Mr. sanusi, thank you for making my task much easier. I have been trying to
catalogue individual cases like you have done before concluding this
episode. Unfortunately I could not do that because I have not been feeling
well lately also. To conclude this case, I beg to use the information you
provided to shorten the naration and answer the crucial question of why I
still support the APRC government despite everything that has happened.

Information you provided:

(1)The unlawful abduction and torture of Yusupha Cham, Shingle Nyassi, Wassa
Janneh and 5 others.

2) The Government's to refusal to reinstate Civil/
Public Servants who contested for the opposition in
the parliamentary elections. eg Seedy Jadama UDP
Candidate for Illiasa.

(3) The decision of the IGP to deny UDP permission to
hold political rallies.

(4) The reluctance of the President to fill up the
post of Vice President.

(5) The failure of The Government to modify or repeal
all decrees where were in conflict with the 1997
Constitution

6) The continued arrest and detention of UDP
supporters by NIA via the Notorious July 22 Movement.


In addition to the above, courtesy of Sanusi, there was the brutal murder of
innocent young people in April of 2000, while students, not happy with the
way the police handled two cases, one of an alledged torture that eventually
led to the death of one Ebrima Barry (a school boy) by six members of the
Brikama Fire service and another case of alledged rape of a school girl by a
uniformed security officer at the Independent stadium. After this dastardly
act on the part of the security forces which resulted in the death of 14
young children and following a general outcry from the public, the
government announced that there was going to be a full inquiry after a
coroner's inquest to establish the cause of death of these victims and the
incidence surrounding it. The coroner's inquest was held and it concluded
that all the victims, except a 3 year old kid, died of live bullets fired
from high velocity guns. The commission of inquiry that was set up to probe
into the cause of the riots and subsequent deaths also finished its task and
concluded that the victims were unlawfully killed by our own security
forces. A number of our security force personnel together with the SOS for
the interior, army chief of staff and some students were found to be
responsible and recomended their prosecution. This report was submitted to
government.

After a long delay, the government announced that it was not going to
prosecute anyone over the incident as it was going to hamper the "healing
process". This act by government was widely condemned by most people.

Last month a private prosecution by a teacher at Gambia high school was
twarted by government by passing an indemnity act that allow the president
to indemnify any person who may have committed any act or failed to commit
any act during riotous situations that results in the demise of anyone. This
act was to be retrospective to include those held responsible of the April
2000 killings and was passed some very irresponsible national Assembly
Members.

Now to the crucial point of still supporting the APRC government despite all
these.

THE ALTERNATIVE TO THE APRC (My own view).

Presently there are three active opposition political parties in The Gambia.
These are the UDP, NRP and PDOIS.

a) THE PDOIS PARTY

Though one of the most focused, it does not seem to know how Gambian
politics is conducted. Any party that believes that just by mere lecturing
will motivate people to vote for you must be in a big slumber. As civic
educators, they are doing a fantastic job. However a  good number of our
Gambian electorate go to political rallies out of curiosity or what they may
get from it or for the meriment. The PDOIS does not believe in any of these.
Therefore they don't attract as many people as the other parties.

b)The NRP.

The NRP appears to be a one-man party. Except for that clown who wanted to
cross-carpet to the APRC party a few weeks ago, very few people know the
membership of their leadership. This does not appeal to me.

c) The UDP.

If ever a local party inspired me, it was the UDP. Initially I supported the
party based on its composition. A respected lawyer, in the person of its
leader, prominent intellectuals in the persons of Femi Peters, Mariama
Denton, Lamin Waa Juwara, determined and selfless politician in the person
of Dembo "by Force" and later, illustrous soldier in the person of Sam
Sillah.

Unfortunately, this party rather than enlightening people on their agenda
for the development of this country, would mostly be complaining of the APRC
and how they are leading us. By that strategy, they would criticize even
some of the development projects that, any honest individual knows, will
benifit our poor people.

For them, the TV is a waste of money, the airport too flamboyant, the
schools too many, the hospitals a waste of money because we might not be
able to staff them, farming implements waste of money because we might not
be able to maintain them, the new university of the Gambia premature, etc,
etc.

However, what I find most terrifying is the nature of their campaigns. Angry
rhetoric, verbal abuse, incitement of its militants etc, etc. A lot of you
may disagree with me but you are entitled to your opinions. As for me and
many like me, this party seems to be composed of very disillusioned,
confused and extremely angry people who seem to believe that any thing sort
of being voted into office is the frigment of one's imagination.

As for the April 10 & 11 incidents, as well as those of the various
commissions of inquiry, the UDP give the impression that once voted into
power, they are going to reverse all these decisions. The frequent hiring
and firing of civil servants, though deplored by many are in most cases
justified. The UDP however gives every indication that these too would be
reversed.

The mystification of the presidency is being even intensified by the UDP,
rather than demystifying it. For them Yahya Jammeh is the personification of
the presidency as well as government. To some of us however the president,
as stipulated in the constitution, derives its legitimacy from the people in
whose name it leads. If you attribute every commendation and condemnation to
the president as an individual, not only will it get into his/her head, but
it will go into most people's heads.

The decision to hold a coroner's inquest and the subsequent commission of
inquiry into the APril killings was solely due to the fact that very young
children defied all logic and stood up to the security forces even though,
the children were unarmed and the secuirity forces were armed. These
children demystified the believe held by many that it is generally not in
the nature of Gambians to confront lethal force. Despite actually using
lethal force on them, the children drove away the security forces from most
of the police stations and set them on fire.

For the UDP, the president, SOS and Army chief of staff are solely liable
for the breakdown of law and order on this fateful day. The riouts and
subsequent loss of life can be blamed on Yahya, Ousman Badji and Baboucar
Jatta alone. This, in my opinion, is a very narrow minded intepretation of
the situation. Here we had, young GAMBIAN security forces, loading LIVE
AMMUNITION IN GUNS, aiming at YOUNG GAMBIA CHILDREN, OPENING FIRE ON THEM
AND SEEING THEM FALL.

To conclude, I would like to state that my support of the APRC government
(NOT PARTY)is neither because of its development projects, which are
laudable nor is it because I don't care for the abysmal human rights record
of this regime. My support for them is purely based on my total abhorance of
the UDP message and the way they incite their followers. It is my firm
believe that the Gambia cannot ever afford chaos, lawlessnes or anarchy.
That will be very disatrous for our dear nation. Unfortunately the UDP seems
to give that impression. Their rhetoric and campaign style really borders on
incitement.

Finally, I would advise that, as Gambians, we should look into our inner
selves to see how capable each of us is of being another BOKASSA.

To help answer that question, I am reposting the following from a very
refined writer from your camp. He who wrote these observations of what good
officers are made of:

"They are generally well cultured, Properly educated and tested to meet the
set standards; they have self-esteem and definitely understand that the
country equally belong to them in the very way it belongs to any president".

His observation of the former field force:

"None of these virtues prevailed in the Field Force where the service men
were literally social outcasts in terms of origin, education, social status,
family background and self-esteem.. So instead of having fine warriors
prepared to lay their lives for the defense of their nation, we ended up
grooming angry jealous armed men full of hate and destructive tendencies
ready to follow any deviant or criminal into a path of national
destruction".

It is frightening when you think about the above 2 quotations and ask
yourself whether the situation is any different today. Ask yourselves
whether chaos in this Gambia of today is acceptable and ponder over its
consequencies for this poor country. We may differ in thought or deed but
that does not deminish our right to be heard. Intolerance, anger and
extremism is a recipe for self distruction.

Have a good day and bye 4Now, KB Jpbe.

>----Original Message Follows----
>From: Sanusi Owens <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> ><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Why I can still support the APRC Government despite...Pt5
>Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 17:00:05 +0100
>
>Mr Jobe
>
>Since you are quite happy to narrate rather than
>analyse this chapter on Governance, I was expecting
>you to mention the following incidents;
>
>(1)The unlawful abduction and torture of Yusupha Cham,
>Shingle Nyassi, Wassa Janneh and 5 others.
>
>(2) The Government's to refusal to reinstate Civil/
>Public Servants who contested for the opposition in
>the parliamentary elections. eg Seedy Jadama UDP
>Candidate for Illiasa.
>
>(3) The decision of the IGP to deny UDP permission to
>hold political rallies.
>
>(4) The reluctance of the President to fill up the
>post of Vice President.
>
>(5) The failure of The Government to modify or repeal
>all decrees where were in conflict with the 1997
>Constitution
>
>(6) The continued arrest and detention of UDP
>supporters by NIA via the Notorious July 22 Movement.
>
>Having failed to mention these in your last column,
>makes me now believe that we will never get an honest
>analysis from you.
>
>
>Mr Jobe
>
>99% of the "Lers" know all what happened after the
>elections. What we certainly expected was an honest
>report and not a narrative and selected version of
>events. To be honest with you, I have run out of
>patience with the way you are handling the debate. You
>have tried to avoid the crucial issues. Why mention
>the Citizen FM saga first? Why did you omit the case
>of Yusupha Cham and many others. I believe the Yusupha
>Cham situtation should have been the first item under
>your subtitle- After the 1997 Election.
>
>Having committted such a big blunder, I rest my case
>that we will never get an honest response from you
>
>Have a wonderful day
>
>May God save us from intellectual dishonesty
>
>Amen
>
>Sanusi
>

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