Conteh, you are a good man. Like Sajaw said, the only thing we should do is
rejoice at the inevitable demise of the likes of Cheyassin Secka. One day
when it is all said and done, you will know who Secka really is. If I tell
you what I know about this man, you will wish that you had never set eyes on
him. But rather than do that, let us just examine some of his moves since
becoming attorney general. If he is brilliant and effective, how come he
still cannot get to the bottom of who massacred our children on April 10 and
11? What did he do for us in that regard? He formed a bogus commission of
inquiry. Masterminded a toothless coroner's inquest. Sat by while the police
destroy the evidence in the case. Did nothing about government officials
that went to the commission and the inquest and told blatant lies. And don't
forget that at the same time, he was trying to put some students in jail
because of their activities during the massacre. In other words, he was
still trying to further victimize the victims. The bottom line is, Secka has
not delivered to the Gambian people when it comes to the massacre of our
children on April 10 and 11. He has however done a great job for Yaya and
his band of murderers. Thanks to Secka's ineffectiveness (from our
perspective), the perpetrators of this gruesome crime might never be
punished.
Let us move on to the Ebrima Barry case. Are there convictions yet? The last
I heard, Ebrima Barry's parents were brought to court and called liars and
all sorts of names. Secka's office called a pathologist that sabotaged their
case by saying that Barry died from natural causes. Conteh, if that
prosecutor was practicing in the States, his license would be revoked. He
should have known exactly what Dr. Sam was going to testify about and make
sure that Sam does not take the stand and tell blatant lies. In my book, Sam
cannot be serious about his testimony that Barry had a terminal disease and
none of his family and friends knew about it; that Barry had a terminal
disease that took his life only after he spent some time with the alleged
murderers. Tell me this, if you were the prosecutor, would you allow such
ridiculous testimony be part of your case? This kind of nonsense has the
potential of rendering those murderers scot-free. If that happens, it would
be under Secka's watch. If he was a smart and a good man, he would not allow
his prosecutors to mount such silly challenges.
Go now to the Basse Ambush. We all know that APRC thugs were the aggressors
because they had no business following the UDP entourage that was conducting
a legally sanctioned campaign. UDP had a license for their tour. One man (as
opposed to more than a dozen children on April 10 and 11) was killed. Secka
sanctioned the arresting of 80 people, including the UDP leadership. Left to
Secka alone, these people would still be languishing in jail for a crime
they did NOT commit. The magistrate that applied the law and commonsense and
let Darboe et al free, was fired by Secka. He will claim innocence and say
that the judiciary is not under his purview. Don't buy that. Take it from me
that Secka is behind all these firings from the judicial branch. Do you
think if the Chief Justice knows that Secka has Yaya's ears he (the Chief
Justice) will stand up to Secka? Chief Justices that did that in the past,
had premature departures to their country of origin (Nigeria during the
Jawara regime). We all remembered how Secka personally vowed to put Darboe
in jail. He even went to the extent of appearing in court on behalf of his
chambers. This is a rear occurrence in The Gambia. We also remembered how he
was routed by heavyweights like Gaye and Sillah. So, we are dealing here
with a failed lawyer too. This narration does not take into account the
delay tactics Secka and his green lawyers employ by deciding not to show up
in court when their cases are called. Opposing lawyers literally have to
walk over to the AG chambers to drag Secka and his mates out to go to court
to defend their positions. I cannot tell you the amount of times cases had
to be adjourned because the AG chambers did not show up.
The Dumo case is also another illustration of the ineptitude of Secka and
his cronies. Up to this day, no legal charges have been leveled on Dumo and
the other alleged co-conspirators. When Secka knew that he could not defend
the position of the government, he ran behind people's back and went to an
inexperienced magistrate in Kanifing to attempt to charge these innocent
citizens. Secka and his foreign prosecutors are still kicking and screaming,
refusing to go to trial in the higher courts where the case really belongs.
The last I heard, Secka is still having problems getting the accused persons
to plead to these bogus and illegal charges. He is using every technicality
in the book in order to prolong the unlawful incarceration of the wrongly
accused persons. I can guarantee you that he will fail in the end. But in
the meantime, these poor citizens would have been jailed (wrongfully) thanks
to the corruption and ineptitude of Secka. Why did the man not advise Yaya
that he does not have legal legs to stand on? If he was a genius, he would
not have difficulty straightening out a moron like Yaya on this issue. But
Conteh, when this case is finally heard before a real court, it will spell
disaster for Yaya and Secka. There is more than meets the eye here. Suffice
for me to say that Secka cannot point to that case and claim any legal
victory. Everyone knows that the continued incarceration is illegal. Which
is why Secka is putting stumbling blocks in front of the lawyers that are
trying to appeal Haddy Roche's clearly erroneous ruling.
Conteh, I can go on and on talking about the Alimenta arbitration, the
unlawful sacking of Isatou Wadda, the proposed constitutional amendments,
the unlawful sacking of Johnson ….the list goes on.
In short, Secka, is neither a brilliant man nor a decent human being. And
bear in mind that we only touched on some of his official activities during
the past few months.
KB



>From: Lamine Conteh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Dear Mr. Cheyassin Secka
>Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 22:37:31 -0500
>
>Mr. E. Ceesay:
>
>I salute you for your message.  We must look forward and continue on our
>fight for a decent Gambia.  Cheyassin has betrayed his ardent supporters.
>
>In the case of Tombong, I want to let you know that he seems to be the
>mouthpiece of everyone puppet.  During our meeting at the Gambian embassy
>in Washington, DC., I was shocked at his ignorance.  A person in that
>capacity, who is only interested in self-promotion will defy every
>principle for his own advantage.
>
>Our Struggle must not be tarnished for simple disagreements.  In fact, we
>should learn from such and be able to admit even the simplest error in
>judgment.  An admittance of some inconsistencies will provide us assurance
>to a better identification of problems at hand.  No individual should
>profess to know everything.  We must be willing to work together in this
>struggle.
>
>May Allah grant us patience and determination.  May Allah give us the
>strength to climb the mountain.  May we witness a democratic Gambia, where
>we are judged on the basis of our integrity and character.
>
>Naphiyo,
>
>Comrade Muhammad Lamine Jassey-Conteh
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: Ebrima Ceesay <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Date: 12/20/00 9:28:24 PM
> > Subject: Re: Dear Mr. Cheyassin Secka
> >
> > Lamine Conteh:
> >
> > Good letter on Cheyassin Secka. This is the spirit. You'll be surprised,
>but
> > I equally know Cheyassin Secka. Some time ago, he wrote me a private
>e-mail
> > on Lawyer Isatou "Combeh" Njie, which I forwarded to L, at the time, and
> > Tombong Saidy sent an e-mail to the L, saying that the e-mail in
>question,
> > did not come from Pap Cheyassin.
> >
> > Why? Because, according to Tombong, Cheyassin Secka had referred to me
>as
> > "Dear Ebrima" in e-mail in question, which according to Tombong, implied
> > that Cheyassin knows me well. Tombong then said that Cheyassin does not
>know
> > me well enough to warrant him to address an e-mail to me with "Dear
>Ebrima".
> >
> > At the time, I ignored him (Tombong), but what Tombong, who was in US
>during
> > the transition period, did not know, was that Cheyassin had had a
>healthy
> > working relationship with us (The Daily Observer) during the coup
>period.
>We
> > published his series of articles entitled "Keeping The July 22 Movement
>On
> > Course".
> >
> > I have to tell you that I personally have had a very good working
> > relationship with Pap Cheyassin during the transition period, and it is
>no
> > exaggeration to say that Cheyassin, myself and Halifa were among the
>most
> > vocal Gambians in the Gambia, during the transition period. And I was in
> > fact the one who arranged all the interviews he (Cheyassin) gave to the
>BBC
> > in particular. So you can now see for yourself that I also know
>Cheyassin
>to
> > some extent.
> >
> > But what you have to note is that we have now passed a stage, in this
> > struggle, when we have to choose between who we should criticise or not.
> > Whoever has been a party to the destruction of our country will not be
> > spared, regardless of whether the person is a relative or a friend. They
>are
> > as culpable as Yahya Jammeh in terrorising, murdering and incarcerating
> > innocent Gambians.
> >
> > I hope this sets the record straight: the truth will always be known in
>the
> > final analysis.
> >
> > Cheers and my best wishes!
> >
> > Ebrima Ceesay
> > Birmingham, UK.
> >
>_________________________________________________________________________
> > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at
>http://www.hotmail.com.
> >
> >
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>
>--- Lamine Conteh
>--- [log in to unmask]
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