Ebrima Sillah, first of all let me congratulate you for the brilliant piece
you sent to the BBC yesterday (Tuesday, August 21, 2001). I just finished
reading it. It is fair reporting and although there are one or two issues
there that I do not agree with, all the same it is a brilliant piece. For
what it is worth! Great Job. Remind me of Ebrima Ceesay. I hope you take
that as a compliment. As you probably know, I have a lot of respect for
Ebrima.
Going to the topic of discussion. Frankly, I did NOT know much about the
Darboe case with the commission. As a result, I found your piece, together
with that of Buhary’s and Sanusi’s quite interesting. To be honest with you
though, I was so disgusted with Joseph Joof that I do NOT want to discuss
the merits or demerits of the government’s case against Darboe (or lack
thereof). That is why I counseled the Opposition yesterday to just ignore
Joof’s irrational rattling until the IEC rejects Darboe’s papers.
As you pointed out, one does not need a law degree to figure out that Joof
and APRC have no legs to stand on here. These commissions were just
witch-hunts to justify the government’s illegal seizure of citizens’
properties. That’s all. Extortion sanctioned by Decrees and a hateful bunch
of Gambians willing to administer those bogus Decrees. We know those
commissions were not about eradication of corruption. Yaya and his cohorts
are far more corrupt than any Gambian on the face of the earth. When it is
all said and done, Gambians will discover that at the same time these thugs
were passing these Decrees, they were looting our government coffers. When
they were shouting about transparency and accountability, they were at the
same time chartering planes with suit-case-loads of dollars from Taiwan and
delivering the loot to Yaya under cover of darkness. The vermin are not
interested in wiping out corruption. To enrich themselves through corrupt
means is why they stole power from a democratically elected government. The
low-lives stole power because they wanted to live flamboyant lifestyles in
Fajara. That is what this coup was about. That was why few days after the
coup they allowed Jawara’s family back to the country to collect their
belongings. Why did the vermin not seize those belongings if they believed
that Jawara stole all he got? The vermin were happy Jawara was leaving them
to loot our country.
Joseph Joof’s case against Darboe is akin to what our Police used to call
‘foolish case’ when people had silly problems with their neighbors and end
up at the Police Station. As I said, I would NOT get into the nitty-gritty.
But suffice for me to say that all of you raise some very pertinent issues.
There is the issue of whether Darboe was under the purview of the
commissions (not being a public servant). As Buhary pointed out, there is
also the issue of whether the findings of the commission vis-à-vis Darboe
still holds in light of Darboe’s appeal and the case’s subsequent dismissal.
We forget about the issue of the ‘public servant’ tag and Darboe’s appeal,
and we are still saddled with other issues. You touched on the underlying
case and the wisdom of the commission’s findings in light of the allegations
leveled against Darboe.
As you can tell, the government has various hurdles to surmount in order to
make this purported ban stick. Mental midgets like Joseph Joof do NOT stand
a chance in front of legal luminaries like Darboe when these matters end up
in court. You think the IEC can pull this off before the elections? The
courts are currently on vacation and are supposed to resume October 1.
Granted, the Supreme Court can be summoned on an emergency basis to tackle
such issues. But come on. This is laughable. If Joseph Joof takes this to
court, he would be ran out of the place like his cohort (Pap Cheyassin
Secka) when the latter wanted to illegally incarcerate Darboe in the
aftermath of the Basse Ambush. How many times have we told the mental
midgets that even the best legal minds cannot defend this government’s
indefensible positions, let alone morons like Joseph Joof? As I said
yesterday, the man is just digging his grave. The same fate that befell Pap
Cheyassin Secka will befall Joseph Joof. Before he loses his job, he would
have alienated the whole Gambian society. Like Secka, after he is dismissed,
he would start hiding from good folk.
There is absolutely ‘no case to answer’ in this matter. Darboe should go
about his business and continue the campaign. APRC are just panicking. They
can see the writing clearly on the wall. They know their days are numbered.
Now, they are making all sorts of desperate moves in order to steal the
elections. Gambians must stand firm and NOT allow that to happen. The vermin
do NOT have an agenda to move the country FORWARD. They know their leaders
are NOT qualified to lead us. They can only resort to criminal behavior in
order to stay in power. Enough is enough. No bunch of thugs will hold our
country hostage. Down with Yaya and his callous and corrupt regime.
KB
>From: Ebrima Sillah <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Joseph Joof and APRC Pulls another one
>Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 22:22:47 +0100
>
>Dampha,
>
>I find this topic very interesting. I however would
>like to ask few questions on the issue.
>
>(1) Was Darboe a public officer when he apeared before
>the Commission?
>(2) As a lawyer are you supose to run after your
>clients to prosecute their case especially when they
>show little interest in it?
>(3) This commission case Joof is now referring to...i
>could remember covering it. I could remember also
>Darboe saying to the commission that he processed all
>the papers before the courts and what he was waiting
>for from his clients was for them to give him the go
>ahead as well as produce the witnesses. So in a
>situation like this does a lawyer have to keep
>pestering the jude and the courts especially when the
> accusers have not come up with anything for their
>lawyer to pursue?
>(4) Another important question that i think should be
>cleared is (though am not a lawyer)...when a stay of
>execution is before a court can that same issue be
>taken as a case against an accused or a litigant?
>
>If all these questions can be properly answered then
>we will i think get to the bottom of this case.
>Because as far as i could remember(am not sure whether
>is correct)..Darboe had appealed against the case.
>But i will be very important too for Darboe himself to
>clear the doubt. Am currently out of the country
>covering events in Dakar and the neighbouring
>countries so there is little info i can give on this
>case but hopefully when i return God willing i will
>check my records on this case.
>
>E Sillah.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--- Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >
>Brother, I got to tell you that this is the biggest
> > provocation I have seen
> > so far in this election season. I NEVER thought that
> > I will say that some
> > one was ‘dumber’ than Yaya. But Joseph Joof has just
> > broken a record. The
> > irrational rattling coming from this man is simply
> > mind-boggling. This is
> > what the Gambian taxpayer got for giving Joseph Joof
> > the opportunity to get
> > a scholarship (during the Jawara regime) to go and
> > study law in Britain at a
> > time that daughters of cabinet ministers like
> > Sheriff Sisay were denied
> > scholarships. At least Yaya can say that he did NOT
> > finish his education.
> > All he got was what the ‘poor’ Jawara ‘education’
> > could offer. Joof was
> > given the BEST opportunities one can get. The vermin
> > CANNOT say that his
> > parents worked to put him in school in Britain. He
> > used his connections in
> > the Jawara regime to get a scholarship. This Wallace
> > Grant he is citing
> > played a part in who Joseph Joof is today.
> >
> > Like you said, this is the surest way the vermin can
> > plunge our country into
> > turmoil. Under no circumstances would these
> > elections be stolen. Since the
> > Opposition does not have an agenda and AFPRC/APRC
> > does, I wonder why the
> > cowards are so scared of a fair fight of agendas and
> > ideas. Let Yaya run
> > even though there are questions about his
> > citizenship. We are NOT afraid of
> > him. We know the vermin CANNOT be elected if he was
> > running for class
> > president in High School. All the AFPRC/APRC
> > apparatus has is character
> > assassination, hate, threats, and lies. Without
> > their AK-47s, they are
> > NOTHING.
> >
> > If they are NOT lying about Jawara, they are
> > threatening people. If they are
> > NOT lying about SM Dibba, they are trying to pit
> > PDOIS against NRP or UDP.
> > That’s all the vermin are good at. Check the
> > Observer (the APRC mouthpiece)
> > and see whether you will see plans about the future
> > of our country. All you
> > see is lies upon lies about SM Dibba, Dembo Bojang,
> > ‘Jawara is coming home,
> > let us hide under the beds’ and all sorts of silly
> > tales. You go to GRTS,
> > all you hear is ‘defections’. According to the
> > morons, the whole country has
> > ‘defected’ to the APRC. Yet they are scared to death
> > to contest elections.
> > Well, they just came up with the silliest one. Joof
> > is now taking Yaya from
> > the frying pan to the fire. Banning Darboe is far
> > more catastrophic than
> > banning the Decree 89 politicians. If they think
> > that they were under some
> > pressure to ‘un-ban’ the Decree 89 people, they have
> > seen nothing yet.
> >
> > Joseph Joof has gone mad again.
> > KB
> >
> >
> >
> > >From: Hamjatta Kanteh <[log in to unmask]>
> > >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing
> > list
> > ><[log in to unmask]>
> > >To: [log in to unmask]
> > >Subject: Re: Joseph Joof and APRC Pulls another one
> > >Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 15:24:55 EDT
> > >
> > >Now Joof and his paymaster, Jammeh, have really
> > gone bonkers. Fancy now
> > >spurrious charges/rulings by a kangaroo court that
> > is illegal - by all
> > >sense
> > >of definition of that word - suffices to legally
> > rule out Mr Darbo as the
> > >Alliance's presidential candidate. Has the APRC
> > leadership really thought
> > >through the logical implications of what they are
> > trying to hatch here?
> > >Have
> > >they considered the political impasse that will
> > ensue when they try to
> > >stymie
> > >the Gambian people's peaceful and polite efforts -
> > through democratic means
> > >-
> > >to ask Jammeh to go? Any astute political observer
> > would not fail to
> > >recognise the potentiality of Joof's declaration or
> > veiled threat to the
> > >Alliance to draw Gambia into the political
> > territory of violence and
> > >uncertainty. To avert such a scenario, the
> > goofballs "running" our country
> > >should stop using and or invoking these legalese
> > subversions as a
> > >masquerade
> > >to force through their illegal political agenda.
> > >
> > >The APRC, still reeling from the after-effects of
> > the Alliance's Brikama
> > >rally, know fully well that if they don't go about
> > subversively meddling
> > >with
> > >the electoral process, their days are definitely
> > numbered; and the
> > >countdown
> > >may have well started last Sunday in Brikama. So
> > they decided to get their
> > >consiglieri - i.e., a mafiosi legal adviser to
> > make underhand tactics look
> > >legal and normal - Joof to get to work on possible
> > means to legally rule
> > >out
> > >the Alliance's endorsed candidature of Mr Darbo.
> > They are in for a rude
> > >shock
> > >if they imagine they can subvert the Alliance's
> > legitimate endorsement
> > >candidature of Mr Darbo. For all that it is worth,
> > if the APRC presses
> > >ahead
> > >with this legalese sleight of hand, the first
> > consequence would be a
> > >complete
> > >disarray of the presidential elections; and from
> > there, things can only go
> > >downhill. I hope Joof was honest enough to tell
> > that to his paymaster.
> > >There
> > >are no ifs, buts and maybes here: any legalese
> > subversion that seeks to
> > >undermine the Alliance's legitimate democratic
> > pursuits, will result to a
> > >complete political disengagement and in extension
> > political choas. We are
> > >talking about a total boycott of the elections if
> > the APRC goes ahead with
> > >its underhand tactics. There is no middle course
> > here.
> > >
> > >As far as things go with the Alliance, i strongly
> > recommend that this new
> > >legalese nonsense from the APRC be given the
> > contempt it deserves. This is
> > >nothing but a legalese sleight of hand the APRC
> > intends to invoke when the
> > >going gets tough vis-a-vis the current presidential
> > elections. The Alliance
> > >ought to out come with a strong condemnation of
> > this current legalese
> > >sleight
> > >of hand from the APRC and say that under no
> > cirmcumstances would this
> > >illegal
> > >regime dictate to them how they pursue their
> > inviolable democratic
> > >freedoms.
> > >It must be made unequivocally clear that no
> > executive meddling of the
> > >current
> > >electoral process would be tolerated. The Alliance
> > should never dither when
> > >the APRC illegally try - through its executive
> > powers - to subvert the
> > >political process: it must resolutely condemn such
> > actions and or threats
> > >and
> > >appropriately deal with them. Which takes me to the
> > question: since was
> > >Joof
> > >as AG empowered to police who is eligible and
> > ineligible to stand for
> > >elective office in the Gambia? I thought their
> > toilet paper constitution
> > >has
> > >divested those powers away from the executive and
> > they reside with the IEC?
> > >Is Joof doing his homework these days? Signs of a
> > man losing his grip?
> > >
> > > Knowing fully that their goofball of a candidate
> > - Jammeh - is going down
> > >come October, the APRC resorts to these underhand
> > political shenanigans to
> > >subvert the wishes of the Gambian peoples. The
> > Gambian peoples would under
> >
>=== message truncated ===
>
>____________________________________________________________
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