Panic, fear and uncertainty hang over residents of Foni Kansala village of Dobong where President Yahya Jammeh reportedly vows to revive his witch hunting exercise.
Angered by the sudden death of his aunt in 2009, The Gambia’s voodoo-laden leader blamed it on witches and soon hired foreign witch hunters to “cleanse the country.” In the process, the millitary was used to invade villagers who were forcibly transported to camps where they drank hallucinating concoction some believe might be kubejara, a local plant capable of leaving untold harm on its users. The effect was death, sickness and irreparable scars resulting from the shame and stigma.
But President Jammeh, whose government is yet to compensate the victims and their families, has decided to lick the old wounds. Instead of giving them breathing space, Jammeh brought back the trauma and pain when he accused Foni Jolas of “eating up all their brightest sons.” He there threatened to relaunch his 2009 brutal exercise led by a Casamance magician, Tamba Jero who reportedly died in mysterious circumstances.
President Jammeh’s renewed threats, according to Kairo News finding, were specifically directed at Dobong whose natives had empowered his government from the word go. Dobong produces the former powerful National Intelligence Agency Director Abdoulie Kujabi and his brother Mustapha James Kujabi, the former deputy Protocol Officer at the President’s Office.
“It’s a fact that residents of Dobong live in perpetual fear, panic and terror,” said a 70-year-old man. “The situation has become so bad that people run into the bush any time they hear the sound of a vehicle, fearing they will be taken away. Just few weeks back, everyone ran helter-skelter when a vehicle arrived. It turned out to be a vehicle transporting the corpse of a police officer from the village. The body was returned to Jeshwang in the Kanifing Municipality for burial because no one was found in Dobong except the alkalo. None of them wants to go through Jammeh’s ruthless witch hunting exercise.”
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In a real Arab mosque, you cannot wear that kind of coloured shirt as a man because it will be considered a Kaafir outfit. Muslim men can’t dress like that if you know it. Really bitter and awful image of a president.
Sadly, there are some brothers who support Jammeh because they think he is pro-Islam. How sad and twisted. This man belief more in the Idols. Jammeh is anti-Jola and a sad image to the entire ethnicity, a serious disappointment.
Pathetic and disgraceful. Dictator Yaya Jammeh has come to the world 5000 years too late. It does not matter who you are, but one has to be a knuckle head to be able to support this man politically.
This story further reveals the fact that this man is anti Jola and anti Gambia. You cannot be pro Jola or a progressive Jola and yet insult the beautiful Jola of foni. We know the sonical dichotomy he is trying to insinuate here, but it all goes to show how fragmented and divisive dictator president Yaya Jammeh’s politics remains! Who would discriminate against his own people like this?
This is how he will self destruct eventually…The people should try and remember any so called officials, who engage in any such criminal actions, whether security or civilian… No one should get away with such a crime…