Nemesis Yanks, I never meant to suggest that Lawyer Darbo was asking the Gambia opposition to unite behind him. Instead of asking the opposition to unite under Ousanou Darbo (passive), I am saying that Lawyer Darbo should unite the opposition behind him (active). I strongly believe that Mr. Darbo has the intellectual clout and tools at his disposal to unite the opposition and defeat the APRC, come 2011. Although, I doubt whether Mr. Darbo is ready for this challenge, given that spoiler like will never stop spreading your senseless and destructive propaganda. It is a fact that Mr. Darboe command far greater support than all other opposition leaders, which gives him and the UDP a strong bargaining power at the table. It is also true that none of the opposition parties can single-handedly remove APRC from office, which makes it sensible for the opposition to unite under one umbrella. The rules of political engagement in the Gambia have changed for the worst. The opposition is stripped-off its rights as enshrined in the constitution; they must change strategy and tactics or be doomed to failure. The reason why I asked Lawyer Darbo to come out from hiding is that we have not heard from him for a long time. The last time I heard something from Lawyer Darbo, leader of the largest opposition in the country, was his New Year Message in January 2009. We are yearning for his wise counsel about the way forward. We don’t know Lawyer Darbo’s stance on the witch hunting saga. Please visit radioavg.com and listen to victims narrate their ordeals. Certainly, many of the victims are supporters of Lawyer Darbo and UDP. Believe in democracy and rule of law, does not only require one to obey laws, but also to resist any assault on rule of law. The following is a quote from UDP’s New Year Message: Year 2008 has been a difficult year for Gambians who believe in democracy and the rule of law. Throughout the year 2008, President Jammeh and his regime continuously went on undermining the Constitution by ordering the arrest and disappearance of opponents of his regime like Kanyiba Kanyi a supporter of the UDP and employee of CCF. Kanyiba Kanyi was arrested on September 18th, 2006 and the same applied to journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh of the Daily Observer who was also arrested on July 7th 2006 by officers of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) among them Corporal Sey. Since then, both Kanyi and Manneh have been kept incommunicado and in unknown locations.
On June 5th, 2007, Hon. Justice Ms. Sanji M. Monageng of the High Court of The Gambia ordered The Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General to produce the body of Mr. Kanyiba Kanyi to Court on June 7th, 2007 but it is a well known fact that the APRC Government has less regard for the Constitution when it's against the regime. Source: United Democratic Party Sends New Year Message to Gambians (2009, January 7), The Gambia Echo News online.
Now that the government refused to obey the court order, what is the next step? We cannot possibly abandon our comrades to torture and force disappearance in the name of believing in democracy and rule of law. We have seen the Gambia Press Union challenged president Jammeh’s statements about their colleague. They are prepared to defend their colleague no matter the price. They attract enormous support from all over the world. The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in collaboration with Gambian journalists sued the Gambia government over the disappearance of Journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh at the ECWAS court. The trial publicized the issue, reaching all the way to the U.S. Senate. Did you hear Kanyiba mentioned during the trial? No. The reason is that everyone expects Lawyer Darbo and UDP to stand up for their colleague.
Kanyiba is my very close friend. His absence has created a big vacuum in my life. I cannot accept this to be his fate. He does not deserve this. We cannot abandon him to this terrible fate!
What is UDP going to do about Kanyiba’s situation? In sixty-three days, he will clock 3 years in illegal detention. He has been in illegal detention for 1,034 days today. Isn’t that more than enough time to mount a rescue?
You and I can afford rambling here, but Kanyiba cannot because he is denied his human rights and his comrades have abandoned him to the enemy.
Please do not use profane language; let us be civil! ML Touray --- On Fri, 7/17/09, yanks dabo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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