While I was away

by PK Jarju

I swear by Allah that you people cannot attain salvation, unless you prevent the tyrants from tyranny and invite them to truth and justice.....Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

My dear readers and fans, over the past weeks, I took a break from writing to embark on a tour of Britain with some friends from Bolton, Preston and Leeds. The tour, which took us to many major towns and cities was a memorable one and I will always cherish the wonderful times I had with my colleagues and indeed, the lovely British people we met. I say thanks to everyone who have supported us in one way or the other during the tour. Special thanks to my missus and son, for reluctantly letting me embark on the tour.

While I was away, I received many emails from some concern friends and Gambians for that matter, making all sort of enquiries regarding my long absence on the pages of Allgambian and Freedom Newspaper. And of course, Dida Halake's respond to one of my piece entitled, Nakam Nak Dida?

I found the mail to be interesting and I commend Dida Halake for taking the time to respond to me. However, against the advise of my associates and family, I have decided to straighten the record on some of the issues raised by Halake. As a journalist who was taught by respectable men like Baba Galleh Jallow, Yorro Jallow, DA Jawo, Abdoulie Sey, Pascal Eze, Ndey Tapha Sosseh and Sheriff Bojang Senior to write nothing but the truth, I don't mind people disagreeing with me on what I say or write. But what I cannot stomach is men and women, who spread lies about people in their bid to score points.

It is true that like many Gambians, I supported the AFPRC/APRC and was a friend of Mr. Halake. Well, I still see Mr. Halake as a friend and that was why I was among the first Gambians to congratulate him when he was made managing director of the Observer. However, my friendship with Mr. Halake turned sour when I broke the culture of fear and decided to speak out against the brutalities of the Jammeh regime, its lack of respect to the rights and freedom of the people and its lack of interest in the welfare of Gambians.

Was I surprise that many of my relatives and friends like Dida have turned their backs on me for being a critic of Yahya Jammeh? No. Do I care? Hell no. This was something I expected as I have seen them do to others in the past. For them, any one who disagrees with Yahya Jammeh is confused, mad, anti-development and deserves to rot in hell.

Mr. Halake can go about telling anyone who cares about what a progressive leader he thinks Yahya Jammeh is. But no matter how much he tries, he can never change Jammeh's record as a corrupt, selfish and bloody dictator, whose hands are dripping with the blood of many young Gambians

In fact, I would have loved to engage Mr. Halake in a debate regarding the situation in Jollof if he was Gambian. But the fact that he is a non-Gambian, who has flown back to the UK after his disgraceful exit from the Observer has vindicated my earlier comments about his likes.

Yahya Jammeh and I are both from the same tribe and division and like many of my tribal men, I would have been living large today at the expense of the Gambian tax payers if I were singing the praises of the regime. But as a person who loves the Gambia and believes in democracy and respect to the rights and freedom of the people, my conscience wouldn't allow me to continue identifying myself with a regime that has brought nothing meaningful but poverty and hardships to the ordinary Gambians. As a parent, I am ashamed to have called myself an APRC supporter- a party whose leadership have made many parents childless, wives widows and children orphans.

Dida Halake can call it whatever he wants but as far as I am concern, there is no democracy in the Gambia. What we have in the Gambia is Jammehcracy, which can be best defined as government of Yahya Jammeh, by Yahya Jammeh and for Yahya Jammeh. And I cannot support a regime that have no respect to the rule of law. Jammeh regard himself as god and wants everyone to worship him. My conscience cannot allow me to ignore the brutality and sufferings that the Gambian people are going through in the hands of the false Messiah.

The Jammeh regime has lost its sense of direction and it can be likened to a ship in the middle of the ocean that has suffered a general power failure. The Gambian leadership is sinking believe me or not. The once formidable structure is splitting apart and it is using force and money to cling on to power.

The regime of Mr Jammeh has committed gross human rights abuses against innocent Gambians it has sworn to protect. Utter disregard for the rule of law and democracy have led to a situation of uncertainty. A torrent of arrests and sudden disappearances have left Gambians today more confused by the uncertain direction of a revolution which is supposedly guided by Mr Jammeh in his "wisdom and magnanimity as the saviour of the Gambia".

Jammeh came to power not to salvage the Gambian people but to fulfil his long term ambition of becoming the most powerful and wealthy Gambian. Jammeh has hijacked the country and is ruining the hopes and aspirations of the Gambian people. He is tearing our country to shreds and has seized the rights and freedoms of Gambians. He has transformed our God blessed country from a cheerful to sorry state. And as our noble Prophet (SAW) has commanded us 'to restrain tyrants from tryranny and invite them towards truth and justice', I see it as my responsibility and indeed that of every Gambian to stand up and oppose vicious tyrants like Jammeh.

The Jammeh regime has failed to live up to its slogan of accountability, transparency and probity. It has become unaccountable, nontransparent and unable to get rid of the ills it claimed were riffed in the previous Jawara regime. This regime is worse than the Jawara regime and the once happy people of the Gambia are today living in a sad and miserable society; where a greater percentage cannot even afford to acquire a decent meal for the day. In other words, the revolution has brought nothing meaningful but retrogression, hardship, and endless suffering to the Gambian people.

What can be described as bad under the erstwhile Jawara regime is at its worst state today. Corruption is at its highest with the president and his cronies hijacking the country's economy which is squandered and diverted into personal use. The president and his associates, who were nowhere near the rich ladder before coming to power, are today the richest and most wealthy people in the country.

While I am happy that the sedition case against Mr. Halake has been withdrawn by the state, yet his arrest and 12 days detention exposes the Jammeh regime's lack of respect to the rights of Gambians and non-Gambians alike in the country. The fact that he was held beyond the legal 72 hours for allegedly uttering seditious words and giving false information to a public officer, contrary to the laws of the Gambia shortly after his sacking as Observer MD, shows the unfair treatment being meted out to people who fall out with the Jammeh administration. That is what I am against.

Many a time, we have seen many Gambians being arrested and detained incommunicado at the the Mile Two Prisons and NIA headquarters for months or years without even being told the reason for their arrest.Take the case of Kanjiba Kanyi and others as an example. What about the extra judicial killings of Daba Marena and co, Lt Almamo Manneh, Corporal Momodou Dumbuya, the student demonstrators, the gruesome murder of Deyda Hydara among others? Dida may ignore such henious crimes because he is a non-Gambian, but I cannot turn a blind eye. Though I am a powerless man, I will refuse to accept the situation as it is and will strive to make the situation better.

Dida Halake was not being honest at all when he said I dithered whether to become a critic of the Jammeh regime. I started this very column in 2006 to highlight the situation in the Gambia. This of course was a hard pill for Dida to swallow and the phone call he refered to in his mail was the last time we spoke during which he unsuccessfully tried to persuade me to stop criticising the regime.

Regarding my call sometime last year for the removal of Jammeh, I will reiterate it here that I don't have any regrets for making such calls. This is because the July 22nd revolution was not brought about to alleviate the suffering of Gambian people. It was conducted by a group of unpatriotic, selfish, greedy, and power hungry soldiers who were only interested in becoming wealthy and powerful. They have become so intoxicated with power and do not intend to exit the corridors of power despite the deleterious effect their rule is having on the lives of the people. The removal of Jammeh today will be far more justifiable than the 1994 coup.

What Dida need to understand is that the Gambian people are fed up with Jammeh. They are tired of waking up everyday and see their president getting fatter and fatter at their expense while they suffer with starvation. They are sick of being unable to meet the rising costs of living while the president and his associates diverts their taxes to fund their flamboyant life styles. They are tired of being cruelly held to ransome by a president who claim to be championing their cause.

Mr. Halake can call his short stint at the Observer as a success, but anyone who has seen or worked at the Observer under Mr. Best and Sheriff Bojang will disagree. Where is the success story when the Observer served as a mouth piece of the dictatorship instead of being a voice of the people? Where was the success when Dida Halake use his editorials to blast decent Gambians whose only crime is to oppose the brutal regime of Mr Jammeh?

Finally, I would like Dida to know that as a Gambian who was born in the provences, I have travelled all over the Gambia from Kartong to Koina not once but five times and can name you the names of villages and towns from Banjul to Koina and Barra to Sandu. And although am not in the Gambia physically, I am always in touch with Gambians back home especially those in the provinces a greater percentage of whom are living on less than 50 pence a day and are finding it very difficult to even put food on the table.These people have been failed by the regime.

Mr. Halake, the Gambia under Jammeh is not developing. Development should not be measure by the number of roads and schools being built by Jammeh. It should rather be measured by how well off the people are. Where is the development when people cannot afford to put decent food on the table? Where is the development when the government cannot provide employment opportunities to the thousands of Gambians who graduate from school annually? Where is the development when people are continuing to die from preventable diseases like malaria? Where is the development when our hospitals cannot even conduct simple life saving operations? Where is the development when many had working and promising Gambians are being fired from their jobs for criticising Mr. Jammeh? Where is the development when the infant mortality rate is still high and pregnant women continue to go to hospitals on horse and donkey cartes? This is not what is development.

Mr. Halake, the pages of Allgambian are always open for you despite the fact that we disagree on issues pertaining to the development of the Gambia. And now that you are back in the UK, am wishing you the very best in life.
I rest my case. Peace.

For Comments Pls write to papak196@yahoo.co.uk or info@allgambian.net