Ebrima,
I have been battling the flu over this long weekend and that is why all I
could venture on Saturday was a brief response and commentary on Sidibeh's
response to your post and which I do hope brother Sidibeh does not take as a
personal attack on him as that was not the intent. It was my gut reaction in the
midst of my drugged stupor but you know they say people say what they mean
when in a semi conscious state (laugh) but my brother will understand I am
sure.
I wanted to personally thank you publicly for your dedication, hard work and
continued contribution towards the effort to lift the yoke of oppression
from the shoulders of our people, and in which effort you have always made sure
you are guided by the principles of your profession. I have always told you
in our private conversations that you are a valuable asset to us because
journalists with integrity and who a true to their profession and un-swayed by any
form of bias speak for the people and help to make leaders accountable and
without these assets in place for the people, there is nothing to deter
tyranny from flourishing, especially in Africa where our leaders seem to have
mistaken the trust of the people as a passport to unleash a lifetime long reign of
tyranny by any means necessary.
Please keep up the good work because accuracy and integrity have to be part
of the main ingredient in any sincere struggle.
The Senegalese may have their reasons for handling things the way they do
with the Jammeh regime when it comes to issues of this nature, some of which
may infact have to do with their own attempt at providing a rope for fools to
hang themselves, but in the final analysis, it is the character, intent and
make-up of the Jammeh regime that enables them to have these opportunities, and
the most important part is that the Jammeh regime is hell bent on subduing
our people so they can rule for as long as possible and they will employ any
means necessary to make this possible.
Thererfore, in view of the long record established by this regime of
concocting lies and false allegations to enable them to eliminate those perceived as
enemies, we must perhaps pause to give thought to the role of the Senegalese
in this matter, but most importantly, we must also inevitably ask the
following questions, namely:
1: Did the Jammeh regime orchestrate this sending of forged documents to the
Senegalese in order to give them the excuses they were seeking to make good
on Jammeh's Koriteh day threat? Could such an opportunity have miraculously
materialized for them just in the nick of time just when they needed such an
excuse?
2. Or, did someone do this in order to gain the good graces of this regime?
3. Did someone who is eager to see this regime go think that this was a way
to expedite the process?
Of all the above, I would venture to say that I doubt that any of those who
sincerely want to see this regime go would be so naive as to employ this
method of accomplishing their departure, nor would Gambia Government document
templates be readily available to them and if they were made available, any
clear thinking person would have questioned the legality of the undertaking and
the potential risks it carried for the opposition on the ground if they
in-fact cared about the safety of the affected people.
Whoever did this in my opinion, and knowing the nature of this murderous
regime and their ardent desire to eliminate anyone who they see as a potential
threat, and at this point, NADD is number one on that list, knew exactly that
this act would place the people arrested in direct danger.
However, these are my personal thoughts on this matter. I do hope that the
perpetrator of this dastardly act will be exposed and again, my personal view
is that the intent here was far more sinister than just mere over -enthusiasm
on the part of a sincere supporter of the struggle against this regime and
must be treated with the gravity it deserves once all the facts are known.
Again, Ebrima, thank you for your continued hard work and your dedication to
the betterment of The Gambia and her people.
Sister Jabou Joh
In a message dated 11/26/2005 11:43:01 A.M. Central Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
My Fellow Gambians and friends of The Gambia,
I join others in condemning the arrest and detention of Halifa Sallah,
O.J.Jallow and Hamat Bah. These men are decent, law-abiding citizens and each has
his own unique qualities. Combined, they form a very considerable force for
democracy in The Gambia. I know each of these men personally, and have had
the pleasure of working with them on many occasions. It is clear to me, and
to all those who know them, that each of them has the best interests of The
Gambia and Gambian people at heart and in mind.
Yahya Jammeh has yet again shown himself to Gambians and to the whole world
to be a corrupt and cowardly dictator. Arrest and detention are Jammeh’s
habitual responses to oppositional challenge: any hint of criticism of the
regime leads to imprisonment and often to murder. Jammeh’s notion of himself as
a democratic leader of a fully functioning democracy reveals his increasing
mental instability: The Gambia is no longer the haven of human rights and
democratic principles: indeed, it has not been since July 22nd 1994. It is
now characterised by irresponsible and inept leadership, misappropriation of
public monies, cronyism, illegal detention, brutality and assassination.
Despite a very heavy professional and personal schedule at the moment, I
have been urged to make public comment about recent events in my homeland, and
to pass on information which sheds new light on the arrest of Mr Sallah, Mr
Jallow and Mr Bah.
Unimpeachable sources close to the Senegalese government have told me that
recently, the Senegalese government received several documents, purportedly
from the NADD leadership in The Gambia and also an Intelligence Report on
Senegal signed, apparently, by Samba Bah, former Director General of the NIA. The
documents supposedly from NADD, urged Senegal to intervene in The Gambia,
because Jammeh was supporting Casamance rebels. The document purportedly from
Samba Bah told the Senegalese government that Jammeh is currently arming the
Casamance rebels in order for them to attack Senegal. This particular
document alleged to have been sent by Samba Bah also asks Senegal to help Gambians
to topple Yahya Jammeh, and names people like Lie Conteh as amongst those
seeking Senegalese help in "de-throning" Jammeh.
Now, believing these documents to be genuine and above-board, Senegal
confronted Jammeh first at ambassadorial level and subsequently face to face when
Jammeh visited Senegal last month. Jammeh was shown the documents themselves
and the arrest of Mr Sallah, Mr Jallow and Mr Hamat Bah followed.
Senegal continued to investigate the provenance of the documents and has
since found them all to be forgeries emanating not from The Gambia, but from the
USA (I am awaiting further source information before revealing the name of
the forger).
Senegal immediately informed Jammeh that the documents were in fact
forgeries, and that the information contained within them was spurious. It was too
late for our NADD leaders and Samba Bah however: the NIA had already picked
them up and charges of sedition had been laid against Sallah, Jallow and Hamat
Bah by the regime. But Jammeh’s preferred treason charge was shattered when
the Senegalese informed him that the documents had been proven to be
forgeries.
Jammeh’s evidence base of NADD’s supposed incitement of Senegal against The
Gambia collapsed, and the original charges he had in mind (ie.treason) had
to be dropped. However, Jammeh is reluctant to talk publicly about the
reasons for this (he and his regime would be made to look both gullible and
foolish), and Mr Sallah and Mr Jallow are being charged with unfairly criticising
the regime (Halifa in an open letter to the Gambian people, and OJ in an
interview given to Gambian journalists). Hamat Bah is now being held because of
his failure to surrender government documents following his defeat in the
by-election (i.e. his Gambian diplomatic passport). My sources tell me that Mr Bah
has no intention of surrendering his Gambian diplomatic passport until his
appeal against the conduct of the by-election and its result has been heard.
We can trace the arrest and detention of our Opposition leaders directly to
the forged documents sent from America, and I personally urge the forger to
refrain from sending any more of these unhelpful documents to the Senegalese,
or any other, government. The documents serve to put our opposition party at
serious risk, and to add to the fuel of discontent between Senegal and The
Gambia.
I am no friend of Samba Bah or Lie Conteh, but I am a believer in the truth.
The situation in Casamance is already grave enough, without adding
unnecessarily to it.
We none of us have to resort to forging documents to expose the butchery and
ineptitude of Yahya Jammeh and his cronies: they do this well enough
themselves and without our help. Jammeh can be exposed without implicating others
and putting them at risk.
In international politics, there is little regard for the damage which may
be done to innocent people when forgery is perpetrated and incorrect documents
passed on. Senegal did not give thought to the implications for Halifa
Sallah, OJ Jallow and Hamat Bah when it showed the forged documents to the Gambian
regime: the Senegalese government’s concern was on a different level.
However, it was these forged documents that directly brought about the arrest of
our opposition leaders. Let us all be aware of the dangers and miscarriages
of justice that can occur as a result of forged documentation. Let us think
of those people on the ground who are already at grave risk in their struggles
for honesty and decency in government, before we expose them to further
risk.
Let us now pray that Yahya Jammeh will now drop all charges against Halifa,
OJ and Hamat. We know now why our friends were arrested and detained, and
that the reasons underpinning the original charges were false.
Yahya: I challenge you publicly to release our NADD leadership and to put
the record straight. The eyes of Gambians and the world are on you.
May God Bless The Gambia and help her in her struggle back to democracy and
decency.
Ebrima Ceesay
Birmingham, UK
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