By Yaya Dampha, Sweden
During the struggle to dislodge former Gambian President Yahya Janmeh from power, Mr. Musa Jeng had proven to be one of the loudest voices. His participation went beyond merely talking: he walked the talk by taking part in so many activities, including protest marches. Mr. Jeng also used the power of his pen to inform and educate Gambians. Some people see Mr. Jeng as a very mature comrade who would not go astray, no matter.
But the ushering in of a new democratic dispensation in the Gambia has now shown us the unfortunate side of Musa Jeng. What is more baffling and hypocritical than Musa Jeng referring the National People’s Party (NPP) and the United Democratic Party (UDP) as insurgents. Such a statement has manifested that he is bias and hypocritical to the core, after all, these political parties are legally registered parties seeking to ascend to power through legal means. Such an educated man cannot tell us he doesn’t know the meaning of the word insurgent, which according to Oxford English Dictionary, means a rebel or revolutionary.
Evidently, Musa Jeng was either an accomplice or an ally of insurgents. Was he not the same person who wines and dines with the sponsors and organisers of people who took up arms against a democratically elected government on December 30th 2014? The clear definition of these arm attackers fits the category of insurgents. But we have never heard Mr. Jeng referring December 30th attackers as insurgents. Perhaps, George O’rwell’s Animal Farm quotation that “not all birds are equal” is true in the case of Mr. Jeng. If you don’t have the balls to call arm attackers as insurgents why do you referred members of decent political parties insurgents. This is an insult to not only these political parties but an insult to our entire democratic system.
No one doubts or denies Yahya Jammeh was overseeing a brutal dictatoriship government, which was why concerted efforts had been put together to vote him from power. Truth be told, Mr. Jammeh had won four cycle of elections, although some irregularities were reported. Does election irregularities warrant anyone to use illegal means to dislodge an elected government from power, especially where innocent people died?
Musa Jeng would have been an honest man if he had referred all those who took part or aided and abetted the December 30th attack as insurgents. But he has failed honesty test.
Let Musa Jeng and his allies come clean on the role they played in some sinister activities. Gambians want to know why Mr. Jeng and his cronies sacrificed the late Solo Sandeng and protesters by lying to them that a large group would join their protest. Jeng neither condemned nor called these protesters and their sponsors insurgents. Any act that leads to provoked killing or caused economic losses is tantamount to insurgency.
Ends