Gambian dissident and  masterminder of the 1981 abortive coup and  now leader of the so-called ‘The African Democratic Congress’ is not relenting in his sinister efforts to once again inflict mayhem and chaos  on peaceful and progrssive Gambia and its people.

With the scar of the 1981 abortive coup still fresh in the minds of Gambians, Koukoie Samba Sanyang is  again through secret letters calling on Gambians to revolt against the country’s democratically elected goverment. In a letter obtained by the Daily Observer, the Foni-born dissident clearly exposed the fact that he is not interested in the peace and stability of The Gambia, but rather  doing everything possible to repeat the horrors committed by his group of mercenaries 29 years ago, which left in its wake an unprecedented  destruction of life and property in the the country .

Below we reproduce the full text of Kukoie’s letter.

(Round The Gambian –    
 Round The Gambia)
A Patriotic Revolutionary clarion Call for National Duty
Please rise up and fight for total unlimited Freedom and Justice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A secret and confidential circular letter to all freedom fighters and concerned Gambians who are ready to fight and liberate neo-colonial sinking The Gambia.

The message is simple- be ready to fight a Revolutionary battle you have never fought for honour and dignity. Fear not my dear Revolutionary comrade for victory is ours and the public enemy is the big looser. This great battle will rightly determine who really loves The Gambia and the Gambian people. Death or freedom we shall win.


Revolutionary thoughts in the presence of fear

by Koukoie Samba Sanyang

Brother and bister we are called to fight for freedom, justice, democracy and the rule of law so we need to be very highly vigilant and be prepared to heroically fight and die with honour and pride for our dear country The Gambia and seriously rebuild our fast sinking nation for the survival of our people. Let us unite fellow country-men and women.
If we really want genuine democracy to prevail in The Gambia we must be ready to wage an uncompromising revolutionary liberation struggle. In this regard we need a Revolutionary people’s power movement for a democratic and revolutionary Gambia.

We of the African Democratic Congress of The Gambia, conscious of our historic mission to build a modern democratic state founded on justice, equity and fair play. Realizing the need to make fundamental but radical break with past mistakes in order to realize the optimum potentials of the country; We aim to build a qualitatively better society based on the principles of democracy, human rights and social justice under the rule of law; We are seriously committed to restructuring The Gambia in the spirit of true national cohesion and responsible tiers of government, so as to achieve a just and equitable society. If we are to keep our Gambian democracy true and alive, there must be one commandment: “Thou shall not ration justice and measure peoples will.” Under the erstwhile PPP neo-colonial Jawara rule all Gambians were wisely trapped only a few were free and enjoyed the national cake. Now Jammeh’s criminal era Gambians are under brutal control which is worse than the PPP era because President Yahya Jammeh wickedly plans to take the whole Gambia as a family thing and killing innocent Gambians and this is why the African Democratic Congress is fighting very hard for freedom and justice.

In order to construct a real genuine democracy and begin the process of a meaningful national reconstruction of The Gambia there is no room for another turning point and maneuver, but the only alternative is turning down the brutal oppressive junta neo-colonial regime of impunity in The Gambia as the only viable social, political and economic solution which requires creatives solutions to The Gambia problems by finding the extra-space for people’s oriented politics and democracy which are non-existent and badly needed. We are fighting for Democracy and Power to the Gambia people.

Ah democracy! That inspiring deam, that brave and elusive venture, that noble truth! Well, not quite. Democracy is just a form of government. It is based on the idea that people should be in charge of their own destiny. But democracy is not an idea or a principle, but a very real attempt to give ‘power to the people’. As such, it is always imperfect, intrinsically faulty, as human history. Indeed, democracies have been forged precisely by the clash between the pursuit of power and the quest for freedom and justice. They are not a gift of the gods, but the ugly and clumsy child born from the belief in equality and liberty for all. They might be the best form of government, but that is so because they are slow and painful process of recognizing human beings as equal. Democratic institutions are always ‘work in process’. This means that nothing of democracy can be taken as a given or as sacred.

The fact is that the political environment or atmosphere in present day Gambia is not conducive for democratic fair play and there are many obstacles put forward in impede national unity but much more national awareness. Direct Participatory Democracy is good for The Gambia, because all other systems are worse. The Gambia is in a brutal capitalist exploitative context and in a socio-political and economic globalize crisis the people’s movement for a democratic Gambia should watch out for neocolonial reactionary forces who will do everything possible to gain strength in a distressed part of the population and workers in applying the rule and tactics of colonialism which consist of the criminal act of aleatorily divide, control, dominate and wickedly rule for oppressing the people and ruining the country becoming dangerous indigenous invaders.

We should acknowledge that we are in an era that requires a meaningful Second Liberation Struggle which will aim at radically transforming The Gambia into a fully liberated, free and independent country. This will be a powerful and dependable base for both the current and future struggles for the total liberation from dictatorship, tribalism, racism and capitalism. This will take into account the fact that the enemy of The Gambia is both internal and external. Our aim is building Peoples democratic revolutionary Power in The Gambia.

The revolutionary liberation movements and uprisings in The Gambia since independence especially the 31st revolutionary peoples uprising, however, are not simply defensive, nor can they be reduced entirely to means of pressuring the neoliberal government or lesser authorities neither power hunger. They are movements which, in revolutionary terms, “wanted to create revolutionary peoples power,” or, if you like, “radically take power” on a small scale beginning with the seizure of state power. They demonstrated a rise in consciousness. They are heralds of the future Gambia and the democracy we aspire to. Since the 1960s the protest marches and popular organizations, especially those of the revolutionary youth and students, have constituted the most important democratizing force in The Gambia. The African democratic Congress our Gambian political mass organization for Freedom and justice believes in the direct popular participatory democracy that is the system of popular, representative democracy.

A 2011 Gallup International survey in The Gambia found out that today nearly all the oppressed, exploited and brutalized Gambians have very serious doubts about the freedom and fairness of upcoming November general elections in the country under President dictator Yahya Jammeh. The idea of the African Democratic Congress for good governance will be to rule over the Gambian people according to the way which will be to rule without force: the People’s Movement for Democratic Gambia will adopt the system of just and equal give and take rules in the communities. Where there is war, there grow thorns, and the year is without harvest. The good man is, and does not need force, is and does not rely on splendour, is and does not boast or glory, is and does not support himself on his deed, is and does not found himself on severity, is and does not strive after power. Zenith means decline. All outside of the way is apart from the way.

In fact let no one make the mistake or confuse any one for only the popular masses make real history. Only the masses can wage a revolution under an able leadership of a revolutionary Panafricanist. The people’s movement and the organisation of the masses are necessary factors for the realization of the revolutionary people’s power. The recent history of uprising in the Arab world, Egypt, Tunisia and other countries, shows that without the masses, the revolutionary struggle cannot take place. In order that the struggle can take place and go in a continuous process to its final victory, the revolutionary democratic popular movement must have a prospective and a strategy for the total seizure of power in neo-colonial Gambia, and for the total destruction of the neo-colonial state apparatus of the middle-class bourgeoisie.

Gambians badly need some respect for human and constitutional rights and freedoms     
The Gambia it seems it has more urgent issues to grapple with than pondering over past criminal events, and while one does not wish to be diverted from matters more deserving of public attention, occasionally a question is raised, maliciously or disingenuously, out of pettiness or cheap propaganda ploy, perhaps, to vex and confound perceived opposition to the current regime. One of such questions is why present opponents and critics of the Jammeh government failed to protest the oppressive murderous regime’s violations of Gambian people’s human rights since it came to power. We the oppressed and the brutalized Gambians hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Gambian men and women are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator Allah with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. We call for the respect of the sanctity of human dignity.

We affirm belief in respect of fundamental human rights, as enshrined in the Gambian Constitution and International Protocols and Conventions. We are against all forms of discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, place of origin, or ethnicity, race, belief, etc. the African Democratic Congress will strive to protect the rights of vulnerable groups in society, including women, children, senior citizens, physically challenged and minorities. The African Democratic Congress which adheres strictly to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1949, includes not only individual rights but also the right to “a social and international order” in which those rights will be honoured. Frankly speaking in our dear beautiful country The Gambia there is no respect for basic political and civil rights. So all worthy sons and daughters of the Gambia are forced by the present status quo to struggle for freedom, justice and human decency. We are no exception to all those oppressed and exploited masses who are struggling for freedom and justice through armed revolutionary war. In The Gambia “we are not going to prop up brutal dictators like President Yaya Jammeh again who will blindly follow U.S. and European Union orders and crush independent nationalism so that the economic and military interest of America and European Union dominate the region”.

Sadly and unfortunately the freedom of speech in the Gambia is confiscated by the junta oppressive and murderous regime and buried in the dustbin of Gambian history and future generations builders of our beautiful Gambia’s destiny is very uncertain, shaky and dark. Oh fellow Gambians let us know that to suppress free speech in the Gambia is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the Gambian hearers as well as those of the speakers. My dear brother/sister and comrade in arms frankly speaking there is an urgent need for a full and fair discussion which is very essential to democracy. Criminal dictator president Yaya Jammeh is doing everything possible even using brute force intimidation to censored or block political materials online.

To serve the Gambian people truthfully demands also engaging in controversial critical but positive struggle of cross-fertilization of ideas necessary in our confused era with slavish mentalities, not for pleasure sake, but because it is indispensable to decanting and for cleansing the peoples political movements. All men and women have the God given natural right to express themselves in any manner they want. All men and women have the right to choose the knowledge which is appropriate to them and to refuse those which are imposed on them by the dictatorial governments, the apparatuses of neo-colonial governments and imperialism. The new Gambian revolutionary force will build the future of the democratic Gambian world free and with unlimited rights. This leads to the question: why calling for democracy and ‘people’s revolutionary power’, of which there is none in the country’s recent governing history? Well, actually, the absence of genuine democratic tradition and practice is precisely why the people and the nation are easily manipulated by external powers and by their compliant surrogates closer to home. No government neither the past Jawara government nor Jammeh’s junta regime could claim with an iota of moral force or feasibility to represent the Gambian people whilst their rights as free men and women as well as their dignity as humans are not embedded to its laws and manifested through its conducts. Therefore, to ask why genocides and atrocities had been allowed to take place in Gambian history is to ask the same question of the prevailing of tyranny in place of democratic rule and freedom for all under the umbrella of the Gambian Constitution and the Rule of Law.    

However, the call for democracy transcends even nationalistic calculations and or geo-political necessities certainly, it is no ‘pie in the sky’, as jibed by some quarters but everything to do with what right-minded people everywhere perceive to be intrinsic to their social conditions and fundamental to their existence as free men and women; as natural an endowment as the oxygen they inhale or the very breath they take. We must fight for freedom and justice. In The Gambia today we truly lack Freedom of the Press. The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next coming age. Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate any moment to prefer the latter. A free press can be good and bad, but, most certainly, without freedom a press will never be anything but bad and evil.

Unfortunately President Dictator Yaya Jammeh wants our dear country to have a state monopoly of daily newspapers, and an overall government monopoly of television and radio stations with local news. The criminal killing of our hard working educative and instructive journalists and freedom fighters with impunity are aimed at silencing the Press and curtailing press freedom and free speech because of their revolutionary work to awaken and conscientize the Gambian masses and to alert the International opinion on the crimes committed by the junta regime with impunity. The slayings of patriotic Gambians is a strategy applied by evil Yaya Jammeh to easily control the situation in his interest and to prolong his evil dictatorial rule and mercilessly ruin of our dear Gambia. It seems to me that we lack the Freedom of Religion because fear of repression and murder looms around.
 It does me a lot of injury for my brothers and sisters even my neighbours to say there are twenty gods or no God or we have genuine democracy under President Yaya Jammeh because of financial enslavement by the brutal Dalasis they deny their own rights. Hypocritically and in disguise the Gambian neo-colonial settler government of President Yaya Jammeh has “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

There is the lack of political will to promoting Education
To educate and inform the whole Gambian mass of the people is a natural duty and responsibility of any government that governs The Gambia for her development and survival… A democratic people’s oriented policy government is the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty and constitutional rights. Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is good qualitative education. If the Gambian nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that everyone has a right to an education, and that a basic education should be free and compulsory for all Gambians. The year 2015 is supposed to be an education milestone for the Gambia at all cost: We need a change of government and establish a democratic and hard working government that will promise to ensure that all Gambian children will have free and compulsory primary education of good quality by then, and that girls must have equal access to education al all levels.

We of the African Democratic Congress are of the opinion that the most difficult and challenging task will be the organizing of the revolutionary struggles around the concrete grievances of the Gambian masses which will not only improve the welfare of the Gambian communities but also educate the masses out of their democratic illusions and increase their consciousness that every administrative and law-enforcing agency in this country is a neo-colonial power… As the African Democratic Congress strongly believes on creativity which is Ifangbondi (Creativity) it will be a commitment to the principle and practice of real building rather than criminally destroying, of positive proactive construction rather than negative reactive destruction. Inherent in this principle will be the commitment to built and leave our national communities stronger, more beautiful and more effective in its capacity to define, defend and develop its interests than when we inherited it from colonialism and settler neo-colonialism.

As the African Democratic Congress is a revolutionary fighting force that strongly believes in what it does and has faith in the Gambian people Lahnayah (Faith) there will be a commitment to ourselves as persons and a people and the righteous and victory of our struggle. Moreover, it will be true belief in and commitment to our brothers and sisters, to their defence and development, and to the fullness of our collective future. Inherent in the principle of Lahnayah there will be a call for a humanistic faith, that will be an earth-oriented, an earth-based people – a centred faith in the tradition of the best of our African philosophies and values.

The African Democratic Congress wish the Gambian people to know that a people cannot be liberated by subjecting it to a new and greater evil oppressive power and thus starting again around the vicious circle of stupidly. Every form of dependency leads inevitably to a new system of slavery, dictatorship more than any other form of government, because it forcibly suppresses every adverse judgment upon the activity of its leaders and so inhibits in advance any better understanding. Every condition of dependence, however, has its roots in man’s political and religious consciousness and cripples his creative powers, which can only develop properly in freedom. The whole of human history has up to now been a constant struggle between the cultural, creative forces of society and the power aims of particular castes whole leaders put definite bounds to cultural efforts, or at least tried to do so; the African Democratic Congress is of the believe that Culture gives man consciousness of his humanity and creative strength, but autocratic power deepens in him the sense of dependence and of slavish bondage.

The revolutionary struggle of the African Democratic Congress’ aims and objectives is that it is very necessary to totally free man/woman from the curse of the evil power, from the cannibalism of exploitation, in order to release in him/her those creative forces, which can continually give his/her life new meaning. Power degrades man/woman into a dead part of a machine set in motion by a superior evil will. Revolutionary Culture makes him/her the master and builder of his/her own destiny and deepens in him/her that feeling of communion from which everything great is born. Man/woman’s liberation from the organised evil force of the state and the narrow bandage of the nation will be the beginning of a new humanity, which will feel its wings grow in freedom and will find its strength in the community. Transparency, Accountability and Probity is a system badly needed in The Gambia to assure Gambians a more human and revolutionary democratic government with the rule of law and administrative justice.

The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness and bravery. We badly need to establish a genuine system of Transparency Accountability and Probity to meaningfully fight corruption without mercy and without compromise. The United Nations Convention Against Corruption, adopted in 2003, commits countries that ratify it. In the Gambia with our fledgling democracy with no respect to our laws and regulations we need to establish tough anti-corruption laws and to assist the average Gambian in preventing, investigating and prosecuting corruption [the corrupted and the corruptor].

The idea of the African Democratic Congress for good governance will be to rule over the Gambian people according to the way which will be to rule without brute force: the African Democratic Congress which is the People’s Movement for Democratic Gambia will adopt the system of just and equal give and take rules in the communities. Where there is war, there grow thorns, and the year is without harvest. The good man is, and does not need brute force, is and does not rely on splendor, is and does not boast or glory, is and does not support himself on his deed, is and does not found himself on severity, is and does not strive after power. Zenith means decline. All outside of the way is apart from the way.

Seeking an alternative to the present political chaos in The Gambia the African Democratic Congress hopes we will not be talking about stability which will be a stability becoming subordinate to US and European Union power interests (or “the neo-colonial national interest”) which usually is achieved through war against the population.
The African Democratic Congress which is the people’s power movement should be ready to wage a bitter people’s struggle of these absorbed helpless Gambian peoples and deprived by the neo-colonial state due to its silly wish and plan of constructing an absolutist neo-colonial state to end up in a modern bourgeois society which will be there to serve and defend capitalist interest, and to totally subscribe in the encirclement of the movement to sabotage its mission. The African Democratic Congress which is the people’s revolutionary power movement for a democratic Gambia is ready at all times and willing to denounce political intimidation!

We are ready to defend the rights of Gambians and bravely struggle with heroism against the bourgeoisie and its neo-colonial state apparatus. Solidarity should be the soul of the people. We need national cohesion to win the glorious revolutionary struggle. To meet this challenge and realise this great dream without falling into the neo-colonial secret trap of partisan politics I think the only best way and method is for the mission to be handled by a revolutionary bitter armed struggle for radical positive changes and for the radical overthrow of statistics.

My dear brother/sister you must be ready, well prepared and have an iron will and the strength of a lion with the wisdom of Prophet David (PBUH) to face this great historic challenge. For sure if the will power is there victory is certain. We must fight and be free for ever and be masters of our own destiny. Since we have lost hope on the so-called neo-colonial oppressive junta government of President Yaya Jammeh, the revolutionary uncompromised armed struggle will take up the challenge to rescue the Gambian world from sinking deeper daily. With all present day social, political and economic systems Gambians are seeing the ghosts of themselves by living from hand to mouth and kissing death. A democratic people’s revolution is the only viable system, which can help answer man/woman’s political, economic, democratic power, and social problems in the Gambian and at the same time provide him/her with happiness in the world to come.

The present Gambian conditions are false and deceptive based on a current neo-colonial political hypocrisy and misguidance and it is inadequate for improving the welfare of the Gambian people. It is an undenying fact that the lack of a clear Vision, Unity and patriotism has tied up the Gambia in a profound crisis and this has thwarted all attempts to bring about genuine Gambian unity and freedom for socio-politico-economic stability and progress. Our Gambian duty and noble mission is to help Gambians struggle for the beginning of a new Gambian world of self-discovery, self-creating, self-defining and self-developing to be self-confirming for a meaningful solid Gambian union. We have to identify ourselves and be able to measure ourselves with the rest of the so-called civilised world. We should be able to formulate complex policies to rescue the Gambian Nation and turn around the backward neo-colonial capitalist economic system that had served the interests of the colonial masters since time immemorial and today the neo-colonial anti-democratic criminal stooges in power making Gambians suffer unjustly for no just reason and cause.

Gambians have to seriously formulate revolutionary and scientific policies for Gambian unity and cooperation to further Gambian identity that can be a solid base and starting point for self-realisation and self-actualisation. Gambians should begin without hindrance the process of positive thinking for positive profitable progressive action in unity for the interest of all Gambians. Gambian political leaders should make great efforts to end the era of hypocrisy [jaw jawing] never to bend the path of real judgment. The Gambia should be that of genuine political union where things must rightly come together in combined efforts. It should not be that of distinct entities giving birth to irresponsible contradictions and misguided confrontations.

It is very important that Gambians begin the real struggle to put our Gambian situation in its proper and rightful position and throw off the hampering shackles of neo-colonial fabricated history which is not the history of a free thought and to boldly assert our Allah given rights to be free of evil persons and vices. We should and must make sure that our everyday decisions and actions move us closer to Allah to prevent Gambians living in a world at big risk. As a peace loving and a great Gambian nation in the African world we cannot afford to indulge in the luxury of allowing a few short-sighted criminal spokesmen and women for the status quo to symbolise power and wealth obliging the masses to descent into abject poverty and misery.

Gambians should fight hard to build a culture creating nation of two kinds of Gambian citizens; the kind of Gambians who have good constructive ideas and the kind of Gambians who practically and faithfully with integrity would do something about them. In order to construct a real genuine democratic people’s revolutionary power authority government and begin the process of a meaningful reconstruction of the Gambia there is no room for another turning point and maneuver, but the only alternative is turning down the brutal oppressive neo-colonial reality of impunity in the Gambia as the only viable social, political and economic solution which requires creative revolutionary democratic solutions to the Gambian problems by finding the extra-space for revolutionary democratic people’s oriented politics and democracy which are nonexistent and badly needed.

To conclude I would like to say that there are many people who think and plan in political organisations, but there are very few who have the ability and will power to move cognitive processes into executable phases. My final revolutionary word and advice is that we should be ready to fight in an armed revolutionary war and free our dear country and people. No surrender neither retreat. I think the first and most important component of decision-making in politics is self-confidence. If you are confident in your mental capabilities and how you envision the world around you, then you will have no problem in analyzing a political situation and making a decision you can stand by for better or worse. That leads into a vital element, the ability to be analytical and be able to act without hesitation or fear. The value of analysis cannot be overstated because it allows a person to systemically break down a situation and see its individual parts for what they are, thereby, providing a thorough overview. A major part of decision-making is the ability to think critically, be able to guide and lead and most importantly to act without hesitation, fear or compromise.

We should know how to put it all together and succeed in our attempts to unify Gambian political groups into a people’s revolutionary movement for democratic Gambia and not in the usual conventional way betraying and usurping the people’s rights and power. It is quite something else when the Gambian people make the democratic decision to defend themselves using violence against the anti-democratic violence of the oppressors. Our Prospect for Change. The above painted gory picture of the Gambia under brutal Jammeh’s rule is widely known and bitterly felt by the masses on a daily basis. What, however, is most worrisome is the fact that this nightmare will not end unless the current self-serving elements in power are removed and replaced by a democratic revolutionary government of the working people and the rural poor whose central goal will be the abolition of poverty by using the resources of society for the welfare of all. Precisely here lie the challenges before the working people and its leaders.

Going by the way and manner through which the current ruling politicians acquired power from the military and armed pro-Jammeh terrorists, taking a critical look at the monumental farce called 2005 general elections and making sober analysis of the overt and covert steps being taken by those in power at all levels across the country to ensure that only pro-rich, anti-poor elements continue to hold sway in power, then it is a foregone conclusion that the conduct and outcome of the upcoming 2011 general elections (if it holds at all) will be worse than those before it. How can this apparent catastrophe be avoided? There is only one realistic way out of this looming disaster. It is only by a revolutionary armed struggle to overthrow the dictator and for sure I think the most important factor for our victory is the participation by the people.

One may ask what will be the crucial factor for a successful transition to democracy in The Gambia with an armed rebellion? According to the African Democratic Congress the easiest way and the main factor in this regard is the destruction of the military dictatorship and the military bureaucratic rule through a popular revolutionary armed uprising and a people’s power movement. We can say this is the main point. Then we can build a democratic revolutionary system through democratic means. In the democratisation and transition to democracy process, the most important factor is successfully removing the dictator and traitors and quislings supporting, their dictatorship and their tyrannical rule, no matter the form of the dictatorship, a party or army or a group of people.

If we are afraid to fight against Dictator Yaya Jammeh, I think, the democratic struggle will be little more than marching in procession, and it cannot advance more than stage. Our Love for the Gambia and Gambians as a people must not know any bounds. The Gambia must be our purpose!!!

Our freedom, justice or death we shall win. “The revolutionary takeover of Jammeh’s neo-colonial murderous government will not be liking taking a violin, you take it with the left hand and play it with the right hand"

Wisdom: the greatest gift one generation can give to another generation with pride

Kukoi Samba Sanyang
Kangkillingtigi and Ballangba dingkendo