Please allow me space to respond to a story you ran in your 12th November issue captioned “Yankuba Colley described Ousainou Darboe and his UDP as a joke”. I believe that it is Yankuba himself who is a big joke and a fake. The so called Mayor’s assertion that President Jammeh’s July 22nd revolution is a more important date than 18th February independent day is the biggest insult to all Gambians wherever they are.
It is sad that the so-called Mayor Colley has embarked on trying to falsely misinform young Gambians in his comparison of July 22nd to 18th February. How can any right minded person ever compare the day our country attained its independence from Great Britain on 18th February, 1965 be compared with a cowardly military coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of the day? All over the world countries celebrate with pride and great ceremony Independence Day and here we have some half-educated individuals denigrating this great day.
July 22nd is another day in the calendar of this Nation and we do not object to anybody celebrating it and building grand stories about it but to give it importance is not only counterproductive, glorifying an illegal act and institutionalizing it but it is wasteful of our meager resources which with the economic situation of this country we can ill afford.
July 22nd brought nothing to this country but neo slavery and economic hardship and every Gambian except a few sycophants like the so called Mayor, is suffering for it. The history of 22nd July is clear to all and sundry in and outside the Gambia for returning the yoke of slavery on the neck of all Gambians, opposition and ruling party supporters alike when we had got rid of it in February 1964. We are therefore going backwards.
If I said this all truthful citizens and non-citizens of the country will bear me witness that things synonymous to subjugation which the 18th February have put in the dust bin of history, is what the so-called July 22nd revolution has picked up from the dirty dust bin of history and returned it to the decent people of this country. For those who need to be reminded, those things are as follows:
Arresting people and sending them to prison without trail or any court order.
Putting chains and circles on the feet and hands of decent citizens of the country, some of them have served their country honorably.
Detention without trail exceeding the constitutionally recommended 72 hour guaranteed to all citizens of the country in the Constitution. I was among many other decent Gambians who have been victims of this illegal mistreatment.
With all this and other human rights violations and harassment taking place under this present regime, can any truthful and right thinking person call this an ideal situation for a country that struggled hard to remove the chains of colonialism just to have this desperate state fall on us? What we have in this country now was never experienced during the colonial era and we say we have our fellow Gambian as leader of this country. If what is happening here now took place under the British, we would have had the international community and the African leaders shouting and condemning it.
Yankuba Colley’s assertion that the July 22nd revolution brought television with nationwide coverage today is not only unfounded but also aimed at misinforming Gambians with the sole aim of getting cheap popularity for his already unpopular and discredited APRC regime. I urge Mr. Colley just to go on a tour of this country with an open mind and monitor the Gambia radio and the television services like I did during the recent tour of the Provinces of the UDP Youth Wing only a few weeks ago.
I can assure Mr. Colley with confidence that the vast majority of Gambians cannot listen to GRTS radio, not to talk of the television in this country. So, for Yankuba to bark about GRTS’s nationwide coverage is a mere propaganda.
In fact Yankuba needs to be enlightened about the history of the television, I can tell him that it was the PPP regime that had completed all arrangements for establishment of the television – training, equipment and all and had it not been for the coup d’état television would have been up and running before the end of the very year the disgraceful coup took place. Knowing the Jawara government as I did, the television would not have been used as a propaganda tool for president Jawara or his government and access to its use would never have been restricted as it is to the APRC and its members.
Yankuba said that before the advent of the 22nd July revolution the North Bank Region did not have a hospital. I think Colley wants to be in the good books of President Jammeh that is why he is doing this undocumented praise singing. He has to understand that under the last government, several Major Health centres were built in all the regions, in accordance with the Primary Health Care system proposed worldwide for health delivery by WHO and Gambia was a model in this regard, thus becoming the envy of all its neighbours. And again, there was, unlike what exists now, adequate and regular supply of drugs through the system created by the Jawara government, of Drug Revolving Fund. Of course I do not expect Colley to say this. Where was he then? I am sure he knows that the health system then was so well organized that patients from neighbouring countries swamped our health facilities. Why does Colley want to hide this truth? History cannot be erased. It has already happened and no amount of attempt to bury good deeds will make us not to remember it with great nostalgia.
Mayor Colley said that had it not been for the 22nd July revolution, Ousainou Darboe would not have had the chance to contest for election. What a baseless fabrication! First and foremost, unlike this regime, nobody has ever been barred from contesting election under the last government. The PPP government respected human rights, rule of law, freedom of expression and no attempt was made to alter the Constitution to suit certain individuals and disfavour others. There was peace of mind for the citizens and nobody was scared of being arrested or detained for nothing. Economic stability was maintained in this country. Colley knows that Ousainou Darboe had no interest in politics during the last government. Instead, he concentrated on representing people in court. To prove Mayor Colley’s ignorance of the political history of this country, which he is falsely claiming to know better than Ousainou Darboe, I want him to know that Mr. Darboe had been on everal times offered high posts in the PPP regime which he (Darboe) declined and chose to continue to stand for the poor and less privileged.
Yankuba’s claim that he knows history better than Darboe does not merit any serious comment from me or even the readers because even the person who was interviewing him at the time knows that with his half-baked education he is not conversant with any history. He is just making a laughing stock of himself in the eyes of the public. People will in fact be wondering how this primary six dropout claim to know written history better than a university post graduate, who have all his life been working in and with the most reputable institutions not only in the Gambia but in the world. That shows that Mr. Colley is only claiming to be holding an armchair masters in history or is it an Honorary Doctorate?
For his assertion that the 2016 election is a foregone conclusion is he confirming to the people of this country the dubious and unfair political process they have always embarked on since 1996. No doubt it is the same old game that they are intending to apply. To say that the UDP is not an alternative to the APRC and should give up is a mere propaganda gimmick and does not hold water. The APRC leaders, including Colley know that UDP as the largest opposition party is the party they are scared of and that is why they are always attacking the party and its leadership. Mr. Colley is talking about his political maturity, but he has not shown any maturity if he is comparing an unlawful act done by a few junior soldiers to a worldwide accepted event of attaining national sovereignty that has put the country in a new footing and which enabled us to do and go through all that has happened in this country. We all should be proud to celebrate and honour this event rather than brush it aside. Colley should know that his statement has exposed his total ignorance of what an independent state means.
Finally I would advise so call Mayor Colley to go back to school and learn the difference between a military coup d’état and a national Independence. We Gambians will always be grateful to our leaders who brought independence to us and which has made it possible to be members of the UN, AU, World Bank, ECOWAS and all other international and inter governmental organizations that we now take for granted. May Allah punish whoever wants to minimize the importance of our Independence Day.
Written by Ebrima (Solo) Sandeng
Secretary General Youth wing of the United Democratic Party.
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Well said Solo, you always say it as it is, something some of us only do with pen names. God bless you.
Mr Sandeng, you shoudn’t have wasted your valuable time and energy with nonentities who can be actif in criminal regime.
When a nation is ruled by foreigners this is what you get because no authentic Gambian would want to be a party to his home destruction.
95% the regime’s leadership and military are foreigners, would you expect them to love Gambians?
In 1998, I started warning Gambians the Jammeh has embark on a grand plan and started executing a slow and soft purging of Gambians who love their country from government to replace them with 1st and 2nd generation of foreigners who will forever be loyal to him. Jammeh also started elbowing out Gambian businessmen from the business environment whiles empowering the foreign business people and harrassed many Gambians to compel them to go on self exile. After 20 years of constantly executing and working on his demonic master plan of purging, exiling or reducing authentic Gambians to beggers at home, today we the authentic Gambians are the minority in the Gambia. This is the hidden horrible fact on the ground that will make Jammeh win every election in the Gambia.
There more Gambians in exile than those living in the Gambia. To prove this point just go anywhere in the Greater Banjul Area to see for yourself.
Kusumai and Labash are the dominant languages in offices and businesses.
There will be civil war whether we like it not because Gambains will one day want to take their country back.
Well articulated, Solo.
Please do not waste your precious time to talk about this fake Mayor.The day for him to dance in the 5 Star hotel for wasting tax payers moneys for celebrating 22nd July is just at the corner. And that will be the time he will know that, the 18th Feb. is more important than the 22nd July.Fake Mayor, this is a warning,remember no condition is permanent.There were people who are more loyal than you are, they stood against their families just because of this corrupt regime,but where are they as at now?………………
Well Done mr sandeng, pls ignore This Yankuba Colley criminals too power from democrtic elected government. You are saying that is better than our indipendent, u aré a big fool.
Well said Hydra the Gambia is ruled by foreigners from Dictator jammeh to the last. How can someone be a president of a tiny country like Gambia nobody can tell his family upbringing? Colley is a waste of time an empty barrel makes the most noise. If u don’t know who u are, I don’t think you can tell about the history of Gambia.
Fake mayor of KMC.You will regret your words when there is changes in 3rd Republic.President Jammeh is an insult for Gambians likewise you fake mayor of KMC.Don;t compare 18February with July22.Do not mislead our young children.
Good response from Mr Sandeng…Not withstanding what has been stated about the TV as being a project in the making of the previous administration (I attended a few sessions of the commission dealing with Gamtel, where this fact was revealed by its officials) I think it is even embarrassing for state officials to continue citing a single TV Station, as a development achievement, after being in office for almost 20 years…After all, individuals and business organisations have established their own TV stations…Shameful ignorance.
And brother Deyda needs to calm down…Those helping Jammeh today and yesterday, are as Gambian as anyone can be…Remember Demba Santang Bojang..? Remember Baa Kalifa Sanno. .? Remember Alagie Tabora Manneh..? What about I sat on Njie Saidy. ? What about deputy ambassador Sheikh are Faye. .? How about Imam Momodou Lamin Touray or Imam Cherno Kah.?
Let’s stop blaming “foreigners” for our culpability in Jammeh’s misrule. ..It is we the Gambian People that are responsible for this mess and it is we that must sort it out.
Hello Bax, sorry if you found me too hard and harsh on Jammeh the punkhead. I cannot help it. Yes of course there are bad Gambians enabling Jammeh in his devil plans for selfish reasons but the majority of good Gambians will never go near such a devil president.
Let me tell something, I live in the Gambia and can tell you that over 70% of the military are foreigners specially from Southern Senegal. Can you imagine how hard it will be to remove JK from office. Imagine if Burkina Faso military were 70% foreigners do you think the results will be the same?
We Gambians are in the most difficult situation to remove the dictator because he was able to replace Gambians with foreigners.
Go to any familly house in the Gambia all you will find mainly old people all the young ones have left the country.
You see Bax, we should open our eyes and accept that our country is taken over by foreigners and no one living in the Gambia can deny this hard truth.
When will we rescue our land from foreign hands????when?
Sorry for the typos. ..I.meant…Dembo Santang Bojang. ..Isatou Njie Saidy. ..Sheikh Omar Faye. ..
Sadly, it was the influential mandinkas who help jammed win election in 1996 and 2001. Jammed consolidated himself in power since then and now he is not only threatening mandinkas with adverse consequences, he is insulting us too. The mandinkas need to do something about that without any resort to violence. Otherwise, our forefathers will keep reeling in their graves.
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Brother Deyda…I am not disputing the presence of some foreigners in the security forces and the civil service, but we must be very careful about putting too much blame on “foreigners”…
If you recall the history of our security forces, especially the defunct Field Force, you will remember that it had an open door policy and enlisted people from Cassamance, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry and many of these people served the country very well…So the presence of “foreigners” in the security agencies is not new in The Gambia…
Another factor worth considering is the fact that many children from Cassamance villages that border CCF sponsored schools in Foni, especially Foni Jarrol District (Sintet, Kalagi, Wassadung, Kampassa) were attracted to these schools and underwent English education, rather than French education. ..
Many of.these youngsters went on to graduate from our institutions and either found jobs in the civil service, security forces, private sector or just settled in the country, because they could not have any jobs in Senegal due to their English education ..
Technically, these are not Gambians, but what do you do with this group of people..? Remember, as children, they had no say in.the choices of schools.that their parents made for them..Do you still consider them.”foreigners” or do you do the decent thing and regularise their status.?
The problem is the current Administration in the country under Yaya Jammeh, not the “foreigners”…
Foreigners have never been a problem in our country…Unfortunately, because the system is broken down, people with evil tendencies (foreigners and nationals alike) are able to express themselves without fear, as long as they are with the regime..
Bax, when you start comparing DKJ’s democratic government, respect for human rights and the rule of law and that of a coupist criminal regime then I donot need to go any further in the discussions.
Dont get me wrong we are all foreigners in this world and many of us are welcome resdients outside the Gambia. As long as people respect the laws of their resident countries one should not fear. What obtains in the Gambia under JK the punkhead is far from democracy, rule of law, civility and justice. Under these circumstances Jammeh must be removed and I wonder how you Bax intends to do that.
Until then I maintain my stances that the foreigners in the military are the major stumbling block in removing JK and we must do something about it.
If the status quo continues then there will be civil war sooner or later.
Please mark my words with wisdom.
Deyda, when he talked about an “open door policy” of recruiting foreigners rather than the absence of strong vetting system under jawara. I concluded that he was probably living in a different Gambia.
The law on citizenship should be enforced. It is for the foreigners to regularise their stay in the country if they want to become citizens. Those who blatantly flout our laws to gain ID cards and other national documents should be penalised proportionately. This is my view.
@Lafia, to give you another example, our IDs and Voter cards are issued on the spot in many villages in Casamance. Is that lawful?
Many Casamance people specially the jolas have both Senegalese and Gambian documents and use them when it suits their needs.
The people from Northern Senegal have been less involve in these flagrant FRAUDS.
Whether you like it or not there is a naked tribalism in all spheres of Gambian life. Gambians don’t want to talk about this for fear of being branded a tribalist whiles this menace augurs nothing good in our tiny little country.
If this situation is not arrested forthwith it will lead to national crisis sooner or later.
For every action there will be a reaction.
Mark my words for posterity.
I can understand your frustration with these sycophants, whose main motivation is to appease Jammeh in order to continue enjoying their undeserved positions…But we all know why they are competing against each other to catch Jammeh’s attention…
Who were these people before July 1994..? What was Fabakary Tombong Jatta, for example, before 1994..?
Remember what Jammeh told.them when he opened the new airport terminal..? I don’t know what they must have done to anger him then, but he used the occasion to remind them.that many would not even be “cola nut sellers” (exactly his words) if it wasn’t for him.. So no one should be surprised when these guys compete for new claims and titles…It’s a survival strategy under this regime…
“……. and I wonder how you Bax intends to do that ? ”
My brother, if you mean Bax as an individual, then I can tell you that I can’t do anything to change that, just as you Deyda can’t do anything, individually, to change the misrule in.The Gambia…
But Bax, as a member of the diaspora community can do a lot to change the situation, just like you Deyda, as a member of the population on the ground, can do a lot…
However, let me tell you a big “lie” here…. {No matter how loud my group sounds; no matter how visible our presence is in European Capitals;we will.not be the ones to effect change in The Gambia..We will not be flying home in our thousands to remove Jammeh, despite our endless rhetoric on.talk shows and online fora, unless Jammeh loses control.} That honour rests with your group:the population on the ground…
My group in the diaspora can supplement your efforts by generating enough pressure on, and isolation of, the regime from the international community and development partners, which is being brilliantly done…But, as you may very well know, pressure and isolation alone don’t achieve regime change…If it does, the North Korean regime would.have long gone or the Cuban “dictatorship”…
Continued. ..
Hi brother Bax, I am getting a good grasp of your thinking process and let me hasten to say I appreciate it. However we defer in terms of situations, I mean considering time and space factors. Yes, these sycophants are competing each other to attract the Devil’s attention along way engage in destroying a lot of Gambians lives just to please the Dictator in his demonic plans whiles they continue enjoying the crumbs therein. It is a matter of survival. Many Gambians have lost their jobs and young ones not able to get jobs because they are not jolas. The backway to Europe is not a solution and youths are beginning to get it. Very sad situation going on for the past two decades and still counting so you can see the magnitude of the frustrations on the ground growing on daily basis. Rwanda had no natural resources and we saw what happen there. So civil crisis are not only a matter of outside influence. It can be caused by internal frustrations, injustices and hopelessness as well. These compounded frustrations will eventually get out hands and might lead to civil explosions. Jammeh and his enablers know exactly what they are doing and they are willfully frustrating a lot of people but little do they pay attention to where these frustrations can lead to.
Yes I do agree that the Diaspora is doing a wonderful jod in isolating and suffucating JK’s regime in the international arena but I would ask for one more favor from YOU in the diaspora; Please donot send remittances home just for three months and see what will happen. By this simple action you will speed up the process of taking the struggle in the streets of the Greater Area and Jammeh will GO.
Yes! as long as we on the ground have something to survive on, we will never venture out in the streets to make Jammeh run just as Blaise Compaore ran when the Faso people (millions) go out in the streets at once.
JUST HOLD YOUR POCKETS for three little months and Jammeh will be out.
Yes Moms and Dads, Aunts and Uncles will start saying all kinds of GODLY incantations but please tell them that until we on ground get rid of Jammeh you will not give us a butut. Please tell them that YOU diaspora Gambians want to come home too and most of you cannot come as long as Jammeh is in power for obvious reasons which they are privy to. As you rightly said the onus lies on us on the ground and I wholeheartedly agree with you.
Please do us this favor and leave the rest to us on the ground.
Inshallah we will kick JK out of the State House within hours…promised.
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Deyda, you speak for me. They want to artificially change the demography for political purpose. PDOIS is thinking that way too.
I for one will never keep quite when Mandinkas are discriminated even when I am called a tribalist. If you stay quite and allow this issue to develop into something serious, history will not be on your side. So please speak out bro.
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@Lafia , thanks for your insight. We shall tell it as it is. We will not massage the TRUTH. The sooner we get this menace burried six feet deep the better for all of us including Jolas. I love the jolas but what JK is forcing them to do is unacceptable, the Gambia belong to all of us and none shall be discriminated against. We are one people.
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The pressure and isolation that my group can achieve may serve as the catalyst that will embolden your group (the people) to rise up and end this madness, either through the ballot box or massive and sustained street protests…You hold the ACE in this struggle, not me…
“….If the status quo continues then there will be civil war sooner or later…”
Brother Deyda, I respect your views 100% because you are on the ground and can see what’s going on, but I do not agree with you for two main reasons…
(1)…It is obvious to anyone who cares to look, that Jammeh is pursuing a kind of discriminatory policy in favour of certain segments of society, but this cuts across the board, rather than in favour of any particular group, except perhaps, the residents of Kaninlai… Although some erroneously point to the Jolas as that group, you will agree with me that many Jola families and communities are as hard pressed with the daily struggles of live in the country, as any other community, under the current economic climate..
In other words, Jola mums; Jola farmers; Jola youths; Jola teachers; Jola fishermen, etc are all facing the same or similar problems as their Mandinka or Fula counterparts…And hence we don’t have the type of massive inter – tribal hatred, jealousy (against the Jolas) and conflict that can support theories of an impending civil war…
(2)…If you look around the countries that are ravaged with civil wars, you will notice that they have certain things in common : Either (a) they are mineral rich countries; (b) are neighbouring countries to mineral rich countries; or (c) are very strategically located…As a result of these factors, the internal contradictions (which exist in all countries) within these countries are exploited by unscrupulous foreign interests to create a situation of un-governability, to achieve their own interest, which could be either economical or political… Fortunately, the Gambia is not in that category and is.not in danger of a foreign induced civil war any time soon…But we.must all be wary of, and guard against, the potential for a chaotic end to Jammeh’s rule of madness..
Hello Bax, I replied to your comments in your previous post.
However let me be a little humorous here; In Banjul when you see a non jola group talking, they will automatically change the conversation as soon as a jola friend comes around. I for one always refuse to change the topic and the group disperses calling me crazy and I enjoy it..LOL.That’s how sad it is.
GOD knows I love the jolas but people fear them instinctively. I know some jolas friends that are very concerned of the ongoing situation and they will tell you that they fear for their future once JK is out. I always give them the assurance that all tribes are involve in aiding and abaiting JK just for personal interest.
Thank GOD the Gambia is small and we know who did what.
It really sadden me but we must speak the truth.
Quote Lafia….”Deyda, when he talked about an “open door policy” of recruiting foreigners rather than the absence of strong vetting system under jawara. I concluded that he was probably living in a different Gambia.”
Lafia….Don’t even.start…! Who says “open door” policy equals “No vetting”, “free for all” policy..? All I meant was that nationality, especially of our neighbours, was not an obstacle to enlisting in some of our security agencies….
Of course, there was a strong vetting procedure in place to ensure that individuals meet the suitability requirements for new recruits for the agency of their choice… However, the Field Force also had the lax policy of “Education No matter”, so individuals with no English could enlist, but they had to undergo other checks, like criminal record checks, medical examination and physical checks…
I should actually ask you what Gambia you lived in when.you claim the “lack of a strong vetting system under Jawara. ..” because I went through that system…
Guys, jolas are not our problem. Jammeh is. Jolas are our neighbours, our relatives and our everything and they never caused us any trouble. It is Jammeh who is driving the wedge and that makes him the sole problem.
Bax, sometimes English betrays you. Go and ask Halifa Sallah what is meant by “open door policy”.
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Leave Honourable Halifa and PDOIS alone, you joker..Why don’t you tell me what your understanding of the term “open door” policy is..?
Solo pls don’t wast your time, a mechanic who cannot even construct a good sentence and suddenly see himself in this position will certainly behave like this, we all know the history of this boy.
Bax, your ramblings are now taking a toll on you. Go vex as much as you would like. Not my problem..