Talks about reconciliation begs the question: what is there to forgive
about? In the current Gambian context it is the Dictatorship that is
yearning for forgiveness from the population it had held hostage for almost
eight years now. Granted, there are some twisted minds in the heart of the
Dictatorship that also think that the general population that is also
opposed to the Dictatorship owes the Dictatorship an ‘apology’ for pointing
out that the Dictatorship killed our children, stole our money and is
rendering our people poorer. Needless to say, this perverted and absurd
reasoning does NOT even deserve discussion. Clearly, the Dictatorship CANNOT
undo some of the heinous crimes it has committed. The Dictatorship is also
NOT showing us any signs that it is willing to repent its crimes and
promised to NEVER repeat them. There is no question that the people that
call Yaya and his cohorts child murderers and thieves owe NO apology
whatsoever to the Dictatorship. We have concrete proof that the Dictatorship
slaughtered our children in broad daylight. We also have concrete proof that
the Dictatorship is stealing from us. Until they prove otherwise, they
deserve NO apology from us.
How can the Dictatorship prove otherwise (than we are accusing them)? First
of all they have to respect the laws of our country. Extending a hand to
Jawara is neither here nor there. The Dictatorship has a bigger beef with
the Gambian people. What Yaya has with Jawara is NOTHING come to think of it
now. It is now clear to everyone that wants to see reality that Jawara did
NOT see his overthrow as a CRIME committed against Gambians. If he did, he
would still be fighting for ordinary Gambians to sort out that crime. He saw
his overthrow as a displeasure to himself and his children and wives. Which
is why he is now prepared to act as a culprit that needs ‘amnesty’ from the
Dictatorship. Since there are tens of thousands (if not hundreds of
thousands) of Gambians that suffered the same ‘personal’ predicament as
Jawara, that dilutes his displeasure. One would be mistaken to see Jawara as
a symbol of the criminal behavior of the AFPRC thugs on July 22, 1994. The
man repudiated that symbolism by capitulating to his tormentors. It is
high-time people that bestowed him that honor wake up and smell the coffee
and also repudiate the man. Look at Jawara like any ordinary Gambian that
was displaced because of the events of July 22, 1994. That is how the man is
looking at himself and how he wants people to look at him. Of course no one
can take away from him his past contributions to the country. Having said
that our judgment should NOT be clouded by those achievements to the extent
that we do NOT see his present blunders. Our vision of Jawara should NOT be
fixated on the ‘old Pa’ that led us to independence and beyond. That is now
history.
Let us just examine ONE heinous atrocity the Dictatorship wants forgiveness
for. Let me hasten here to add that by focusing on this atrocity I by no
means attempt to minimize the other equally heinous acts of this regime. By
talking about the massacre of our children in this context I am NOT
suggesting that this crime is more important than the summary execution of
the soldiers buried in pits at Yundum Barracks. Neither am I saying that the
April Massacre is more important than the cold-blooded murder of Ebrima
Barry, the numerous abductions, torture, and other abuses going on in the
country. But to me, this is the most glaring CRIME that people talking about
reconciliation CANNOT run away from.
This is a crime they CANNOT deny happened. When this government slaughtered
fine soldiers like Lieutenant Saye, they denied that it happened. They even
chastised Saye’s father for ‘complaining’ about the death of his son. When
Ebrima Barry was murdered, a bogus prosecution connived with some Cuban
doctors in the country to ensure that the killers of Ebrima Barry were
rendered scot-free, blaming his death on some kidney illness no one knew
about before the boy was kidnapped by some firemen and tortured to death.
The government and its sycophants always have some explanation for why they
abducted innocent citizens like Dumo and why they tortured certain
journalists etc. They always have an explanation for their crimes.
But the massacre of our children is ONE CRIME they have been unable to
explain away. Instead what they did was to tacitly admit guilt by
‘insulating’ the perpetrators of that heinous crime. There is no question in
my mind that Yaya gave the fateful orders to massacre our children. Everyone
in the illegal APRC government knows that. Every Gambian (including Jawara
and SM Dibba) knows that. Most of these APRC stalwarts are on record with
‘close’ families and friends saying that Yaya crossed the line when he
sanctioned the murder of innocent children. But they turn around and
‘worship’ the man and hope that people would be ‘Gambian’ enough to overlook
their despicable deeds. They hope that people still live in the age when all
government vices are ‘acceptable’.
Now that we are faced with the REALITY that more than twelve innocent lives
are lost because a CRIME was committed on April 10 and 11, 2000, the
question then arises: what do we do about that as a society? This I submit
is NOT a complicated question at all. Loaded words such as ‘reconciliation’,
‘forgiveness’, ‘repentance’, should NOT factor in anywhere in our analysis
of this question. Gambia was NOT a lawless state on April 10, 2000. The
country had laws and still has the same laws more or less. Those laws
categorically state what needs to be done with criminals. There is nowhere
in the laws where it says that if Yaya and his cohorts commit crimes they
should not be prosecuted because the country wants ‘reconciliation’. Even
Yaya and his cohorts do NOT believe that, which is why they have the
Indemnity Decree. They know crimes have to be investigated, solved, and
prosecuted in court according to the laws of the land. From the word go this
is what the government had resolved to avoid. Starting from forming a bogus
commission of inquiry to bringing Jawara to the country in the dead of
night, this government is all the time trying to run away from the laws of
the country and the crimes it has committed against our children.
We should NOT allow that. The way we treat certain crimes in our society
says a lot about what kind of people we are. There is no crime in the book
that is more heinous than the massacre of innocent children. Why should we
treat this crime as a garden variety stealing? Why should we disregard our
laws because we want to cover up this most heinous crime? I really want to
know the compelling reason behind the argument of people (other than the
murderers that want to save their skins) that want us to sweep this CRIME
under the rug in the name of ‘reconciliation’. In other words, I would
really want to know why some in the ‘Opposition’ think that they have the
right to hijack the grief of Gambians and tell Yaya that it is OK to ignore
our laws and we ‘forgive’ him for the massacre of our children. Why don’t
the families of the victims deserve justice? What will be so wrong about
having Yaya stand up in ‘court’ and defend his actions according to the laws
of the land he is supposed to safeguard?
Talks about ‘reconciliation’ is premature. I hope Yaya and his cohorts
realize that gimmicks like kissing and making up with Jawara just takes care
of whatever PERSONAL problems Yaya had with Jawara. Jawara CANNOT ‘forgive
and forget’ on behalf of the Gambian people crimes such as the massacre of
our children. I dare even say that Jawara CANNOT ‘forgive and forget’ on our
behalf the illegal usurpation of power in July 1994. However, Jawara can
forgive and forget about the numerous LIES AFPRC/APRC told about him. He can
forgive Yaya and his cohorts about the lies they told concerning him and
some crude oil deals. He can forgive Yaya and his cohorts for lying that he
has done nothing for the country. He can forgive Yankuba Touray for
threatening him just few months ago and saying that he was a corrupt person.
He can forgive the vermin for denying him and his family their ‘luxurious’
lives they left in the country to go live in exile. He can forgive them for
confiscating his properties. BUT Jawara can NEVER hijack our grief and
forgive these criminals on our behalf.
KB
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