My Fellow Gambians, We have debated over and over again: we have assessed Yahya Jammeh’s misrule over and over again: we have complained and complained again about Jammeh’s brutal and mismanaged regime: we have talked at length about his undoubted and well documented butchery, corruption and inefficiency in every aspect of government and public life. Therefore, now is the time for real and decisive action: now is the time to put our words and thoughts into effect: now is the time to exercise our civic duties as voters as enshrined in our Constitution, and vote Jammeh out of office next Thursday. Now is the time to prove to Yahya Jammeh and his criminal colleagues that in the final analysis, it is the people who call the shots and it is the people who hold the real power. Now is the time to show directly and unequivocally to Jammeh himself, the depths and breadth of his unpopularity in our beloved Gambia. Now is the time to show Jammeh that there is nothing that can stop the people’s will. In the final analysis, the people’s power as a collective whole is irrepressible and irresistible. Now is the time to get ready for the next phase in Gambian history: when we shall be prosecuting Jammeh and his cohort for all the dreadful misdeeds of the last seven years. Next Thursday should be the time to close the "Jammeh page" and open a new page in all our lives - a page that will offer us liberty, dignity, respect, prosperity and progress. God willing, a new chapter will be opening in our country’s history next week, when Gambians will again live in harmony, co-exist in peace, solidarity and mutual tolerance: a time when we can forge links together, reconcile our past differences, and see Jammeh and his entourage as true culprits who will be held accountable for their misdeeds: a time when we will recognise in full that Jammeh is the prime cause of our national disunity, our impoverishment and our degradation as a nation. We shall be opening a new page where we shall all work in tandem for the upliftment and betterment of the lives of all our people. We are anticipating a time when there will be genuine accountability, transparency, probity: a time when politicians should be made to understand that they are OUR servants and NOT our masters, and that they are accountable to none other than us, the Gambian people. Come next Thursday, we shall be ushering in a time when there will be higher standards in public life, and a greater degree of professionalism in those who work on our behalf. We will see a new start, where people will be appointed to key positions on the basis of qualifications, experience and merit, rather than on connections or nepotism. My Fellow Gambians, we now have the opportunity to usher in a new chapter in our country’s history: after all the seven years of waiting, the time has almost arrived: 18th October, 2001. But remember the old adage that "opportunity comes but once". This is an opportunity which we cannot afford to lose: we have to capitalise on it. Come October 18th, all Gambians whether at home or abroad, should be toasting the end of a corrupt and brutal era and welcoming in a victorious Opposition candidate. We should all be celebrating the defeat of Jammeh, and doing it with fireworks, drumming and dancing! We have everything in our own hands: it is up to us. The decision is ours. For these many years since 1994, Jammeh has shown disrespect to us and to our parents and to our children. He has been the repressor and the brutaliser of our people, and of our Gambian society. It is now our bounden duty to teach Jammeh a lesson, and to show him very clearly that he is not fit to rule us: he is not fit even to look after a dog. We have to reject him and all that he represents. He is a disgrace to the Gambian nation and to the Gambian citizens. The hardship we have all experienced under Jammeh is enormous: now we have the opportunity to unseat him from the presidency of our beloved country. We have all of us been direct witnesses of Jammeh’s misrule: his government has been characterised by repression, corruption, nepotism, inefficiency, hatred and distrust amongst Gambians: by disunity amongst Gambians, by human rights violations, by brutality and murder. The poverty and the deteriorating economic situation of today is Yahya Jammeh’s gift to the Gambian nation. I am told that the once busy business area around Wellington Street is now deserted and quiet: that businesses throughout the Gambia are in the doldrums: that taxi fares have risen again: that the prices for basic commodities such as sugar, rice, oil, candles, petrol have escalated: that the breadwinners of families have been arbitrarily sacked from their jobs or been made redundant: that employment opportunities throughout The Gambia have shrunk: that young people have no job prospects. I am reliably told that people can now no longer afford to eat two decent meals a day, and that in the provinces, many people struggle to eat just one good meal a day. Our hospitals are without paracetemol or anti-malarial drugs, without bed sheets and without qualified staff: our government offices are understaffed and lacking adequate telephone and stationery resources: our schools lack books, teachers and even the most basic of resources such as chalk. Farmers’ groundnuts remain unsold or have been purchased with promissory notes. People in The Gambia are desperate for money to survive the daily struggle for existence. Recently, I sent a mobile phone to a friend in The Gambia and was surprised when he told me that the money would have been preferable. This story is repeated every day throughout the world where there are Gambians trying to support family and friends at home. Where once people at home prayed for valuable consumer goods, they now ask their supporters and benefactors for hard cash. What a dreadful situation our people find themselves in – and all thanks to Jammeh’s mismanagement. Our Gambian reserves have been drained and we are now a nation drowning in a huge debt burden: foreign currency is scarce (except of course in State House or Kanilai). There are no set standards for the accounting of government funds: Yahya sends Baba Jobe or Abdulai Kujabi direct to the Central Bank and asks them to withdraw millions in foreign currency. There is nobody to stop them. There is nobody who dares to ask why the money is being withdrawn and for what purpose. The Gambian purse has become Jammeh’s private property. Jammeh and his cronies are into drugs trafficking, into the illegal blood diamond trade: there are regular and reliable reports that certain government ministers and some senior officials are involved in the sexual exploitation of young Gambian girls. Jammeh and his cronies have given away our Gambian land to their friends, and there is now no formal procedure for the acquisition of land. One needs only to go to Yankuba Touray, to Baba Jobe, to Abdulai Kujabi, to Jammeh and tell them that one has a need for land in a prime position, and it is given (if you are one of their brigade of brigands). My Fellow Gambians! The whole Gambian scenario under Jammeh is a joke. But it is more than that. These people are playing with our very future: they are playing with the future of our children and of our grandchildren. These people are so criminal in their nature and in their thinking, that they would go to the extent of selling a portion of The Gambia itself if the right money was offered to them. They have destroyed every aspect of Gambian life for the vast majority in the country. Their mediocrity and inefficiency continually amaze me: senior Government officials cannot even write a decent report and yet they are key advisers. You listen to GRTS news and wonder what world you are living in: government speeches are written as if by Lower Basic level students. No wonder that this government has lost the respect of people throughout the world. In fact, a friend of mine at the BBC is even convinced that if Jammeh were allowed to speak in the local languages, he would still be incapable of making a coherent and convincing argument. It is therefore time for us to act. Time for us to do something about the status quo in The Gambia. Time to rid our country of the menace of Yahya. All eligible Gambian voters should be ready to vote Jammeh out of office next Thursday. Each vote will count: don’t let anyone persuade you that your vote will not make any difference. You know the true story. You know that your vote for an opposition candidate is of crucial importance. I urge you to draw inspiration from what has happened in Senegal and in Ghana. History has shown us that whenever the people are determined on change, then nothing can stop that change from occurring. With your determination and your good judgement, change in The Gambia will be inevitable. Voting is your constitutional right, and you need to exercise this right in a prudent and carefully considered manner. If you have a voter’s card, make it a sacred point of duty to go and vote. Your vote could be the decisive one to see the back of Yahya Jammeh. The politicians are supposed to be our servants. We are the ones who will determine who will govern our affairs and we have to use wise judgement and elect leaders who can deliver the goods, and fulfil their promises. Jammeh cannot do it: he has had seven long years to prove himself, and he has failed miserably. However, it is not just a matter of going to the polling station and voting for the opposition. It is much, much more than that. You have to be a police officer yourself: this is a regime which is desperate and which has installed an "Independent" Electoral Commission full of its own cronies. This makes it all the more important for you to monitor the voting and counting next week. If Jammeh can cheat, then you can be absolutely sure that he will. As I understand it, there will be foreign observers overseeing the elections, but this is not enough. You too have a vital role to play in ensuring that the elections are free and fair. Make sure that you familiarise yourself with the symbol of your chosen opposition candidate before Thursday, and make sure that when you go to vote, you put your ballot or your token into the right opposition candidate’s box. Do not listen to what others tell you to do. Be your own master or mistress. Make sure you see to it that whoever has voted, has his or her thumb indelibly marked so that they may not then vote again. If you witness anything dubious, then you should report it immediately to the opposition leaders, to the IEC, to the police and to the international observers. Do not be frightened of making a public fuss if you see anything of a suspicious nature. Take nothing for granted, and be on your guard. Also make sure that after the voting is closed, you act as a concerned citizen and follow the ballot boxes to the counting centres: do not let the ballot boxes out of your sight. Complain loudly if you see that the ballot boxes are removed from public scrutiny and the public eye. Witness the actual counting itself and be on your guard for malpractices or unfairness. This is a life and death issue. I now call upon the IEC: * To ensure that the actual elections are free and fair and that the voting and the count truly reflect the views of the people. * You have a solemn duty to conduct impartial elections. If you fail the Gambian people in this, then you will be held accountable for the consequences. I urge all Gambians at home in The Gambia or overseas, to ensure that this 29th message is circulated to as many people as possible at home and abroad. You are civic educators with a vital role to play in setting our country back onto the path of peace and prosperity. Tomorrow, I shall endeavour to paint the picture of what will happen if the Gambian electorate do not vote Jammeh out of office on the 18th October. I pray that Almighty God will bless our country and ensure a decent future for all its citizens wherever they might be in the world. Ebrima Ceesay, Birmingham, UK _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>