---A week after the accident that took my dad's life, the driver was brought to court in Brikama on Friday June 12th. I don't know the charges, but earlier on monday, my brother went to the police station to try to withdraw any impending charges to clear the way for the driver to be released. A police officer he approached there hinted that the driver will face manslaughter charges regardless of what the family want. Yes, the state has a duty to enforce laws if it feels they were broken.

However, a day after the death of my dad, myself, mom and brothers came to the conclusion that dad died cus his time was up and that the family cannot habour any hardfeelings against the driver. This explains why we do not know when and how he was hit by the car. How he was transported to hospital. We chose not to ask those questions. I told my brothers to stay away from court proceedings, but the vehicle owner pleaded with my brother to attend otherwise, the driver will not be released. At yesterday's proceedings, the only witness was the suspect and his account of what happened was not something any expert will agree with.

The driver said my dad was riding on the wrong side of the road, and that it was a collision. That by the time he saw my dad, he paniced and hit him. Look, the Brikama - Gunjur highway has just been constructed. There are no pot holes yet. The road is wide for any emergency swaving from one side to another to avoid an accident. Moreover, many cyclist on these roads, ride on the wrong side of traffic so that they see the oncoming vehicles and make their own moves when the situation looks unsafe. If there was no time for any of the two to avoid the other, one logical explaination could be something was terribly wrong. It cost my dad's life. I wish we could move on.

I cannot close this without thanking everyone on the list for their support. I also wish to acknowledge the kind gesture from Brikama drivers union. On wednesday, they provided D2000.00, a bag of rice and a vehicle to pick the corpse from RVH. A special thanks to one army officer at state house for providing a vehicle for the same purpose. There are many more whose individual and collective efforts, has enhanced the peacefulness of my dad's journey. I say thank u to all on behalf of the family.

paPierre
  
----- Original Message -----
From: "Haruna Darbo" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 6:08:34 PM (GMT-0500) Auto-Detected
Subject: Re: OBITUARY

Pa Pierre,
I will yield to afford you peace to mourn and reflect on your dear father. I will come back next week to share an idea with you.
Accept our prayers at this time of your loss.
Haruna.


-----Original Message-----
From: paPIERRE GOMEZ <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 8:30 pm
Subject: Re: OBITUARY

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