By Gambiano
There is not a town in The Gambia Yaya Jammeh didn’t burry “Jujus” or some black magic portion in. Many Gambians already know this. He sent army officer Solo Bojang to carry it out. He later arrested him. Although Gambia has numerous votaries of scripture, the country awaits those with the wisdom to explain widespread black magic on a nation, its people, crops, rain, even fruits and trees. Black magic angers God a lot. While it works, its side effects can harden a subscriber’s heart into that of a demon or a mentally-challenged sociopath. During maniac episodes, a client of black magic can make bizarre claims (I can cure AIDS, rule Gambia for a billion years, burry people nine feet deep, etc.).
Unfortunately, most Gambians do subscribe to black magic. Even to win a soccer match, go to the embassy, or search for a job, we have to consult dark forces? Part of the price we are paying is twenty-two years of inexplicable deaths and disappearances under the tutelage of a “Black Magician-in-Chief”. This does not mean Yaya Jammeh understands black magic. He only purchases it with his incumbency factor. And this is not to say all of Gambia’s problems are black magic or Jammeh-related. The Blackman has been black before Jammeh. In case you might say, “But not all Gambians practice black magic or even believe it. Why are most of them afraid and groaning under Jammeh?
Only nine men in the city of Prophet Saalih hamstrung the she-camel. But Allaah destroyed the entire city: “There were in the city nine men of a family, who made mischief in the land, and would not reform.” Qur’aan 27, Suratul Naml Verse 48. You know Jammeh has been bragging that no mortal force will remove him, right? “But the wicked are not called (immediately) to account for their sins.” (Qur’aan 28, Suratul Qasas Verse 78.) Some bought-out Jammeh loyalists may argue, “How can you prove Jammeh is wicked and this verse applies to him?” Proof: If he wasn’t directly involved in Koro Ceesay’s murder, he was given clear information of the killers. He refused to prosecute them and on the Day of Judgment, he has questions to answer—from Koro Ceesay to Chief Manneh, Ello Jallow, Solo Sandeng, Solo Nkrumah, etc. Besides, he’s still sequestering kins—kids from fathers, wives from husbands or even Imams from mosques.
WHY BLACK MAGIC WORKS
Satan rallies mankind around him by offering certain gifts. Remember, he’s not human. Allaah granted him certain capabilities not even prophets had. “Lead to destruction those whom thou canst among them, with thy (seductive) voice; make assaults on them with thy cavalry and thy infantry; mutually share with them wealth and children; and make promises to them.” But Satan promises them nothing but deceit.” (Quran 17, Surat Al-Isra also called Surat Bani Israel, Verse 64.) But for Satan or his junior devils to work for man, man has to do extreme evil to displease Allaah.
Ever think why Jammeh defiles virgins? With the kind of money he lavishes, you think he can’t afford courtesans from India, Thailand or even Manhattan? Jammeh doesn’t need those young girls for sartorial pleasure. It’s all a prescription from his sorcerers. Sometimes Quranic verses are written backwards with virgin blood just to displease Allaah. The demons in turn will carry out the subscriber’s demands. This is why I’ve been telling Gambians never announce your moves against Jammeh on air or any site. In fact, Allaah encourages us not to say our supplications too loud, or yet in a very low tone, but to follow a middle course when asking things from Him: “Neither speak thy Prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low tone, but seek a middle course between.” (Qur’aan 17, Suratul Isra, Verse 110). Devils have a tendency not to leave man alone. By listening to what we say, they have potential to inform sorcerers.
Few years ago, a certain crop disease descended on groundnuts in the Gambia. In later years when rain destroyed many homes, it also poured on dry groundnuts waiting for threshing on the November farms. Remember, farmers in The Gambia dry the groundnut on the farm for a certain time before they “beat them” to separate nuts from twigs and fodder. This usually happens when rain has finally stopped. But for that particular year, God waited till farmers accumulated groundnuts on the farm, waiting for further steps of processing, he then rained on them at the beginning of the dry season to destroy crops—too strange for even a farm boy like myself! This was the year the U.N declared Gambia at risk for severe food shortage.
Last year, a certain disease descended on Gambia’s mangoes in some towns. It is either serious rain shortage, or too much rain that destroys homes and livelihood. But the biggest is sudden deaths of Gambia’s male youths. That does not mean the female is excepted. Walk into a government department and you can count sudden deaths of young staff. In GRTS alone, I counted numerous. And what did the Black Magician-in-chief say in 2009? He accused “witches.” Consequently, old women and men were rounded up all over Gambia. I helplessly looked at a New York Times photograph of the Alkalo of Jambur near Brikama, helplessly sitting with his wife in bed, accused of witch-craft by Jammeh’s witch-hunters!
MUSA SAIDYKHAN, PA NDERRY MBAYE, FATOU CAMARA, ESSA BOKAR SEY, GAINAKO NEWSPAPER, JOLLOFNEWS, KIBAARO, etc., please listen to your brother—a brother who does not seek recognition or vainglory; a brother who would jettison his individual priority to confront the homeland’s tapestry; a brother who is often choked with guilt each time he raises a spoonful, while Gambians pay a fortune for a loaf of bread; a brother poking at Africa’s rise, but wants charity to begin at home; a brother obsessed with Gambia’s manufacture and guarantee of peace and stability besides 21st Century marvels; a brother who would beseech Microsoft to invent a program to let him write his homeland’s agony with his tears.
MUSA SAIDYKHAN, PA NDERRY MBAYE, FATOU CAMARA, ESSA BOKAR SEY, GAINAKO NEWSPAPER, JOLLOFNEWS, KIBAARO, you can easily write to the UDP to rally behind any Gambian capable of removing Jammeh. If that soul is Halifa Sallah, Sedat Jobe, Sidia Jatta, Hamat Bah, O.J Jallow, Mama Kandeh, Waa Juwara, etc., please so be it! I started this material with special reference to black magic. Do you guys ever sit and think why the UDP and other parties never agree? You think their rally grounds are free from Jammeh’s sorcery twenty-four hours before their meetings? You think their names, pictures, or any form of identification for devils are not with Jammeh? Ever ask yourself why Jammeh brags that no mortal force can remove him from power? Even though such claims are eccentric, he brazenly hinges them on preternatural accessories.
Please write to the UDP! Please do so! A curious matrix of Jammeh’s magical portion is to make the opposition as polarized as possible. For the UDP to ask Halifa to lead them is easier than Bernie Sanders joining Hillary or Ted Cruz endorsing Trump. And we complain about racism, but look at the white man! He knows how to get what he wants. God knows what devils tell certain individuals that they have a birth right to the presidency! You see, Jammeh has a pig-headed obsession with power. He thinks he has a birth right to it. Since 1996, the opposition could never synergize a whit, thus thrusting his claws deeper inside Gambia’s endothelium. Look, he even raised the registration fee of a political party to D1 million. Would a normal human do all that Jammeh has been doing? And the UDP and other parties can’t sacrifice egos and deep convictions for the nation to tarry safe?
MY DEAR CHRISTIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS
Yaya Jammeh isn’t a Muslim quintessence. Please, let his actions not anger you about Islam or Muslims. You have seen veritable Muslims and lived with them for ever. It was early Christians who saved Islam and Muslims in Abyssinia when persecution and slaughter sent them into exile. Jesus’ prolonged prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane when he knew of plans to crucify him always reminds me of how Muslims pray. Please see Jammeh as the sower of weeds in Mathew 13:24—43. If you wish to tackle his charlatanry in anger and blame religion, you won’t learn from this wonderful parable of Jesus. “Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.” (Mathew 13:24—43). Therefore, when the right time comes, you will be able to separate Jammeh from the best of Gambia’s Muslims and tomorrow charge his inveterate wont of today.
THE ERGONOMICS OF A UNITED FRONT
I was there on August 23rd 2001 when the 2000 Senegalese opposition coalition stirred a spill-over effect to the Gambian shores. The YMCA in Kanifing was the venue. This was the meeting attended by the then Deputy British High Commissioner to the Gambia, Bharat Joshi, who was thenceforth kicked out of the country—perhaps ushering in Jammeh’s ultra intolerance-on-steroids. The late Sheriff Dibba later explained everything! The joust was between the UDP and NCP willfully shrouding any joint communique to a hearse, and with it, went Gambia’s first chance to get rid of Jammeh through a ballot. Remember, Jammeh wasn’t as nasty then. He still bore rivulets of the milk of human kindness.
I sat inside Sheriff Dibba’s house later, upon his call, and listened to measured English of a lone-rancher. Wollaahi, I never knew Sherrif was this eloquent. But alas, as Gambians, we did our Gambianess by not immensely benefitting from his mind. Sheriff argued it was PPP that hastily endorsed Ousainou Darboe to his chagrin. Perhaps this was the only meeting that had all of Gambia’s opposition parties under one roof—including Dr. Lamin Bojang (Bolonding) of Brikama. In epiphany, how I now wish Darboe and SM Dibba never fell out! That rare opportunity never presented itself again. Later, I had to listen to Ousainou Darboe too in his Pipeline home. There is not a key political figure in the Gambia I have not sat with and talked (Even Jammeh). As stupid as I’m, I think I can say a bit about each.
HALIFA SALLAH
In 2003, I was in rural United States—in a place very difficult to see blacks or immigrants. Like Wordsworth’s “bald top of an imminence”, was settled a Taiwanese-American upon whom I chanced. This is a part of America no one knows about Gambia or its people. This man drew closer and asked where I hailed from and I replied, “Gambia.” He continued, “Oh I know Gambia.” I was cocksure he was lying until he added, “I went to school here in America with a very intelligent Gambian. His last name was Sallah. He was extremely smart. The whole college admired and respected him. I heard we went back to Africa to be president.
Gambia! Gambians! Living among people who don’t give a rat’s tail about Gambia can be hard. What if you finally meet someone who didn’t only know Gambia exists, but also met a very intelligent Gambian. The moment he said Sallah, I furnished the first name with almost tears in my eyes. Listen, Gambians. If you live in metro or mega cities, you may not understand this because people in those areas are open-minded and sometimes know about Africa. But come to where I live. Be my guest and find that there are still those that believe that the Blackman is only one-eight of a human being. But then here are people telling me about an intelligent Gambian in different places in America! Like Assan Musa Camara, Garba Jahumpa Sr., SM Dibba, are we always letting our resourceful Gambians go to their graves without making best use of them?
Fast forward to 2015. In a shopping center, I was stopped by another man in grey hairs, who, seeing I was black, engaged me in a conversation in another town far away from the 2003 small town where I attended college. Again as the norm, this new man asked where in Africa I came from and upon hearing Gambia, he retorted: “I went to school here in America with a very intelligent Gambian. He was Muslim. He used to pray on campus and fast too. He was super-intelligent and everyone respected him. His name was Halefa and his last name was Sala.” Such was how he pronounced them. “Ha…leh…fa” and “Sala.” The old man also added that Halifa left for Africa and was supposed to be president.
I went to my car and before starting the engine, I thought of the man I had met several times in native Gambia being celebrated by the world. Yet Gambians hold him in such low esteem while he never touts his ego. No one in America ever stopped me to praise Yaya Jammeh. But I hear cries of Gambians—cries of that child made fatherless because his father perished in Mile II; cries of that widow whose sweet nights exists no more because her late husband was picked up at 03:00am, somewhere in Serrekunda, Brikama, or Bakoteh and his body hasn’t been found since 2005; cries of that little girl who used to eat to her belly-full but now hangs around a neighbor’s lunch table because his father also disappeared since 2005.
OUSAINOU DARBOE
In 1996, he was perhaps at the threshold of middle age. He dedicated the rest of his life to removing Jammeh, even in the absence of strategy. He should not spend his last years serving Jammeh’s law. When he thought it politically-prudent to pick a phone and congratulate Jammeh after the 2001 APRC victory, he dared march ahead of his time to imitate what those who brought elections to The Gambia still do. I commend his courage for exhibiting such level of maturity still elusive to many in Africa’s political theater.
SEDAT JOBE
He heroically inscribed his level of political seasoning on Gambia’s transcript by tendering his resignation and detachment from Jammeh. I spoke to him few hours later and he beseeched that I publish not whatever he had to tell me about his resignation. Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay recommended he rescind his decision and apologize to Jammeh. For what? What crime? But Sedat was a chaste diplomat. His choices were bigger than Jammeh’s vista.
O.J JALLOW
Not interested in neither luxury, nor power, he overlooked choices of living in the United States or coveting a leadership in the UDP. He speaks to every Gambian youth like his own son, including my silly self. He is among those that can say a lot about Gambia’s politics from the first republic. At a UDP rally in Cedar Club Junction in 2001, he summarized Jammeh’s extravaganza like none ever did: “Before 1994”, he posited, Jammeh didn’t have D150 (One hundred and fifty Dalasis) in his pockets.” Can I add that today, that Jammeh is riding in a Bentley or Rolls Royce, thinking he worked so hard for it?
MAMA KANDEH
He said this: “I’m not going to be a president that will force labor from military personnel on my farms the harvest of which they never even see.” Gambians, just think of what happens in Gambia today. If you’re in a key government position, better work at Jammeh’s farm or risk losing your job and Mile II. Later, a top Jammeh aide told me Mama Kandeh was kicked out of the APRC because he never wanted to work at Jammeh’s farms. Please, Pa Modou Bojang and who ever bashes this man, there is a special chapter in the Qur’aan called “Al-Mumtahana” which in English means “A woman to be examined.” Allaah sent down this Surat because some women married to unbelievers in Makkah were migrating to Madinah to embrace Islam.
The Prophet succumbed to agitations to send them back to Makkah. Allaah asked the muslim Ummaah to thoroughly “examine” such women. If they were true believers, please send them back not. They were not rightful spouses for the unbelievers. So please, Pa Modou Bojang, let’s thoroughly examine Mama Kandeh. He has undertaken a political emigration. It doesn’t matter if he was once APRC. Look, almost the entire Gambia was once AFPRC. For the sake of unity, please stop attacking this man unless you are sure he is working with Jammeh. But I’ve done my own findings. Look, even the late Baba Jobe was once APRC.
HAMAT BAH
He is wisely funny or funnily wise—with a rare grain of humor. Two of his wives argued and one splashed water in the other’s face. Hamat came to the Observer, asking us to publish the story. If every husband does that in The Gambia, perhaps there will be few quarrels. Later, his yatch at Denton Bridge sank and he came to us again to publish it. Hamat doesn’t give a cr***! He doesn’t have an ego.
SIDIA JATTA
The last time I saw his picture, he was getting consumed by age. Even Halifa is. But so is every life! It is sad that all these men aren’t being used by Gambia to their fullest potentials. And under Jammeh, the contours of the country benefitting from the potentials of her sons’ brains are still under the flood. My high school teacher used to quote, “We live by dying slowly everyday; and we die slowly by living everyday.” How many bright men have we lost to time? How many to Jammeh? Koro Ceesay died abruptly. So did Ello Jallow, Deyda Hydara, etc.
FINALLY
Where are those Gambians with tender hearts softened by the Qur’aan? Where are those Gambians with bigger lens to see that the price of basic commodities inflating 300% means we burry our egos and party differences just to make sure Jammeh is gone and none that resembles him ever returns? Not just Halifa Sallah, there are many intelligent Gambians.
MUSA SAIDYKHAN, PA NDERRY MBAYE, FATOU CAMARA, ESSA BOKAR SEY, GAINAKO NEWSPAPER, JOLLOFNEWS, KIBAARO, etc., you are all part of a history being made with control over your choices. You can either make good or bad choices. It is my humble hope that you will wisely set all irrelevant affiliations aside and write to the UDP. Once a candidate is picked, we can all contribute money for the campaign. The diaspora doesn’t need so many clubs and organizations all clamoring about Jammeh. Gambia’s politics is a Democratic Centralism or Third-World variance. It’s not a politics of selling an intelligent manifesto to a population too hungry to think, but interested in affording the next Benechin. Our homeland is bleeding!
Ends
I think your goal is to rally all the opposition parties behind pdois Halifa sallah as presidential candidate. You should have been honest and indicate that right away rather than giving us your superstitious thought on why Jammeh is still the tyrant of The Gambia. You failed to remind yourself that Halifa sallah failed to join the rare political opportunity to change current political climate by his refusal to protest for electoral reforms or even ask solo Sanderg death or alive. How come only pdois is the only political party who is spared from all these human rights violations, do you want to tell us that jammeh’s marabout or terror machine are not interested in Pdois leadership because they are in bed ?
You are indeed a superstitious writer because you failed to ask yourself ” who has the biggest supporters among The Gambia opposition party which should lead the opposition parties ?”
I do not believe in one second if anyone ever asked you in America about Haifa sallah who went to Africa to be president. First of all , Halifa sallah studied sociology and he didn’t get Ph.D. In that subject . If you really understand American education system or college, you will notice that most serious students or should I say intelligent student did not major in sociology or psychology except those who intend to have Ph.D. Or masters degree in that subjects or to pursue other areas of interest such as health related field in the case of psychology or in the case of sociology such students will be interested in political science or related field . Sociology is usually studied by undecided students at the college and usually these students are teenagers who do not know what they want in life because they are thinking of different career path way . I have studied sociology both in first year and second year as a requirement for my major . If Halifa really want to be a sociologist he would have gotten Ph.D. Or masters degree before he left for The Gambia . But am sorry , stop spinning for Halifa. Maybe if you talk about his eloquency I will agree with you but I do not believe that he is even intelligence student because he is not a smart politician by every standard . You guys need to get rid of false narrative about Halifa’s intelligence or personality cult you associated with him . It is the same stupidity that APRC supporters associated with Yaya Jammeh and which led to his claimed that he can cure HIV AIDS . A superstitious mind is mind of ignorance individual which God has forbidden . You have such a satanic or superstitious mindset which is why you believe in jammeh’s falsehood to the extend that you falsely blamed superstitious beliefs for his terrorism and why he is still in power .
Maxs,
Stop the jokes, please. Gambia is bleeding and you’re jousting for party politics? You did happen to see that my article is written in English, not Swahili or Mandarin, right? And you are not on heroine or meth, right? Please scroll through and behold where I put,”…You can easily write to the UDP to rally behind any Gambian capable of removing Jammeh. If that soul is Halifa Sallah, Sedat Jobe, Sidia Jatta, Hamat Bah, O.J Jallow, Mama Kandeh, Waa Juwara, etc., please, so be it!
I’ll add that if that soul is Maxs, I’ll be the first to rally behind him! Sometimes reading your comments against people here make me wonder whether to laugh, or implore Donald Trump to “punch you in the face!” I’m not a disciple of Halifa. I’m a disciple of whoever can help Gambia right now! I don’t like brandishing my academics, but wollaahi, mature academic circumcision is seldom reflected in your demeanor here. Are you sure you’re academically circumcised? To understand this inference, please read Leopold Sedar Senghore’s “Elegy of the Circumcised.” My first born and only child so far has just turned two and like many of her age, she gladly says, “Strawberry….1…2…3..4…5…” etc.
Please repeat after me, Maxs: 1! 2! 3! 4! 5!
In that obligatory Islamic Sunnah, cultures and traditions in the Gambia and many Muslim African countries have replaced the obligatory religious practice with the concept of a child’s two weeks initiation ritual with respect to learning the elementaries of the trade of the ills of the society i.e, telling you how to eat less meat when you are eating with elders because a bite can choke you in the throat. Untill recently when Gambians went a step forward understanding Islam did they know, you can circumcise a child in the hospital and give it back to her mother to suckle at home. You can see that culture and traditions have gone as far as a nose sticking bit in our faiths and even how we see our country in the hands of each other.
Ggapm,
Trust me, you raise very important points. While culture is important, some of ours make us backward. The hospital circumscision you raised is far better than the traditional one. It’s less painful for the baby too. In Gambia and Senegal, many don’t understand Islam or the Quran.
Gambiano, these points may look petty in other fellow citizen’s viewpoints but good good to know you see the importance of those points raised. I think citizens got an important homework do in their individual hearts on self-integrity required of persons with positions or having aspirations within the public space.
Max, a Halifa presidency will be a very good omen and a blessing for the Gambia. Gambians will be given the opportunity to rebuild their country. And when the task is completed Halifa will gracefully exit the political stage. He will serve only one term.
This is what is at stake. The Gambian presidency is the most powerful political office in the country. The president virtually controls the lives of more than 1.5 million Gambians. He acts for them and he speaks for them. And woe betide a nation whose president, with such enormous executive power, does not act well on their behalf and speak wisely for them.
This is the first thing that Halifa wants to rectify. And he is the only presidential candidate who has promised to do that.
When Gambians elect their president they give him the power to manage the affairs of the country. The country is open to ransom at the hands of this one person. He hires and he fires.
And once given this absolute power nobody can take it away except the people through an election. And we know how elections goes once this power is entrusted to someone.
This cycle needs to be broken. And Halifa has offered the recipe to break this cycle. The executive presidency needs to he humbled. It powers needs to be curtailed.
Just recently I read a brilliant piece by the erudite and our own Lamin J Darboe of Gambia-l fame, who inside the Gambia is writing cogent and poignant articles that arouse our conscience to the deficiencies of our democratic experience and the constant assault on its legal framework.
And it is only a man of conscience, with a consistency of standing up for what is right and against what is wrong, as demonstrated by Lamin J Darboe, who can always tell it as it is.
He is the only lawyer we are reading in the Gambia who is writing about issues that concerns the constitution and our laws.
He has shown amply interest in our Constitution and its legal ramifications, especially in the case of the magistrate who has been fired because of a ruling and the role the judicial service commission plays in this sad trajectory, which is at the heart of what an executive presidency that runs amok can do to a country.
To change all this we have to start somewhere. The reason why Halifa offered that if elected president he will select some of the members of his cabinet, and his coalition partners will select the other members of the cabinet.
Selecting cabinet members is the sole prerogative of the president under the constitution. He can hire them and fire them. But here Halifa is making a concessions allowing others to pick most of the cabinet members. And he has also made other suggestions to make the national assembly proportionately represented.
Yes, Halifa may not be the coalition candidate but let us at least have these safeguards.
Max, I have told you before that you are not qualified to question Halifa’s qualifications or the lack thereof.
The fundamental thing that an exposure to higher education does is to help one to be able to think. And Halifa is a great thinker.
This is the difference between someone who cannot articulate himself and another person who can articulate himself. Especially when the person who can articulate himself garners more respect and authority than the person who cannot articulate himself.
The level of consciousness and knowledge acquisition is more important and relevant.
Halifa has demonstrated both since he left those places Gambiano has referenced, and in the Gambia where he has a solid and irrefutable intellectual acumen.
Many Gambian intellectuals of the generation of young Gambians of the earlier seventies owe their political orientation to Halifa Sallah. And up to this today there is much to desired about him.
Kamalo,
Wow!!! hats off!!! I don’t even know what to add to what you’ve highlighted. Of a surety, it gladdens my heart when I encounter Gambians that really think. As theatrical as he sounds, I’ll sprint to rally behind Maxs if it is he that can save Gambia right now. He thinks I’m “superstitious.” And he believes I’m cheer-leading for Halifa. I’m cheer-leading for anyone that can save Gambia right now from this morass! Thank you!
Kamalo,
I won’t forgive myself for forgetting to list Lamin J Daabo among the prospectives. I was really rushing when writing this article and it was getting too long. Trust me, my original plan was to add his name in the title. The original title of the article has been changed by the editors of kaironews who deserve every right to do so. But the initial picture in my mind was Lamin J Daub’s name as well as Baba Galleh Jallow’s in the list. But if time presents itself again, I have to write to beg these people. Gambia is groaning!
Thanks @Gambiano for a powerful article like this one highlighting the Gambia’s greats. Really great of them but I think some of them lack wisdom. Most of them are obsessed with themselves.
Ggapm,
You’re very right! A lot of our leaders do have obsession issues. Our job, as difficult as it is, is to scout for those that don’t. But regardless, all those I listed are far removed from personal fables than Jammeh. As is our penchant without choice, let’s continue this struggle with a mentally-bruised sociopath who continues to defy reason! Thank you for your kind words.
Brilliant piece, Gambiano. Thanks so much for sharing. Your thoughts on Jammeh’s obsession with and use of black magic sounds apt to me. I probably mentioned this somewhere: I believe that Jammeh actually sold his soul to the devil in order to become president. When he went to the shrine to “see” if he could/would ever be president, the jalang might have said to him: “well you can become president; but know that when you die you will go to hell.” And he must have accepted the deal; which explains why he is soul-deep in black magic and why he doesn’t care what evil he does to stay in power for as long as he can, because that’s all he got in this life and the here-after. But of course, all power belongs to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. Even the devil itself knows that fully well! Jammeh, meanwhile, will choose to believe in whatever convenient truths will help him dose on and off through the long, dreary nights of his tortured conscience.
Thanks a lot Gambiano. Proud to have you as a compatriot.
Babaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
Great to hear from you again. Yes, indeed, you did mention the knave (Jammeh)’s obsession with Black Magic long since! And of course, he has sold his soul to the devil. That’s what the Qur’an mentions about subscribers to the dark forces of evil. And one day, we will all remember these same words we’ve been writing about him and his inveterate wont. I pray that we all find that day in the best of health and wellbeing! I pray that joy abounds that day, from the dales of Kartong and Gunjur’s aesthetic sandy beaches, to the birds’ merrymaking tunes of sylvan Koina as with flowery Jangjangburreh–all providing post-surgery therapy to our motherland after trenched gashes from Jammeh begin to heal. I pray that gusts of mirth, that day, caress the bruised hearts of the many victims of he who, today, covets titles he seldom deserves–titles that only beguile his ego at the expense of his conscience. I pray that on that day, we all gather for a jamboree at old premises of Gambia’s early newspapers where many of us regisrered our journalistic genesis. Thank you, Mentor!
Gambiano, either “Denga Chaalit” or you have a hidden agenda trying to couch it in flowery language. The powers you ascribe to Jammeh are all fake, and he Jammeh knows it. Nevertheless, he would want Gambians to believe that he possesses such spiritual powers as you describe.
True, Jammeh’s brute force against Gambians has traumatized the whole nation, but we must not forget the fact that we are not unique in experiencing the reign of violent and brutal dictators.
They don’t have to resort to any form of magic to maintain their grip on their subjects. They all learn from the same text book. Brute force, divide and rule, treats, corruption, blackmail, inducements and an so on, till they run out of luck.
It been the case with Idi Amin, Samuel Doe, Moamar Gaddafi, Sani Abacha, Slobodan Milosevic , and so on.
Soon or later, Jammeh will also run out of luck, his so called magical powers notwithstanding.
Modou,
Thank you. But there’s a difference between honoring and lamenting. I’m not honoring Jammeh’s evil. I’m lamenting it with detail information of how it can be addressed. This article doesn’t have any part that says Jammeh has powers. Black magic is a fake force or power according to the Qur’an. But it still works. Look, even the Prophet Muhammad suffered from it until Allaah sent down the last two Surahs Chapter 113 and 114. They call them the “Mau-uuzataani.” In “Al-Falaq”, ask yourself why Allaah is asking us to seek protection from Him from the “Mischief of those who blow on knots.” Do you know what type of know Allaah is talking about here? The problem with a lot of Gambians is that we feel too lazy to seek knowledge or even walk to the nearest library to read anything.
Gambiano, we are not lazy people as you suggested . Modou is right that Gambia is not the only country which experience dictatorship, therefore it is ignorance to suggest that the opposition parties are not united because of black magic , or crop failure due to too much rain was caused by black magic or jammeh’s regime in The Gambia. Your further claim that too many deaths of youths has somehow related to black magic or evilness of the regime is indeed highest ignorance or superstition. Educate yourself about military dictatorship. Dictatorship happened in many countries which didn’t even practice black magic. The mere fact you have attributed Jammeh stay in power due to his belief in black magic or as you indicated he buried black magic in every village , is indeed your personal belief that black magic works for him and you the superstitious believer in such falsehood. Jammeh is terrorizing Gambians because of the security forces who he used . Personally I kick jammeh’s ass very well to the extend he will disown his mother if there is no security forces behind his ass to protect him . Even with his security forces , he is still a coward who never sleep at night . So spare us with your false and sick belief that black magic work which is why Jammeh used it to hypnotize Gambians . When I was young I heard the similar stupid belief about Sherriff mustapha Dibba that he had special power and no one see his eyes directly . I once had heard that sir Dawda had special eye glasses which if he take out and you see his face , you are going to die . If that was true then why can’t he wait for those ignorance soliders before he left The Gambia. Please spare us with your belief in black magic . Let us educate our people , dictatorship is an evil system of government based on divide and rule , intimidation, harrassment, inducement, nepotism, favoritism and preferential treatment of particular tribe or group of people to maintain the system . Pdois has been receiving preferential treatment from jammeh’s regime just like jolas are receiving preferential treatment from jammeh’s regime while the Mandinkas are targeted for systematic Killing, exiled, disappearances, deportation to Mali , daily insult and extinction from The Gambia. This is what we need to talk about but not a false belief which has no evidence to show .
Modou ,thank you very much for your well explained posting to Gambiano who has superstitious mindset . It is indeed foolish to see him associated crop failure , mangoe’s diesase and death of youths to jammeh’s brutal rule but at the same time he can hypocritically quote the holy Quran on the evilness of having such a superstitious beliefs . I cannot understand what type of Muslim he is, a Muslim who associated crop failure, disease of mangoe’s and death of youths to black magic or whatever Jammeh is doing in The Gambia. It is the same stupid belief which enable these disciples to have personality cult about Halifa and Yaya Jammeh . Gambiano called himself an intellectual but he has superstitious mindset . He is not scientific in his thinking and he speak without any rational evidence to proof his superstitious belief .
Brother Modou…Don’t be unfair to Muarmar Gaddafi. He was not in the same league with Doe, Abacha and Milosovic…
He made mistakes, but he was a great leader for his country and a worthy advocate of African Independence and prosperity..
Bax , you have a problem, I bet you will consider Jammeh a great leader when is toppled. I can’t believe that you will praise a tyrant who has killed thousands of fellow citizens of his country while millions of Africans died or were maimed due to wars he sponsored and supported . It is sickening to see you supporting such a despicable human being who has contributed to military dictatorship in our country. Yes , you are no different from Yankuba coley and it is better you make your position clear.
You know…Iraq is still burning and that is on top of over a million dead and displaced…
If Gaddafi was a tyrant because he funded wars where millions died, who is not a tyrant in your part of the world..?
Excuse my ignorance but could you tell us where these millions died…
Last year, over 1000 people died at the hands of the Police in the USA and this year, the figure is already over 700…
Many thousands of innocent, non combatants are being sent to their graves or maimed for life from US drones around the world.. Do you consider Obama a tyrant..?
You are too big headed. All the horrible things those countries are going through is overall wrath befallen on them by the acts of those horrible monsters, who by mishaps, came to crouch themselves on those countries’ top office seats as you are watching right under your own nose right now.
Asking if anyone considers Obama a tyrant…………….NO! You need an answer even though your question is stupidly irrelevant in the Gambia’s case. Obama is a president elected by the most advanced form of democracy in the world of democracies, who can only be considered a tyrant, first by USA’s free and fair politics play field before the world can even have the opportunity to themselves to make such a portray of a USA president of the states. Your type have no place in the USA politics because imprisoning Donald Trump can change the cause of many current affairs of the world, you might not believe it. You can see here clearly that your efforts are not at proving Yaya Jammeh a tyrant in the eyes of the international world. It is true that many people do die in the united states in the hands of police because marines don’t come to people rescue when armed robbers raid a bank.
Saddam loves dipping himself in his kingsize swimming pool with his fat cuban cigar held up over water. He loves too, watching the videos of his victim.
Ghaddafi, loves burning things in the ‘Sisha’ and drinking tea etc. etc.under the tent surrounded by the some of most beautiful girls you can come across in your life…………Amasingly, all of them are his body guards.
His son went to sign for a football club in Italy not to be on the club’s payroll but the club on his payroll. Fools are always arrogant and will never admit to the sorrow they bring on innocent people’s daily livelihoods of equal citizenry rights like themselves.
What has Jammeh done to deserve the title of great leader.. ? I can assure you that I will NEVER attribute great leadership to Yaya Jammeh, even if my “dementia” gets worse.
Gadaffi’s leadership brought some very positive and unprecedented progress for Libya and Libyans, including:
FREE housing; FREE education; FREE 24/7 electricity; FREE health care; US $5000 bursery to new mums and their babies; FREE farms, machinery, seeds and animals for any citizen who takes up farming; and many more..
And he stood up for Africa and African liberation, including massive support for the ANC, which your “friend” and compatriot, Borne, objected to..Perhaps, you have something to say to Borne because you consider Mandela (of the ANC) that Gadaffi supported, as a hero..
Gadaffi wasn’t perfect and intervened in places where he shouldn’t have, such as Northern Ireland and the IRA..or provided training facilities to elements who went on.to destabilise their countries and engage in acts of banditry..
But many leaders you praised, especially US leaders, have done similar and far worse things..
The US, under various leaders, has intervened in no less than 35 countries worldwide, to overthrow or destabilise popular governments by forming, training and funding guerrilla movements, many of which were headed by drug Lords.
And on the subject of torture and killings, if Gadaffi was truly obsessed with these, then he can only admire in awe, the record of someone like George W Bush or even Barack Obama, both of whom have killed, tortured and maimed more people than he ever supposedly managed…
You ever heard of a place called GUATANAMO BAY or countries called Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Vietnam, Nicaragua,Cambodia, etc…I bet not because your sources have no stomach for those places..
Our priority though, should be Yaya Jammeh…So let’s focus there..
Some of his greatest mistakes are the killings, arbitrated incarcerations, torture and forced disappearances of libyan citizens holding opposing opinions to his dictatorship of horrible atrocities. He was a leader of an oil rich country that could have done better if not for his idiocy of seeing himself as the owner of Libyans’ breath and blood veins. He was a sympathiser of the former ANC and its likes then, some would claim but he went further than that by dashing Russian military hardware in many African jungles.
Black magic, blackday, blackleg, blackjob, blackheart, ‘blackcat myths’ and all junk like it is rubbish to help endarken our red hearts not to see the similarity of our black skins and the healthiness and beauty of it, hence Africans of black skin complexions resort to marking themelves out with cultural and traditional lines and boundaries. For just this one reason alone, many African countries have experienced unbearable political turmoil as most see their votes representing a culture or a tradition rather than a country of people with respect for each each other’s votes with regards to the fact that, the ‘force’ with majority lead among joined forces who are out to restore the rule of law and peace in a country, especially in the abondance of reliable citizens with an understanding of the moderate world, not meaning perfect. The moderate worlds are not as despicable as the Gambia’s state of affairs and its downpressed people, an outstanding fact that our self-graduated political scientist/instructors won’t agree to, for they have seen the perpetuation of misrule; killings and arbitrated imprisonments of political opponents, journalists, school children and every citizen perceived as an enemy, as the right lesson to learn from, for us to be politically sophisticated Gambians.
I am not frustrated at all for any fear of a lack of Gambians with leadership qualities and qualifications but indeed Jammeh’s obsession with voodoo, witchcraft and pronouncing himself religious but indeed serving the demon’s spirit. This is a reason why Gambians should have a will power in setting their mindsets up against the demon’s will as well as an effective way in sending its evilous spirits away from the Gambia.Cleanliness be to God almighty. May he have mercy on the Gambia.
Bourne,
Thank you. And may Allaah answer our prayers. You’ve said it all. Jammeh has a predilection for voodoo. Did you see that youtube video where he’s spraying people with so-called spiritual waters at Statehouse and they were scrambling for it?
I don’t have to watch that video @Gambiano. Informing me is enough for this matter. It’s disgusting. Imagine people scrambling for it.
Are there any better circus clowns than those scramblers? No. obviously No. Clowns have their job as a living down here. Some of them are philosophers or atleast degree holders in another important field of study.
Most of these cultures and traditions in the Gambia are synonymous of insophistication, illiteracy and crookedness within the public environ. There are many intellectual Gambians but many lack self-integrity in the public’s trust.
Bourne,
“Most of these cultures and traditions in the Gambia are synonymous of insophistication, illiteracy and crookedness within the public environ.” I love that observation!
To write, ‘unsophistication’.
Excuse me for all my unfounded words, bad spellings and poor writing ability. It’s just that builders and architects too can be parts of the debates as well as farmers, herdsmen and etc. etc. You must be very well able in helping yourselves to understand writings like those.
Bourne Supremacy,
That’s how we learn! Trust me, English isn’t our mother-tongue and we shouldn’t be bothered about our grammar. I understand everything you write, and that’s what matters.
Look, even the American vice presidential candidate against Obama, Sarah Palin spoke terrible English at some point with unfounded words like “refudiate”. She couldn’t remember “repudiate.” And Sarah Palin’s mother-tongue isn’t Mandinka or Wollof, Fula, Jola, Njaago, Serrahuleh, etc! You write well!
Yes, I love the Bourne series. But my best Matt Damon film is called “Goodwill Hunting.”
A good piece although I smell a Fula bias. You have every right to your preferences!
Having said that, my take on your diagnosis of the Gambia’s political-elites, is a remarkable reminder of the failures that even led to the usurpation of power by these clueless soldiers in the first place. The political elites were so much preoccupied with the personal acrimonies and petty scuffles to the extent that they forgot about the dangers of military intervention in politics, an occurrence which was prevalent at the time in West Africa.
These pettiness continued still because the regime capitalised on this weakness to further entrench themselves in power. That explains the reason why Sheriff Dibba with all his experience, would prefer the regime to UDP, whose leader ironically, helped free him from prison in 1981(in the aftermath of Kukoi Sanyang failed coup).
Today, we witness Ebrima Jawara running errands for a man who drove his family from state house and continually discredit the legacy of his own father. Probably he is the conviction that the disloyal mandinkas , are to blamed for his father’s inglorious exit. Who knows what these fortunate few are capable of?
Today, the same problem is resurfacing. Instead of going by coalition building best practices everywhere, fringes persons respective parties are contesting the numerical past performances of established parties and calling absolute equal representing and “VETO” powers in deciding who to lead a coalition. The truth being that UDP has lost more members to arbitrary killings more than any other party in the Gambia and has a track record of standing up to the impunity strangulating us all. But instead of giving credit, the above mentioned elites – at least to onlookers- continue to dishonour these sacrifices and even blame UDP for aggression against them. Now that the entire leadership is in jail, there is no leadership at hand to step into the void. Instead, the circus caravan revolves around with fringe politicians like Samusa or Joof , throwing proposals, agendas, blueprints while Kandeh goes on the attack against what he termed “tribalism”.
Tribalism in Gambia context, has only one originator -the mandinka ethnic group. Hence consensus will be difficult among Gambia’s political elites. For those not from the mandinka group, the mere failure to pull crowds in those predominantly mandinka areas , is always translated as an ugly head of tribalism popping up.
The truth is that since colonialism, first Republic, opposition to Jawara, Kukoi’s coup down to the infamous July 22, the ethnic mandinkas are always in the forefront to entrench or uproot one system of gov’t or the other. As a colleague told me, that is their obligation to the country as the majority ethnic group. I.e, it is important that the mandinkas are not United but perpetually in discussion (by no means conflict ) among themselves and looking for allies with other ethnic groups for a willing coalitions of one sort or the other.
I personally don’t mind who is the next president or which ethnic the person emanates. What is important is the person to have foresight and wisdom to develop our human capital. A commodity that defines at what ease people in a national transact with one another. With suspicion or trust?
If you had not ended your piece the way you did; with assurance that tribe is less significant than “foresight and wisdom to develop our human capital”, I would have been in no doubt, that it was the subtle use of the tribal card in display here..Nevertheless, the prominence of tribe does make me a bit uncomfortable with you, in this particular instance..
What you have missed or ignored, with your view on “coalition building best practices”, is that The Gambia has a unique political system and governing practice, and in our 50years of existence, has had no other experience than ONE PARTY DOMINATION, with an executive president, in whom all reigns of power culminate, and from whom they are exercised without any effective mechanism of checks and balances, to ensure compliance with the law and accepted standards of practice, as well as restraint from misuse (the causes of abuse), either from within the system or the general citizenry.
So, even if for arguments sake, we concur with the view that the major party should lead, you may agree that our contention (those who are cognisant of the inherent flaws of the system : practice & law) that such an arrangement/ proposal can quickly or gradually degenerate into a ruling party domination, must be sufficiently addressed, with concrete and practical measures, to allay our fears of this eventuality.
I have been accused of partisanship and may be I am, and as a result, I am unable to see any concrete and practical guarantees from any camp, except PDOIS, to break this cycle of domination and restrain the power of the Executive : the main source of the problem of poor governance and the persistent maintenance of an unfair and unhealthy political system and environment…
Could I ask you, Kinteh, to provide us with extracts of concrete and practical assurances from the camp you support, that are serious attempts to break away from practice and usher in a completely different environment in the 3rd Republic..
I must also state that I have no difficulty agreeing with your categorisation of the officials of the previous government as petty squabblers, but I do not agree with your view that they were oblivious, or forgot the dangers that the military posed to their administration, because the evidence contradicts that position or view point..
What the evidence shows, when we look at it, (and I will do that in a minute) is that, not only were the officials aware of a coup plot (the rumour was doing the rounds but it was dismissed out of hand), they have dealt with situations in the past that were clear pointers to the dangers that this individual named Yaya Jammeh (whatever his rank was) posed to the security of the country, but as usual, either due to incompetence or the culture and rule of “maslahaa”, he was spared the sack, allowed to choose the Army, instead of the Police (when the Gendarmerie was disbanded) and eventually, promoted and posted to the very heart of state power.
What does the evidence say..?
Unverifiable, but very reliable reports claim that Yaya Jammeh was the instigator of at least, two acts of violence whilst on duty; one of which was leading a group assault of Gendermes under his command, on another state institution: The Bakau Police Station..
Another was starting a mass brawl and fight at a night club in the provinces (probably in the town of Farafeni) whilst on tour duty with the President, at one of his Meet the farmers tour..
Yaya Jammeh’s insubordination is reported by many, including a former Senegalese head of the defunct Gendarmerie, who attempted to humble him by allocating him (Jammeh) the role errand boy in the Head’s Office.
Crucial also, was his positioning of himself, in the eyes of the rank and file, as the advocate for justice and the defender against injustice..
Any self respecting administration would have removed such an individual from the security forces, well before he had any chance to execute his desires.
Continued…
Kinteh,
Wow! I’ve learnt something from you. I never knew Darboe helped free SM Dibba after the 1981 aborted coup. In this place called Gambia, we are all related or have crossed paths somewhere. Please, it will be very nice of you to write a special article about this. Information is power! Thank you for your kind words.
P.S: lol, about the Fula bias. But no, this isn’t about tribe. Seriously! Gambia needs a savior or saviors as I type these! I’m not a Fula. I don’t have drop of Fula blood in me. But if it’s Micky Mouse that can save Gambia right now, wollaahi I’ll clean his shoes for him!
Mickey Mouse right now is taking its toll on the Gambia. He is chipping everything apart and scattering it. Clean Mickey’s shoe for him and he will chip yours out for you in tiny bits.
Gambia’s predicament is indeed a situation that warrants an urgent resolve but a sure and honest one as well.
Bourne Supremacy,
I agree!
A genuine agreement is a common product of genuine disagreement in my opinion @Gambiano.
Hope we find together the light to the road of the greatest happiness of the citizenry of all cultures and traditions.
I think too the cultures and traditions in the Gambia should not have any mark on people but instead for people to have their mark on the cultures and tradition in the sense that they can be reduced to yearly clownish festivals of young and the old, reaching out to other cultures and traditions to demonstrate respect and love for them. Did any one have a similar idea? Damn! that’s not a good idea too. We already have all the vital hours of the nation being wasted in state parties, naming ceremonies, the one week or more extended family funeral gatherings, wedding gatherings and just to mention a few. There are other factors too subscribring to this precarious situation of the country though those factors may not be as directly relevant to the urgent national discourse on uprooting brutal dictatorship in the Gambia.
@Gambiano,
Flow like river Gambia!
Disagreements when based on the individuals, groups, parties self integrity; honesty, scrupulosity and steadfastness, in a national resolve, brings about a national agreement for the greatest happiness of the citizenry of the country in general that will be clear of cultural or traditional undertones or bias.
I love the Bourne series, especially with Matt Damon…So me and this guy have something in common, even if we don’t see eye to eye on most issues.
Lol! bax…I love both you and Bourne’s cogent observations! It delights me to see Gambians think! It was because of the thinking of an 8 or 10 year old the name “Google” came about! Her father was a math professor and she liked to sit around him, while grading papers.
One of the thought-provoking observations made by Bourne is “culture”. While I respect culture and its significance, I hate those kinds of culture that breed nothing but ignorance and retrogression!
Good to know bro, you too love the Bourne series with Matt Damon. That confirms we at least have something in common. My Somali friend vomits to his name anyway, and both Kims will stake two million North Koreans’ lives for his capture. Many Russian diplomats and politicians now prefer dressing in his ‘hollywood designers’ suits. Others are jealous of his country for being a preferred destination of all travellers of all walks of life in the world.
Authentic and verified evidence:
And if we think this shirking of duty and show of incompetence and poor judgement by the administration is serious, wait until we examine the events surrounding July 22nd…
We know President Jawara arrived home from a foreign trip on Thursday 21st July, but he could not inspect the usual Guard Of Honour, because apparently, a group of soldiers, including Yaya Jammeh and the other coupists, have turned up at the airport, where they were not supposed to be, fully armed, causing a commotion and some level of disturbance enough to disrupt an official state function.
They were disarmed, at the command of the Nigerian contingent, then overseeing the Army and kicked out of the airport. Again, any responsible government would have had these people detained on the spot and remanded in custody, until a proper investigation could be conducted. But for these bunch of incompetents: Nothing..The enjoyment of their domination of the political environment has made them too complacent to take anything seriously; even such an unprecedented security threat..
If anyone thinks that this indecision on that 21st day of July, 1994 was bad enough, they are wrong because what happened on July 22nd itself is beyond description and probably unsurpassed in the history of incompetence in government.
We remember that the US Navy boat, LaMoure County or whatever it was called, was in town and has had a preschedulled joint exercise with the Gambia Army and Navy. This would allow the men, including those at Yundum Barracks, where all the agitators of that disturbance at the airport were stationed, to have access to the armoury and all the heavy weaponry..
Having failed to arrest and detain those rogue soldiers at the airport, wouldn’t a sensible government postpone those activities, in light of the prevailing security situation…? Definitely Yes, but that bunch were just a class apart when it comes to incompetence and poor judgement. So, they did not forget the danger…They were just incompetent and far too complacent because of their domination and monopoly over everything..
And today, we are paying for those terrible mistakes and lack of judgement and initiatives: lack of initiatives because we understand that they could have countered and possibly, foiled the coup, if they had deployed the Navy, which was as equally armed with heavy weaponry and well trained in its use, as the Infantry : the unit that initiated and carried out the coup.
Instead, their lack of direction and control over the situation forced one brave officer, with a handful of poorly armed, and probably poorly trained Police Officers, to take the initiative and confront the coupists at Denton Bridge, where he succeeded to stall their progress for while, until he realised the futility of it all. The rest, as the saying goes, is history but have we learnt anything…?
Unfortunately NO, we haven’t learnt a thing judging by our posturing and positioning on crucial issues before us and even if we succeed in uprooting Jammeh today, the likelihood of another coup cannot be dismissed entirely, because whichever party gets into office will not be defeatable by elections, if the same tradition continues.
End…
There arrives Bax, our druid and all hail him! Him that “fears neither anybody’s favor, nor his hate.” Perhaps I shall join him, one day, to ring the alarum bells for Jammeh’s arrest! Bells that should oscillate from Quadragnle to Koina.
Gambians are not a perfect people but should be able to be up on their feet with the urge to rectify any mistake they made as a country. The resolve to the present situation in the Gambia lies in how, what we sincerely think and do about it respectively.
Some folks may be very older than me to know a lot more of history in the Gambia but the reality is, my likes are not thinking and seeing things like in 1994. My likes don’t want 1994, 21st and 22nd july to come back with a solution but indeed for Gambians today, to find human solutions in rectifying a national mistake. Despite all incompetence and errors of the Jawara regime, most of us Gambians today are not willing to lay our blames and inertness on the simple reason that the mistake shouldn’t be made. Some of us then don’t have any responsibilities or say or even much idea what is going on in the public domain. Some of us here were at tender ages. Now we don’t care about that was really happening in a first republic if not our present and future. What we care about is; statesmen to find remedies characterised by honesty, steadfastness and scrupulosity sooner as possible to the country’s predicament. Shedding uncertainity and doubt about the constitutionalility of the UDP’s protests is a sign of curse in the struggle to uproot a ruthless dictator.
Well, if you don’t know how you got to point A, how can you possibly know how to get to point B.
It is “Yesterday” that shaped “Today” and it is today that will shape “Tomorrow ” and unless you understand why what is happening today is actually happening, how can guard against its reoccurrence tomorrow…Just think about that “little boy..”
By the way, I am not the “maslahaa” type and will say it as it is. I can recognise the goodness of an action, and appreciate the moral arguments, but I will not gloss over its unconstitionality, if it falls outside of the law…
Is that a fair position to take or would you rather, that part is ignored…?
We could have learned from the political scientists how we got to point A way back if some of them have not graduated themselves in their further studies. ”maslahaa” evasive type attitude was what went as far as distorting facts about, and blocking light to Ousman Koro Ceesay’s death. ”I am not the maslahaa……………………………..”? Complete nonsense. You have never said anything as it is. You are maestro in the art of distortion of facts with Doy dictums.
Ggapm….
It will be helpful to quote the distortions and show what has been distorted…Remember, we also learn from each other as we interact here. I am not perfect and pointing out distortions will only help me to be reflective in order to better myself..
I’m not sure whether it was yourself or Borne who alluded to the cigar smoking Saddam and his love of the swimming pool, but it doesn’t matter, as you are on the same side…
What I want to share with you is the fact that the same Saddam, who never ceased to be the brutal dictator that he was, was the darling of Washington for the best part of his 24 years in power…
Most of the instruments and weapons of terror that he used against his people were made and supplied by Washington. And his torture methods too, as training at every level of his security apparatus was provided by the Washington.
In fact, he was so “loved” by Washington that they provided him with intelligence and chemical weapons to gas Iranian Soldiers, during his 8 year war with that country…And you know what…? He was not even charged with that war crime when he was captured and tried.. He was only charged for a similar crime against the Iraqi Kurds…May be, somebody wants to hide that fact from the public.
So when you “charge” Saddam of all his crimes, just remember who served as facilitators of his dictatorship or as international “agents of dictatorship”, to borrow Max..
It does appear that we have a huge job on our shoulders to decongest the minds of our young ones, and reorientate them, if we are to have any chance of reclaiming and safeguarding our identity..I will do my bit..
One of you said he doesn’t care about July 21st or 22nd, but here’s a little word of wisdom I learnt from my elders :
“THE ROAD OF I DON’T CARE, OFTEN LEADS TO THE CITY OF HAD I KNOWN ..”
Just keep that in mind, the two of you..
You couldn’t be much more evasive than now by asking me to make available quotings from a national newspaper that, as followers, is accused by a citizen of distorting facts when they reported on the death of one of the Gambia’s most brilliant and honest citizens.
Do Foroyaa newspaper burn archives?
Usa has a common foreign policy. It can be better it can be horribe but first of all the prevail with the politics at home to be able to do all they do in the world for their intersets.
Most of those weapons supplied to him by the USA was misused by his same Saddam’s peanut brains against his home enemies when he fell out with the darling. Rubbish.
The burden of proof is always on the accuser; not the accused…
That is normal, standard civilised behaviour…or
I’m I expecting a bit too much here..?
I wish , Gambia’s sophisticated civil society human resources, in the near future be able to design and mould her own farming machinery for both home use and export to nearby countries in the sub-region.
In such a case as the latter, I’ll suggest Gambia’s army be functionally liquidated and all their hardware to be furnaced for molten for new farming machinery. The reason I’ll be suggesting this is prevent people of the likes of the present peanut size-brained brutal dictators across the continent from misusing those weapons within their own neighbourhoods and against citizens who think their nations could do better without dictatorships.
Don’t expect much if your idea of a people’s democracy allies Burma, North Korea, Cuba of Castro etc, etc. They have the thing too, ‘peoples power’, though no one dares say the names of leaders of those countries in public.
And indeed, I want to also bring the followers and participants reasoning on a comment like; ‘The burden of proof is always on the accuser; not accused…’. If people representing Gambians in public offices in the future can talk like that in shedding light to citizens’ doubts and question and even their suspicions of those entrusted. I don’t own a newspaper! I said; Foroyaa newspaper reported Ousman Koro Ceesay’s death way back twenty years like if Yaya Jammeh’s junta of killers were not behind the noble’s man’s death, a man who according to very clear sources from the small country, was not willing to read any kind of a concocted budget to the Gambian population.
It is my opinion that, a probe into whether some king of ideologists’ organisations or movements in Africa, or perhaps in West Africa, are instigating or inspiring military coups in African countries, military regimes who in most cases have got worse than the overthrown civilian government for most of them to end up in the rally of the countries of the ills of entire political world.
This is racist. To connect “black magic” (an English phrase) means “Black African people” and Satan (from Hebrew meaning “enemy”), is the height of evil and colonized ignorance. It is ignorance of the highest order.