By Gambian Outsider
… a society that has for its religion hypocrisy and materialism coupled with love of human praise, insatiable desire to be known, and blaming God for their own faults deserves what it gets. Such a society is Gambia and Gambians get what they deserve – Jammeh- a despot.
Some writers on the online newspapers write to show how much command they have of the English language and how highly educated they are. Some write because they have sensed that change is inevitable in the Gambia, and when change arrives to the shores of the Gambian, they want to be recognized and remembered as persons who have been active in the “struggle.” And then there are the true warriors who are motivated by love of country. I salute brothers: Pa Nderry Mbai, Mathew Jallow, Baba Galleh Jallow Mr. Ousainou Mbenga, and sister Fatou Jaw Manneh and a host of others who I do not know their names, for the great work they do to educate Gambians. I will make an appeal to these persons at the end of this article. Of the persons I have listed, I only know Mr. Mbenga, and he cannot tell you who the Gambian Outsider is. I have never met the others in person. Below you will find paragraphs on various topics. Each paragraph can be the basis of a full article. For lack of enough time to write about all the things happening in the Gambia, I choose this method:
- Fatou Bensouda: If the report is true that Ms. Bensouda told a reporter that she has asked “her team” to look into the political arrest going on in the Gambia, then Ms. Bensouda is being disingenuous if such duties are not assigned to her. Ms. Bensouda is a public employee who is hired to do a job. She has no authority whatsoever to choose what job to do and where to do it. Her work is funded by the IEC. She can delegate some duties to employees under her, but she has no authority to order “her team” to look into what is happening in the Gambia without that mandate coming from those who hired her. In other words, she cannot begin an investigation that has not been assigned to her. If research indicates that such assignment was never given to her then she is flat out lying.
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Edward Singhateh: Mr. Mathew Jallow has written a very good article on him. To fill in the interstices of that well written article, how many cases did Edward win when he was in practice? I mean cases beginning from indictment to verdict. If anyone will take the time to look into the record, you will notice that Edward was good at getting bail for his clients. This was certainly a good thing to those clients. The issue is that Edward was not relying on knowledge or skill but name recognition- a close friend of the despot, and the prosecutors and judges know who he is.
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Madam Justice: The madam said a few weeks ago that one does not know the meaning or value of freedom until he or she loses it. I have wondered what freedom she was talking about. How in the world could she talk about freedom when she consistently disregards The Gambian Constitution that she swore to uphold. Gambians will know freedom when she actually starts to obey the Constitution. Until then she has no business lecturing others about freedom.
The Case Against Darboe and Co: Most of what has been written about the case has been ill-informed. The question presented is whether the law that the government invoked to charge Darboe and Co is constitutional? If the law is constitutional, the accused still have all of the other constitutional rights provided by the constitution to accuse persons. On the other hand, if the law is unconstitutional, the case should and must be thrown out. This is the question that the Supreme Court must settle. Of course, if the Court makes a decision, it must be grounded on law. The Court’s decision must not be solely based on what other courts around the world have said about such matters. What other courts may have said about similar matters may be persuasive but it is not binding on the Court. Whatever decision the Court makes, it cannot be repugnant to the Gambian Constitution. This will avoid the Court from interpreting the Constitution arbitrarily.
The arrest of Mr. Darboe and Co was not illegal. Persons can be arrested for all kinds of reasons. The illegality comes in from the proceedings in the courts. Let me please make this clear. In Criminal Procedure, the two major procedural problems are those of apprehension and trial of suspected persons: “The essentials of a criminal proceeding are: (1) to bring the accused before or within the power of the tribunal [court]; (2) a preliminary investigation to insure that the crime is one which should be prosecuted; (3) notice to the accused of the offense charged, (4) opportunity to prepare for trial, procure witnesses, and make needed investigations, (5) a speedy trial, (6) a fair trial before an impartial tribunal, and (7) one review of the case as a whole by a suitable appellate tribunal … “[] Now use the seven points to evaluate what is happening with Darbo and Co.
- Mr. Halifah Sallah: Mr. Mathew Jallow not long ago wrote a very insightful piece on Mr. Sallah. I highly recommend it. It is a must read. Again to fill in the interstices of that piece, Mr. Sallah from his writings and actions over the years has demonstrated that he is an elitist. He presents himself as highly educated and only his thoughts and ideas matter. He may be highly educated but he does not have a monopoly on all ideas on issues affecting The Gambia. To be highly educated is to reach the highest level in your field of studies. To be well educated is not only to reach a higher level of education, but to also demonstrate the intellectual virtues. Here is one definition of Intellectual Virtues: The intellectual virtues are character traits necessary for right action and correct thinking. They include a sense of justice, perseverance, empathy, integrity, intellectual courage, confidence in reason and autonomy. His ability to judge a situation and act prudently is questionable. He has fumbled opportunity after opportunity. The current situation in the Gambia is a prime example. Where he needed to step up on day or at least day two, if day one was too early for him, he once again does what he does best; fumbled the ball. Without actually saying it publicly because of the disapproval that may come from the masses, Mr. Sallah’s conduct seems to demonstrative that he sees an opportunity for him and his party in the arrests of Darboe and Co, hence his silence. It is as if Darboe’s lost is his gain. A leader of people must stand up for what is right regardless of the situation. The action of the Despot in the last twenty or so years has made clear that what is happening to Darboe and Co could happen to any political figure. This fact alone should make any political leader step up and speak up. If Mr. Sallah gains popularity and votes because of what is happening to Darboe and Co, then he will be a thief and a robber. His gains will then be ill-gotten and tainted, because it would be at the expense of persons who took a stand for truth and justice. Mr. Sallah would rather have the people lead and he follows. That the is characteristic of a hired shepherd and not the “Good Shepherd.” The good shepherd lays his life for the sheep. The good shepherd walk in front of the sheep so that when the wolves show up, he defends the sheep because he is in front of the sheep and not behind the sheep. In his latest posting on Freedom Newspaper and his speech at the CSO meeting in Dakar, Mr. Sallah kept talking about “material condition” without saying what the phrase means. He also kept talking about “No one knows at this moment which Gambian can lead the whole of the Gambia to bring about change in election.” We may not know that person but you are definitely not it. Electoral reform is a start but Gambia’s problems are much bigger than electoral reforms. The last time I checked, electoral laws do not reform themselves. Leaders are needed who would initiate electoral reforms. Isn’t that what Darboe and Co have been trying to do? There are enough speeches and writings of Mr. Sallah to evaluate him.
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To My Fellow Knights: We are with you. I am a member of the Knights of Columbus. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Fear not, for you have built your houses on a Rock and not on the sand. We are with you. If need be, we will fight the good fight, we will finish the race, and forever keep the faith. You know in the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
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To Mr. PaNderry, Mr. Mathew Jallow, Mr. Baba Galleh Jallow, Mr. Ousainou Mbenga, Ms. Fatou Jaw Manneh, I appeal to you guys to start focusing on the National Assembly. Let it be known that whenever the Despot uses the National Assembly to pass a law, no matter how unconstitutional that law may be, it is almost impossible to convince the international community to act against Jammeh based on that law. It is high time to start scrutinizing and criticizing the National Assembly consistently. Some of what is happening in the Gambia could have been somehow averted if there were principled persons at the National Assembly. If the Despot cannot be defeated in an election, it is time to try and elect National Assembly members who can stand up to the Despot and challenge him parliamentarily. I do not mean that the Despot should be let off the hook, but to equally take on the National Assembly. The National Assembly is the only branch of the government that has a chance to derail the Despot’s agenda.
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The death of Mr. Sandeng is the casting of the dice on the Despot. Rain is needed to moisten the ground so that the ground becomes fertile. A rain is also needed for democracy to grow only that the rain needed for democracy to grow is not rain of water but blood. That blood is Mr. Sandeng’s blood. The blood of Mr. Sandeng is not like that of Daida or Koro Ceesay, or the youth of April 10 and the like. The death of those persons is a great lost and I am not by any means devaluing that, but none of those persons died while exercising a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution. This is what made the death of Mr. Sandeng different. His death was the casting of the dice on the Despot’s fate. I am not putting a timeline on when the Despot will be gone, but there is no turning back. It is finished. If you look at the history of democracy you will see that of all places where democracy has taken root, people have lost their lives while exercising their fundamental rights.
Ends
Thank you mr Mendy , we need people like you to write to educate Gambians . This fight has several fronts and we must tackle them all head on . National Assembly is a disaster . They must be called out for their undemocratic behavior and support of the tyrant .
As for Halifa sallah , I do not think he is an intelligent politician or has intellectual virtues as rightly pointed out by mr Mendy . He is more of a political prostitute and opportunist than someone who truly care about his country being free from tyranity . His characterization that civil rights movement era has gone is the most ridiculous and ignorance statement ever uttered by him.
Mr Mendy , I totally agree with you that people like Fatou jaw manneh , Baba Jalleh Jallow and Mathew Jallow are doing tremendous job for our country and we commend them for their sense of patriotism and dedication to fight for freedom and democracy .
Quote: ” The arrest of Mr. Darboe and Co was not illegal. Persons can be arrested for all kinds of reasons. ”
Max, you did not pick on the above statement because it is not from Mr Sallah or any PDOIS “Talibehs”…If it was, I have no doubt what your reaction would have been…
Bax, mr Mendy is speaking in terms of legal framework which you have in many occasions supported the arrest of these peaceful protesters , however he went further in his consequence seven point statements to buttress his point and he even emphasized it why he stated his view . This is why I did not respond to that statement . Clearly there is no ambiguity in his statement though he could have said the statement in a better way . I read his statement over and over again but I understand he is speaking in legal perspective which is why he gave legal backing to his view. Unless you want to tell us mr Mendy’s Legal backing is completely wrong , let me know what is your position on legal backing to his statement . This is what Halifa sallah lack in his deliberation because his statements are general statement , with ambiguity, coded language and no clarity .
Bax , did you see that his legal backing to his view or statement is quoted ,i.e the seven points are in quotation mark . I hope you open your eyes before you jump to conclusion . By now you should know that I scrutinize every statement in this forum whether they are from my allies or not . My goal here is to establish fact-check and truth squad . I grade mr Mendy’s statement as factually correct unless you want to give us your legal backing to prove him wrong .
I am aware of the 7 points but they deal with a completely different thing: court proceedings. I don’t know how court proceedings work, so I can’t comment on those points.
In any case, whatever the court proceedings are, the fact is that his view is that the arrest was legal.
And if you agree to that statement (regardless of the manner), then you would have exposed your inconsistency…because I have no doubt that if that statement had come from Mr Sallah, with or without the 7 points, you would have had a lot to say about it.
Bax, yes their arrests may be legal until the despotic proceedings makes them illegal thus, we call court proceedings TRIALS. That is what demonstrations for constitutional reforms takes; you demonstrate to be arrested in order to be tried in a court in an effort to make constitutional values prevail.
I don’t think the writer is saying that Jammeh ordered Darboe and co.’s arrests because he is sure of what he is doing legally and politically. Everthing he wants to do is to have himself in power at all cost.
Solo Sandeng, Ousman Koro Ceesay and Deyda Hydra, in my opinion, all are our national prides though Solo Sandeng’s death is the most transcendent recently. Thanks for your article Mr. Mendy. It makes one feel great, sincerely thinking one is doing a great job for one’s country except the demonic benighted hypocrites.
Well thought out and analytical. I salute you Mr Mendy especially your candid impression of Halifa.
I look at Halifa and I look at a cow munching her curd but I could see intelligence on the cow.
Over years he tried to mesmerise us with his intellectual and polical acumen but little did he fathoms the joke is on him because he was getting no where and he offer no feasible and credible political solutions.
Indeed, the dice is cast. The gruesome murder of Solo has changed the calculus. I have met many people who can’t just take it anymore. As one man openly -overwhelmed by the chilling terror meted out to Solo- put it ” I cannot look into the eyes of my children any longer knowing that Solo’s children are without a father and his body is still not freed to them, whole cruelty without consequences makes me an abject failure”.
My response and as Mendy rightly put it “it is finish” and for impunity to stop, “people have lost their lives ” so that we may reap the fruits of freedom and live a life in dignity. We Must continue to demand for Solo’s body.
Guys, the reason I avoid jumping into Halifa Sallah saga is simple. I was super guilty of parroting his qualities to whoever I come across. Alas, not realising that, falling for words alone is not enough in defining a man.
Mr Sallah is captivating if you give yourself to him, however, in reality, he has disappointed Gambians of late. The talk of the town is that, he is a disappointment to all those who mistook them as revolutionaries who will ruffle the feathers of Jammeh at the right moments. He didn’t, in fact, he is now too preoccupied with seeing his name on the ballot box so much so that, he forgot who he is fighting against. Sedia became the biggest toothless dog…I can’t believe my eyes. So please leave Halifa alone to swallow in political oblivion. Even hardcore Wulli young people cannot make sense of matters. Sad sad to say the least.
Malick Njie , you are not alone as a victim of Halifa sallah’s eloquency and political deception . I am a victim too . He has intellectually deceived me and falsified his brand of politics for his person gain . If Gambia is democratic country , I would have taken legal action against him for his deception and lies over the years just to make him famous though I know I might not win the case because legally it is my personal responsibility to think for myself but politically and morally he will be seen as lack of moral compass . Politics of deception is a tool use to legitimize dictatorship and support oppression .
Max, actually we are sadden as young youths who frequent Sedia Jatta’s mud house in Sutukonding. In actual fact, PDOIS painted the UDP has party afraid to challenge the status quo. However, we did know that most of the arrest of opposition supporters are of that of the UDP. But we went along with the narrative.
The cat came out of the bag when this incident happen. At the bureau, we are told it is nothing significant and that it will be fine. I was expose to the UDP supporters at court by a childhood friend of mine who left pdois for UDP last year. He showed me some videos of how supporters are openly chanting and holding banners. I thought it is a daydream. Since that day, I became convinced that our people in pdois are comfortable with the status quo not the other way round. I decided to leave supporting PDOIS.
From now on, any court proceeding I can attend I travel to Banjul. I take 4 former pdois youths with me. Am afraid, but no opposition party is relevant in the country anymore apart from the UDP.
Kamaso, thank you for standing up for justice and rule of law. You are on the right side of history while pdois and its disciples continue to spread their lies about udp. At the end of the day, truth will come out. Halifa is busted and exposed. With all his big talk, he didn’t even have the education he claimed to have. As they said empty barrel makes more sound and Halifa is an empty barrel who is spinning for Jammeh and his selfish personal interest.
Thank you for supporting the peaceful protesters.
I am happy that Mr Kamaso is able to observe how the PDOIS has helped to brainwash Nyakoi youths over the years. My advice to them is to understand that nobody has monopoly of knowledge and wisdom. They have the ability in them to study the political landscape and decide for themselves what political movements can defend them against Jammeh’s dictatorship which has recently threatened to carry out genocide against them, as Nyakoi is a Mandinka community.
Where and when did kamaso stand up for “rule of law and justice…”?
Or is alleged mutterings in Sedia’s mud house and “the bureaux” what constitute “standing up for rule of law and justice”, to you…?
The fact that you quite readily accept unstantiated and unverifiable claims as truth, means that your understanding of “truth” is questionable.
I think the Gambian outsider has shown many here on the opposite side, how our views on diverse subjects, and rights to express them freely, should be exercised and I hope such etiquette is emulated by participants in this forum.
I do not agree with his view that the victims of April 10th/11th and late Deyda Hydara did not die while exercising a “fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution”, because I think they did. The students were demonstrating for the injustice suffered by their colleagues (rape and death from injuries sustained under state custody) and were shot dead by security. Whilst Mr Hydara, if reports are to be believed, was killed for exercising his right to freedom of expression, as a journalist and a columnist. It can thus be seen that death in both cases is connected to the exercise of guaranteed rights.
It is worth mentioning that we can, and are free to project any death, as whatever we wish and for whatever purpose, but we must not do so at the expense of known facts, otherwise, we risk being “guilty” of distortion, at the very least.
And of course, I do not agree with his views on Mr Sallah, and I certainly question his judgement on some of the people he praised for their “hard work” on The Gambia, but I respect his rights to hold these views and to express them. That’s an important attribute and aspect of democracy, that is often missed by some on the opposite side…
After all, one man’s “terrorist” is another man’s “freedom fighter” and another man’s “traitor” is another’s “patriot.” That is a reality people must learn to accept or at the very least, learn to accommodate and tolerate, if their democratic credentials are to be taken seriously.
Isn’t it why my ‘traitors’ are your ‘patriots’? Where traitors become patriots are places around the world in sham like the Gambia is now. Traitors remains traitors and nothing like, ‘one man’s bull crap is another man’s foot in his big mouth’ can twist that fact around.
In the land of hypocrites, liars and opportunists, you will see slogans like, ‘one man’s traitor is another man’s patriot’ or ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter’. Such rhetorics are indications that a certain nation of peoples are infested with people mentally saturated with the muddy art of hypocrisy and gluttony.
Ggapm , Bax is the biggest political hypocrite in this forum. He will defend a lie no matter what . Yes a traitor is their patriotic leader which is why they defending him and his ally . Instead of supporting peaceful protesters who laid their lives for the country to fight for electoral reforms which they dishonestly claimed to be interested in but they can shamelessly castigate these people and anyone who supported their actions . If they have shame and honesty in them , they would have given their support to peaceful protesters whose protest was for the benefit of the entire country . Pdois is an agent of dictatorship and their lies over the years has been exposed . Halifa sallah is the biggest political hypocrite and opportunist ever to live in The Gambia . His tribal bigotry and self righteousness has been exposed . If he is truly interested in regime change , political freedom and human rights in the Gambia , he would have get along and work with the most political aware group which is diaspora . Diaspora is aware of his lies and deception which is why he never have any good things to say about them but his false and stupid allegations that we are warmongers . He took his damn eyes off the ball , that is Jammeh who is killing his fellow citizens . This man is an idiot who is not qualify to lead any civilized political party in an open and democratic society .
That’s an English Language dictum not manufactured by me. All it is saying is that the same thing can mean different things, to different people.
Max, you dress him well by referring to him as ‘political hypocrite’. I opt to refer to them as hypocrites and period. Do we need any philosophical meaning for ‘traitor’ and ‘patriot’ here as far as the status quo in Banjul is concerned? You Pdois guys are not brave in expressing what you believe in. You believe that the military government in civilian clothes in the Gambia should continue in power to kill, terrorise and demoralise Gambia’s innocent citizenry. You guys have seen some good for yourselves in Jammeh’s horrible deeds over the years and you fail to be with the guts to say so publicly. You act in writing like you foresee Gambia’s doom without the present military dictatorship only because you hope to get your slice of the cake of it. You Pdois were and are most complacent to the abuse and muddying of our beloved constitution of values with raining decrees from the half-minded boy soldiers from onset. Intellectually, you did nothing but to go as far as trying to coax them that, there is no sufficient evidence for anyone to think that the Jammeh junta could be behind Ousman Koro Ceesay’s death who according to reliable sources was inclined to present the budget as it was rather than concoct one.
Quote: ” Mr. Sallah’s conduct seems to demonstrative that he sees an opportunity for him and his party in the arrests of Darboe and Co, hence his silence. It is as if Darboe’s lost is his gain…”
Comment : I have read similar allegations from other people during exchanges on other subjects, and to be honest, I am baffled by the naked dishonesty of these accusers.
Firstly, Mr Sallah and his party, PDOIS, did not suddenly start to put their plan to action, once Mr Darboe was arrested. PDOIS had announced their political programme, which involves meetings, selection of presidential candidate, holding of Congress, preparing for the elections whilst exploring alliance with others, well before any demonstrations and arrests..
So PDOIS and its presidential candidate are not doing anything wrong by carrying on with their political activities, unless people expect them to suspend these activities until this (UDP) case is resolved, which would be an incredible position to take by anyone.
Secondly, Mr Sallah, as a presidential candidate, cannot be in competition with Mr Darboe for the position because he (Mr Darboe) is not qualified to contest as president, unless that law is amended. It doesn’t matter whether Darboe is in custody or not, the UDP would still have selected someone else, if they wanted to contest the position, unless reforms happen.
Cont…
Gambian Outsider,You have just succeeded in telling the readers how bias you are in your script writing. Halifa and all Gambians are doing their best based on their abilities in our times and circumstances. He is a leader of a political party and therefore responds to issues as they emerge in the political scene.
Please quote from one of his writings where he said he is highly educated and only his thoughts and ideas matter. Unless you can make a direct quote then accept that you are one of the biggest charlatans in this forum.
The fact that you have to use a pseudonym to criticize Halifa shows how untruthful your write-up is.Inferiority complex is hurting your hateful minds.
You said Halifa is keeping quiet since the arrest of Darboe and protestors. Where did you get that silly information from? Halifa is working day in and day out and useless people like you who have no substance preoccupied yourselves with only one man as if he has a full command over all Gambians to do what he ordered while you continued to portray that person as having no support in the country.
Are you not the same people who said PDOIS has only 3 person? And you expect the party with 3 percent to take to the streets where a party with 17 person failed. Halifa is humble enough to accept that he has no such command and has not observed any scenario that manifests that the people are in the mood to engage in such demos either to bring about regime change or electoral reform.
Halifa alone cannot make PDOIS do anything which the party does not want to do even if he decides to do what you people are calling for. Why don’t you leave your comfort zones and lead a demo instead of calling on Halifa to do so? Are you not a sovereign Gambian who is concerned with the detention of your leaders. You want useless leaders like Halifa and Sidia to salvage your useful leaders plight? Isn’t it? What an irony?
How many times has he called on the government to release Darboe and co? Read the below editorial written by your fellow country men living in the Gambia who do not belong to the same party with Darboe and taking it upon themselves to call for the release of protesters on a daily basis and you call that quietness. You are very disingenuous and a shame indeed.
Foroyaa editorial 6th May 2016.
Is the State still going to proceed with the case of the UDP leader and others?
If Solo Sandeng cannot be produced, it is wise not to proceed with a case.
The question that everybody is asking worldwide is the rationale for proceeding with a case when the principal figure cannot still be produced.
No human being on this earth could fail to notice this during every sitting of any of the courts.
Foroyaa thought that once the executive goes about the country to prove to itself that the country was still governable and that the threat of a march to unseat it was unreal, it would be prudent to extend an olive branch to those who took to the streets, discharge and release the arrestees and conduct diligent investigation into all allegations of disappearances and degrading treatment.
Many felt that the Ramadan will not find politically motivated arrestees in detention.
Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.
Foroyaa wishes to affirm that most if not all readers concur that the arrestees connected with the incidents of 14 and 16 April should be discharged and released.
This is the demand of truth and justice. It should not be ignored by those who give sermons on righteousness and justice.
Compare this to your trash and see which one more impact in solving the impasse of the protesters.
Yero Ba, you are an extreme element of pdois. You never listen to voice of reason. Halifa is fooling people like you who are brain dead. We do not hate Halifa as you implied but we simply didn’t approve his dishonesty and lack of leadership qualities. Why are you so foolishly defending him? In your mind, you think Halifa is not working for his personal interest. Diaspora didn’t like his politics because majority of diaspora are politically aware and we are exposed to politics in difference places. Your lack of exposure or ignorance is killing you. Please be open-minded before you get biggest disappointment of your life about Halifa. You act like you have no brain.
Look at what you want @Yerro…………, you want the writer to quote from Mr. Sallah, where he(Sallah) said, ‘he is highly educated and only his thoughts and ideas matter’. You think people have to be quoting, quoting and quoting from Mr. Sallah in order to understand what he says? Watch what you say @Yerro because others are not too dumb to be memorising what you write in order to understand what you want to say.
Finally, I think most people are cognisant of the fact that any (political) action, event or undertaking can be viewed from a multiple and variety of perspectives and angles, depending on who is viewing them, and what the motivations are, and the events of 14th & 16th April are no exception.
Whilst many on the opposite side are presenting these events from a certain perspective, which suits their purposes, I am sure they will be aware that other arguments can be put forth from completely different perspectives.
People are refraining from doing this because I suspect, unlike the opposite side, they understand that it serves no purpose, because at the end of the day, the official and non official opposition’s main focus is, or rather, should be Yaya Jammeh and his APRC party.
Nevertheless, there is a need to remind ourselves that there is nothing wrong with equating our heroes with the heroes of the past, whether that is Gandhi, Dr King, Biko or Mandela, but we must understand that, not only is the context in which those heroes of the past operated very important, but the manner in which they operated too.
It is in that regard that I think it may be necessary to point out that those heroes that are constantly mentioned and equated with The Gambian political actors of 14th & 16th April , emerged on their respective political scenes as resistance leaders, resisting the system they opposed and at odds with it, and stayed as such till they achieved victory. They did not “play along” with the system until they are no longer able to legally do so before they adopted the resistance approach.
The unfair and unlevel political landscape in The Gambia has existed for as long as the 2nd Republic, and not only are all the opposition leaders aware of it, they “played along” for 20years with the UDP, being the main challenger, sometimes claiming that Jammeh will be history, come election day, on its camping platforms even before the first ballot is cast, and this was in spite of all the electoral and/or other associated problems. They have all put up with the unfair system, from 1996 to date.
The adoption of a “resistance” approach or strategy now by the UDP, at a time when their leader is the only one disqualified by the age limit, does present a strong and justifiable case to advance arguments from the “dog in the manger” perspective, or as the Wollof would say, “lekko chi ndahli koppa chi suff ” perspective.
So, whilst you are engaged in your Halifa Sallah bashing, who has continued to do what he has done consistently since he emerged on the political scene some 30years ago, just keep in mind that you don’t have a monopoly over the perspectives. There are other perspectives from which these events can be viewed.
As we speak and write volumes here, people are still defying Jammeh and openly demonstrating their support for Darboe and co. We in the diaspora must continue to give them strong moral and financial support to ensure that Jammeh is removed from power by all and any means possible.
Don’t give a hoot to the huff and puff of hot air from Khalifa and his PDOIS disciples. Their fate is intertwined with Jammeh’s and they know it. A bunch of pretentious intellectuals who only came into focus because of Jammeh’s mediocrity.
Khalifa like Jammeh does not like Gambians in the Diaspora. In Jammeh’s case, we are out his reach of terror, and for Khalifa, he knows most of us are just as smart, and see hypocrisy behind the spurious intellectualism. He can go write a big fat book about the plight of sovereign people in Jammeh’s Gambia, and his dwindling disciples will peddle it as the new gospel
I join you in that call. We must galvanise every person to take part in this endeavour. Darboe and co are holding their stance because they know that we are with them. Let’s persevere and maintain the financial-bridge.
Maxs, an open mindedness person cannot be one sided, he/she will see the good in others even if that good is not in your interest. But what I see is that you are in capable of noticing anything good in anyone that is not in your selfish interest. You and Deyda are persistent liars who will not relent so long your selfish interest is not served. Your criticisms against Halifa are outrageous and inconsistent with commonsense. Somebody must be here to defend this noble man whose efforts are reverberating within and outside our dear country. I will be an ungrateful national if i do not take some of my spare time to defend the slander and rudeness that you dump on him for no just reason but because he does not serve your selfish interests. I will be damned not to contribute to the success of an agenda which is the salvation of my, our motherland. The best sons and daughters should lead our people. Halifa and Sidia are two such best sons of the Gambia. They have selflessly fought for the truth since 1981. They have been detained by the PPP regime without evidence and detained for almost a year. They did not bother to hire the service of a lawyer because they knew then that they were entirely innocent. They were arrested on our behalf in 1994 by the military junta because they stood for democracy and justice for all Gambians. Up till this day there is not a single day past when they relent in fighting for the ordinary man and woman of our land.
I belong to the diaspora but i do not belong to the same entity with you and i am praying day in and day out so that i do not belong to your group because i see no good in doing so with such indifference with truth and reality.
Your political awareness should have taught you that the diaspora is far from homogenous and therefore futile to refer to it as if all of us belong to one party or organisation. You are just on a follish wild goose chase. You said UDP has more support in the diaspora. Who told you that? Can you show me a single survey or poll to suggest that is so?
What is on record is that Halifa has defeated Darbo and the UDP in polls after polls in the diaspora but you are ignoring all that.
The reason why you are continually pushing PDOIS to take to the streets even though you know it is not in their agenda is because you know how effective and successful it will be should they do so. Like your other ignorant mentor you called Gambia Outsider said PDOIS should lead the flock. Yes, he is correct because Darboe was leading them from behind and since he failed when the wolf attacked, PDOIS is now the good sheperd to lead from the front. You will never credit PDOIS unless you are facing danger even though you know they are the true leaders of our land. All genuine and peace loving citizens of our dear mother/ fatherland should support the PDOIS so that we become free from these political chalattans to build a society free from all the negative vices to build such a society that befits our humanity and posterity.
God Bless all of us.
Isn’t it amasing reading your write-ups @Yerro, as you bust your own chops?
Your comment is full of hate, malice and painful lies. Woe! you remain a Pdois so that you can sharpen your skills in hypocrisy and opportunism.
Yerro Ba, you are being coached to write these statements. I know how you write. It is a disgrace that you cannot even think for yourself but you have to be coached to write this nonsense. Why are you always bringing up past? Is it because of pdois past experience during PPP regime that they are now an agent of dictatorship? I am sure that is the reason why they are comfortable with a brutal regime and none of their leaderships was denied permit, arrested for political reasons but for their selfish reason. Foroyaa has never been attacked. Can you tell us why other newspapers were attacked but Foroyaa has never been attacked or its leadership including Halifa has never been arrested with regard to his newspaper report or editorial? It is very interesting to me why they are not victimized like other newspapers or founders of media. I need your view on that.
Pdois stood up for their selfish business interest when the junta wanted to ban their newspaper but after they went ahead and helped the junta to formulate a toilet constitutional document. Since day one they are secretly advising the military and Jammeh even acknowledged that pdois was an inspiration to him. Halifa continues to advise Jammeh’s in his useless letters as well as secretly advise him. You need to understand that dictatorship is a very nasty system and you will be surprise to know that Halifa is key player in this system. If Halifa truly believe in electoral reforms then why is he not supporting peaceful protesters? I asked this question million times because I see his dishonesty and hypocrisy in his refusal and indifference. Without electoral reform did he truly believe we can have change ? What is his and party effort for electoral reforms since IEC refused to hear or entertain anything from them ? Solo Sanderg and his group were all about electoral reforms. I want you to answer these questions above.
To accuse an opposition leader who had relinquished his right to contest as a presidential candidate because of the need to build a coalition, as taking pride in the detention of another opposition leader, is the height of intellectual nonsense. It is not a surprise however that it is coming from a Gambian outsider who maybe out of touch with the realities in The Gambia. A Gambian insider would have written a reverse article.
I think the @outsider is more in touch with the realities in the Gambia than yourself @Bamba. A reverse article of this particular one by the @Outsider will be dumped in by the Pdois on behalf of Yaya, I will bet. The Pdois has proven to be the nerdish and dodgy politicians.
Bamba
Halifa never gave up his rights to relinquish presidential contests for any genuine “coalition building” purposes; Halifa forgo his parliamentary seat to form, chair, dominate & manipulate NADD for selfish ends ONLY which backfired woefully to his unforgivable chagrin; NADD only failed because of insincere pretenses from untruthful political hypocrites pretentious masquerading opposition politicians who wanted to take everybody including the genuine liberation committed strugglers for riding purposely for selfish ends above the overriding collective communal interests first…..
Halifa & ALL opposition leaders are OBLIGATED (individually & collectively) constitutionally to TRUTHFULLY defend the oppressed masses rights without bias, fears, favours &/ ill will; exactly what lawyer Ousainou Darboe & UDP continue to be doing; whilst ironically Halifa & others have been engaged instead in manipulative manoeuvres, lies & falsehood to sneak his way to the throne regardless of humanity ethics, to the points of sabotage the collective liberation efforts for failures by virtue of his leadership position if NOT for his taking ONLY, at the expense of how many human lives that continue to perish, tortured, raped, disappeared, molested etc etc…..
The genuine Gambians have been thorough & observing this all along; for the liberation struggle to accomplish successfully ALL obstacles MUST be overcome including yaya KILLER DEVIL & all active & perceive enablers; & Gambians of conscience are doing just that until successful liberation, come rain or shine….
Long live the Gambia….