COUP IN THE GAMBIA ELEVEN
My program for this week and next is so tight that I
almost cancelled this posting. But on a second
thought, and especially not to disappoint my readers I
decided to come up with a short one.
 However there are some comments I like to make on two
special issues; i.e., the opposition's great boost to
finally boot the Yaya dictatorship out of power in
October, in the wake of the death of Decree 89 and the
role the armed forces is expected to play in the
campaign, voting and final declaration of the end of
the APRC government.
To start with there is no doubt in my mind that the
repealing of the decree added more firepower to the
arsenals of the opposition force. With or without the
decree, I was positive that the Gambia had had enough
with "Yaya Bokassa Jammeh" the second dictator in the
history of modern African politics to order the
massacre of armless school children on ordinary
demonstration. That crime alone, forgetting all the
other heinous crimes committed by Yaya during his
reign of terror is enough to see him gone for good.
And I know for sure that the Gambian people as a
result would not allow him to remain another minute
that day in October when the people's votes show it
clear and indisputable to the whole world.
What the Gambian electorate should brace up for is the
possible futile resistance Yaya would attempt to put
up to stay in power by force. General Guai of Ivory
Coast tried it; Milosovic also tried it; but as
typical of dictators in their last moments, they
always end up being victims of the very forces they
built to protect them. For instance, in the cases of
Ivory Coast and Yugoslavia, the tyrants became wimps
when the security forces realized that the future of
the nation far outweighed the interest of one person
whose record as their leader merely brought them
embarrassment, horror and death. So they turned the
cannons on their master and stood by the popular
voices of the people.
To think that Yaya abrogated this decree out of
logical analysis and politically-fair conclusion, and
that he deserved to be commended for it is at best a
seriously misplaced judgement. Yaya's decision on this
one came out of a no-other-choice option. Anything
otherwise would have pitted him against the wrath of
the Gambian opposition forces and the international
community at large. He was aware of the intolerance of
everybody towards his intransigence on this decree. He
had "bilahi and walahi" the world on numerous public
forums swearing never to compromise the decree or
allow the banned politicians to participate actively
again. He had also threatened them with more verbal
terror, with his notorious six-feet-deep warning. But
when he realized that the likes of Mr. Omar Jallow (
O.J.) were no longer intimidated by his childish
threat, coupled with the fact that the international
community was no longer prepared to accept his
stonewalling attitude in this issue, the dictator
bowed down in fear. Yes, it was nothing but fear that
drove him to such a decision. For that reason I
believe all commendations should be saved for the
international-pressure forces and those dynamic
opposing elements that kept up the heat on Yaya to the
end.
O.J. was awesome in this battle for reasons genuinely
justifiable. Despite his total innocence of any given
crime other than being a former minister in the former
PPP government-if that was a crime at all- like Buba
Baldeh was, O. J. on numerous occasions was arrested,
tortured, incarcerated and humiliated in every way
imaginable. But like Mr. Lamin Waa Juwara, every ill
treatment they received from the hands of the bandits
merely galvanized their fortitude and determination to
fight harder for their holy course. These are the men
who deserve the special commendation. For Yaya, he was
like a wanted psychopath on an evasive trail until
cornered at a dead end and given an ultimatum to
either surrendering or faced the risk of being smoked
out with lethal gas (a classic fate of a fat "dirmo"
with a relentless hunter). The guy therefore should at
most be laughed at and classified as nothing but the
coward he is.
It was also funny to learn that the six-feet-deep
threat was repeated at the time of his unhappy
abrogation statement to those opposition elements
affected. Well, that was a good tactic to reassure his
blind followers and give them the hope that he was
still the same tough idol they should continue to
worship. That was the child in him entertaining his
hopeless ego.
As I said earlier, I was left with no doubt that, come
October, the Gambians will get rid of Yaya even with
Decree 89 in place; but now that the moron has been
forced to abrogate it, I would say that the die is
finally cast. Yaya has put the last nail on his
coffin.
My warning to him now is to be mindful of his last
days. They are as dangerous as things were in the
beginning when treachery, betrayal and individual
interest characterized the actions of those very close
to him. It would be a costly mistake if he tries to
use the armed forces against the popular desire of the
Gambian people. So the easier he tries to leave the
scene with minimal trouble the better for him and of
course for those blindly loyal to him who could be
dragged along with him to the abyss of doom.
Come October, the majority of the soldiers will not be
part of any ill-conceived plan to force the APRC
government onto the Gambian people. It is now evident
to most of them that Yaya's administration is for the
benefit of few but not the majority of them. Those few
ones would however try few tricks that they would live
to regret in the end. In the end, those soldiers with
the positive thought of taking the Gambia forward
would prevail.
As for those of you who think that Yaya is a
dependable ally, just stop for a moment and reflect on
those who had once committed their lives to protecting
him with blind zealotry, and the way he rewarded them
in the end. Take for instance the case of the late
Almamo Manneh who used to say that for anyone had
intended to hurt Yaya that person must step over his
dead body first before reaching "Boss". Remember the
special and close relationship that had existed
between Landing Sanneh and Yaya. They were like blood
brothers. Sanneh would have done anything to keep Yaya
in power. Now Sanneh is facing charges of treason in a
kangaroo court martial while Almamo was sent six-foot
deep. Consider the number of soldiers murdered under
Yaya's rule without serious evidence to motivate the
killing. If these men had been a little more cautious
in their actions to satisfy his whims, perhaps Yaya
would have also been careful in the manner he
eliminated them. But because he had given them bad
names by manipulating them into committing all kinds
of political and social crimes, he relied on their
unpopularity and delivered them his killer blows
When Yaya ordered the shooting of the school children
last year, he came back from Cuba pretending not to
know how it happened. When Koro Ceesay was murdered in
1995, Yaya as usual, tried to give the impression to
the Ceesay family that he had had nothing to do with
it.
When most of your colleagues were cold-bloodedly
executed in November 11th 1994 on his orders and
dumped latrines pits, Yaya later claimed innocent of
that crime. In most of the crimes committed under
Yaya's directive, it had always been the ordinary
soldier who had been blamed for them.
In October, however all crimes committed by Yaya would
be brought to the open, and there would be competent
judges to look at each case one by one.
Take it from me. The forces that have now been
assembled to get rid of Yaya this time could destroy
his equals ten times and more. The need to dismantle
the fabric of the APRC is of both national and
international concern now. It will therefore be done
either from the inside or outside. But October would
not miss. You could bet on that statement.
Going back to my usual narrative of the events of the
July 1994 coup, I remember the end of my last piece on
the torturous night of that September night. It was
one of the most frightening incidents we experienced
in jail. Anyway after the police C.I.D. took our
statements for possible submission to the reviewing
board, we became fairly faithful that there would be
something done about our detention situation after
all.
At the end of September, for reasons we really could
not understand, word came from the army headquarters
letting us know that our monthly salaries were still
being paid, and that we could withdraw the money
anytime we wanted it. How that decision was made was
anybody's guess. It was a life-saving gesture with a
positive boost to our images in the eyes of the prison
authorities that showed total dismay over the matter.
They could not understand the logic in our cases
anymore. As a matter of fact, a good number of them
began to genuinely sympathize with us. They started
talking to us about their personal problems laden with
financial burden and career disorientation. As prison
guards, most of them thought they were harder workers
than the police who earned more than they did; yet
they had greater preference to military career than
any security work available in the country.
So with money in our hands we began to buy favors from
them. With D5.00, we could keep forks and knives to
eat with instead of the only acceptable bare hands.
For D25.00 we could write letters to our family
members which they would deliver, bring back replies
and smuggle in the daily newspapers. With D2.50, they
would be willing to take any letters to the post
office and mail them to any part of the world without
asking a question, even if it was boldly addressed to
the BBC, Focus on Africa or the editor of the Daily
Observer. From that time on up to the time I was set
free in 1995, we kept constantly writing to every news
media we thought could help by making our helpless
position known to the world. Ebou Colly was our pen
name. We wrote some foreign embassies in The Gambia
asking for their help.  Interestingly, some time
later, the American Ambassador Andrew Winters secured
a permit with his aid, Mr. Knight and paid us a visit
in jail. By then the rules were so relaxed that we
were allowed to read books openly without fear of
having it confiscated and or destroyed. So the
Americans, after their visit, sent us sufficient
reading materials that reduced our boredom
tremendously. Anyway they were very upset with the
government's action to keep us where they found us
without charges or trial. They just could not
understand why, but they left us with encouraging
words that the whole world was watching our cases, and
that they had been warning the AFPRC government over
our final fate.
In October, we began for the first time to enjoy
having visitors from our family members. Those who
wanted to visit us were to get their permission from
Sana Sabally, at his office in Banjul.
At the end of October, the AFPRC government released
the following officers:
1. Captain Momodou Sonko
2. Captain Alieu Ndure
3. Lieutenant Sonko (former presidential guard
commander)
4. Second Lieutenant Alagie Kanteh
5. Second Lieutenant Alpha Kinteh
6. Second Lieutenant Yankuba Drammeh
Captain Sonko and Lieutenant Sonko were retired from
the armed forces while the rest were reinstated back
to their jobs. None of them had to face any review
committee or anything to determine their eligibility
for freedom.
Sabally was interviewed over BBC about the first
release and he said that those remaining under
detention could be released soon. The prison guards
misunderstood the statement and came telling us that
Sabally had said that we were to go home by next week
or so. And most of us believed it. The guards became
super friendly and started to address some of us with
compliments like sir and boss. Anyway in most cases
their politeness or friendliness was indirectly wired
to the Dalasis in our pockets.
Hopes of gaining our freedom soon kept us in a highly
euphoric mood. We thought our release was going to be
done in an eventful manner, most probably by the
second week of November, exactly on Remembrance Day.
Our hopes were short lived. In the early hours of
November 11th, 1994, the unusual voices of men in a
state of what sounded like serious distress woke some
of us up. I think it was Lieutenant Gomez who called
my attention to the voices outside. It reminded us of
the 6th of September. But after what seemed to be a
short but heated argument among the mysterious voices,
they boarded a vehicle and drove away towards the
Kombos.
The quietness that followed plus the relief that it
was after all nothing to do with us seemed to have
sedated me into a very deep sleep.
The sermon for dawn prayer that always came from the
main yard where the common criminals lived added some
element of assurance to my hope that things were as
normal as ever.
However at 8:00 a.m., the guards failed to show up for
their routine morning duties. That included opening
the main door to the block to check for everyone's
presence and later let us out to have our morning
showers and do other cleaning and washing. But that
morning the guards arrived very late. And when they
arrived they stayed outside talking to themselves and
refused to talk to us.
Soon the whispers began to circulate about the
presence of heavily armed guards in large numbers
mounting the four watchtowers above the prison
facility. The guards were identified as State Guard
personnel-Yaya's guards. It was a state of full alert
until Sana Sabally passed with his irritating siren
from the Kombos towards Banjul. That was around 9.30
a.m.
Shortly after, the guards climbed down and went back
to duty at State House. We were finally allowed few
minutes each to do all our cleaning , took our showers
and returned to our cells. Nothing like going out
under the sun to feel its heat and breathe the fresh
air was allowed.
There was an absolute conspiracy of silence among the
guards about what had happened. Evidently the
atmosphere was charged with an eerie tension full of
doubt and fear. As financially needy as they were the
guards soon started talking when we paid for the
information. With D15.00, they narrated the story they
witnessed the previous night.
According to the guards who strongly believed that the
soldiers had attempted an abortive coup, all of those
arrested were brought over to the prisons and
remanded. The late Lt. Barrow, Lt. Faal et al were all
there. But shortly after they were locked up, the
council members met among themselves and argued for a
moment. Then they made a telephone call to the State
House before asking them to get the men out again and
hand them over. They did as they were told, and they
left with them back from where they came. Lt. Barrow
and Faal were killed upon their arrival at Fajara
Barracks. Some escaped to Cassamance and the rest were
summarily executed during the next two days. Lt. Saye
was among the ones killed on Sunday the 13th of
November.
We were at first told that Captain Sonko was among
those who took part in the abortive coup and that he
was arrested somewhere. The information killed our
spirits for a good whole day until a second report
reached us that none of the released detainees from us
was involved. As to when we were going to be set free
again, the hope of it being soon died in our minds. We
simply began to pray that the monsters would not one
day get bloodthirsty and come for us again. The
feeling that the GNA soldiers had for the first time
slaughtered one another in such a barbaric manner gave
us the final wake-up call about the animals we were
dealing with. I can't remember who it was but one of
us put it this way: "The GNA has now lost its
innocence".
As for Sana Sabally, that was the time he started
showing signs of losing his mental stability up to
when the AFPRC members decided to frame and
incarcerate him with his most trusted comrade, the
Late Sadibou Haidara.
I will deal with the arrest and detention of these two
men next time. I spent four months with them in jail.
The torture they were subjected to was unacceptable,
regardless of what. It definitely contributed to the
death of Haidara.


Ebou Colly




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