Below is an interesting story by someone from the Jammeh forum, read on, it
is well written.


Mose


Posted by Ma' Lekken (It's true in Jola) on July 19, 2001 at 18:03:16:
Humankind, you have to understand that we have a special situation in the
Gambia. I get a lot of flak for no reason, so hear me out for I have My
reasons for what I do.

You see, I have guns –many, many dangerous guns. The smart ones among you
know where I got them. Oh, yes Al Ghaddaf is My brother. The Americans can
go to hell. Though many of the guns are used and in need of maintenance, and
My boys don’t know how to operate some, they serve their purpose. That’s the
idea, not so?

See, I’m on a Mission. Yes, a Mission. That’s what people fail to realize. I
spent 10 years in the Army, and what did I get? Lieutenant rank. 10 years
and I only made Lieutenant! Couldn’t even afford my own basic needs. Had to
keep begging my colleagues daily for cigarette money. Couldn’t find a decent
girlfriend, cause they all want men with money, education or refined
qualities. I don’t have any. Neither did I have a nice Apartment, nor was I
able to buy Mama what she needs. The Old One had to sell spices and smelly
rag-tag foodstuff at the Market. What life is that?

So as soon as some smart Junior Officers invited me to Chair a Walk-Over
coup, I jumped. Didn’t even have to do a thing. What’s wrong with that? I
saw my opportunity and took it! In America, they’ll call it “The American
Way.” Someone told me about a great American named Tammany Hall who lived by
that creed. Edward Singhateh and Sana Sabally should be the ones who should
get the flak, not me. They thought I would just be a figurehead. Well, now
they all know that won’t happen. Look at what I’ve been able to accomplish
in six years: built my bush hamlet into a mini-city complete with all the
trappings of modern life (only place in Gambia with a 24 hour water and
electricity supply;) bought myself a wife from Morocco (why settle for
skin-bleaching Gambian women when I can have the ‘real thing?’; bought
myself a private plane (why do I have to fly commercial;) I give my
dirt-poor subjects millions of Dalasi every year (all I ask is that they
grovel at my feet;) well the countless women who have looked down on me all
my life, now they all want me (because I can fire their husbands anytime;) I
have more money than I know what to do with (my descendants yet unborn would
never go through what I went through.) I should be commended for my
achievement, not criticized. Not so?

But my enemies –yes anyone who criticizes me is an ENEMY of the State. And I
am the State! Well, my enemies have nothing but their mouths, their pens, a
few rag-tag private Radio Stations that cannot even be heard in Brikama, the
Internet, and the West. They’re all Paper Tigers! Sissies if you ask me.
Real men would pick up machetes and knives to confront My boys with their
AK47s and semi-automatics. But, they’re not real men. So they keep
criticizing me, many of them at a distance. As if I care. Let them. I don’t
fear anyone but Allah who has been such a good friend that he has allowed me
to dip into his Personal Bank Account to fund my government. So what if I
keep most of it for myself? Yes, His Most Venerable has allowed me such
honor. They criticize me for this honor out of jealousy. Just because The
All Mighty never had such a relationship with Prophets Muhammad and Jesus
Christ doesn’t mean he can’t have one with me. The West, they think they
have a monopoly on wealth. Well, they’ve never dealt with anyone quite like
me.

On Human Rights proper, our policy is clear:
“If you belong to My Party -the APRC, you can go anywhere in The Gambia and
do whatever you want. You can beat up anyone who says anything negative
about My Highness or our Party. You can go to any government department and
take what you want. If you don’t want to do a rough job, you can always rely
on our National Intelligence Agency to do the job for you. State Security
means torturing anyone who slights My Highness or our Party. And oh, the
Police? Don’t even worry about them arresting you. They know who’s the boss
here. The only thing you cannot do is to go against My wishes, because all
of us in the Party are equal, but some are more equal than others. Gambians
who do not support our Party will be seen as Enemies, and will be treated as
such. No exceptions!”

Now this is a Fundamental Human Right, isn’t it? The rules are clear. It is
Real democracy. The West criticizes me, but if you really look at it, my
policy is better than what they have. Remember racism is still alive and
well there. So, we have to stick to our Fundamental Human Rights Policy.
Otherwise, we’ll be seen as weak. We cannot let that happen! Some Gambians
are too stupid to understand this. They make me show them I mean what I say.
How can you blame me for that?

Remember November 1994? Some fellow named Lt. Basiru Barrow who was the
original chosen leader of the coup had the habit of responding slowly to my
orders. I think he was jealous because he’s smarter than I am, and he
thought My position is rightfully his. True, but since when has truth
mattered? I cannot afford to let him make me feel guilty about stealing the
limelight from him. He had to go! And go he did with all the Officers, and
soldiers close to him. I ordered My boys to butcher them and dump their
bodies in a pit latrine. Serves them right. We called it a “Coup Attempt.”
Civilians don’t really care. Besides I own a Radio and TV Station, and most
Gambians are too simple-minded to question what they hear on such media. Our
story stands unchallenged. My chicken-hearted Enemies criticized me for
being brutal, but I had to set an example. Our Human Rights Policy has to be
enforced!

I even had to mete out the same type of treatment to some of My underlings
in the Council when their heads became too swollen. Right after I took care
of Lt. Barrow and company, My very own Vice Chairman Capt. Sana Sabally and
Council Member Capt. Sadibu Hydara accosted me in My office for some
decisions that I made. Just because Sana was one of the two people who
handed me this position, he thought he could remove me at his whim. He was
lucky I didn’t have him shot immediately. If he weren’t blinded by
arrogance, he would have noticed how I had consolidated my position by
promoting my fellow Jolas to all sensitive security positions. And guess
what? I took away all the money and things that we shared amongst ourselves
as “Risk Compensation.”

Yes, we had to compensate ourselves for having the courage to stage a Walk
Over coup. We’re National Heroes, you know. I gave away a lot of My share to
different Groups around the country. Edward bought his Mama a house in
London, and an air ticket to go see her people in England after nearly
twenty years. His family moved from England to The Gambia in a Land Rover
when him and his siblings were young, driving through the Sahara desert and
all. But that’s another story. Sana Sabally gave back all the money he had.
Turns out he’s a Cry-Baby contrary to the Tough Guy image he put on for the
public. Sadibu played difficult, and I had to give him the Lt. Barrow and co
treatment. Only out of compassion, we dumped his body at the Imam’s place in
Dippa Kunda. Decent people don’t dump their dead former comrades in a pit
latrine. We called his death Natural Causes by way of High Blood Pressure.
The Human Rights Policy has to be enforced!

Then there was Ouman Koro Ceesay My Finance Minister. Well, Koro stepped on
the wrong toes. Smart fellow that Koro, but he didn’t understand that I have
a covenant with My cohorts Edward Singhateh and Yankuba Touray. They have
their weak spots. I have mine. I don’t mess with theirs as long as they
don’t mess with mine. Koro got on their wrong side. He should have just
handed them the money they wanted. I was myself in Arabia at the time, but
My cohorts had to do what they had to do. Koro was butchered and burnt in
his official Mercedes. When I came back, I went to see his people and cried
my eyes out. Then I turned a deaf ear on those who said I should prosecute
the killers. You got to turn a blind eye on some things. So I had it both
ways: Koro’s people feel I’m exonerated, and My cohorts will always be loyal
to me because I hold a trump card against them in my hands. We have a
covenant you know. The Human Rights Policy has to be enforced!

Because I was tired of all the talk about bringing back democracy, and I
could use some money from the West, I said “no problem, let’s have an
election.” First people wanted to be empowered. I said no problem to that
too. I set up a National Consultative Committee. But most Gambians don’t
seem to realize who the real owner of this country is, because the majority
of them want me to limit the Presidential Term to Two Five-Year terms. You
see, Gambians like to over-step their boundaries. Ten Years, can you imagine
that? Now, who can run this country the way I do if I were to leave in ten
years? This country will fall apart without me. All patriotic Gambians know
that. So, because I love this country, and have sacrificed so much for her,
I had to expunge Term Limits from the New and Improved Constitution. Also,
just so we don’t waste any time in the future worrying about lawyers and
greedy people, we had to indemnify ourselves against any lawsuits. Our
decisions to eliminate people who are “threats to national security” are too
sacrosanct to be second-guessed by anyone. Our job is to make decisions for
Gambians, and theirs is to follow those decisions. No questions asked.
Relatives of our victims have to understand that whatever we did was out of
love of country. They need to know that, it’s in their best interests that
we kill, arrest, or torture their kin. You can’t find a more patriotic group
of Gambians anywhere than us.

We conducted a very clean, free, and fair election. The Opposition –mainly
UDP had the wrong ideas though. They still do. They really believed they
could go anywhere they wanted, and criticize My Highness to canvass support
for themselves. I wonder where they got those ideas. Some people watch too
much CNN and listen to the BBC too often for their own good. The elections
weren’t meant to be like that. They were only supposed to go through the
motions. So, I had to teach them lessons. My boys went after them at Denton
Bridge. A whole truck load of them including pregnant women. It’s not my
fault that some had a miscarriage, broken bones, or that some later died of
their wounds. The best way to convince mouthy Gambian Opposition women to
vote for you is to strip them naked, whip them with a cane, and force them
to perform de-humanizing things.

As for the men, let’s just say that the women were treated with kid’s
gloves. But these UDP people don’t learn. Months after the election, they
forced My boys to give them a similar treatment again. How can you try to
hold a Committee Meeting only months after a General Election? Don’t they
have anything else to do? Why do they have to even start thinking about
organizing to oppose My Highness when I had just formed a new government? I
mean, it’s not like I tolerate corruption from everyone. Oh no, there’s only
a select few that have that liberty in My country. God knows there are
hundreds of senior Civil Servants including Cabinet Ministers who can attest
to that fact. Everybody knows his or her place in My government. The monkeys
will do their part, and the baboons will do their part. So, we gave the UDP
people what they asked for: treatment reserved for run-away slaves that get
caught. They sent a video of their mutilated bodies all over the world, and
thought something will come out of it. Well, I’m still here. The Human
Rights Policy has to be enforced!

I know I got a lot of flak last year for shooting down 14 demonstrating
students. But you haven’t heard the whole story. You see, I have given
millions of Dalasi to Gambian students. Have you heard? Millions! No leader
in African History has been more generous to students than Son Excellence!
Vans, scholarships, sponsored trips, cash money, name it, I gave them. But
they listen to foolish people like the Opposition, and BBC, and Gambia-L.
Yeah Gambia-L, a group of burger-flipping ne’er do wells in America and
Europe who are jealous because I have what they can only dream about. Some
of them have been away for 20 and 30 years, and don’t have anything to show
for it. That’s why I don’t even pay heed to anything they say.

Back to the students though, how can they betray me like that? They’re not
supposed to launder My dirty linen in public. Imagine My Highness’
embarrassment by all those World Leaders looking at me funny in Cuba when
they heard about demonstrating students in The Gambia. So, some of My boys
raped a 14 year old school girl, and tortured another school boy to death,
that’s not reason enough to demonstrate. Since I emerged in 1994 to save the
country from the PPP, someone often gets killed in a violent way, sometimes
almost every week. It’s not just My boys who do it always. Sometimes it’s
ordinary citizens against each other. I can’t help it that some people feel
really frustrated by times to the point where they take it out on each
other. I was frustrated too when the PPP ruled. And don’t forget that I have
let in tens of thousands of people from other West African countries. Maybe
they’re teaching My subjects all this violence. So, what happened to the two
young students is by no means extraordinary. It’s part of the new Gambian
reality. Which is why I couldn’t believe they would demonstrate against My
government so vehemently, for which reason I had to shoot them down. The
world wants me to put on a democracy face, and I did. Why should the
students peel away that façade, exposing our situation for what it really
is? I can’t let them get away with that. We can’t be seen as weak. The Human
Rights Policy has to be enforced!

Because of that ruckus, some people thought they could criticize me and get
away with it. They don’t know when not to say anything at all. My boys
identified Dumo Saho, My Highness’ own guard Lt. Lalo Jaiteh, Lt. Omar
Darbo, and some civilians as troublemakers. My boys picked them up faster
than a hungry eagle swoops down on a chick. I accused them of treason. I own
a Radio and TV Station -did I tell you that? So, people will only hear what
I want them to hear. They’re all in Quarter-Deck at Mile Two Prisons. A
HellHole to them. A Safe House to me. You can’t empathize with grieving
parents when you’re held incommunicado in a rotten hellhole. My Enemies are
challenging me to produce evidence, as if that is necessary. If I say
they’re guilty, they are.

They say the Constitution says no one can be held more than 72 hours without
being charged with something. I wonder whom these people think they are? I
dictated that Constitution. It is mine. It says only what I intend it to say
–not what is written in it. Maybe some of My writers wrote the wrong things
in it. It’s too complex for me to understand. But the Constitution is only
relevant as long as it serves My purpose. Any section, or clause that
contradicts what I want is null and void! Immediately. The Parliament? Ask
any of those members who’s the boss. There’s nothing anyone can do about
that.

Having being locked up for close to a year now and not being charged with
anything, Dumo Saho and co can attest to this fact. Dumo in particular
thinks he can hide behind an NGO. Educating poor and desperate kids all over
the country doesn’t qualify any Gambian to openly criticize My Highness
during sensitive times. A Hell-Hole is what you get for crossing me. I don’t
spare the rod. I crack it even on My own people. Remember Lt.’s Almamo
Manneh and Landing Sanneh? Well, those smart asses thought they could rip me
off. How can you bullshit Mr. Bullshitter-In-Chief? Thought they could take
My money and get away with it. They ought to have asked that pancake-faced
first wife of mine Tuti Faal. When My boys were done with them, everyone who
knew about the deal was either dead or in prison. I called it a “Coup
Attempt.” I own a Radio and TV Station you know. And The Human Rights Policy
has to be enforced!

This is My Highness’ position on Human Rights.

His Excellency, Rtd. Lt. Col, Alh., Dr., President-for-Life Yaya Abdul Azziz
Jemus Junking Jammeh, GCRG, GCMG, Owner of The Gambia (running out of space
–will give a more complete list next time.)

PS: I’m not as wicked as they say. If I were, Lt. Paul Sambou would be dead
by now. Everyone in the army and beyond knows he was fooling with My wife.
Matter of fact, he knocked her up, which was why My baby’s christening
ceremony was uncharacteristically low-key. But what’s a woman between men in
uniform? I just had him locked up in Solitary confinement for six months and
let him go. Nowadays, he runs away as soon as he sees My Most-Pretty wife
coming. That’s the spirit Humankind, one has to know one’s place. Otherwise,
the Human Rights Policy has to be enforced!

His Excellency, Rtd. Lt. Col, Alh., Dr., President-for-Life Yaya AJJ Jammeh



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