Dear Ebrima, Just wish to let you know that you have adequately expressed the sentiments and aspirations of all progressive, peace-loving and truly patriotic Gambians, both at home and abroad. May Allah bless us all and our Dear Homeland and BANISH the APRC from their ill-fated stewardship of this beloved nation, that they are bent on wrecking. AMEN. BMK >From: Ebrima Ceesay <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: My 30th Message To All Gambians! >Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 20:08:14 +0000 > >My Fellow Gambians! > > >In today’s message, I shall attempt to paint the bleak picture of The >Gambia >in the coming years should you, the electorate, fail to vote Yahya Jammeh >out of office. > >Therefore, it is vital that the right choice is made on October 18th, >otherwise we shall be haunted for a long, long time to come. > >For the past seven years of Jammeh’s misrule, we have all seen at first >hand >what this terrible man is capable of. He has virtually destroyed all >aspects of Gambian life: he has led a regime which is synonymous with >repression, incompetence, brutality, nepotism, abuse of office, abuse of >power and gross corruption. > >Just the other day, I undertook some independent research into how much >money Jammeh has taken in national loans since 1994. To my horror and >amazement, my findings indicated that in excess of 420 million US Dollars >has been taken out in foreign loans. The government will obviously try to >deflate this massive figure since it would seriously embarrass them were >the truth to be told. > >However, using my sources and contacts in the International Monetary Fund, >the World Bank and other international financial institutions, it was >concluded that this figure of 420 million US Dollars is accurate. > >It is therefore no understatement to say that whoever replaces Jammeh will >have a difficult task ahead: these criminals have drained our resources >and >burdened us with this massive debt. > >Even three generations from now, the debts will still not have been repaid. >The interest we are having to pay on these loans is a crippling amount for >a >small country like The Gambia. > >Consequently, we have a duty to ourselves, to our consciences, but more so >to our children and posterity in general, to try and make things better for >them, so that tomorrow they might judge us in a more kindly way. > >Our country is at a crossroads and we have to do everything within our >means >to make The Gambia a better place for all of us to live in. > >The problems we face are immense: the causes of the problems are >multifaceted. But let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the prime >cause of all our current troubles is Yahya Jammeh himself and all that he >represents. > >Therefore the first and major step towards beginning to solve our >problems, >is to unseat Jammeh from the presidency on Thursday. > >Over these seven years, we have witnessed how Jammeh has misruled our >country, how he has paralysed the economy, how he has crippled businesses, >how he has destroyed the civil service, how he has swindled public funds, >how he has illegally detained innocent people, how he has sacked people >unjustifiably, how he has quite openly dished out public funds to his >cronies, how he has boasted about his personal wealth to the extent that he >said that even his great-grandchildren would never have to suffer. > >As a result of all this injustice and corruption, most of us, apart from >his >clique of gangster colleagues, have been lamenting the situation in The >Gambia. We have feared for our country, we have cried for our country, we >have been disheartened because of the manner in which it is being run. We >have been talking about how The Gambia is being mismanaged and >maladministered by Jammeh. We have lamented how incompetence is now the >norm in central government. > >We have complained about how our meagre resources are being squandered or >stashed away by Jammeh and his gang for their own personal use and >aggrandisement. We have been saddened by the knowledge that our citizens >have had all their hopes lost because of this barbaric regime. > >We have talked about how Jammeh has destroyed the human resources of our >country. If you go to South America, to the USA, to Canada, to Asia, to >Scandinavia, to Northern Europe, to the UK, you will find there talented >Gambians – men and women – who have so much to offer their own country and >their own people, but yet the political situation at home prevents or >deters >them from returning: their talents are ignored by the ignoramus Jammeh, as >are the talents of people in The Gambia who are being forced into exile >because of daily repression, daily injustice, daily corruption at the heart >of government. > >Today, thousands of talented Gambians have found themselves contributing >substantially to the political and economic lives of other countries, when >if things were right, their contributions would have been directly to and >in >The Gambia. Charity, they say, begins at home, but the reality is that the >climate at home does not only prevent the recall of talent, it also expels >and exiles talents. > >We no longer need reminding of what Jammeh represents for us and our >country: the facts are in the open and for all to see. Any Gambian in his >or her right senses needs no convincing that Jammeh is a liar, a thief, is >corrupt to the core, has killed innocent school children, is despotic, is >incompetent and is a laughing stock throughout the world. > >Having seen the hardship, the impoverishment of our people, the injustices >perpetrated on our people by Jammeh, we have all been looking forward to >the >elections to give us an opportunity to right the wrongs in our nation and >to >uproot Jammeh once and for all. We have all been looking forward to >election day, when we shall close the Jammeh chapter and open a new one. > >During the past five years, after the 1996 elections, we have been longing >for the next presidential elections in order to unseat the tyrant. Because >of our conscience, but more so because of our love for justice and the >truth, we have all been looking forward to the 2001 elections so that we >can >teach Jammeh a lesson he will never forget in his life. > >If you take the year 1997, the repression in evidence then (and continuing >to the present day) was too much. The levels of poverty intensified, the >arbitrary dismissal of people from their jobs increased, business went into >the doldrums throughout the nation. We started then and there to look >forward to the elections, but realised how far they were from 1997. > >Well – in my part of the world, they say that "time flies", and indeed, >time >has flown. At long last, the elections are days and not years, months or >weeks away. > >It has been difficult, all these years; it has been tough for Gambians >everywhere. Words cannot begin to describe how awful these last five years >have been for all except a few of us. Every sphere of Gambian life has seen >the hardship – teachers, nurses, doctors, taxi drivers, shop keepers, >market >vendors, journalists, members of the judiciary, farmers and housewives. >All >of us have suffered. > >Well, anything that has a beginning must also come to an end: the >opportunity has now come for us to get rid of Jammeh. He has abused us, >disrespected us, cheated us, lied to us. Now it is our time and turn to >take >our destiny into our own hands. This is the chance we have to turn to our >best advantage. > >Let us now think about the unthinkable: let us imagine what will happen to >The Gambia and its citizens if you, the electorate, fail to vote him out of >office. > >If you the electorate do not take this election seriously, if you do not >take your vote seriously, if you do not make the right choice, if you do >not >make the right decision, then more hard times will be ahead of us all, and >we shall all soon live to regret it. > >If we fail to get rid of Jammeh in the polls, then in the first instance, >Jammeh and his cronies will have been given carte blanche to act without >regard to the people of The Gambia. They will have more and better food to >eat than the rest of the country, they will live in better houses and >palaces, they will travel even more extensively in first class, they will >have treatment for themselves and their families in the best Western >hospitals and clinics. > >We, the Gambian majority, will struggle to pay our daily travel expenses at >home, we will fight to afford enough food to eat, we will see our levels of >accommodation deteriorate, we will remain impoverished, destitute and >without access to decent levels of medical care, education and social >welfare. > >The impact on our children of Jammeh hanging onto power will be huge. Poor >diet in the early years, restricted access to lower and upper basic levels >of education, poor health care and lack of medicines and vitamins, early >death. This will be our children’s legacy if we allow Jammeh to remain in >office. And be sure that the rich cats, the fat cats (as we say here in >the >UK) the Jammeh sycophants in our land will get richer and fatter at our >children’s expense. > >If you think we have seen enough of Jammeh’s corruption, tyranny and >brutality, his heavy-handedness, then you are totally mistaken. These past >seven years, as tough and as hard as they have been, are just the tip of >the >iceberg. > >Those of us who know Jammeh and have observed him closely for some time, >are >convinced that Jammeh is capable of more treachery, more dishonesty, more >brutality and more corruption than he has shown to date, or than you would >believe possible. > >You see, Jammeh’s psyche is deranged: he truly believes that Gambians >should thank him for ruling us! His megalomania knows no bounds. Instead >of >him being our "elected" public servant and with us as his masters, he has >subjugated us to an extent never before witnessed in our country’s history. >He puts himself forward as our undisputed and omnipotent King. For Jammeh, >the Gambia and its people are his personal property to dispose of as and >when he wishes. > >Jammeh is deranged, mentally unstable and does not deserve to look after a >herd of cattle or a flock of goats, let alone a nation of decent citizens ! > >My Fellow Gambians! Jammeh has already hinted at what his intentions are >were he to be re-elected. He wants a clause inserted into the Constitution >which would give him the power to appoint Chiefs and Alkalolus: he wants >another clause in the Constitution which would increase the term of the >presidency from five to seven years. He wants to dissolve the IEC. He >wants >to give additional powers of arrest and detention to the NIA and to the >Army. > >I know that some of the clauses in the Constitution which he wishes to >change are entrenched: that is, they can only be changed by a national >referendum. But we all know that Jammeh has no regard at all for the rule >of law. He will do as he pleases and when he pleases. > >Consider the plight of those innocent Gambians who are still held without >charge and without regard to the due process of the law: people like Dumo >Sarho, Ebrima Barrow, Lt. Lalo Jaiteh, Lt. Omar Darboe, Momodou Mareneh and >many, many more. They will continue to languish in detention, and be sure >that they will be joined by many others if Jammeh hangs onto power. > >Jammeh has publicly claimed that he wants absolute powers to appoint senior >public servants directly, rather than through the Public Services >Commission. Jammeh wants all appointments to be centralised in the Office >of >the President, and already in practice he has accomplished this, to the >extent that the PSC is a body in name only. > >My Fellow Gambians! > >The opportunity is here. The election is four days away. Let us close the >Jammeh chapter. Let us put an end to this dark page in our history. Let us >know that Jammeh has failed us miserably. Let us know that he does not >have >what it takes to lead our country forwards. > >Jammeh is interested in his personal well being: he is interested in the >welfare of his immediate family and his cronies. He does not, and never has >had, The Gambia at heart. This is a man who boasts about our Gambian >health >sector, and yet sends his wife abroad to deliver her baby in the USA: this >is a man who banned skin bleaching in The Gambia and castigated young >Gambians for marrying Westerners, and yet he himself has married a >light-skinned Moroccan having dumped his first Gambian wife. > >Jammeh now travels extensively in "his" private jet, paid for by the public >purse. During one of his recent trips, he went with more than fifty two >people all of whom were paid Imprest and Per Diem allowances by the tax >payer ! They are all accommodated in the best and most luxurious hotels. > >Jammeh boasts about paying for his relatives in Universities in America and >in England, and he is buying more and more international properties for >himself (at the last count, 1 in Egypt, 2 in Morocco, 1 in Libya and 1 in >the United Arab Emirates). > >He has personal bank accounts internationally, and recently it was >disclosed >that he has opened a further account in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, which is >believed to hold 17 million US Dollars ! All this is for one man !! > >Really, the truth is that Jammeh is a thief, a liar, a scoundrel, a >murderer, a buffoon and a laughing stock. He is an enemy of our country, >which he has brought to its knees in his seven years in power. > >Only you, the Gambian electorate, have the power to see the back of this >man, peacefully and through the polling stations. > >I urge you not to let Yahya Jammeh stay in power for one second more after >October 18th. It is your duty to save our nation from this evil man and his >gang. > >Go in your thousands and VOTE HIM OUT OF OFFICE. > >God help The Gambia. God save us all. > > >Ebrima Ceesay, >Birmingham, UK > > >_________________________________________________________________ >Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp > ><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> > >To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > ><<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>