Thank you once again Mafy. Nice Piece, and YES, let Burama Manjang be resuscribed! Tra. >From: Malafy Jarju <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Ebou Colly: No place for ethnic intolerance. >Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 06:08:41 -0800 > >In the wake of all the overpontifications, questionable first hand follies, >and fallacious accounts of the circumstances leading to the most recent and >previous coups, one common denominator is the fact that most of the story >tellers are refugee passport holders who were either in the inner-circle of >the AFPRC or were former ranking army officers who absconded because of >thievery or participation in uncovered coup plots. > >One such person calls himself Mr. Ebou Colly. A former Lt. Colonel now >masquerading as Ebou Colly. The Lt. Colonel has all the rights to restate >his observations while in the GNA. My contention with his uproar is >twofold; a) Why hide behind a fake name; b) Why deal the ethnicity card. >He carefully picked a Jola name - 'Colly', which is clearly an attempt to >convey the illusion that he could not harbor any rooted resentment toward >Jolas. He used a check-list of names/victims of false-coups, to incite >and justify contempt for the Jolas. > >Well Mr. Colly! as the newest member of Gambia-l, please be advised that >this forum, as reflected by the ethnic composition of the Gambia is not >Anti-Jola and so I don't think you can succeed in inciting a reprisal >against Jolas. The fact that all of the attempted coups in The Gambia >since July 22, 1994 are committed by non Jola's does not imply that 'all >Jolas are benefiting from a Jola President and thus the docility'. > >On the late Lt. Almamo Manneh and Lt. Landing Sanneh, I don't wish to >elaborate on the former because the dead deserve a peaceful 'RIP'. The >latter is an acquaintance of mine and I stand to tell Gambia-l how >disappointed I am that he heeded to outside interest to embark on a >suicidal fantasy of staging a two man coup. The highlight of my involvement >with Lt. Sanneh includes computerizing his State House Office and >familiarizing him with basic computer skills. Lt. Sanneh is no stranger to >me. Folks, I have no doubt that Lt. Sanneh and Lt. Manneh intended to >stage a coup. Sanneh himself, under absolutely no duress confessed his >involvement as the ring leader and asked for a chance to apologize on >National TV. The truth my friends will eventually unfold. > This man practically grew up with Yahya Jammeh, went to the same school, >and was as close to The President as anybody can get. Folks, Ebou Colly >need to be reminded about the Bob Marley lyric that says "Your worst enemy >could be your best friend and your best friend your worst enemy". The >assassination of Thomas Sankara by a close friend and confidant ( Blaise >Campore ) and the assassination of the Niger President by the head of his >Presidential guard shows that trust cannot go unabated. This theory of a >fake coup conspiracy is pure nonsense. > >During the shoot-out at Lt. Sanneh’s residence, his wife yelled out - >"hand yourself over before they kill us all!!!: This upon hearing the >leader of the soldiers give firm orders and said "cease fire, there are >children inside, cease fire I say!" Lt. Sanneh gave himself up at that >point thus saving his life. If these soldiers were butchers or >blood-thirsty, they would not have cared about the welfare of Lt. Sanneh’s >wife and children. Folks, all these facts are on record, I am not >fabricating anything here. The intelligence agency has almost completed >its investigation and most of you will be surprised when the revelations >are on air! > >In fact Mr. Ebou Colly - are you not part of the coup plot? Are you not a >former Lt. Colonel? There is a network that’s ready to reveal your identity >while you hide in the Bronx and incite civil war in the Gambia. Lt. Sanneh >will very soon appear on TV and give his version to the Gambia public. >This regime cannot be called "butchers" when all of us have seen what >happened in Accra Ghana in 1979/80. Is Rawlings not your darling now?. We >all remembered when Jawara ordered Sgt. Ousman Jallow to liquidate some >rebels in a professional serial killer style! Those of us crying foul >today were cheering this very man. You are saying that there are graves >behind toilets. Yes, say it! But, wasn’t it during Jammeh’s era that the >bodies of two Gambian soldiers who were buried in Liberia exhumed and flown >back to Banjul for the usual military burial? Mr. Colly, I believe you >are only angry because your role as a soldier was more politically-oriented >and as such you were eventually ejected from the Army because of your own >virtue. The Captain Cherno Jallow you mentioned is currently serving in >Sieraleone with the UN peace-keeping force. > >How can we contact Mr. Cherno Jallow on the phone when the man is not even >in the country, let alone call a seven digit number 4722121 when all phones >in The Gambia are six (6) digits. I suggest you provide us with ‘more >credible’ stories next time. A smear campaign with distorted facts will >not win you any sympathizers. I know these officers you mentioned. You’re >deliberately mentioning their names so as to indirectly stain their >characters in a forum where they don’t have access. Yes Yahya’s power base >is in the Gambian people. He is serving the Gambian people as mandated by >the constitution by virtue of being democratically elected as President. > >If all your allegations are right, how can a few soldiers make Yahya stay >in power for all these years? How can a few soldiers stand against a Fully >Trained Army of your caliber?. Wow, this is mind-boggling, a few soldiers >against mighty Ebou Colley and his Battalion!!! With all the information >that you have, don't you think you owe it to Gambia-l to tell us your role, >title/rank in the Army and your subsequent fallout with the regime and >subsequent fleeing into exile. You're too busy calling Yahya Jammeh, >Yankuba Touray, Edward Singarteh, and Kaba Bajo bastards, thugs, cowards, >and empty heads. I challenge you to tell Gambia-l what your >qualifications are. What University/College or Military institution did you >attend and what qualifies you to call anybody an empty head. What skills >do you have and what job if any did your A-1 resume got you in the real >world. It is always interesting that those who always want to come across >as more intellectual have little or no proof/title to back it up. THE >ABILITY TO READ AND POMPOUSLY WRITE in the Queens language does not, by no >means, make one an intellectual or worthy of the title 'Learned'. Even >having a Ph.D doesn't automatically qualify one as an intellectual. > >You stated that Yahya Jammeh is a coward. Folks, It was the same Yahya >Jammeh who on the night before the coup was disarmed and risked being >apprehended and put on death row. It takes a man of great courage and guts >to lead a coup in broad daylight the next day. He led the march to Banjul >to rescue us from thirty years of corruption, tribalism, and >marginalization in the highest degree. All of you writing nonsense now >against this regime are the same people who were scrambling for positions. >Your colorless and opportunistic characters are the very baits that hooked >you up during the course of events. > >On the issue of tribalism, the last time I checked, Eleven out of thirteen >secretaries of state are non Jolas and that's not because there are no >qualified Jolas. If Jammeh is playing the ethnic card, all of these >secretaries of state would have been Jolas, and surely, he could have >filled all these positions will Jola intelligentsia even from this Gambia-l >alone. > >If President Jammeh is tribalist, he would not have publicly stated that he >won the presidential elections mainly because of the 56% percent of the >larger ethnic groupings that he carried, including a majority of the >Mandingos. It is easy for the likes of Ebou Colly with refugee passports >to incite ethnic hatred in the comforts of their new found status thousands >of miles away. We at Gambia-L should ask ourselves who the real victims of >a civil war in Gambia would be. Over 90% of Gambia-l subscribers are in the >diaspora and would not be personally affected by an all out civil war but >some of us still have our loved ones back home. If Ebou Colly also thinks >that a civil war in the Gambia would result in a swift and decisive >massacre of all Jolas, I am here to tell you that you must be living in a >dream world. We are all brothers and sisters in the Gambia. I for one >cannot raise a finger of hatred toward any Gambian because of his/her >ethnicity. > >I suggest Mr. Ebou Colly, or whatever you choose to call yourself to take >your simplistic fiery rhetoric to another forum. Besides, if the >Jolanization syndrome that you so tirelessly try to portray is real, then >even the SOS for foreign affairs position would have been given to Mr. Mbye >Sagnia who is at the EU in Brussesl. Some of us on this Gambia-l were >taught by Mbye Sagnia who is arguably the best French Scholar from The >Gambia. He was born at Kombo Berending and he is a Jola. He was >frustated out of the Jawara regime after having been left to inhale chalk >for years at Armitage School. > >THIS PRESIDENT ( YAHYA JAMMEH ) IS HERE FOR ALL GAMBIANS REGARDLESS OF >LANGUAGE AFFILIATION. QUITE A CONTRAST FROM 30 YEARS OF MARMARGINALIZING >THE FONIS ESPECIALLY AFTER THE KUKOI COUP. This is not a fabrication >because even ex President Jawara said, and I quote, " how can Yahya >Jammeh, from a minority tribe, rule over the majority tribe ." I am not >making this up because I was one of only seven attendants at a meeting held >for the express purpose of seeking support for his return to Gambia ‘As >President’. The meeting was held at the campus of The University of Miami >(Ohio ) moderated by Dr. Abdoulie Saine. For the record, under the current >Yahya Jammeh regime, the fact remains that 99% if not 100% of all rural >development projects are in areas other than the Fonis. The Foni >constituents never complained then (during Jawara) and are not complaining >now. So what’s the basis of Mr. Ebou Colly uproar. > >Let me remind you Mr. Ebou Colly - that you’d have to wipe out all the >Mandingos, Fulas, Akus, Serrers, Manjakos, Serahulays, Wollofs, along with >the Jolas if you want to achieve your goal because this government is >represented by all the ethnic makeup of the Gambia. So, my friend who are >you really taking on here? > >I cannot conclude without touching on (a), the NIA stuff and (b), the >Crude oil stuff. On the NIA stuff let us be reminded that the Security >council is chaired by the Vice President. It controls the security >apparatus of the Gambia. The NIA is directly under this umbrella. The >main objective and role of the council is to assess, analyze, and report >all matters concerning national security to the President. I am not a >French scholar but I believe this what they call ‘malsaisance’. The level >of ethnic tolerance that we enjoy in the Gambia in unsurpassed. No ethnic >group can claim to be marginalized or flushed out of the system. No >ethnic group has a lock on the Presidency or any other office for that >matter. Public office is a revolving door. You’re in today and you’re >gone when God’s time arrives. The big picture is that we need to let the >bells of tolerance ring from Banjul to Koina. > >On the crude oil rumor/saga, we need to be careful not to jump to >conclusions. I remember fully, a few weeks ago when the Gambia media, The >Independent Newspaper in particular wrote that The Gambian First Lady Madam >Zainab Yahya Jammeh returned to her native Morocco after a divorce from >President Jammeh. They went further to swear that the new bride is from >Sintet and a Native Jola. Some members of this list swore to the Holy >Quran that the Independent newspaper account was correct. Folks, I am not >an expert in oil trading but common sense dictates that uplifting raw crude >oil, refining that oil, finding a reasonable selling price, and drawing >contracts involves some intricate decisions to make. The fact remains that >The President has proved that the proceeds of the crude oil is not in a >Yahya Jammeh account. > >A key figure in the oil transfer scandal Mr. Smith, said that all he know >is that the oil was uplifted but doesn’t know how the funds were used. >Folks, the perception that the oil proceeds were deposited in a private >account is purely speculative, ESPECIALLY WHEN PROJECTS WERE BEING >COMPLETED ALL OVER THE GAMBIA DURING THIS PERIOD - Hmmmmm. Making sense!!! > You bet !!! > >The oil proceeds along with money from other sources were intended and used >for the promotion of rural electrification, the Bwiam Hospital, the Kerawan >Bridge, etc. etc. > >I KNOW MY CRITICS ARE WAITING WITH THEIR USUAL BLIND CRITICISMS BUT , HEY, >I HAVE THICK SKIN AND BESIDES, THAT’S THE NATURE OF THE BEAST - UNLESS OF >COURSE YOU THROW INSULTS AT ME THEN ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE !!!! > >WE CAN BE CIVIL ABOUT IT OR WE CAN THROW BRIMSTONE AND FIRE !!!. > >BTW. Where is the cry for subscribers to use their real names. Katim >Touray - What’s up. Why the silence? Oh!!! I know why! - they don’t have >to reveal their identity as long as they ‘re Anti-APRC. Talking about >double standards... WOW - WHAT A FORUM!!! > >!!!!! RESUBSCRIBE BURAMA MANJANG - NOW !!!!! > >Good Day, > Malafy "Mafy" Jarju > Software Engineer > Delta Air Lines > Corporate Offices > > > > >___________________________________________________________________ >Get smart - get your FREE email at http://email.looksmart.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 > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------