Let Halifa Go

by PK Jarju

Mr President, its well past mid-night here in the West Midlands and I should have been fast asleep in my bed. But my conscience cannot allow me to enjoy the comfort of my bed without condemning the arrest and prosecution of Halifa Sallah and demanding for his immediate release.


Mr Sallah is currently remanded at the Mile Two Prisons after he was unable to meet the stiff bail conditions imposed on him by the Brikama Magistrate Court. The harsh bail conditions were imposed by your state control judiciary in order to keep Mr Sallah away from his loved ones as long as you wish.

The charges against Mr Sallah are a mockery to our judicial system. They are a well calculated move by your despotic regime to jail Mr Sallah like you have always done, there by silencing him in your quest to become king of our land.

Mr President, you told us last month that you will always interfere with the judicial process of the country and Mr Sallah's arrest and prosecution exposes you and your government's lack of respect to the democratic values of our country and its people.

Mr President, Halifa Sallah was arrested on Sunday following his return from Makumbaya Village were he spoke to people who were recently harassed and mistreated by your witch hunters. He had intended to bring to your attention the mistreatment meted out to these poor villagers by the witch hunters thereby bringing an immediate end to such barbaric practices.

Mr Sallah, who is the secretary general of the People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS), coordinator of the National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD) and a member of the Foroyaa Newspaper editorial board has every right to visit any Gambian village as well as to hold conversation with any Gambian he wish.

Mr Sallah never forced those villagers to speak him neither did he forcefully entered their homes. The villagers spoke their hearts out about the sufferings they went through and if you are not happy with that then so be it.

Mr President, having Mr Sallah arrested and charged for speaking to villagers whose rights and dignity as sons and daughters of the land were trampled underfoot in their own backyards by foreign witch hunters, tantamount to an admission that you and your regime are condoning the criminal activities of these witch hunters and never want the Gambian people to know the true extend of their brutality.

I am not surprised by the step you have taken because I have since 1994 witnessed a breath-taking rise of your evil regime that lives and rule by the gun and shows no mercy in crushing its political opponents and critics.

Mr President, let me remind you that as man who likes to show anyone who cares what a devout Muslim you are, you have sworn by the Qur'an, the holy book of Allah, to govern the people according to the dictates of the Gambian constitution. But instead, you are abusing the Constitution and treating Gambians like a piece of dirt.

You have transformed yourself into a god that all Gambians must worship or die and have confused yourself with the believe that you love the country more than every Gambian.

Mr President, you have to know that you may have all the powers you want, but people will always see you as the son of Asombi Bojang. People like Halifa love the Gambia a million times more than you. Their love for the country is not driven by selfishness and greed. That is why they refused all the ministerial offers you made to them.

Halifa is a true servant of the Gambian people and if you think having him remanded in stinking Mile Two Prisons will kill his desire to free the Gambian people from the clutches of your dictatorial regime, think again. Like all true freedom fighters, Halifa knew that fighting against dictatorship is never easy and that he has to past through pain and sufferings like Nelson Mandela in order to free the Gambian people. The more you persecute him, the stronger and more resolute he becomes.

That is why he told the Gambian people who gathered in Brikama on Wednesday that he is willing to become a sacrificial lamb to ensure the liberty and dignity of the people and that he is ready to suffer for others not to suffer, but what is going on [activities of the witch hunters] must come to a stop.

Mr President remember that it is easier to move mountains than the heart of men. And despite being the commander-in-chief of the Gambian armed forces you can only do three things to people like Halifa- arrest and detain him, kill him or set him free.

Wise men earn the respect of people not because they are wise, but because they do the right thing. So let Halifa go!
Have a nice weekend your Excellency.

Hero to Weirdo

Every time I take a look at our president, Yahya Jammeh, I find it hard to convince myself that the man is really fit enough to continue running the affairs of our blessed country.

Am not trying to be disrespectful to Mighty Jammeh. But his conduct and actions are increasingly making me worry.

Over the years, Jammeh, once regarded by many as a liberator of the Gambia, has being slowly transforming himself from a hero to weirdo. And his weird behaviour is living me worried by the uncertain direction in which the Gambia is going.

To be precise, I am scare of what the future holds for the Gambia under Jammeh.

In this 21st century, while many world leaders are busy building their countries and laying a bright future for their people, our leader is doing the complete opposite. He busies himself in ridiculous controversies that bring nothing but shame to our country.

Jammeh portrays himself as a special creation of God. While we humans have two eyes, he has four, which enables him to see both the natural and supernatural world. He is blessed with so much powers which enables him to communicate directly to his Creator and devils.

He carries a praying bead and the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an, 24 hours a day, which helps to facilitate his direct communication with God. Through the Qur'anic verses, he is able to find cure for HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, impotence, barrenness, ulcer, cancer, asthma, among others.

Jammeh also armed himself with a sword, which he uses to fight demons and other evil spirits. Above all he claimed on national television that God is his banker and that he is ruling the country with the support and guidance from devils.

Jammeh also claimed that devils vote for him in general elections because of his love and development programme for the Gambia.

To further add to my worries and fears for the future of the Gambia, Jammeh have recently hired a contingent of witch hunters from Guinea Conakry to wage a war on suspected Gambian witches and wizards.

Many Gambians are being rounded up in the privacy of their homes by these witch hunters and detained in Jammeh’s home village, Kanilai and other secret detention centres across the country.

One Ceesay Jatta, a school caretaker in Kanilai was recently reported to have been beheaded by the witch hunters, who identified him as a local commander of the witches and wizard.

Two women from Makumbaya and Foni Funtang are reported to have died after being tortured and forced to drink a mysterious concoction by the witch hunters.

Many Gambians are today living in fear wondering which community is going to be invaded next by the witch hunters. Some villagers in Foni are reported to have fled the country into neighbouring Cassamance living behind their their houses and livestocks.

Despite the actions of these witch hunters being unlawful as it violates the rights and freedoms of the Gambian people enshrined in the 1997 constitution and other laws of the Gambia, only a few Gambians have come out of their shells to condemn them.

These is indeed pathetic and unfortunate. And If Gambians have not been concerned with Jammeh’s behaviour and conduct in the past, I think it is time they do. Our country is fast plunging into a lawless state, where the weak are bullied and oppressed.

Members of the Gambian National Assembly should act now. They have to stop their selfishness and live up to their oath of office by starting an impeachment proceeding against Jammeh. They have to remember they that they have a duty to the Gambia and her people. They also have to remember that the Gambia is bigger than Jammeh and that while Jammeh will be history whether today or tomorrow, the Gambia will and will always remain until the end of time.

Jammeh has brought disrepute into the highest office of our land and Members of the Gambian National Assembly should invoke Section 67 of the 1997 constitution which empowers them to remove a president for:

(a) abuse of office, wilful violation of the oath of allegiance or the President’s oath of office, or wilful violation of any provision of this Consultation, or (b) misconduct in that- (i) he or she has conducted himself in a manner which brings or is likely to bring the office of President into contempt or disrepute; or (ii) he or she has dishonestly done any act which is prejudicial or inimical to the economy of The Gambia or dishonestly omitted to act with similar consequence.

Members of the National Assembly should also remove Jammeh for being mentally incapable of executing the functions of President and head of state by virtue of section 66 of the constitution.

Impeaching Jammeh now is the sensible way of stopping our country from sinking. Our country is in the hands of a president who can be likened to a drunkun and confuse captain in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. He have lost his sense of direction and we are all bound to drown if continue to sit and fold our hands.

No country in the sub-region would have allowed a man like Jammeh to continue being President. Why should we?

May God save and protect the Gambia and her people from the mishief of Jammeh and his witch hunters. Amen.