Kebba,

Thanks for your observations. One thing that I must first indicate is that
we must never just be driven by mere sentiments in our struggle to uproot
the Jammeh dictatorship. If we are to create a new nation, inhabited by a
united people, we must never be afraid of unearthing the evil deeds of the
past and present. This is the only way that the hard truth will be known.
This is the only way that the victims of injustice can forgive and forget.
And this is the only way that The Gambian people can move ahead to create a
society where the hearts and minds of citizens beat in unison.

So, to start with, you are wrong to say that I am making any false
accusations. I know Chongan personally when he was still a primary school
pupil at Serrekunda School. I know his family well, living then close to the
Latrikunda football field, just a stone throw from the then Bakadagi Bar and
Restaurant, before they finally moved. I have nothing against Chongan. All
that I am doing is to remind him of the days when real power was in his
hands - how he misused it; how he abused his authority. Chongan will tell
you that because of his arrogance he used to call himself DINDING MANSOO,
meaning in Mandinka the Child King.

Kebba, let's not make personalities the issue. Their actions and their
implications are what we are interested in, not as ends, but as means to
enable us avoid such expensive mistakes in future. We don't just want to
replace Jammeh, full stop. We want to create a just society. And justice can
only prevail where the truth is sought for, known and exposed. Without this,
South Africa would have been a jungle by now where the victors and
vanquished of the apartheid days will be at each other's throat.

Secondly, I made reference to the aftermath of the 1981 coup not to indict
Chongan, but to bring to the attention of the L the many atrocities that
this small country of ours has gone through within this short period of its
history. Do you know that the same actions of the AFPRC in indemnifying
their criminal actions was also done by the PPP regime after the 1981 coup.
The Indemnity Act was first introduced into the Criminal Code then; and
trial by jury expunged from our statutes books. Kebba, we need to look at
the past to know the days of Jawara. We will need to look at the Jammeh
days, when he is gone, to know what happened.

Of course, in 1981 Chongan must have been either in form 4 or form 5. Ebou
Secka will tell you.

Thirdly, I am 100% sure about the accusations I made against Samsudeen Sarr.
I have had the privilege to deal with Sam while he was still an army
officer. Anybody can get the video tapes of the press conferences convened
by the Gambia National Army at the Army Headquarters in Marina Parade to
verify the charge that I am making against Sam, especially when the
Farafenni and Kartong attackers were captured. Get the tapes and get the
facts.

I am not dismissing what both Sam and Chongan are saying. What I am simply
saying is that there are people who will not know the injustices and
brutalities of society, and will assume that everything is alright until the
day they become victims; then they will want a whole reconstitution of
society at the instance. Such people, as far as I am concerned, are not
genuine in their call for change. They are opportunists, pure and simple,
who have lost their privileges.

On a final note, Kebba, in spite of our opposition to Jammeh, we must never
forget that truth and objectivity should be the cornerstone of our struggle.
Without them, we will only uproot Jammeh only to replace him with another
dictator.

Good day and no hard feelings.

Batch.


>From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: WHAT HAPPEN TO US AT RIP.
>Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 12:04:58 -0400
>
>Batch, you are also doing the same despicable thing both Ousainou Ngum and
>Ebou Secka did. You are trying to paint people in a light that they do NOT
>deserve. Do you realize the gravity of what you are doing? Do you know
>Chongan? Did you know he was at Gambia High School in 1981 probably
>preparing to take his O'Levels? What does this man have to do with people
>that were tortured in the aftermath of the 1981? This man suffered untold
>misery trying to defend the legitimate government of the day. All he gets
>from you is vicious accusations you cannot back up. You should be careful
>the kind of accusations you throw at people. Calling people murderers and
>accessories to murder is a very serious allegation you should not take
>lightly simply because you might think that you can get away with these
>wild
>accusations.
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------