Joe/Sanusi,

The one-year custodial sentence imposed by Yahya Jammeh on his accomplice,
Lang Conteh, is tantamount to an injury followed by an insult upon Gambians.
In essence, Yahya Jammeh is telling Gambians ''I will continue to do as I
please.'' As certain as the sun rises from the east, there should likewise
be no doubt in anyone's mind that the plea bargain and the subsequent
one-year sentence imposed upon Lang was entirely macro-managed and directed
by Yahya Jammeh. Just upon his indictment by the government, Lang Conteh had
made it very clear to sources close to him that he was not going down alone
and that he would at minimum drag Yahya Jammeh in the mud with him even if
the repercussions were to be to his (Lang's) own ultimate demise. He knew
too much and had carried out so many unscrupulous domestic and international
financial transactions on behalf of the government; the government now being
a covert term for Yahah Jammeh, of course. Lang is said to have mentioned to
some of his friends that during the course of his service and errands on
behalf Yahya Jammeh, he (Lang) had been keeping records in the Gambia and as
well as with his trustees abroad. Lang claimed to have been doing that to
prepare himself for the eventuality that Yahya Jammeh might sacrifice or
betray him one day just as he does to everyone close to him. Would a person
who betrays an entire nation have any qualms for doing exactly that to
parasites like him?
Our rogue president was not however prepared to take any chance with the
possibility of another massive scandal directly involving him after the
Taiwanese loan/Swiss Bank saga. Consequently, he must have reasoned that the
best way out for both himself and Afang Lang was to impose a plea bargain on
the defendant. A plea bargain, I suppose usually involves an element of
negotiation between both parties which in the relevant case would have been
between Lang conteh and his defence team on one side and Yahya Jammeh and
his legal team of mercenery lawyers and judge on the other for the State. In
Lang Conteh's case, even if there were any negotiations, it would have been
very limited and centred on their mutual needs not to disclose the truth
before the world in exchange for a very lenient sentence. I must admit, I
was expecting that Lang Conteh would be sentenced to at least nine years
which in my view would still have been lenient. BUT ONE YEAR!  As a Gambian,
I feel so insulted and continue to be taken for a ride by the President of
my country. I was expecting nine years because of precedents: Sana Sabally
was sentenced to 9 years; Landing Sanneh also got 9 years and Baba Jobe, 9
years as well. Deep in his heart, Lang Conteh must be celebrating while
Jammeh continues his mockery of Gambians but he who mocks last, mocks the
best. Anyway, I ought to have known better than expecting Yahya 'gujoh' to
give a severe sentence to one of his 40 thieves.
Anti-corruption crusade under Yahya Jammeh is the greatest sham and farce
ever in the history of the Gambia. Where else on earth can the 'dirrmoh'
have the moral authority to sentence or rebuke the 'jannahs' for stealing
the peanuts of the poor farmers?  Only in the Gambia. Is n't the dirrmoh the
bigger culprit?


Bailo.


>From: Joe Sambou <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: LANG CONTEH: A VILLAIN OR VICTIM OR BOTH?
>Date: Thu, 19 May 2005 15:41:04 +0000
>
>Bailo, a grand jury shall be commissioned for all these scams and all,
>including the judges and lawyers involved are going to be brought in for
>fact finding.  Lang can go ahead and rest for ten months at Mile II, but he
>will serve the rest of his term come 2006.  Lang owed the people of Gambia
>in excess of $10 million.  What he really stole from the people was
>understated, he paid no penalty in money and prison time, and the time
>value
>of the money he deprived the Gambian people (interest) is irrelevant to the
>prosecutor and the judge.  This is really a travesty of justice.
>
>Just yesterday, in Chicago, a millionaire by the name of James Duff, from
>the wealthy/Scheming Duff family was found guilty on seven counts for
>scamming the City of Chicago in awarding him a contract for $100 million.
>Given the corrupt operations of the "Machine" that runs the city, a certain
>percentage of the billions of dollars that the city awards in contracts is
>set aside for women and minorities.  The Duff Family and many like them
>(White Males) that are connected with City Hall (Mayor Daley) would crack
>the system by getting women and minorities to front as business owners to
>get these contracts, taking the trinkets that fell from the table from the
>shut out.  In this case, Duff used his mother and "a minority" (not ID, but
>most likely an "African American") to front for his company.  He was caught
>and sentenced to 10 years, yesterday.  In addition, he is to repay the city
>for the contract amount of $100 million, plus $22 million in penalties,
>$1.5
>million for scamming the Insurance Companies, and I believe another $2 to
>$4
>million to promote minority contractors.  Folks, if this is not sending a
>message to "White Males" I don't know what will.
>
>Now, contrast that with what Lang got and the poor that he defrauded and
>you
>see the rottenness and the joke of our Judges, prosecutors, and some
>lawyers
>in our country.  This defies comprehension.  Folks, this is how Africa's
>money is spent and at this rate, we shall remain not only third world, but
>we will border the ancient.   But, it is business as usual, with the tens
>of
>hangers ons and sycophants wailing for their benefactor, Lang.  This is the
>dual damage of corruption in the Gambia.  You steal big from the people,
>like Lang and Yaya, then you turn around and be the hero and the most
>generous and the very people you impoverished flock around you for fish
>money.  All the people that picked our pockets for the past forty years
>lived the same life.
>
>Thus, as a people, we like embezzlers and theft is encouraged.  This
>sickness is beyond Lang and Yaya, it is in our blood.  I have this belief
>that a lot that is Yaya and Lang is in us.  The same day Lang was
>officially
>booked for the easy at Mile II, we have our "Rich Uncle", Yaya, dish out D1
>million and all are joyous.  Our people know that neither Yaya nor they,
>can
>justify its earning, but as long as it is given to those players and others
>are going to mooch from those players, all is well.  In fact, many are now
>inspired to create feats to tap into that benevolence, all at the expense
>of
>the majority at the bottom.  In the process, we forget that our farmers are
>bone dry with poverty because they cannot sell their nuts for ten years
>running; folks are dropping dead due to lack of medicine and health care;
>tens of thousands of the youth are unemployed; the employed are drowning
>with the dead weight they carry with their meager salaries; Desperate times
>push descent folks to prostitution and and other vices; and un top of all
>this, the biggest killer in our continent, HIV/AIDS is rising.  And so,
>where is the optimism for Gambia/Africa?  How long shall this continue?
>
>Chi Jaama
>
>Joe
>
>>From: Bailo Jallow <[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: LANG CONTEH: A VILLAIN OR VICTIM OR BOTH?
>>Date: Thu, 19 May 2005 02:11:31 +0100
>>
>>When Lang Conteh entered a plea-bargain, in essence admitting guilt to
>>charges including theft of over 200 million Dalasis from the Central Bank
>>of
>>The Gambia, I opined the following:
>>
>>''From my very little grasp of law, I can dare concude that whereas what
>>Lang Conteh stands to profit from the plea bargain is by no means clear or
>>even certain to him as the defendant, the following is at least guaranteed
>>by the plea bargain: The APRC regime has at least temporarilly been
>>reprieved of very serious criminal disclosures on how a small clique of
>>criminals under the direct gaze of Yahya Jammeh robbed Gambians of unknown
>>millions of Dalasis. Had Lang Conteh mounted a very robust and vigorous
>>defence of his role in the APRC's regime theft of millions of Dalasis from
>>State coffers as he originally intended, the trail would have surely led
>>directly to Yahya Jammeh's mouth. In order to avert such a compounding
>>disaster on the grossly dishonest APRC leadership, Lang Conteh must have
>>been persuaded to enter into a plea bargain in exchange for a lenient
>>sentence from the State.''
>>
>>So it turned out that Lang Conteh got away with a very very lenient
>>sentence, indeed! Considering the amount of money he's been accused of
>>having squandered from the State's coffers which is said to be in excess
>>of
>>200 million Dalasis, a one-year custodial sentence is by all measures A
>>GREAT GET-AWAY for him. However, if Mr Conteh has been heard rightly in
>>his
>>reaction, he is quoted of having stated that ''this is not what we
>>agreed''.
>>Does his reaction mean that he was expecting a lesser sentence than he
>>got?
>>I guess so but that's beside the point. I would proceed to get this
>>unprecedented corruption scandal into some perspective.
>>Sometime last year a group of 4 unemployed boys in my neighbourhood of
>>Serekunda were convicted of having broken into a shop and stolen over a
>>thousand Dalasis of merchandise. They were subsequently each sentenced to
>>a
>>jail term of 2 years in prison. They are still rightly serving their
>>prison
>>terms. Whereas there could be no excuse for what they did which was
>>criminal
>>and therefore duly deserved their two-year custodial sentences, their
>>crimes
>>were directed against only a unit of interest i.e the shop owner and his
>>dependants and probably the feeling of insecurity caused within the
>>neighbourhood of the crime scene as well. In the case of Lang Conteh,
>>however, the crimes he committed was directed against the benefit or
>>interests of every Gambian man, woman and child and even future
>>generations
>>of Gambians yet to be borned. If there were any justice in our society,
>>Lang
>>Conteh would have had Mile II Central Prisons as his permanent address for
>>the rest of his life but we know ought to know better, that under the
>>government of Yahya Jammeh student demonstrators exercising their
>>God-given
>>human rights were sentenced to death by summary execution while those of
>>his
>>associates who are directly responsible for wreaking the havoc of poverty
>>on
>>the masses are sent on just a year's leave of absence from society. Let us
>>just contemplate how many Gambians could 200 million Dalasis lift out
>>poverty if such an amount were to be invested towards that end? A great
>>many
>>indeed! Probably in about 10 months, Lang Conteh would be out of jail to
>>enjoy the remainder of his loot, safely stashed somewhere. As for the
>>group
>>of boys serving their two-year jail terms, well, they have at least until
>>November 2006 to come back to mainstream society. Is that justice?
>>Without any hesitation, Lang Conteh could be proclaimed a villain. I was
>>told by someone who knew him that he, Lang, is a very nice and sociable
>>person. I personally don't think so. To me, his likes however charitable
>>or
>>generous they feign to be are nothing other than plain wicked and
>>parasites
>>to society at large.
>>From another angle of perspective, Mr Conteh, though a villain and a
>>criminal, is just another fall guy or a guilty scapegoat to cover for none
>>other than the dishonesty of our head odf State. However hard the APRC
>>government and their disinformation network try to potray Lang Conteh by
>>distorting the truth, there could be no doubt that Lang Conteh is not the
>>head of the thieves in the Gambia. NO HE SIMPLY IS NOT. We should all know
>>that to be Yahya Jammeh. My justification for so saying is because Yahya
>>Jammeh has stolen from our coffers more than any of his accomplices and
>>certainly more than any other Gambian. His only respite for now is that he
>>is in charge and could therefore send any member of his gang of thieves to
>>prison as he wishes. In which respect, it could therefore be argued that
>>Lang Conteh is also a victim of Yahya Jammeh's unscrupulous government.
>>All said and considered, the real victims from all this web of corruption
>>spun and spearheaded by the President of The Gambia continues to be the
>>poor
>>masses who pay more for his corrupt and dishonest demeanours.
>>
>>
>>Gambians save The Gambia and God save us all.
>>
>>Bailo.
>>
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