him and his cohorts, the better.
KB

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