I join Mr. KB, Mr. Yusupha Jow, and the rest in
condemning the recent attack on female sex workers.
Of course I do not think prostitution is right, but I
think the brutal attacking of these women, is even
worse.  This is just another indication of the
lawlessness that is now rampant in the Gambia.  Our
country is gradually disintegrating at the hands of
security personnel and recently, vigilante groups who
make themselves the judges and juries condemning and
meting out punishment whenever they so please.  This
is indeed an indication of the unraveling of the
fabric of our society.

Let me begin by telling a story that was told to me by
a friend of mine who went to the Gambia earlier this
year.  She said that a cousin of hers whom she had not
seen for a long time came to visit her and she went to
see her off.  They walked to the main road (around
Kairaba Avenue) to wait for a taxi.  As they were
standing there chatting, a security official came to
them and yelled "Are you guys prostitutes?"  of course
my friend and her cousin thought this was ridiculous
and told him so.  But he insisted that they were and
arrested them.  He took them to a jail where they
found numerous other women.  My friend, of course used
to standing up for her rights, demanded to talk to his
boss on arrival at the jail and she threatened to make
sure that the officer who arrested her, will get fired
as soon as she gets out of that jail.  After enough
yelling and hollering by my friend, someone identified
as the arresting official's boss was called.  And
after holding a long discussion with my friend and
realizing that this was someone who will go down
fighting, he let her and her cousin go.  I was
appalled by the story and could not help but wonder,
if some of the women at the jail were arrested in a
similar fashion.  I do realize that Gambia is slowly
developing a prostitution problem.  But do you just go
out in the street and arrest any females without
having any proof of their being a prostitute?  Do you
not at least have to see them soliciting a customer or
have some other proof, before arresting them?  Or is
it that the value of Gambian women is so low that they
can be arrested at anytime for standing outside,
without fear of any reprisal?

But who is to blame?  Who indeed?

First and foremost Yahya Jammeh.  Because he is the
one who set this trend of lawlessness and he is the
one who has promoted several issues that affect women
negatively.  Remember when girls/women were being
arrested/harassed by the police etc for wearing short
skirts, etc?  Did Yahya ask for this practice to be
abandoned?  This behavior of the police and other
security officials were then picked up by taxi cab
apprentices and other elements in the streets.
Females were sometimes surrounded, booed, poked, and
sometimes even assaulted for wearing short skits, etc.
 Yahya kept preaching about how it is "Haraam" to wear
such things.  He then proceeded to condemn skin
bleaching and thus the police started arresting,
harassing etc, women who bleach their skin, people who
sell skin bleaching creams, etc.  All this under the
guise that he is a Pro-Black-Africa advocate and as
such hates the practice of bleaching one's skin to
look lighter in color.  This was also done under the
guise that he is a devoted Muslim an as such condemns
the practice.  What a hypocrite?  Did he not forego a
Gambian wife (Black African) only to go marry a white
looking African?  Just the way in which he abandoned
his first wife gives an indication as to his regard of
the female gender.  And does he not realize that
Gambia, although comprised of mainly Muslims, is not a
Muslim State.  And as such, he the president of the
country should not advocate for or promote only Muslim
based laws, rules and regulations.  He can of course
be of whatever religion he so chooses, in his personal
life.  But as the president of the Gambia, he must
respect and regard all the religions of his fellow
citizens as equal under the law and must not promote
one over the other.  If Yahya was a competent leader
who believes that if females show a lot of skin by
wearing miniskirts etc, it could have negative effects
on the morals of our society, or that skin bleaching
symbolizes a lack of respect/love for the "Blackness"
of one's skin and can cause them skin cancer etc, then
what he should have done is, to educate people about
the negative consequences that come with these issues.
 Then after delivering ample education, trust people
to make educated choices of whether they want to wear
short or long dresses, and whether they want to bleach
their skin or not.  But of course competence and Yahya
Jammeh should not even be uttered in the same
sentence.  But this is more than just shear
incompetence.  This is an indication of how the maniac
views women.  Did he condemn the men who prefer
"lighter" looking sisters and the general notion of
"Mussu Koyo Sassah Borroh- meaning a light skinned
women is a medicine to a man's soul."   For if not the
sole reason, this notion that the lighter a women
looks, the more beautiful she is, and the more men
will appreciate her, is the main reason why women
bleach their skin.  But he instead contributed to this
concept by abandoning his darker Gambian wife for a
lighter Moroccan wife.

Remember when issues regarding family planning in the
Gambia were raised?  What was Yahya's stance?  Did he
allegedly not say the he does not support it because
Islam is against it?  Did he ever condemn the men who
keep impregnating their many wives knowing very well
that they do not have the means to support so many
children, and thus end up leaving these women with the
burden of having to fend for these children, while
they run from wife to wife?  Did he condemn the males
who impregnate young girls, then refuse to own up to
it thus leaving the girl to suffer the brunt of
society alone, and to struggle to raise that child
alone?  What about Female Genital Mutilation?  Did he
allegedly not refuse to pass laws illegitimatizing the
practice?  When has Yahya ever stood up to support
women on the issues that really matter?  If he has, I
would like to know about it because I have not yet
heard of it.  So now he condemns Imam Fatty, and uses
him as a scapegoat to heap all the blame on?  Is he
not the one who empowered Imam Fatty?  When Imam Fatty
allegedly uttered statements that were against women's
rights, statements dealing with the issues of Female
Genital mutilation and Family Planning, did Yahya
allegedly not back him?  Does he not see that the
recent trend, in the Gambia, of attacks by vigilante
groups is a result of his own handiwork?  Because he -
Yahya Jammeh - promoted vigilante groups such as the
APRC youth group who go out and commit crimes and
violate the human rights of innocent Gambian citizens,
just because they are opposers of the APRC government.
 Did he not give a speech (the six feet deep speech)
promoting such action and also calling for the
reporting and sacking of his opposers?  And now he is
surprised that certain groups of the society are
becoming more and more vigilante and lawless.  Of
course they are, for he started the ball rolling.
When he did not condemn the lawless acts of the APRC
group and in fact seemed to promote it, he set stage
for the domino effect.  Yes!  he set stage for other
groups, with courses perhaps different from the APRC
youth group, to take example from and be like the APRC
group and be vigilante and lawless.  After all, the
president of the country seemed to think it was O.K.


But Yahya is not the sole person to blame.  How about
the religious leaders?  They keep preaching that they
fear no man but god, that god is the only entity
worthy of worship.  Why then do so many of them seem
to be gripped with the fear of Yahya Jammeh?  If they
believe in God so much, why do they not condemn his
sinful acts.  Or do they think that the murder and
maiming of children was not a sin?  Because if they
did, why did none of them (apart from Pa Dacosta)
register their grievances against the lawless trends
that were being set in our country by Yahya Jammeh and
the APRC?  Or is their fear of Yahya greater than
their fear of God?  They do not hesitate to condemn
prostitution, gambling, X-rated movies, etc yet they
say nothing when their children are slaughtered like
cows.  Recently, I saw a newspaper article talking
about how religious leaders were speaking out against
a certain television series that was being shown on
GRTS because it had some immoral content and thus
capable of corrupting the Gambian children.  How
laughable, I thought.  Yes! under normal
circumstances, I would agree with them on this issue
since I am a believer in not allowing children to view
immoral movies.  But I thought to my self, "Since when
did they gain such concern about the Gambian children?
 Oh! Its O.K. to kill the children, but just do not
corrupt their moral fabric?"  Many times in history,
religious leaders have been the ones to shelter,
foster and sometimes, even lead revolutionary acts
against injustices to the masses.  Just look at
Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Serigne Bamba Touba who
defied the French during the advent of colonialism,
Martin Luther King, and the numerous black churches
during the days of slavery.  All the above sheltered
and fostered the winds of change in order to free
their people from bondage and injustice.  I hope that
our religious leaders will take lessons from them and
I hope that they will come to practice what they
preach and fear only god and let no man, including
Yahya Jammeh deter them from standing up for the
truth.  And I also hope, that Gambians in general,
will stand up and let their voices be heard against
any and all injustices meted out against their fellow
countrymen and women.


=====
"NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION"

                       ALSO

"NOTHING IS UNACHIEVABLE, THE ONLY QUESTION IS, WHETHER ONE IS WILLING TO DO WHAT IT TAKES TO ACHIEVE WHAT IS DESIRED"

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