Fellow Gambians,

The Gambia is a Sovereign Republic. This presupposes that The Gambian people own The Gambia. Power belongs to the people. The Kings and Queens are the Citizens of The Gambia. In consequence this is why The Gambia is a Republic.

The Gambia has a Constitution which states in:

Section 1
“The Gambia is a Sovereign Secular Republic”

Section 2 also states that:

“The Sovereignty of The Gambia resides in the people of The Gambia from whom all organs of government derive their authority and in whose name and for whose welfare and prosperity the powers of government are to be exercised in accordance with this Constitution.”

The Gambian people have decided clearly that they are the boss and that the President is just there as a worker to preside over the affairs of the people for a period of 5 years. This is why Jammeh is voted out!

The Gambian people in the exercise of their democratic rights for the past twenty years have been voting for a brutal regime the APRC. This was assisted by the division among the opposition which had entrenched the APRC. For so many years the opposition was at war with itself. The supporters of UDP and PDOIS were engage in a futile and nasty debate with each other to the detriment of The Gambian people. The then leadership of PDOIS and the UDP were always at loggerheads. This increased the suffering of the people of The Gambia because the APRC was winning. The more the APRC wins the more the people suffer. There were detentions without trial. The due process of law was not followed. The Constitution of The Gambia was significantly violated by Yahya Jammeh palpably. Religious minorities were openly discriminated and The Gambia was becoming unrecognisable. There were physical witch hunt of vulnerable people at the behest of Yahya Jammeh which led to the unfair incarceration of Honourable Halifa Sallah who stood up against this authoritarian behaviour. The country was failing and the economy of the country was moving towards financial decadence. The Citizens of our dear Republic were being financially entrapped.  Liberty, dignity and prosperity is now a thing of past dreams. Omar Barrow, my close friend was gunned down at the premises of The Gambia Red Cross Society for committing no crime at all. I was beaten up severely at independence stadium by Jammeh’s thugs with this belief that I was a UDP supporter despite never supporting the UDP. I was beaten up by Jammeh’s thugs with the belief that I was a member of a particular ethno-linguistic group. I do not belong to any. I belong to The Gambia. I speak Wollof, Sarahule, Mandinka, Aku, little bit of fula and Jahanke. I am a Gambian. Solo Sendeng died for committing no crime at all. Lawyer Ousainou Darboe was incarcerated. The Lion of Wuli Honourable Sedia Jatta was incarcerated. Deyda Hydara died. Sadibu hydara died. The coup plotters were summarily executed without the due process of the law. The rule of law became translated to the misrule of law with impunity.  The list cannot be exhausted.

These were some of the problems Gambians faced and this is why our honourable sons, daughters, uncles, aunts, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters came with a solution with this elucidation that only a united front is capable of defeating the incumbent. It is clear as day light that the coming together of the coalition led to the defeat of Jammeh. This is coalition of all parties who put aside ideological differences in the interest of The Gambia. The Coalition partners are united in their belief that Jammeh regime is a misrule of the law. The coalition partners realised that they are the people capable of salvaging our dear republic. In consequence, a flag bearer in the name of Honourable Adama Barrow was selected to lead a coalition for a transition period of three years. It is clear that the honourable Adama Barrow is not out for revenge and it is clear that the coalition is not out for revenge. Honourable Adama Barrow makes it very clear that, he regards the outgoing President as a an outgoing President and that he is the incoming President and that if he assumes office he will consider him as the former President. Jammeh to the surprise of many conceded to Adama Barrow on live television. However he later changed his mind. However, we must also note that our Honourable Aunt Fatoumatta Jallow Tambajang’s interview with the guardian newspaper did not help.  We will not blame our honourable aunt as her husband showed bravery and patriotism in 1981 to salvage the Central Bank of The Gambia. The Gambian people owed her family. It was not very wise a for coalition partner to speak in a manner like this at a very fragile situation.  There is a proverb in The Sarahule ethno-linguistic which states that “ Maxa fi wara ang henu rang a bari ang fimbi rang a”. “This means do not blame the ground on which you fell on but the rock upon which you did stumble on”. It is sad to say but the rock on which we stumble on was the interview of our honourable aunt.

This by no means warrants Jammeh to make that horrible unconstitutional statement which he has no authority to make. He has been violating the constitution on several occasions and the constitution makes it very clear under Section 4 as follows:

“This constitution is the supreme Law of The Gambia and any other law found to be inconsistent with any provision of this Constitution shall, to Constitution the extent of the inconsistency, be void.”

The Constitution went further to state under that in Section 5:

“A person who alleges that:-

 (a) any Act of the National Assembly or anything done under the authority of an Act of the National Assembly, or 
(1) any act or omission of any person or authority, is inconsistent with; or is in contravention of a provision of this constitution, may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction for a declaration to that effect. 
(2) The court may make orders and give directions as it may considered appropriate for given, to such a declaration and any person to whom any order or direction is addressed shall duly obey and carry out the terms of the order or direction. 
(3) The failure to obey or carry out any order made or direction given under subsection (2) shall constitute the offence of violating the Constitution and
 (a) shall, in the case of the President or Vice President, constitute a ground for his or her removal from office in accordance with section 67; and 
(b) any other person who is convicted of that office shall be liable to the penalty prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.”

We understand that the constitution makes it very clear that Jammeh has violated the constitution and that constitution makes it very clear that under sub-section  1  that any person could bring a court action against any person who violates the constitution. It really bits my imagination that The Gambia Bar Association did not take such action but instead calls for Jammeh to step down and hand over power. Even if Jammeh were to step down he would have to hand over to Vice President Njie-Saidy.  President-Elect Barrow’s term begins on the 19th January 2017 and whosoever refuses to follow him as legitimate President after this date will be a rebel including Jammeh. This is not the time for emotions and reactions. It is a time for political and intellectual honesty and maturity.

We know all these problems but we need solution, the politicians did their part and they help the population in voting Jammeh out. What are we to do now? We voted to have a new Gambia. We vowed that The Gambia will never be the same again. Our Honourable Adama Barrow said in very clear terms that his approach is the truth and reconciliation model. Do we really and truly love our coalition partners? If we do, then it is incumbent upon all of us to follow their examples. We trusted the coalition leaders to lead then we should let them do their work at ease. Therefore Gambians, the solution is the Truth and Reconciliation model as adopted in South Africa.
We are better than Jammeh and his people and we know that he is bad and that is why we elected good people and we have to demonstrate that we are good. We will not vindicate the crimes of Jammeh but we have to show that we are not as vindictive as him.

I know it is very very hard but we must learn to reconcile otherwise we would be consumed with hatred. Hatred is very painful and it is not honourable. Our Honourable Holy Prophet Muhammad Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him forgive his hardest enemies when Makkah was reconquered. Are we not going to learn from this?
When Jammeh violated the constitution, at that moment I was so angry that I could have done anything to him. However, this would be a reaction and as I said before it is not the time for reactions and emotions and it is time for action and rebuild The Gambia.

I therefore apologise to all victims and family members who suffer under the Jammeh regime. Your pain is my pain. I however beseech in you to adopt the truth and reconciliation model.
Yours in the service of our beloved motherland,

Muhammed  Bai Drammeh




Muhammad Bai Drammeh

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