By Dida Halake
It really is as simple as that. What the President of The Gambia has done in emptying Mile Two Prison of prisoners is immense. The congratulations should be pure, simple – and straight from the heart.
That appreciation goes too to my good friends in Jammeh’s cabinet, Madame Neneh MacDoull-Gaye (the Foreign Affairs Minister) and Sheriff Bojang (the Information Minister).
That said there is much more to be done, and I would refer the President, Nene and Sheriff, respectfully, to my piece entitled “Halake Calls for a Government of National Unity” printed in The Gambia by the Daily News during the last election campaign in 2011.
First and foremost, the Daily News, which was soon closed thereafter, should be allowed to resume publication straight away.
A peaceful Gambia “turning a new leaf” stand to reap great benefits. Apart from the development aid taps that would be re-opened, tourism too will boom. Tourism is dead in Tunisia, Kenya and other places because of violence. A peaceful and welcoming Gambia will, as I stated in my 2006 article “The Peace Imperative”.
Let us hope and pray that this is really a “new leaf” for The Gambia and its people. Below is my Government of National Unity piece from the archives of KairoNews where it was republished:
(http://www.kaironews.com/page/2/?s=government+of+national+unityhttp://www.kaironews.com/page/2/?s=government+of+national+unity)
Halake Calls For Unity Gov’t If APRC Win
in Society — by Musa Saidykhan — November 1, 2014
Daily News, Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Dear Candidate President,
I had a dream about you an hour ago Mr. President. I had never dreamt about you before in all the time I have known you, but I have woken up out of a dream about you.
I normally dream about something if it is the last thing on my mind as I fall asleep. You were the last thing on my mind when I fell asleep today.
A true Gambian friend, who nevertheless prefers not to be known by his fellow Diasporan Gambians as my friend because of my past association with you, rang late last evening. And he talked and talked and talked. My letter to you in 2006 entitled “Dear Candidate President” was one bullet my friend fired in my direction.
Then he tossed a hand-grenade by referring to my 2005 article entitled “The Peace Imperative” – praising Gambia’s peace. When the hand-grenade failed to finish me off, my friend detonated a powerful Improvised Explosive Devise:
“Your friend Baba Jobe and yourself were in Soma exactly 10 years ago this month campaigning for Jammeh. Look what Jammeh did to Baba”.
That did the job. Even Halake must fall under such heavy fire.
And yet, I wouldn’t call my Gambian friend Brutus, for he has always been true.
I say my Gambian friend is “true” because, Mr. President, when you arrested me in 2008 and I had to leave The Gambia, this Gambian, who had warned me not to accept your offer of a job as Daily Observer MD, provided me with money when I flew to Senegal to bring my Gambian daughter back to the UK (on that flight of 10th May 2009, Mr. President, I met your Police Chief who assured me that you loved me and tried to persuade me not to stop in Dakar – but that is another story).
Of course, I am glad that I rejected my friend’s advice and accepted the Daily Observer job because it was an education better than all my university and college education combined.
My friend’s “Baba Jobe” IED worked as effectively as the Taliban ones against the Americans. I went to bed, Mr. President, with my “illusions” about you fatally wounded.
My Gambian friend’s “Baba Jobe” IED has killed off any romanticism I still entertained about you, just as surely as the wailing of the widow Tida and other Gambians at Baba Jobe’s RVTH death-bed killed off any admiration or sympathy you had left in Jarra Soma.
You know, Mr. President, my 2001 Soma speech to the crowd ended with “Jammeh Kanilai! Baba Jobe Soma!!” The Jarrankas loved their Baba. And so did you – or so both Baba and I thought.
As we drove back to Banjul on that 2001 night, your telephone call to Baba was constant. Baba Jobe’s driver, a driver borrowed from Charles Taylor, was amazing as he drove at break-neck speed along that dangerous road.
But you kept calling every five minutes. And the driver drove even faster. You rang again and said all those dignitaries at the Kairaba Hotel function would have to wait because you wouldn’t go until Baba arrived. And Baba’s driver drove faster and faster. But enough about Baba – I let my friend rest in peace.
My dream about you Mr. President was simple. You simply collected together all your supporters, civilian and military, and left The Gambia in the middle of the night! That’s it. Just like that.
In the only issue of X-Press Magazine that appeared in 2002, the publisher Sheriff Bojang, now proprietor of the Standard, wrote as follows: “If the 2001 election had gone the other way Baba Jobe would have had nowhere to run”. To which I replied that “Baba Jobe is not the running kind”.
You gave Baba Jobe a chance to run before you had him arrested Mr. President – I was on the phone to him from UK. But Baba never ran – may my friend’s soul rest in peace. I mention this piece in the X-Press because, Mr. President, I don’t think you will ever run away from The Gambia either – though Pa Mbai seems to think you may seek medical retirement in France.
I say you will never run away from The Gambia for three reasons:
Firstly, I have been with you in Kanilai and in the bushes. Your love for the soil you walked, and the soil you held in your hands was obvious. I cannot imagine you running away like Idi Amin to die in an Arabian desert – even if it may be an air-conditioned palace in Doha. I do believe you when you say you will die in The Gambia – as you have said so many times.
Secondly, I have read Lawyer Darboe’s Serrekunda Rally Speech. It is powerful, the most powerful speech Lawyer Darboe has ever given – and it reads like an Opening Address to the International Criminal Court by the Prosecutor.
Thirdly, I covered your State Opening of the Gambian Parliament on the 31st of March 2008. You invited ex-President Jawara to the occasion and said to him “Welcome My Uncle, Father of the Nation”. I wrote an editorial which ended with a new President of The Gambia addressing you as follows: “Welcome My Uncle, Father of the July 22 Revolution”.
I believe, and I know that you believe, that your future attendance at a Gambian State Opening of Parliament with the words “Welcome My Uncle, Father of the July 22nd Revolution” ringing in your ears is still possible – but just.
I say “just”, because I have begun hearing “The Drums of War”. The Treason Trial involving Dr. Scattred-Janneh is evidence of that. The Treason Trial and death sentences meted out to General Tamba and his co-accused is evidence of that. The death of popular Baba Jobe in state custody has heightened the tension. In the words of the Opposition Candidate Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, “Enough is Enough”.
Where will the statement “Enough is Enough” lead the country if Gambians wake up on 25th November 2011 and decide that the opposition have been “robbed of victory”?
I fear an explosion of anger that will simply be un-containable. I fear it so much that I think the British Foreign Office has a duty to tell their citizens to cancel all planned travel to The Gambia this week.
I am aware that you have, Mr. President, vowed to keep the peace. I am aware that you have clearly stated, Mr. President, that you will not tolerate an “Ivory Coast Scenario”.
An Ivory Coast scenario will only arise if the Opposition feel that they have been cheated out of electoral victory. They may be right, or they may be wrong. But what will matter is how a sizeable number of ordinary Gambians will feel on the 25th of November 2011. And if there is such anger, will Lawyer Darboe come into the television studios with you again and shake hands and accept defeat as he did ten years ago? Going by Lawyer Darboe’s “Enough is Enough” speech this week, I doubt that very much. And then what if out of frustration disturbances occur in places such as Serrekunda and Brikama?
Will Gambian security forces shoot to kill in order to control the situation?
Mr. President, bear in mind that one poor little street-vender, harassed by the police in Tunisia, killed himself – and in the process destroyed Tunisia’s president, Egypt’s President, Libya’s President, Yemen’s President and now Syria’s President.
Don’t go down that road Mr. President. Young Gambians are already angry. I saw things I never thought happened in The Gambia when you locked me up. When I was in the cell at Serrekunda Police Station, I saw dozens of boys marched in off the streets by over-zealous police who were simply extorting money (500 dalasi a time) from the relatives who had to come and rescue their sons and daughters. I hear this has got worse. Anger and frustration is in the air. I believe the only peaceful way out of the situation is genuine compromise.
If APRC and yourself were to win this election Mr. President, an immediate Government of National Unity (with Lawyer Darboe as Prime Minister and Mai Fatty as Attorney General) should be announced before the IEC announces the election results. The GNU must include Hamat Bah, possibly as Minister of Tourism and Halifa Sallah, possibly as Minister of Education.
Lawyer Darboe should be the one to announce a Government of National Unity as Prime Minister – to ensure his supporters accept it.
Mr. President, Gambia has always been known as a peaceful country and this must continue. But Gambia must see no killings of Gambians by Gambians in the name of maintaining peace. Peace, especially in Africa is fragile … and Gambia must cherish and maintain its peace. But it would be a contradiction to claim to be maintaining peace by killing people.
This is a new world and Gambia is part of the world. Dictatorship can no longer be enforced at the barrel of a gun. Only genuine negotiations can keep the peace.
Peace is like virginity, purity. Once lost, it can never be regained. Please safeguard Gambia’s peace – by sharing power with all Gambians.
Lawyer Darboe’s long and moving speech will go down as a turning point in Gambia’s history. The APRC Government must not dismiss the “Wind of Change” that is blowing across the world.
Lawyer Darboe’s speech was strongest and most moving in its condemnation of the APRC’s flagrant abuse of Human Rights and the dignity of Gambians (and foreigners like me too). The APRC must accept that, and if the APRC win the elections, give Lawyer Darboe as the Executive Prime Minister, the power to put that right.
Lawyer Darboe’s speech was weakest in its refusal to accept the APRC’s development of the nation’s infra-structure, but I suspect that is because you, Mr. President, have used the term “Dictator for Development” to justify your dictatorial rule. I don’t think it is necessary to argue about “Jammeh the Builder” – that speaks for itself. But, I must also say as one who once totally supported you, Mr. President, that in the last 40 years arguably the biggest “Developer” of an African country was Libya’s Gadaffy.
As Rome’s Brutus put it, “Caesar Loved Rome, so I loved Him. Caesar became a Dictator, so I slew him”. Caesar’s fate befell Gadaffy – and the civil strife that befell Rome befalls Libya today.
Mr. President, think “Peace”, act “Peace” and live “Peace”. Peaceful Gambia demands it. You have done much to develop The Gambia, and in spite of the abuses, it has remained a peaceful country during the 17years of your rule.
In spite of what your enemies say, you have not been “another Idi Amin”. But if chaos and civil strife descends on the country after this election, and you are forced out like all the other dictators through civil strife, then your enemies wishes will be fulfilled and you will be seen in Gambian history as another Idi Amin. Libya’s fate must not befall The Gambia. Your historical legacy demands that of you.
A genuine Government of National Unity, it seems to me, is the only way to maintain peace in The Gambia after this election should the APRC and yourself win. Lawyer Darboe and the opposition must share effective power and help guide the future of a peaceful and democratic Gambia.
Then, maybe, in 20 years time, another Gambian President will welcome Yahya Jammeh of Kanilai to a State Opening of Gambia’s National Assembly with the words “Welcome My Uncle, Father of the July 22 Revolution”.
Author: Dida Jallow-Halake, London, UK. 17th November 2011.
Author’s note 3 years on:
This was published by the Daily News in The Gambia itself & by the Gambian on-line media. Unfortunately, there was no GoNU, no reaching out to the opposition, the Daily News was soon closed down, and those ghastly Mile 2 executions took place. For the past three years I have had nothing to say, because there was nothing more to say. But I hope readers will agree, at this moment when Burkina Faso burns as a result of a 27-year dictatorship, that a Government of National Unity is the best hope of uniting Gambians and building a durable peace in the Smiling Coast of Africa – however hopeless a hope it may sound.
Ends
Dida, you and Jammeh are the same people . Though you have every right to express your ignorance , patriotic Gambians will only see your comments as Garbage or cum release from masturbaton behind the keyboard .
“Patriotic” Gambians Maxs?
I thought you DAMNED “most” Gambians!
Thus spoke Maxs on KairoNews, July 25 2015 at 8:31 P.M.:-
“Most Gambians are not honest and they never believe in truth Mr Touray. Most Gambians are quick to talk about Allah but their conduct and deeds are not inline with what God said in any religion. Hypocrisy and deception is what lead to our current situation. This is not Jammeh alone problems. This is Gambians problem and our creation.”
What can one say to you, My Dear Maxs? I don’t debate on such unfounded generalisations about a whole nation. Have a nice day!
Dida, to Gambians & friends, the complementary congratulatory felicitation goes, instead, to the wrongly oppressed victims, rather, who suffered the persecution, victimization, oppression, maim, murder of the Murderous Tyrannical kanilai Idols Worshipping Sheikh…
As the OPPRESSIVE AGGRESSOR, for Gambians, Murderous kanilai Killer Devil yaya’s maladministration manipulations doesn’t only hinge on few aggrieved friends, &/ personal interests, etc etc…..
It’s about BIRTHRIGHT; reclaim salvage of Gambia from decadence…
An INCUMBENCY upon ALL Gambians & true friends…
One can only side with DEVIL or the genuine oppressed Gambian masses; but NOT about SELECTIVE few, interests &/ motives, etc etc…
The Gambian struggle CAN’T, WON’T & NEVER be different to others; mules will be detected & sniffed out; for the struggle to succeed, ALL areas must be explored… Our commitment is beyond circumstantial & materialistic, but natural as BIRTHRIGHT….
God helps & bless collective endeavour to salvage Gambia; Ameen.
Luntango. Unfortunately I have not yet read what I would call your “ranting”, judging by the title, I would like you Luntango to know that there is a Gambian parable which says ” DOMO REYE SA BAI, MU JALEH LA. Loosely translated to a witch kills your dad and comes to offer his condolences. This is for your education about the current Gambian tragedy. Your witch doctor friend has done nothing to be congratulated for, he has merely released his kidnapped victims. The families and the entire Gambian community are happy for this, hoping that his madness is approaching its end.
Modou, thanks for the education – and truly I am happy to learn. But I have sat at numerous “vous” well into the night explaining that I not believe in witch-craft! I really do not. But if you can re-phrase the matter in real-politic (even Machiavellian) terms I will be happy to engage.
Maxs: My kids (11 & 18) and I are watching the Madiba movie INVICTUS. Watch it, it will help you grow – if you want to!
Luntango, I do not believe in witchcraft either, but your HERO lives by it. His quote “one is either a witch or a Doctor, no such thing as witch doctor”. Again this is just a Gambian proverb, with meaning relevant to your buddy Jammeh.
Dida’s got skill. He knows how to annoy me with his bla bla bla and authentic crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……………………and to make him an authentic stiff necked TOOL thinking he’s made any point above, I am taking all this trouble to make a comment to his trash in the first place.
What you are congratulating Jammeh for ? Jammeh has kidnapped these people and illegally imprisoned them without any proper due process. Is that not based on lies , dishonesty , deception , violation of their rights , untruthfulness, and hypocrisy? Yet the majority still believe that it was cause of their Allah which resulted to their illegal imprisonment. The question you should ask yourself ‘ what lead to these horrible situation ?” If majority think like you Dida , refused to speak the truth , then that is where deception and hypocrisy comes in . Majority of high profile prisoners who are released from prison are closed Jammeh’s supporters and most of them contributed to the oppression of Gambians in one way or the other because they refused to stand for the truth when they were in leadership position or when they were closed to Jammeh . What crime did the family members of December 2014 statehouse attackers committed? What apology did they owe an idiot for ?
Clearly those who are hypocrite will believe that they owe Jammeh an apology and they must congratulate him for their release . Detention of these innocent families members and others who are illegally imprisoned by dictatorial regime is a constitutional violation of their rights. In fact an idiot and sycophant still Blame others for your detention and refused to blame your almighty dictator . What an hypocrisy that is .
Dida , I am learning every day . I can tell you I am young man with intelligent mind and I try to stand for the truth at times . I respect your rights to free speech and to express your ignorance . That is the beauty of democracy and freedom . Jammeh has denied Gambians democracy and freedom to express themselves . My suggestion to you is to inculcate the sense of truthfulness and honesty to those kids as they are growing up . Though I am growing up and getting wise each day , I am trying to be person . How would you feel if Jammeh illegally detain your 11 year old kid for 7 months without committing any crime , simply because you Dida have committed a crime ?
Corrections : I mean I try to stand for the truth at all times . And I am trying to be best person I can be .
Ranting again Maxs. Go watch INVICTUS man! Then you will know what the “struggle” is all about – it is NOT about Jammeh! It is about your SOUL!
I do not agree with views expressed that Jammeh deserves to be commended for offering general “amnesty” to many prisoners/detainees and critics of his regime in the diaspora, as a goodwill gesture to mark 21 years in power…
I do accept that individuals who do good deeds or undertake positive initiatives that further the prosperity of their community/communities, in whatever way that may be, and as long as it is in a private capacity, deserve commendation and recognition…
Public office holders, on the other hand, are only performing their duties or executing powers conferred on them by the constitution, like the “Prerogative Of Mercy” bestowed on/upon the President, and should not be viewed in the same manner….
In other words, they should NOT be praised or commended for performing their duties as individuals, but rather, as a team of individuals doing what they are paid to do..
Individuals in the team may be rewarded, either with promotions, wage/salary increments or national honours of some sort for their exceptional contribution in the team, but singling out individuals for praise, especially in the way we do it in The Gambia, should be avoided…
I don’t need to take any more space to explain why I hold such a view, but I think it is important to point out two things…
(1) The entrenched political culture : We all know how it is in our country…Praising public office holders for doing what they are paid to do or what the constitution grants them to do, breeds all.sorts of unwanted and unhealthy attitudes, which in turn leads to sycophancy, as people compete with each other to be recognised by these officials for obvious reasons…
Hence, no distinction is made between individual and state…Projects and/or other forms of concessions (eg Hajj from Macca) are presented as personal gifts; constitutional prerogatives are presented as indicative of a person’s nature, etc..
(2) The effect on the person receiving such adulation : Constant adoration, flattery, hero worship, awe and praises etc cannot always be handled property, if directed at some people and I think Yaya Jammeh is a classic example of what excessive adulation can do to such people..
I think many people who knew Yaya Jammeh before July 22nd 1994, will struggle to relate that one to the Yaya Jammeh of July 22nd 2015…That’s what this excessive adulation has done to him…He hasn’t been able to handle the attention…
@Bax, have you seen the freed country men and women as criminals??? It seem as you have the impression that Gambia is got the rule of law.
Dida is and will always be a Jammeh loyalist. As supports of democracy we should support and encourage his dissenting opinion.
Dida Jammeh has no one favors, some these people were tried at a Kangaroo Court and detained illegally.
The struggle is indeed about our souls; even transcends to matters of life & death for us, which is our birthright; that’s why even with the oppressive murdering of some of us, we can’t afford to sit idly by & watch a drug-induced Psychic kanilai Murderer, set Gambia ablaze; & we’ll KEEP trying until the end…???
Except on your usual voluntary mercenary services to the kanilai Murderous Killer Devil, what’s your motives of meddling in Gambian state of affairs, except for a selection of your so-called aggrieved “friends”, who just like yourself, fell foul of the very tyranny you entrenched; you are the Devil Enablers…??
Which is for obvious, no business of yours, except in your despicable image cleansing caricatures…?
Your only motivation is materialistic as you have no birthright link to Gambia; as stranger, basked in our hospitality, you choose to defend, help & advocate for the kanilai Killer Devil against the wronged oppressed masses, who welcome you all your stay, even when you were in the murderous kanilai devil’s services…
In Gambia state of affairs, a good foreigner must have to reciprocate Gambian hospitality to the masses who are the majority genuine citizens; NOT to the murderous kanilai Killer Devil like you Dida; it seems you can’t leave Gambians alone, with no lineages or amiable interests to you, except your sale of lies, laundering Murderous kanilai Killer’s blood soaked images…
Gambians have had enough of your lies mongering, don’t you have any connections with your Kenyan-Ethiopian homes where you can redirect your mercenary services; why can’t you just play the same hypocrisy you playing on Gambians to those areas where your mouth is…
History is always in record…
Dida, Gambian struggle is much bigger than any individual , it is about the soul of our beautiful country and its people. Jammeh is evil person who has been taken our country In a wrong direction long time ago now and he is supported by greedy , selfish and untruthful individuals like you . Of course you have nothing significant to say but a garbage meant to pollute the discussion. Please answer this question ” how Would you feel if Jammeh illegally detain your 11 year old kid for 7 months without commiting any single crime ? I am sure if you are a heartless and irresponsible individual you will send congratulatory message to him for his illegal detention of your child .If your father was killed or disappeared by Jammeh , would you still send him a congratulatory message ? If your mother was illegally detained for 7 months without committing any crime , would you still send a congratulatory messages to despotic leader ? I know I won’t if any of my parents , relatives or any human being had that experience from despotic leader and his dictatorial regime .
Maxs/Bajaw:
You guys are obviously the “Radio Rwanda” Civil War types, so it is hopeless talking to you.
I leave you with the wise words of Lawyer Ousainou Darboe as printed in The Point yesterday (below). If you watch INVICTUS and listen to the wise words of Nelson Mandela, you will understand where Lawyer Darboe (and the vast majority of Gambians IN Gambia) are coming from.
Have a nice day.
……………………………………………………….
Darboe welcomes pardoning of treason convicts, but not others
The Point, Monday, July 27, 2015
The leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP) has expressed his ambivalence about the presidential mercy extended to prisoners, saying the pardon to treason convicts is welcomed, but that of murderers, rapists and drug traffickers could have chilling effects.
Lawyer Ousainou Darboe said President Yahya Jammeh deserved commendation for exercising his prerogative of mercy by pardoning certain lawbreakers, but added that the move is not quite a surprise.
“I was not too surprised, because on Koriteh day (the feast to mark end of Ramadan) there was announcement for the release of some 85 prisoners. On that day, I said to myself since he regards 22nd July as the most significant day, he should release more, and that is what has happened,” the leader of Gambia’s biggest opposition party said in an exclusive interview with The Point newspaper on Saturday at his residence in Kotu.
“What surprised me is the pardoning of those convicted of drug trafficking, rape and murder,” he stated.
Lawyer Darboe said he accepted and welcomed the release of those convicted of treason, for “these are people found guilty of political offences” not the real criminals.
“The way he himself came to power was through coup, it was only endorsed because it succeeded. So pardoning those convicted of treason is very welcomed,” he said.
In his address during the 21st year anniversary celebration of the July 22nd Revolution, the Gambian leader said he has pardoned all those convicted of treason from 1994 to 2013.
Those convicted for murder, possession or trafficking of cannabis as well as cocaine and other hard drugs, and rapist (who raped those 20 years and above) are all pardoned if they are not repeat offenders, and were convicted in 2013 and before.
Overbroad
Lawyer Darboe has a bone to pick with President Jammeh for “over broadening” his prerogative of mercy, by pardoning convicted drug traffickers, rapists and murderers.
He said: “We are combating the menace of drug and, in that vein, The Gambia just hosted the Russia-Africa summit on drugs. All that is geared towards curbing trafficking in drugs, but paradoxically Jammeh is softening his stance on drug trafficking.
“This would be an encouragement for drug traffickers to come to The Gambia, knowing that if they are unlucky and caught they could be pardoned by the President.
“For rapists, personally I believe that women’s body is so sanctified that anyone who violates them in anyway, and is found guilty should serve the full force of the law. If anyone has emotions to satisfy, why not get married as there are so many women out there, rather than force yourself on someone.”
The UDP leader said when the President took some hard stance on drugs previously he had commended him (Jammeh) for that.
“I said that was a stance that we support, and were ready to cooperate with the government which he (Jammeh) leads to combat the drug menace,” he added.
Lawyer Darboe said it is because of his abhorrence of drugs and rape; that was why he does not defend anybody charged with any crime related to such vices.
“I don’t also defend anybody charged with murder – that does not mean I don’t defend any other killings such as manslaughter, which is different from murder,” he said.
“I think life is so precious for one to have mercy on people who take the lives of others willingly, murder.”
Reconciliation within
The UDP leader’s analysis and reflection over the treason convicts’ release is that, in his view, the pardoning revealed “some reconciliation within his (Jammeh’s) own group of people”.
Darboe noted that some of the treason convicts are “hard core APRC supporters”; people who had done a lot for President Jammeh between 1994 until the day they were removed from office.
“But somehow these people ran foul, according to the findings of the judges, and were handed sentences. Personally, I have reservations about whether some of them actually took part in the offences that were considered treasonable,” he said.
“I don’t want to mention names, but people know them. Some of them may have now realised that they ought not to do some of the things they there were doing; they should have just kept calm and not be overzealous,” he added.
National reconciliation?
The UPD leader said if the pardon is truly and really aimed at national reconciliation, then the first persons to be pardoned should have been people from the other side of the political divide. Even though there are UDP stalwarts in custody, the pardon does not cover them.
He said: “I would have thought the first persons to be released, if it was a true reconciliation – national reconciliation – should have been Amadou Sanneh (UDP treasurer) because he was a victim of political persecution.Sambou Fatty and Alagie Fatty (all UDP loyalists) should have been released.
“The crime these people were convicted of is far from treason; it is not even near to treason, but treason convicts were pardoned, while they were not.
“If it were me, I would start with my opponents and I would not ask them to go on the television or accept anybody to put them on the TV to sing my praises.
“In the prerogative of mercy, there should not be reciprocity of praises. In fact, putting people on the TV to sing the President’s praises tends to undermine the gesture and give it another motive.”
Besides, Lawyer Darboe said, the release of the family members of those allegedly involved in the 30 December attack at the State House in Banjul is not pardoning, because the prolonged detention of those people in the first place was illegal.
“May be they have realised the unconstitutionality of detaining these people, and now said ‘let’s release them and say we are pardoning them’,” he added.
Author: Lamin Jahateh
Dida, hypocrites always self-expose in manifestations; just like in selfie snapped shot pictures…
You are the Murderous kanilai Devil Enablers; congratulations singing praises for tyrannical aggrandizement in Gambia…
Lawyer Darboe you citing / quoting here, is with the oppressed wronged majority; Ousainou got the diplomacy usage of language as political task to enhance salvage of Gambia; in other words, I got my birthright, to “rant” my opinion on issues of equal concerns; & WHAT have you got to DO with all of it…???
Our ranting is a DUE cause for us, as birthright; just as you cited lawyer Darboe said “enough is enough”…
You don’t have any birthright, nor good intention for the majority oppressed Gambians, but RATHER, facilitate tyrannical OPPRESSION for materialistic gains in our BLOOD, for you, from our Murderous sheikh…
By your documented campaigns support for the Evil Murderous kanilai Devil, you definitely know you are facilitating, putting someone else’s HOME on fire by your acts…
Yet you won’t endeavour to stir strife / inferno in your own TRUE home, IF you indeed got any…?
This is Gambian affair; as good stranger, foreigner, luntang / gahn, just as lawyer Darboe mentioned, all Gambians expect back the least, was hospitality reciprocity from you & any well-wishers; as someone who basks in Gambian hospitality…
I hope you must know a kanilai Murderous Devil disciple like you dida, certainly you aren’t claiming to be speaking for Gambians at a “lawyer Darboe level”, are you, then we’ll all comprehend your level of self-worth bravado in Gambian affairs…
Gambians have been disappointed in your double standards sinisterly manoeuvres to defend the murderous kanilai Devil’s image; you will be prosecuted for your tyrannical aid-abet in Gambia…
Gambians are determined to salvage the motherland, by all & any means necessary; this is NO slogan; it’s for REAL; for Gambia…
In that there will be REAL accountability, transparency & probity for all part-players…
God helps & bless collective endeavour to salvage Gambia; Ameen.
Dida, keep hallucinating behind your keyboard to release your garbage. True and patriotic Gambians know that you are not interested in general being well of Gambians. You are only interested in your selfish interest and careless about The Gambia. Lawyer Darboe is a patriotic Gambian who respect human rights and rule of law.
Once an enabler always an enabler. Better tell your friend /former boss to apologise and compensate those people he illegally detained. Meanwhile, continue leaving in the UK because even post Jammeh, you have no place in the Gambia. I guarantee you that.