Talks about reconciliation begs the question: what is there to forgive about? In the current Gambian context it is the Dictatorship that is yearning for forgiveness from the population it had held hostage for almost eight years now. Granted, there are some twisted minds in the heart of the Dictatorship that also think that the general population that is also opposed to the Dictatorship owes the Dictatorship an ‘apology’ for pointing out that the Dictatorship killed our children, stole our money and is rendering our people poorer. Needless to say, this perverted and absurd reasoning does NOT even deserve discussion. Clearly, the Dictatorship CANNOT undo some of the heinous crimes it has committed. The Dictatorship is also NOT showing us any signs that it is willing to repent its crimes and promised to NEVER repeat them. There is no question that the people that call Yaya and his cohorts child murderers and thieves owe NO apology whatsoever to the Dictatorship. We have concrete proof that the Dictatorship slaughtered our children in broad daylight. We also have concrete proof that the Dictatorship is stealing from us. Until they prove otherwise, they deserve NO apology from us. How can the Dictatorship prove otherwise (than we are accusing them)? First of all they have to respect the laws of our country. Extending a hand to Jawara is neither here nor there. The Dictatorship has a bigger beef with the Gambian people. What Yaya has with Jawara is NOTHING come to think of it now. It is now clear to everyone that wants to see reality that Jawara did NOT see his overthrow as a CRIME committed against Gambians. If he did, he would still be fighting for ordinary Gambians to sort out that crime. He saw his overthrow as a displeasure to himself and his children and wives. Which is why he is now prepared to act as a culprit that needs ‘amnesty’ from the Dictatorship. Since there are tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of Gambians that suffered the same ‘personal’ predicament as Jawara, that dilutes his displeasure. One would be mistaken to see Jawara as a symbol of the criminal behavior of the AFPRC thugs on July 22, 1994. The man repudiated that symbolism by capitulating to his tormentors. It is high-time people that bestowed him that honor wake up and smell the coffee and also repudiate the man. Look at Jawara like any ordinary Gambian that was displaced because of the events of July 22, 1994. That is how the man is looking at himself and how he wants people to look at him. Of course no one can take away from him his past contributions to the country. Having said that our judgment should NOT be clouded by those achievements to the extent that we do NOT see his present blunders. Our vision of Jawara should NOT be fixated on the ‘old Pa’ that led us to independence and beyond. That is now history. Let us just examine ONE heinous atrocity the Dictatorship wants forgiveness for. Let me hasten here to add that by focusing on this atrocity I by no means attempt to minimize the other equally heinous acts of this regime. By talking about the massacre of our children in this context I am NOT suggesting that this crime is more important than the summary execution of the soldiers buried in pits at Yundum Barracks. Neither am I saying that the April Massacre is more important than the cold-blooded murder of Ebrima Barry, the numerous abductions, torture, and other abuses going on in the country. But to me, this is the most glaring CRIME that people talking about reconciliation CANNOT run away from. This is a crime they CANNOT deny happened. When this government slaughtered fine soldiers like Lieutenant Saye, they denied that it happened. They even chastised Saye’s father for ‘complaining’ about the death of his son. When Ebrima Barry was murdered, a bogus prosecution connived with some Cuban doctors in the country to ensure that the killers of Ebrima Barry were rendered scot-free, blaming his death on some kidney illness no one knew about before the boy was kidnapped by some firemen and tortured to death. The government and its sycophants always have some explanation for why they abducted innocent citizens like Dumo and why they tortured certain journalists etc. They always have an explanation for their crimes. But the massacre of our children is ONE CRIME they have been unable to explain away. Instead what they did was to tacitly admit guilt by ‘insulating’ the perpetrators of that heinous crime. There is no question in my mind that Yaya gave the fateful orders to massacre our children. Everyone in the illegal APRC government knows that. Every Gambian (including Jawara and SM Dibba) knows that. Most of these APRC stalwarts are on record with ‘close’ families and friends saying that Yaya crossed the line when he sanctioned the murder of innocent children. But they turn around and ‘worship’ the man and hope that people would be ‘Gambian’ enough to overlook their despicable deeds. They hope that people still live in the age when all government vices are ‘acceptable’. Now that we are faced with the REALITY that more than twelve innocent lives are lost because a CRIME was committed on April 10 and 11, 2000, the question then arises: what do we do about that as a society? This I submit is NOT a complicated question at all. Loaded words such as ‘reconciliation’, ‘forgiveness’, ‘repentance’, should NOT factor in anywhere in our analysis of this question. Gambia was NOT a lawless state on April 10, 2000. The country had laws and still has the same laws more or less. Those laws categorically state what needs to be done with criminals. There is nowhere in the laws where it says that if Yaya and his cohorts commit crimes they should not be prosecuted because the country wants ‘reconciliation’. Even Yaya and his cohorts do NOT believe that, which is why they have the Indemnity Decree. They know crimes have to be investigated, solved, and prosecuted in court according to the laws of the land. From the word go this is what the government had resolved to avoid. Starting from forming a bogus commission of inquiry to bringing Jawara to the country in the dead of night, this government is all the time trying to run away from the laws of the country and the crimes it has committed against our children. We should NOT allow that. The way we treat certain crimes in our society says a lot about what kind of people we are. There is no crime in the book that is more heinous than the massacre of innocent children. Why should we treat this crime as a garden variety stealing? Why should we disregard our laws because we want to cover up this most heinous crime? I really want to know the compelling reason behind the argument of people (other than the murderers that want to save their skins) that want us to sweep this CRIME under the rug in the name of ‘reconciliation’. In other words, I would really want to know why some in the ‘Opposition’ think that they have the right to hijack the grief of Gambians and tell Yaya that it is OK to ignore our laws and we ‘forgive’ him for the massacre of our children. Why don’t the families of the victims deserve justice? What will be so wrong about having Yaya stand up in ‘court’ and defend his actions according to the laws of the land he is supposed to safeguard? Talks about ‘reconciliation’ is premature. I hope Yaya and his cohorts realize that gimmicks like kissing and making up with Jawara just takes care of whatever PERSONAL problems Yaya had with Jawara. Jawara CANNOT ‘forgive and forget’ on behalf of the Gambian people crimes such as the massacre of our children. I dare even say that Jawara CANNOT ‘forgive and forget’ on our behalf the illegal usurpation of power in July 1994. However, Jawara can forgive and forget about the numerous LIES AFPRC/APRC told about him. He can forgive Yaya and his cohorts about the lies they told concerning him and some crude oil deals. He can forgive Yaya and his cohorts for lying that he has done nothing for the country. He can forgive Yankuba Touray for threatening him just few months ago and saying that he was a corrupt person. He can forgive the vermin for denying him and his family their ‘luxurious’ lives they left in the country to go live in exile. He can forgive them for confiscating his properties. BUT Jawara can NEVER hijack our grief and forgive these criminals on our behalf. 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