FOR THE FIRST TIME, PERHAPS, NOT THE LAST
Gambia’s Security Personnel:
To our Gambian brothers and sisters in the Security Forces.
We the Gambian people are aware that you are wearing that uniform because of the love you have for our country, your country, The Gambia. We also know that some of you have, on many occasions, carried out orders that were against your will and wishes. We also acknowledge that you may not have survived a refusal to execute these orders. We are also in the know of the fact that you have been divided like the rest of us.
However, all these and many more of your untold sufferings could come to an end, provided you want to set yourselves free from the servitude most Gambians have been subjected to by Yahya Jammeh. But just in case you ask yourselves how can this be done? You do not need to look far for motivation or inspiration. Just look at the Coalition and its composition. As a nation, we have been divided for far too long, politically, but we have put aside our differences because of the oneness and love we have for our country, your country, The Gambia. This is why we have been able to get this far. We have put our differences aside that’s why we have been able to achieve the unthinkable – dethroning Yahya Jammeh through the polls. We have put our differences aside because we realise that when we come together we can achieve the impossible. But more importantly, we have put our differences aside because most of us have agreed that we have one common adversary, Yahya Jammeh.
Now that your civilian compatriots have completed their side of the task, it is now your collective responsibility to consumate their efforts. And, fulfilling your side of the task would not necessarily require the undoable. All you need to do is to refuse orders from the incumbent if he fails to step down come once the clock ticks 00.01 on the 19th January 2017, for he will from that day, no longer be your Commander-in-Chief. If you are able to do this, he will no longer be able to rule us as he would neither have your consent nor that of the majority of the Gambians, for it was once said by Abraham Lincoln, “no man is good enough to govern other men without their consent.” Therefore, be loyal to the Constitution of the Gambia and let the citizenry feel your protection once again. But if you fail to do this, and instead carry out his (rebel Commander Jammeh’s) orders, you will be classed as rebels just like him. And we do not want to see our brothers and sisters in that predicament. Do not die for him neither put the lives of your compatriots at risk. You must not be responsible for a single drop of blood for Yahya Jammeh.
Nevertheless, the choice is yours. You can either choose to be on the right side of the history or otherwise. Remember, come what may, there will be survivors who will narrate the story. You can choose to be remembered like Alieu Momar Njie, a man who Gambians are proud of or you can choose to be a loser and fight for a man whose loved ones have been moved to a safe location. As a fellow citizen and also a brother, I implore you choose the former.
Last but not the least, please leave a legacy that your children, our children can be proud of.
Thanks
Kebba Nfally Darbo
The Custodian
Ends
Thomas Jefferson , a great American citizen , leader and hero to millions of Americans said in a letter to his friend during the early days of American constitutional crisis following the revolution war that ” What country before ever existed a century & a half without a rebellion? What country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms , the remedy is to set them right as to facts , pardon & pacify them . What signify a few lives lost in a century or two ? . The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants . It is it’s natural manure”.
Thomas Jefferson’s message at the time was about injustices committed by all powerful government leaders who oppressed rights of the American citizens. It was also the message of patriotism which was meant for patriotic citizens to fight for justice in the country through sacrifice of their blood . Today , in The Gambia it is very clear to everyone that injustices committed against Gambian people by Dictator Jammeh are treasonable crime which must be solved through sacrifice of patriots. Gambian tyrant has clearly rejected and refused all peaceful means to end current political impasse he created as a result of annulment of election results. It is responsibility of all patriotic citizens to ensure that the will and aspirations of majority citizens who are desperately in need of new leadership are implemented. Over the past 22 years , patriotic citizens have tried every peaceful avenue to change the despicable regime but were not successful in various missions . Our current political crisis is an opportunity in a life time which will fundamentally change the direction of our country in a positive way if citizens and new coalition leadership make best use of available support and assistance from the international community.
ECOWAS military intervention is that rare opportunity and last viable option to salvage our country from military dictatorship. While military intervention is not the first choice for majority citizens but it is a choice which is force upon Gambian people as a result of Jammeh’s unwillingness to peacefully handover power. The peaceful people of The Gambia must muster the courage once again to accept the reality that military intervention is a necessity to protect and uphold our constitutional democracy which we have clearly expressed through free and fair electoral process. Sometimes military intervention are necessary mechanisms which produce valuable lessons for the country to learn about though those lessons are mostly bitter and unforgettably cruel. But if those lessons are worthy of attaining our freedom and God’s given rights , we must be ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice. In our case , we are extremely luckily to have an international community and ECOWAS ready to sacrifice on our behalf in order to gain our freedom. We must take this opportunity and we should not let this rare opportunity go into waste.
By January 19th, 2017 every Gambian should welcome this solution with prayers and open mind so that we can finally restore constitutional democracy and rule of law in our country. While it is indeed a consequential decision which can have serious impact on our Human Resources and poor economic conditions of our country, we must remind ourselves that we have gone through 22 years of terror without any help from international community. The military intervention on behalf of citizens will help to preserve their spirit of resistance against tyrannical regime. It will serves to remind African leaders that people across Africa have rights to liberties. After all military intervention is a choice to pacify our leaders and set them on the right direction for better democracy and respect for fundamental rights and aspirations of citizenry . No country succeed without learning their bitter lessons. Jammeh’s military dictatorship is a bitter lesson we must learn from in order to succeed in the future. Gambia’s tree of liberty will be refreshed by the sacrifice of international community and patriotic citizens.
It is in their best interest if they want life in themselves and a future in a promising new Gambia. I am also very very much concerned with the lives of those mentally dominated young men in military fatigues across the country, positioned as if they want to defend something…..but what? I would guess at times too that they are not so mad as I think them to be. I hope they have the brains to do something brilliant than defending Yaya Jammeh, who is capable of constructing a bridge with their human bodies if he has to cross a river of crocodiles.
He has threatened to weed out people!
His cds has reiterated the same menace!
Weed people of the Gambia? It is because wonders have not ceased to amase Africans.