As we get piecemeal newspaper reports about the contents of the toothless
commission of inquiry report the picture is becoming clearer everyday. The
ineptitude and corruption of this illegal regime can turn the dumbest man
into a clairvoyant. Months ago, we said that the commission report will
succeed at nothing but blaming the students for their death. We have been
vindicated. The shameless commission of inquiry blamed the students for
exercising their constitutional right to stage a peaceful demonstration. How
can one blame the students for not conforming to the Public Order Act? The
Constitution which guarantees every Gambian the right to assemble and
demonstrate against tyranny, is a higher order. If the commission was
looking for someone to blame, it should have blamed the authorities that
administer the Public Order Act. It should have blamed the police for not
ensuring an orderly demonstration after giving the students the required
permits to stage a demonstration. You don't deny the students a permit and
then blame them for not getting one. That is absurd. What is wrong with
demonstrating against the torture and murder and rape of fellow students? Is
the chief justice saying that the Gamsu leadership should have called off
the demonstration in order to avoid the massacre? I put to the chief justice
that no Gambian, except Yaya and his cohorts, could have anticipated such a
heinous act. The students never thought that the security forces would turn
their guns on fellow Gambians. It might be the order of the day where the
chief justice came from, but in The Gambia, we have seen numerous
demonstrations that did not turn out bloody. So, to put the responsibility
on the Gamsu leadership to have anticipated such barbaric acts is grossly
unfair. The students never intended to get into a violent confrontation with
the authorities. If that was the case, they would have been armed; albeit
with sticks and rocks. In my book, no blame should be leveled on the
students. They had a very legitimate reason to demonstrate. They followed
all legal avenues opened to them prior to the demonstration. It was only
when the authorities would not reciprocate the goodwill of the students,
that things turned for the worst. The insensitivity and lack of mental
sharpness demonstrated by the chief justice is inexcusable. The Gambians
that sat in that commission should also be ashamed of themselves. When the
day of reckoning comes, they will be sorry for their actions. How can these
Gambians sit down and let foreigners like Lartey come in and impose on us
the morally bankrupt standards of societies where the Larteys and the Wowos
of this world came from? In Gambia, it would never be all right to massacre
15 innocent and defenseless children.
Again, am yet to see the full report, but I will repeat my prediction that
no trigger man will be named. Naming people like Momodou Ceesay of the PIU
is neither here nor there. What the chief justice is saying is merely that
Ceesay's unit was present at a location where students were murdered.
According to reports that I saw on Gambian newspapers, the commission did
not say that Ceesay pulled a trigger. The commission did not also say that
Ceesay gave orders to the people that pulled the triggers. So, these
findings are bogus. Yeah the guy was there. So was Badjie as well. We need
findings saying that the guy pulled a trigger or ordered his men to fire at
the students. Better still, we need findings about the chain of command. Who
gave the orders to Ceesay? What transpired between Yaya and his ministers
while the former was in Cuba? That is what we are interested in. Not blaming
our children. The chief justice can call us all sorts of names (detractors,
spiteful etc.), but we assure them that we will forever be on their backs
until justice is done in this matter. If they are confident in their
findings, let them publicize it for the whole world to see. The only
definitive findings we are aware of so far, dealt with the assaults at St.
Augustine's. Not to minimize what happened to Ousman Sabally, but we have 15
children dead and the murderers are still roaming the streets with impunity.
Where is Momodou Ceesay and the five security men that were linked to the
massacre at Brikamaba? Are these people still in positions of authority
where they can orchestrate another massacre? This is insane. The recipient
of this bogus report is the major culprit in this case. His inhumane orders
from Cuba is the reason the students were massacred on April 10 and 11.
KB

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