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Subject:
From:
Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 23 Jan 2001 10:59:27 -0500
Content-Type:
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I received with glee news from The Gambia that some members of the Judiciary
have been dismissed. According to reports, the Chief Justice, Felix Lartey,
has been sacked together with Ousman Jammeh, the Master of the Supreme
Court, and Haddy Roche, Principal Magistrate at Kanifing.

I am gleeful because of the predictability of the morons running the illegal
government we have back home. These people can turn the dumbest person into
a clairvoyant. When Cheyassin Secka sent us his ill-advised mail saying that
he had no part in the firing of judicial officers, we called his lie. We
opined that former AGs had been known to orchestrate the sacking of Chief
Justices. So it would be a piece of cake to master-mine the sacking of a
Judicial Secretary (Isatou-Combeh Wadda).

Well, Secka has proved us right again. I am certain that if these firings
are true, the deed can be traced back to Secka. This is a clear
manifestation of executive tampering with the judiciary. And if the matter
is probed further, we will realize that Yaya and his cohorts had flimsy
reasons or no reasons at all to mess with the judiciary. This just goes to
show that the judiciary is not independent. It is subject to manipulation
from criminals like Yaya and Secka.

But let us not rush to defend the people that were fired. This is again a
case of the beast eating its young. These vermin that were serving Yaya and
his illegal regime got what they deserve, if you ask me. Like I said before,
we should not feel sorry for these people. Let us stop for a moment and
study the roles these people played the past few months.

This Felix Lartey is the same man that chaired that bogus commission of
inquiry looking into the massacre of our children on April 10 and 11, 2000.
This same man stood by and watched government operatives come before the
commission and told blatant lies with impunity. Lartey knew (because he is a
lawyer) that the commission had the power to compel witnesses to tell the
truth and the commission also had the power to punish witnesses for contempt
if they told lies.

You do not have to be a rocket scientist to know that witnesses were lying
when they said that the children were not killed by life ammunition. Some
witnesses deliberately refused to answer questions, citing bogus privileges
that should shield them from certain questions. Lartey knew that these
privileges were not applicable in these proceedings. But he said nothing.

Instead, he aided and abetted the callous regime we have in their enterprise
to defraud the Gambian population. What can be more heartless that murdering
innocent children and then denying their families justice? Lartey could have
done something about this fraud, but he chose to side with the Devil against
the people of The Gambia. I am not trying to absolve the non-lawyers that
were in that commission, but suffice for me to say that people like Joseph
Joof and Felix Lartey had a higher burden to do what is right. In the first
place, they should have refused to participate in a futile exercise and
force the AG to appoint an independent prosecutor. When Lartey and Joof
realized that they did not have the power to punish criminals, they should
not have engaged in this time-wasting exercise. So, for Lartey, I say, good
riddance. We in the opposition should just prepare ourselves to fight with
the next vermin that is going to take Yaya's bait and assist in oppressing
our people. Whoever is going to be the next Chief Justice, should be rest
assured that we will be on his or her back so long as he or she is taking
matching orders from criminals like Yaya and Secka.

Moving to Ousman Jammeh, he is also the same man that acted as coroner
during the inquest for our slain children. Jammeh has enough legal training
to know that the coroner in such proceedings, has the power to proffer
charges against the criminals that perpetrated the murder. Knowing that Yaya
and Secka will not be happy if he points the finger at their security
forces, Ousman Jammeh dodge the bullet by pretending that he was just a
powerless coroner who could not recommend for charges to be brought against
the criminals.

Ousman Jammeh also failed the Gambian people by allowing government
officials to come before his court and lie with impunity. He did not deliver
on his job. Through the pathologists, Jammeh should have established that
the children died from life bullet wounds. Jammeh should have also ensured
that the security personnel account for the bullets they fired. By the time
the inquest was finished, Jammeh should have been in a position to narrow
down the number of suspects and point us to people that could be charged for
these heinous crimes.

Instead, like Lartey, Jammeh decided to side with the Devil against the
Gambian people. When he was faced with blatant evidence (dead bodies of our
children)  pointing at Yaya and his security forces, Jammeh decided to look
the other way and play it safe by pretending that he does not understand the
powers he was given by the criminal laws of The Gambia. So, I also say, good
riddance.

Haddy Roche is also the inexperienced magistrate that colluded with Secka to
illegally incarcerate Dumo et al against the wishes of a higher court. While
lawyers for Dumo and others were before the high court arguing for the
release of the accused persons, it was to Haddy Roche that Secka and his
green lawyers ran to in order to get a court order that can keep the accused
in jail. Despite that the prosecutor told Roche that she (the prosecutor)
does not have enough evidence to even charge these people (a very low
threshold), Roche still went ahead and ordered the continued illegal jailing
of the accused.

When these imbeciles (Roche and Ruggi Thomasi) were pandering to Secka at
the expense of Dumo et al, I warned them that the jobs they cherished so
much (that would lead them to perform such diabolic duties), were not
secured. Few months down the line, the same Secka that Roche was trying to
please, is the very person that is going to master-mine her demise. The
beast eating its young. Let them all go to Hell.

People that do not learn from these episodes and distance themselves from
Yaya, are digging their own graves. Yaya only cares about himself and his
childish fantasies. He is nothing but a low-life criminal. The sooner people
realize that and stop working for him, the better. We are monitoring all the
moves of Yaya and his cohorts. When we get rid of Yaya, people will be
accountable for their actions. It will not be a defense to say that: "I was
just doing my job".

All these people that were reportedly sacked by Yaya and Secka, contributed
immensely to the numerous human rights violations in the country. I am
positive they also engaged in other unsavory (corrupt) activities. But that
will come out later.
KB

Ps: Saul Khan I hope I answered any concerns (if at all you had them) you
might have had about Yaya's infantile fantasies. Let us continue the good
work and ignore the moron and some of his juvenile behavior.

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