EDITORIAL CHURCHILL BALDEH IS AN ENEMY TO THE GAMBIA AND HER PEOPLE September 17, 2005 The Ruling APRC majority leader in the National Assembly Churchill Baldeh, is an enemy to The Gambia and her people. His recent newspaper comments calling on the Commonwealth to "think twice about its willingness to help enfranchise Gambians in the Diaspora, in the build-up to the 2006 presidential election." is not only undemocratic, but irresponsible statement coming from a House majority leader. Churchill's statement is treasonable. It is an affront to democracy. Baldeh has once again demonstrated his hatred against Gambians residing abroad. Do I hear him saying that Gambians residing abroad should be excluded from taking part in our country's electoral process? Is Churchill really conveying a message from The Gambian government? Or is this his own personal opinion? Whatever reasons, it appeared that Churchill is conveying a message from his boss dictator Yahya Jammeh. Hear Churchill Baldeh here again "It is meaningless for us to consider those in the Diaspora who have abandoned the country. And very few of whom are participating in the development process of the country. He noted that preference should be given to the stay-at-homes, who continue to support the country's development process." What a liar and political maroon is Churchill Baldeh. Baldeh is indeed an enemy to The Gambia and her people. His attempts to disenfranchise Gambians abroad is a cause for concern. We have no doubt in our mind that he is conveying a message from his boss Yahya Jammeh. We are not the least surprise by his irresponsible and misleading utterances. We are more patriotic than Churchill who had aided and abetted the Jammeh government. We never voted in favour of a bill that gave license to our security forces to shoot and kill Gambians with impunity. Big "mouth Churchill" did vote for such a draconian law. We also never voted or supported a media law aimed at ending free media and free speech in The Gambia. Churchill Baldeh indeed voted for the media bill. The list goes on and on... It is time for the Commonwealth and all civilised organisations across the globe to mount pressure on this undemocratic regime to respect the rights and freedoms of Gambians. There is no justification to bar Gambians in diaspora from exercising their constitutional rights to vote. If poverty stricken Guinea Bissau and other African countries are encouraging their Nationals to vote, why not The Gambia? We know that Yahya is not comfortable with the growing opposition he had overseas. The said opposition against his government is a legitimate one. No one with his or her right mind will vote for such an undemocratic government bent on abusing the rights of citizens on a daily bases. Gambians don't want their country to be ruled by a leader who does not have the country's interest at heart. All what Yahya cares is his own personal interest and nothing else. He seem to have forgotten that it is the people who voted him in office and not the devils he used to brag about. While Churchill argues that The Gambian Community abroad have abandoned their country, we want to remind him that without the monetary remittances made by these people you perceived as unpatriotic citizens, many Gambian homes will starve to death. It is estimated that over $100million dollars is remitted in The Gambia each year by those residing abroad. Some part of this money goes into the coffers of Churchill's own government, as they leveled exorbitant taxes against local banks and private business entities engaged in monetary transfers. Yet Churchill is saying that Gambians have abandoned their country? What a lie of the century? Churchill you are too old to lie. In addition, we are also made to understand that thanks to the foreign exchange monies sent by Gambian abroad, your government is able to raise foreign exchange to import basic commodities such as rice, onions and sugar. Churchill are you trying to bite the hand that feed you? Your recent statement will cost Jammeh politically. Some families singing the praises of your government are being fed by Gambians abroad. Such families have all rights to renounce their support for the APRC, since Churchill is trying to deny them their daily bread. The mere fact that you are wagging a war against their sons and daughters, there is no way that they can continue to support your party. If this was in other countries Churchill will be fired the next day. But Churchill and Jammeh shared the same characteristics. They are both anti freedom and will do whatever it takes to deny citizens their God given rights. We will certainly continue to fight for our rights. Churchill can be best remembered as a traitor and also a so called politician in disguised. He is nothing other than an enemy to The Gambia and her people. Churchill has no place in true democracy. We rest our case. Go To Top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2004 AllGambian.Net. All Rights Reserved. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar - get it now! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤