You liars

by PK Jarju

The Gambia Government was lying in its Tuesday's Press Release issued by the disgraced secretary of state for Communications and Information Technology, Neneh Macdoul-Gaye, in connection with the gruesome murder of Ghanaian immigrants in the country in July 2005. And it is not surprising to see a government that has a reputation of distorting facts shamelessly stating that the only eight mutilated bodies were found littered in the beeches of Brufut and Ghana Town and not 44.


What I can state here is that, over 40 mutilated bodies were discovered in July 2005 in the coastal fishing villages of Brufut/Ghana Town and until now, no progress has been made in the investigations pertaining to the murders.


Following the discovery of the bodies, the Gambia Government, which is being accused of carrying out the killings of the Ghanaians whom it suspected of trying to distabilised the country banned the state radio and television from reporting the case. Even the Daily Observer, which is owned by President Jammeh was very reluctant to published the story. It was only The Point, Foroyaa, The Independent and some online Gambian newspapers including AllGambian that reported the case.


Looking at the sensitivity of the story, one would have expected the Jammeh regime to have acted swiftly in trying to find and punish the perpetrators of this barbaric crime. But instead, the government dragged its feet and it is still continuing to drag its feet in the case. Investigations started only eight months after the incident but it went ice cold just after it started because of the unwillingness of the Jammeh regime to cooperate with the team of Ghanaian investigators. And all those who have been accused of having a hand in the killings were never questioned by the police. The men were all big fish who have all been rewarded with high government positions.

In a bid to let the public know who is telling the truth and lies, I hereby reproduced the government press release and a report presented at the 41st Ordinary Session of the African Commission of Human and People's Right by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative regarding the gruesome murder of the Ghanaian immigrants.

Government press release

"It could be confirmed that in July 2005 eight bodies were found in the vicinity of Brufut/Ghana Town and not 44 bodies as reported.

Furthermore the nationalities of the dead bodies are not known.It could also be recalled that immediately after the discovery of the bodies, a press release from the Department of State for The Interior was issued inviting the public to assist in identifying the said bodies and any other pertinent information.

Furthermore a post-mortem was conducted on each of the eight bodies, the results of which were shared with the Ghanaian delegation that visited the Gambia on the matter. The claims that they were suspected coup plotters hence the killing are utterly false.

The Gambia is known for its peace and stability. Similarly, foreigners have always enjoyed freedom and peace in this country. Ghanaians have been residing in The Gambia for the past 50 years to the point of having their own dedicated town.

This unfortunate incident is equally a great concern to the Gambian authorities. Investigations are still on going and The Gambia and Ghana have agreed to have a joint international investigation committee to further investigate the matter."

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative statement

"This case arose while a group of approximately 50 African immigrants were traveling en route from Senegal to Europe when they were arrested by the Gambian immigration officials.

The immigrants were last seen alive amongst various Gambian authorities, namely the Gambian Navy and the Gambian Police. According to reports, the remains of these immigrants were found littered throughout the Gambian coastal villages of Brufut and Ghana Town.

The" most comprehensive story came from a top Gambian official who wished to speak out against his govemmenfs actions. His story was that on July 23rd 2005 a group of 50 men, 44 of whom were Ghanaian, were intercepted in the waters off The Gambia while on their way to Europe and taken to the Naval Headquarters in Banjul.

Subsequently, the men were divided into groups of 8 and taken to a killing site in the farms of Siffoe in Gambia's Western Division, under the command of Major Ousman Sonko, Colonel Ndure Cham and Major Ousman Badjie. Once at·the fields, the State House men killed the detainees using machetes, axes, knives, sticks and other sharp objects.

The bodies were then indiscriminately dumped at various locations, among them the village of Brufut near Siffoe.On March 1st 2006 an investigtion into this incident was launched by the Ghanaian and Gambian governments, to be led by Nana Addo Dankwa AkufoAddo, the Ghanaian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

On March 14th 2006, Nana Akufo-Addo, Ghana's Foreign Minister said that it was proving difficult to conduct investigations in The Gambia due to the nature of the incidents and the circumstances under which they occurred, but" that both the Ghanaian and Gambian governments were investigating several locations and would soon come out on the matter.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ghana has confirmed in a letter to Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative dated 15th January 2007, that he, with instructions from the President of Ghana, led a team of Ghanaian officials to Banjul from 7th to 9th August, 2005 on a mission to seek audience with the Gambian government on the matter.

He said it was agreed that the two countries form a joint investigative team to spearhead the investigations regarding the deaths and disappearances of the approximately 50 African Immigrants.He said a seven-member Ghanaian investigative team later visited The Gambia from 19th - 28th January, 2006, during which time discussions were held with the Gambian officials to define the terms of reference and framework for the investigative team. It was also agreed that the joint investigation would commence on March 1, 2006.

The Minister continued that in a frustrating turn of events, it was later revealed. that the Gambian officials were not prepared to allow the investigation to proceed in Banjul but rather informed the Ghanaian team to conduct the investigations from Dakar contrary to the agreed terms.The Ghanaian team with the assistance of the Senegalese authorities proceeded with the investigations from Dakar from 10th - 18th March, 2006.

On 19th March, 2006 the Ghanaian team managed to visit Banjul until 25th March but never received any audience from the Gambian authorities save for a message from the Gambian Foreign Ministry through the Ghana Honorary Consul stating a series of reasons justifying the inability of the Gambian authorities to fulfilling their commitment including among others the absence of President Jammeh from Banjul.

The Minister said in his letter that after numerous requests to the Gambian authorities to revive the investigative work were ignored, it was later decided by the Ghanaian authorities to conclude the investigations in December, 2006.

The government of Ghana has observed that as a result of the uncooperative attitude of its Gambian counterparts, the attempts. to conduct a thorough investigation relating to this incident- have thereby failed.To date, there has not been any report on the incident and thus the true facts surrounding the incident still remain unknown to the families of these victims and . to the public at large."

Reading the two above press statements, it is clear that the Jammeh regime is far from being honest and its continuous reluctance to help the Ghanaian investigators to get to the root of the case can only mean one thing. It is responsible for the extra judicial killing of these innocent immigrants who were nursing the ambition of carving a better life for themselves in Europe and their families.

With regard to the Daily Observer's editorial on the same subject matter captioned Shame on You, it is not surprising to see a newspaper which is owned by President Jammeh coming to his defense. If the men at the Observer can be so dumb to believe in anything the government says, the Gambian people are not. They have for the past years learned not to believe in anything the government says. Its nothing but lies.

Take for instance, in January 2000, the government accused Lt. Landing Sanneh of throwing a grenade and firing at soldiers who came to arrest him in connection with an alledge coup plot, when eyewitness accounts stated the opposite. In the same press release it stated that Lt. Almamo Manneh was killed in a shot out along the Banjul-Serrekunda highway when he was actually killed at State House. In April 2001, government accused the unarmed student demonstrators of starting the shooting that killed over a dozen people when in actual fact it was the security officers on the ground. Again in 1995 it alleged Koro Ceesay died in a freak car accident when the guy was murdered. This among many lies have make Gambians to realise how untruthful the men in power are.

No Gambian is using the murder of the Ghanaian immigrants to score political points. What the Observer needs to understand is that a disgusting crime has been committed in the shores of the Gambia and the perpetrators of those crimes are still out there. And it is the responsibility of every Gambian to talk about it especially when the government is shamelessly keeping a tight lip.

Rather than trying to shift the blame on opponents and crticis of the regime, the Daily Observer should have rather asked the Jammeh regime why it is still continuing to refuse to cooperate with the Ghanaian government? Why should the Jammeh regime demand that the investigations into the masacre of these innocent civilians be conducted in Senegal and not in the Gambia where the crime is committed?

The only people who should be really ashame here is the Gambia Government and the Daily Observer. The Gambia has failed its duties to provide the peace and safety to its West African brothers. Thats the bottom line period!

Talking about how many times Jammeh won the elections is irrelevant in this circumstances. And do you know what the Gambian and Ghanaian people want to hear at this moment? They want gaddem answers from the government and not accusations.

As a nonGambian, I will excuse Dida Halake's ignorances. He can continue to glorify the murder happy regime of President Jammeh so as to secure his job. But we Gambians will not sit by and watch evil to triumph in our beloved country. While Dida Halake and his children Hassan and Jainaba hold British passports and can leave the Gambia anytime the situations becomes unfavourable, the Gambian people don't have a second home. The only know have one home and that is Jollof.

Gambians need to be aware of Mr. Halake's hypocrisy? We have seen his types before who iglorify brutal dictators and ignore the sufferings of the masses for their own selfish gains. These locusts are only interested in the green and juices leaves they fly away as soon as the leaves began to turn yellow.

For comments pls write to papak196@yahoo.co.uk. U can also visit my blog www.pkjarju.blogspot.com.