Sister Jabou:
As we evaluate our strategy and categorically analyze our goals and objectives, we
should ask several what if situations. What if we fail to extend and olive leaf to
those who fell out with yahya? What if we are too proud to accept our fallacies?
Oh my God, that will be terrible. A friend of today is welcomed than an apparent
enemy who continues to terrorize us.
The question is, if Baba is convicted of economic crimes, how about yahya?
Where did yahya get the money to build a mansion in Kaninlai?
Who gave yahya millions of dollars to buy a plane?
Who appropriated all those capital expenditures for Kaninlai?
How much was yahya worth before he overthrew a legitimate government?
How much is yahya worth today?
How much did yahya earned as a dictator?
Is yahya above the law?
These are important questions that must be answered. If we fail to understand that
yahya is corrupt and that he enriched himself by looting the Gambian treasury, then
we have endorsed his behavior. If Baba is convicted of economy crimes, then when
will yahya face justice?
I again want to thank you for being objective.
Naphiyo,
Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh
-----Original Message-----
From: Jabou Joh <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Mar 31, 2004 9:21 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Who Would Have Thought/ Conteh
Conteh,
Political maturity, to have a clear vision of your goal,the ability to see
the bigger picture, to focus on what is important in achieving ones' goal and
forging the required strategy and alliances to achive it has to be teh mark of
those who seek to ultimately liberate us from hegemony.
Thank you for your ability to focus on what is important, something that
seems to elude most of us.
I have been pondering the fact that regardless of the fact that some of us
have been ploughing this list for years expressing our sentiments on the APRC
regime, the instant any of those same people writes an opinion on the violation
of the rights of anyone within the APRC regime, they will be regaled with all
sorts of accusations of being an APRC sympathizer. I think that even Jammeh in
his worse nightmare will not arrive at the conclusion that I, for example, am
an APRC sympathizer.
However, I mention this, and it has happened more than once, because it is a
good example of our inabilities to analyze a situation and take individual
items within that situation and put it into their proper context. In other words,
some of us seem unable to look at the Baba Jobe case and see that perhaps
while justice has been served in his incarceration because he is someone who has
clearly violated many laws in our country, at the same time, greater
injustice has been done to all Gambians because during the tenure of his case, much
has been revealed that should have also resulted in the trial and incarceration
of others, Yaya Jammeh included if the rule of law and the Gambian
constitution had not been rendered useless by the APRC regime.
Further, that if Gambians do not see the violation of Baba Jobe's rights as
an assault on the human rights of every Gambian simply because it further
erodes the rule of law that is supposed to protect every Gambian, and are not able
to separate that from his crimes, then our understanding of the need to
protect our constitution as an instrument for the protection of the rights of every
one of us is also not understood.
Aside from the initial admission by Yaya Jammeh that YDE belongs to him,
there is no doubt that the daily court proceedings of Jobe's trial revealed
information that pointed to many violations of the law by persons within the
Ministry of Finance who issued duty waivers to clear goods at the customs, as well as
the person who directed them to issue those waivers. While no direct evidence
was presented that pointed to Yaya Jammeh as the issuer of those orders,
Gambians can safely assume based on our observation of how thsi government
operates, that Yaya Jammeh is the issuer of those orders because he is a dictator and
he directs everything in this government, including even the purchasing of
goods by various government departments.
Further, the testimony of the MD of the Gambia Ports authority as well as
members of his staff that testified all point to the fact that there was a
standing order coming from the top for them to clear goods for YDE without question.
Adama Deen testified that he:
"inherited the order to clear goods for YDE whenever their goods came in when
he came to the job".
They further testified that Ports did not extend nor do they have a credit
arrangement with Baba Jobe, but that the credit was extended to YDE.
All other things being equal, and if ours was a working democracy that
operated within the rule of law and the laws of the Gambian constitution, and if our
justice ministry was not under the control of Yaya Jammeh and the officials
of that ministry were willing and able to serve the interest of the Gambian
people and nation as required, an investigation would have been launched
whereby all the pertinent people at the Ministry of finance and the office of the
president would have been required to testify so that it can ultimately be
revealed who gave the standing order to clear goods for YDE, and that culprit would
not have been Baba Jobe despite any illegalities he may have committed.
The fact that lawyer Ousman Sillah's expert questioning of witnesses no doubt
revelaed to Gambians the fact that Jobe was acting on the orders of someone
else, and not his own was the very reason they attempted pt murder him.
However, ours is a government where the rule of law and our constitution has
been continually altered by the APRC to protect themselves because they know
they have committed crimes and continue to comitt crimes against the people and
as time has progressed, they have become even more bold and have infact
practically done away with the constitution altogether.
Every violation of the right of every single Gambian is an erosion of the
protection that our constitution can provide to every other Gambian. To protect
the rights of all, one must necessarily also protect the rights of even the
criminals otherwise we set a precedence that affects the rights of all. I think
this is a necessity that a lot of us fail to understand. In other words, If I
can disregard your rights and lock you up without according you all the
protection that the law of the land guarantees you, then the law of the land becomes
irrelevant for all and you and I risk being subjected to he same mistreatment
if we ever find ourselves vefore the law. In this case, the law of the land
should have intervened to make sure that Baba Jobe does not og to jail alone
because he is not the only guilty person. Infact, far from it, it has been
proven by facts that there were his manipulators at the top who are far more
guilty that he.
Another area where the charade continues is in forging a united front against
this illegal regime, and there also, the ever ongoing pursuit of personal
agendas and the blind support provided by those who are the next generation of
opportunity seekers who will close their eyes to the facts is the reason that
there does not seem to be any hope for a united front, or if there is any such
front, it will most likely be formed along factions of self interest again.
The APRC has failed the Gambian people and those who can do something about
it also continue to fail them because their sincerity and allegiance is ot
something else other than the interest of the people.
Jabou Joh
Jabou Joh
In a message dated 3/31/04 5:22:23 AM Central Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>
> Comrades:
>
> Who would have thought that Baba Jobe would be sitting in prison today? Who
> would have
> have thought that the mighty Baba who intimidated, tortured, and harassed
> Gambians would
> be sentenced to a lengthy prison term? Who would have thought that Mr. APRC
> would be
> disowned by a tyrant government that continues to be indifferent.
>
> I am crying today! I am sick today! I looked around and I cannot find
> Baba. I cry because even
> though I disagreed with Baba, I condemn the injustice done to him. I cry
> because a frontal attach
> on Baba serves as an element of torture against every Gambian. I am sick
> today because I
> believe in democracy, rule of law and the right of every Gambian.
>
> The dictatorship in the Gambia has failed the Gambian people. I advocate
> that we forget our differences
> and embrace the few positives that unite us. The issue is that if we
> continue to have a yaha Gambia, our
> rights will certainly be compromised. I am sleeping in the same bed with
> Baba today. I cannot endorse
> the injustice done to him.
>
> If you assess the trend of the yahya dictatorship, you will conclude that he
> makes friends, uses and
> discards them. Take a look at what happened to Sabally. Oh what a
> coincidence! Was Sabally not sentenced
> to 9 years? Is Sabally not out now? So Baba in, Sabally out. What a
> disgrace that one individual has the
> ultimate power to deny Gambians their basic rights!
>
> I advocate that we unite. I advocate that we seek the truth. I affirm that
> we look at things collectively. I
> believe that yahya has compromised and tribalized the Gambia. I
> categorically state that, should we
> fail to unite, we will be contributing to a yahya distruction.
>
> We must unite and defeat the APRC in the upcoming bi-election in Jarra West.
> We must idealize the pain that
> Baba is going through. We must win this seat. Though it seems illogical
> and unconventional, we must join
> forces with Baba's supporters in Jarra West. I would rather sleep with a
> former enemy who has been
> marginalized than enable a tyrant who continues to deny us our rights.
>
> As we get closer to the presidential election, we must swallow the
> inevitable and join forces even with those
> who were part of the APRC dictatorship. We should welcome any dissolutioned
> APRC supporter who wants
> to join ranks with us. We cannot afford to lose those who are
> disenfranchise wth the APRC indifference.
>
> Naphiyo,
> Comrade ML Jassey-Conteh
>
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