INDONESIA DOES A GAMBIA: EXECUTES EIGHT

This saddens me. That in combating crimes and drugs, drug related crimes such as trafficking carry capital punishment.

President Jammeh in his attempt to ‘combat’ drug trafficking, a game he’s been suspected to have been a major player in, had his National Assembly passed a mandatory death sentence for possession and/or trafficking in October 2010 for anything more than 250 grams of cocaine and heroin. Imagine that. But because Article 18(2) of the 1997 Constitution forbids death penalty for crimes other than premeditated and/or aggravated murder, the mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking got scraped. Abolished in 2011. 

Even after all kinds of appeals and pressure from foreign governments, Rights Groups and friendly countries, Indonesia executed 8 people including Australian, Nigerian and Brazilian nationals by firing squad on Tuesday for possession with intention to traffic, after they'd spent a decade in prison. A mere 19 pounds of heroin. Unbelievable. Per their law, a 12-man firing squad would line up with only three guns with live ammunition, a strategy I thought is very cowardly.

“Prisoners are given the choice of whether to stand or sit, and whether they want to wear a blindfold, hood or nothing. The shots -- aimed at the heart -- are fired from between 5 and 10 meters (16 to 33 feet)”, says Amnesty International, before they renewed their calls for a moratorium. Lord knows man is cruel.

This is a flashback for me. It is a 2012 replay of the Gambia government randomly picking up prisoners and killed all Nine of them in one night. I'm not a proponent of Death Penalty for any crime. Never will be, for there's always room for reasonable doubt even if it's the slightest.

“The death penalty is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to it”, said Amnesty International. Taking a person's life even if guilty, achieves NOTHING as it never serves the intended deterrent purpose nor does it bring any sort of closure to the offended party or the State. But there's always an alternative. Always room to rehabilitate while they serve the court-ruled sentence. Society/State has to move away from Punitive, Retributive Justice to a Rehabilitative stance. Man, we've killed so very many already. Check out the Executions Around The World stats

Another thing that stands out in all this in relation to the Gambia, is what mostly gets to be the delusional argument that the dictator president in Banjul would or could be pressured into giving in or forced out by the International Community as a sitting president should he do anything crazy. A small country like the Gambia with no clout or major significance in world politics or economy, international intervention of any sort isn't likely unless something crazy like absolute carnage happens. Have you already forgotten November 11, 1994, April 10/11, 2000, Ghanaian and other African Nationals in 2005 and Mile II 9 in 2012? WE have to be ready to confront and tackle Jammeh ourselves. The world 'powers' that play 'Big Uncles' are preoccupied and uninterested in places like Syria, Darfur, etc., to focus their lenses on Gambia and Jammeh. We aren't there yet.

Indonesia, just like Gambia in 2012, are receiving all kinds of condemnations, countries recalling their diplomats but wait for a few months to see all diplomatic relations resumed. Third world governments seldom care about legitimacy or external pressure if they have to defend their regimes. It is evident that even with all the international treaties that most nations are signatories to, they deliberately do what is in 'their interest' even when that contravenes those laws. Sadly, it is impossible to hold them accountable in most cases making these bodies and treaties ineffective. That’s from the UN to the regional bodies. Global politics, like Local, are as messy, dirty and complicated as they get.

Rights groups and defenders, and other organizations who stand for and by people are doing the best they could in exerting pressure. For us Gambians, we thank them for hearing us out. We've seen on several occasions showing interest in Gambian affairs, inviting Dr. Amadou Janneh, Fatou Camara and others to put the defenseless Gambians' case before the world. Mr. Jeff Smith and RFK Foundation, A.I, etc., we acknowledge and appreciate your stance. You are the ventilation and slim hope for those in oppressive regions despite your limitations. It is not for lack of efforts on their part but the lack of political will on the governments that show no desire to work with them in operating within their own countries laws. Ask the U.N Rapporteurs about their prison visits to the Gambia.

What must be done to get out of this condition would be among other things, building domestic institutions that are strong, independent, respectable and influential enough to be more than watchdogs. Ones that would compel governments to respect citizen rights and value human life. Until we're able to have mechanisms in place that have the power reside in the people, our Governments will continue to murder the weak, the poor, their adversaries hiding behind the awful laws that legitimize their murderous schemes.

Good Morning And peace To The Planet!

Pata PJ.

UDP, GAMBIAN WOMEN, PROJECT A 2016 JAMMEH GBAGBO.

Ousainou Darboe. Kemeseng Jammeh. Solo Sandeng. These folks and many unknowns proved that the Gambia still has hearts made of steel. Fatoumata Tambajang. Fatou Jawara (women youth president). Ordinary women and young girls. The women stole the show not with the usual ambiance of dancing and singing they gave their male counterparts on political platforms, but slept outside on the verandas following an impasse and let their voices be heard on matters. Voices of reason and substance. They stood on campaign platforms to decry the current state of our women, the economy, plight of our farmers and young ones dying at sea. They made us all proud. That's an indication that we've come so far as a people, nation and our politics reached a new high!

Not to get overly excited to declare the battle over but I could say with a great degree of certitude that the fear factor in Gambians all over the globe, on the ground in particular, has been steadily eroding. The open display of disillusionment with Jammeh's APRC administration is a testament of the readiness that Gambians have to fully engage in the change agenda to usher in a new, different dispensation after 20 years of the Green Party.

For a very long time, many Gambians were frustrated and almost gave up on the opposition parties and their leaders for the much needed political change. That frustration, which isn't all their making, compelled most of us to subscribe to alternative options of regime change which include use of force. For me, since Jammeh shows no inclination to play fair in the political arena nor has he any incentive to cede power, I still do believe that Gambians will be justified should they employ any means to defend and free themselves of the repressive regime that did them every awful thing imaginable.

Ideally, we'd all prefer a peaceful political transition as did Senegal and recently Nigeria. Unfortunately there isn't anything ideal about the Gambia's political avalanche that could grant us the ability to emulate our sister countries without a gun toting fight from Yaya. So for the most part, the manner in which power shifts from one color to another is dependent on the government, and I'd hope they'd not want to do anything that would compel Gambians to do an 'Ivory Coast'.

The events of the last 10 days could change the course of our fight and rewrite history. The United Democratic Party and their 64-year old leader, the youth and women in particular, deserve commendation for an unprecedented but deserved brevity, in standing up to an illegal directive to abort a mission the party has very right to embark on. To stand their ground, took off the masks to tell Yaya that they're ready and willing to face whatever thrown their way but will not yield. That he'd failed the country and neither empty promises nor threats would mute them any longer. 'FEAR NO MORE!', they sang, as they donned their yellow outfit, pose for the cameras and speak openly but responsibly and sincerely about the state of affairs. That was very courageous.

The UDP set precedence and for that reason we all applaud them. Not to instigate any politician or ordinary folks to immaturely start an unsuitable violent resistance, but to be able to defend yourself and refuse Jammeh to toy with you as he pleases should always be a premiere necessity. This time Darboe defiantly led his party in showing up! Sustaining the momentum should be the goal of all political parties, diaspora Gambians and all stakeholders.

What had started as a UDP issue, became a national affair that prompted a solid response from all allies especially the opposition on the ground. The amount of solidarity from Mai Ahmed Fatty, Hamat Bah, Omar A. Jallow and Halifa Sallah, and the diaspora was unequivocal, real and overwhelming that Darboe had to be gracious in admitting that it wasn't any longer a UDP battle. The bear that they poked faces a whole nation of the willing and like-minded who had enough of an anti-democratic reign.

Evident is the fact that UDP are willing to step up and make count the claim of being the country's second biggest party. Going by the previous election results, they earned that feather on their hats. It just was a credited feat that they've not taken advantage of. One thing that's never up for debate is the numbers in politics. Numbers count and you have to have them on you to win elections. I hope the UDP straddle and exploit this reality.

Now, though it's a numbers game, the political climate in the Gambia isn't conducive for any one party to dislodge the APRC government. That's a fact that's not lost on any Gambian. As such, the opposition parties must continue their discussions and start the Coalition talks in earnest. That the country needs them today than ever before, and must not disappoint the discontented populace by failing to form a United Front to take on Jammeh at the polls.

The elections route as an option for regime change has been an evolving position for me. A few months back, I was arguing that it's a waste of time and resources especially without electoral reforms. I'd been a proponent of 'any means necessary' and I still am. In fact, the events of December 30 that had seen the closest effort to end the dictatorship failed, sent me into a wild shock with the heaviest disappointment that I wished it was all a dream. I was crushed. But again, I had to remind myself that in the 'any means necessary' School of Thought was a democratic faculty too. That elections is a viable option if all parties are able to coalesce and present a single candidate, the only condition on which most of us would almost support 2016. If we aren't keen on vigorously pursuing that, I hope we have an alternative to non-participation because that'd mean buying Yaya's wishes on a cheap. What do we get out of that, dealing with a man who gives zilch about legitimacy in the eyes of the international community?

 With what we've seen in Fass Njaga Choi, I believe that the opposition party leaders do not have any serious division within them to bar them from unifying for a national cause like those outside their circles seem to believe. If anything, the recent events are a myth buster that Yaya can dictate everything, at all times as he pleases. The opposition G6 can deliver us. That's not just a mere optimism. It's doable.

In an event that we sustained this momentum and have continued political activity till the 2016 elections, with each political party on voter engagement, the Gambian voters' faith and hopes will be restored and they'd vote Yaya out. The coward that he is, Yaya wouldn't want to force himself to cling on. Should he do, the Gambians reserve the right to make him our Lauren Gbagbo by forcefully putting him in cuffs and hold him responsible for election violence. Because he's not ready to die, he'd have no option but  concede and let us take our country back. I honestly do have faith in the electorate!

Yaya is a deceitful cornball and smart hypocrite. He'd sponsor the voter registration and participation of Bissau nationals resident in the Gambia in their presidential elections but refused Gambians in the diaspora a chance to elect their president. Yaya Jammeh is the quintessential Sibijang Dubengho, Samba Alarr. As if wasn't bad enough, he systematically put in place a 5-year residency barrier that denies Gambians the right to contest elections if they hadn't reside in the country for the 5 years that precedes the elections. Unfortunately, this hasn't been something that concerns us as much as the 65-year constitutional restriction to bars Darboe, OJ and Sidia from running.

Fortunately, the age restriction isn't deterring these men. They continue to fight even if they know they might not be able to run. They selflessly work night and day to make sure the leave a Gambia to their children. What are our excuses? These are the men I admire and respect. They're the men we owe a lot to. And I am hopeful that they'd witness a Gambia free of Yaya Jammeh and tyranny.

Yaya Must Go!

Peace To The Planet.

Pata PJ

WHY PRESIDENT JAMMEH WATCHES GAMBIANS DIE AT SEA.

Every day, scores of lives perish in the deserts and the Mediterranean Sea. Hardly does a day go by that you do not read about Gambians dying trying to make it to Europe through the ‘Back Way’. It is devastating. However, none of what has been happening all these years but astronomically worsened in the past couple of years, happens in a vacuum. We’d all have to do something to decelerate it.

I have seen a lot of Gambians take to social media making “Say No To Back Way” videos, to sensitize and dissuade our brothers and sisters from venturing into these very dangerous and uncertain journeys that already claimed more than enough lives. These [video] efforts are great, laudable and are spiraling. However, most came short of identifying and addressing the root causes of the unfortunate tragedy. 

The ever growing statistics of the number of people dying at sea, those ‘lucky’ enough to have crossed to become illegal immigrants in Europe, are shockingly alarming. The Gambia, the smallest country in mainland Africa (population less than 2 million) with relative peace, dwarfs nations like Mali and Syrian that have been in turmoil and civil unrest for few years now. Gambia’s 1400 (134 minors) to Nigeria's 800, arrived in Italy by Sea in the first quarter of 2015. Just last week alone, there were two boat accidents that had at least 750 and 300 lives unaccounted for, respectively. It’s a sad reality that our boys and girls are somewhere in that bottomless ocean and will never be buried.

While we’d all love to have our brothers and sisters stay at home to avoid a literally suicidal journey, we must also be realistic in recognizing that these kids are being forced by their circumstances to make a better living for themselves and their families. As foolish as we think it is for them to see some of us who have ‘escaped’ the struggle from abject poverty as ‘success stories’, it is an innate desire for a man to want to be a provider, especially when they are looked up to as the ‘Yakarr’ of the family. We cannot tell them to not go because is risky when there are no alternatives to the predicament. This is not to make an excuse for our able-bodied youth but is understandable.

Unemployment is the premier causative factor of the economic migration that continues to claim lives and in most cases, levy a hefty financial burden on the already struggling families who would give an arm and leg for a potentially enhanced livelihood, which most times is only promissory and in some cases elusive. The pasture isn’t always a guaranteed greener on the other side. Most of the people who set out on these journeys are poor, provincial kids who either graduated without jobs or dropped out of school and are unemployable. These people hail from families who have always paid their taxes but almost never get to benefit from their government; individually or as a community. So majority of them become Economic migrants, and a few Political refugees escaping shackles and political persecution from an oppressive regime.

So the buck stops at President Jammeh and his Government! In plain terms, Yaya Jammeh DOES NOT CARE if half of the country’s youth raced out of that country to never come back. As a matter of fact, that is lessening his burden of having to deal with an unemployed, ‘unproductive’ lot. Jammeh would have cared if this was anything that posed any sort of threat to his reign. We have seen how he does not hesitate to launch all these violently aggressive “Operations” in order to legitimize his use of force to cower and oppress Gambians further, to deter any potential resistance to his Authoritarianism.

In his characteristic fashion of abdicating responsibility as the country’s CEO, Yaya continues to deflect attention from significant priorities where he is found wanting, to play victim. In his UN address in 2014, Jammeh asked that “The U.N. must conduct a full and impartial investigation into this manmade sinking, capsizing of these boats carrying young Africans to Europe,” accusing European Nations of “racist and inhuman behavior of deliberately causing boats carrying black Africans to sink.”

 

Lest we forget, a year prior Jammeh in his 2013 Tobaski address to the Nation, shamelessly went off on a tangent to blame his ‘Mandingo Brothers and Sisters’, whom he said comprised the 98% of the youth taking the going to Europe, seeking asylum just to tarnish the image of the country since 1994. He thought that is not only an unpatriotic act but Unislamic and is punishable by Treason. Although this came on the heels of UDP asylum saga, when he’d used his erstwhile unwise Presidential Affairs Minister Momodou Sabally to accuse the US & UK, and insult a whole ethnic group for being tribalist, I believe Jammeh sees no urgency in mitigating the migration because it works in his favor since the troublesome, unpatriotic bunch are leaving the country to patriots. So he’d not lose a night’s sleep over their death.

This unnatural, schizophrenic by-product of mistaken birth, is a delusional hypocrite, divisive lunatic and a self-aggrandizing, deranged ‘thot’ of a president who never takes credit for his failures as the country’s Chief Executive. After claiming to have had evidence that these people claimed persecution for homosexuality and not on ethnic grounds, how dare he flipped that to make it about a particular tribe?

But here is a government that does not have the political will nor the ability to sustain or enhance any sector of the economy that creates jobs to employ 50 Gambian a year since 2001. A government with a leadership that believes he’s doing the country a favor by reigning over her people, giving them cash handouts, food rations and throwing ridiculously expensive festivals to party their pains away at a time the country is on her deathbed. Today, the largest sectors that employ graduating students or dropouts are the Armed/Security Services and Education (teaching). And even for these areas we have seen active soldiers, police officers and teachers abandoning their posts to take chance with the risky high seas. 

We may never be able to stop the Back Way venture for ambitious, unemployed youth would always pursue opportunity somewhere whatever the risk. But had we had a capable, effective and responsible government they would have:

• Put mechanisms in place to mitigate it by not only going on TV to boast about opening schools but not able to get graduates absorbed in the workforce.
•   Be able to open skill centers to train the youth and have careers.
• Liberalize the economy, support and encourage small scale businesses by giving tax breaks and/or subsidize them to be able to flourish and create employment.
•  Let the president cease competing with the State and private businessmen as the conflict of interest and competitive advantage is killing the already struggling Gambians.
•  Let’s mechanize our Agriculture with adequate focus by revitalizing Jahali Pacharr and other places it instead of Yaya grabbing all arable lands and have the whole country work on his farms.
• Bring back our one-time Tourist Mecca that he’d killed off with his weekly distasteful international headlines that instills fear and erode confidence for tourists.

Evidently, these are not things that President Jammeh and his administration are capable of doing. That leaves us with one remedy for the hand that we’re dealt: CHANGE OF REGIME! Yaya Jammeh and the APRC administration are a bad omen for our nation and they’d have to GO for us to make any significant headway!

Lets continue to sensitize and dissuade our brothers the best we could. The Gambian Artist Bro K has a very messageful song on the 'Back Way'.

Good Morning And Peace To The Planet!

Pata PJ

PA NDERRY & SEEDY CEESAY WILL NEVER GET IT!

HERE'S what we, or I, should be ashamed of when I want to apportion any sort of blame to the opposition for what's going on in Fass Njagga Choi. Ousainou Darboe, Kemeseng Jammeh and a lot of the old, defenseless men and women at the standoff, are OVER 50 - 60 years old. The youth in the Gambia, including the LAWYER who texted Pa Nderry M'Bai, to challenge Darboe's position but scared to make his name public, are sitting at home or behind our computers to be TOUGH! That is the reason I'd be ashamed to throw dirt! The two were unprofessional in the press conference devoid of any respect for Darboe, their colleagues and the audience with both their questions and mannerisms.

Pa NDERRY & SEEDY made it clear on the radio that they've not or are not donating a dime to what's going on in Fass. That open pronouncement is an indication that they're not supporting the cause that they're expecting to start violence. As far as I'm concerned, Pa and his team are comfortable that their 'analysis' is enough contribution to the cause. That WE should be grateful to them. That's unfortunate.

Let's put a few things into perspective. We're arguing that the opposition leaders are old and over age, should step aside and give chance to others. That's only valid IF OUR YOUTH ARE WILLING TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE. Why are we not calling on the same old people to go home instead of sleeping outside? WE thought they're ineffective to run parties but we expect them to face the machinery and be killed.

The radio, blog and Facebook thugging is good but not adequately effective on the ground. Let's not get too  bigheaded. DARBOE/OJ/HALIFA/BAH/MAI went to register their parties and promised, swore to uphold the law and operate within the confines of those laws. So to ask that they face the security forces to help in breaking laws and hop into a violence project that could lead to cost of lives. As crazy and frustrating as things are, THERE ARE LAWS IN THE GAMBIA! To deny that is to be silly.

Pa Nderry and Seedy Ceesay have FAMILIES in Gambia. Pa has families who clearly, definitely declared loyalty to the same regime killing, maiming, disappearing people and breaking laws. Pa never openly mentioned or called them out for supporting the regime and should stand up to it. So if we can understand that the political environment on the ground is afar forces them to, we should be reasonable enough to understand that we can't push others to ram on that same reckless, dangerous regime head on barehanded.

Seedy was allegedly attacked and injured in England by govt supporters. Nothing came outta it. He has since been going to Senegal,  hours away from Gambia but wouldn't go in. The reason being, those same bad laws are there. Seedy could go and challenge them. Or at least called friends and families of his to join the standoff in Fass so they can help force their way out.

There's absolutely NO FALSE IMPRISONMENT in Fass. They're #refusing to LEAVE! Let that be clear! Anywhere that there's a repression of the kind in Gambia, the approach is always going to be different. That is why the Wade/Senegal comparison makes no sense. That's why the MLK quote is misplaced.

We can't always be dragging behind anytime we make some gains. And we'd always thank Pa and Freedom for consistently doing that. It never gets old. It's a numbers game, I guess.

Tough, but this too shall pass!

Peace To The Planet!

Pata PJ

Gambia Democracy Fund Supports The Opposition

Defiance is the key! There will always come a time that Gambians have to say 'No More!'. The diaspora have been doing their quota. Considering the political constraints on the ground, we do to some extend understand the degree of their effectiveness or the lack thereof. But like other places before, there's always a window of opportunity that which when cracked open, becomes a floodgate for necessary action. Fass Njaga Choi could be our much need catalyst. The Gambian opposition are stepping up!

==================

Hello All,

On behalf Gambia Democracy Fund, we thank you for always helping us disseminate useful information to the wider Gambians and friends of The Gambia out there via your public medium outlets.
Please find attached a press release in our efforts to support UDP current saga and all the political parties.

Thank you

Gambia democracy Fund.


Recent efforts by the Gambia government denying the United Democratic Party the right to assemble and address its members has created a crisis that warranted Gambia Democratic Fund to convene an emergency meeting on 4/17/15. Members present at the meeting unanimously agreed to disburse one thousand US Dollars ($1,000.00) as a donation to show solidarity with The Gambian people currently in Fass Njaga Choi. These funds will be utilized to enable all political parties coordinate with their people and meet the UDP members in Fass Njaga Choi. We are also urging all Gambians in each region to gather and show solidarity with our comrades.
Just a reminder that the GDF is a Diaspora organization that is 100% dependent on donations to enable us provide emergency funds for situations like the present. Please send donations to: 237030054103. (Bank of America). SWIFT CODES; BOFAUS3DAU2, BOFAUS3DAUS, BOFAUS3DCCD.
Sincerely,
Gambia Democracy Fund

UNITED DEMOCRATIC PARTY (UDP) HAS ENOUGH OF JAMMEH'S THUGGERY!

There will always come a time when an oppressed people will be obliged to push back against their oppressors, when they continued to be denied the ventilation they needed. It is only natural that patience and perseverance run out and the innate instincts to defend self kick in. This is the state of the Gambian opposition and United Democratic Party in particular.

Since its formation in 1996, the United Democratic Party (UDP) endured the nastiest and most undeserved wrath of the military junta camouflaged as a political party, with persistent persecution. Jammeh and his regime certainly did not anticipate the kind of resistance they had, after they had succeeded in unlawfully proscribing political participation of parties and certain people from the first Republic. Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), National Convention Party (NCP) and Gambia Peoples Party (GPP) and their respective leaderships were barred from political activity with Decree 89. The uneducated young lieutenant and his gang of average minds were able to hatch against the Gambia and Gambians with the help of many disingenuous and greedy legal luminaries and technocrats, to marginalize the Gambia’s finest. From the onset, Yaya and his crew never planned on cede power once they had muddied their hands with coagulated blood and looted riches. 

Unbeknownst to them, there were determined and crafty Gambians who saw through their mischievous plots and refused to let them set us for doom. Foolishly complacent, they got blindsided by the emergence of newer, fresher politicians in United Democratic Party and National Reconciliation Party. With the new lifeline handed to PDOIS from PPP dominance, these Parties would come to challenge Jammeh and threatened his political career especially in the first two election cycles – 1996, 2001. Things have never been the same since.

Threatened by the UDP, a party that would go on to be the biggest opposition party in the country, Yaya ventured in to unsavory political stratagem that would see him morphed his new civilian government into a quasi military regime to intimidate, harass and torment his opponents. He took a page from the books of those autocratic leaders he’d looked up to, to not only consolidate himself in power, but muscle and strangulate the lives out of the people.  Jammeh is still bent on doing just that.

When news broke that the UDP’s caravan was intercepted by the police in the Nuimis for a supposed lack of permit, I was gobsmacked and left in awe. Knowing how calculated and law abiding the leader of the UDP Lawyer Ousainou Darboe is, to the point of being branded soft and afraid, it was immediately conclusive that the State and the ruling APRC were daring, and wanting to rake the ground of a possible confrontation that could set the country ablaze. They are luring the UDP in what could be dubbed ‘Battle of Fass’. I was angry that Yaya’s uninhibited indiscipline has gone too far and he might have gotten away with it again. I was wrong. I became proud and satisfied that the UDP stood their ground refusing to budge. That was pleasant! The UDP just like APRC, have the right to freedom of assembly and movement. Blocking their path is an infringement of their right which could almost tantamount an illegal arrest or taking hostage.

For a very long time, supporters and non UDP affiliates were frustrated by the inhumane treatment meted out to the party and its leadership that was not adequately met with equal and measured resistance. Of course Darboe and the party fought and defended a lot of the barbarity in the courts, without success. It is insulting that our country’s law enforcement chiefs do not know their job but most worryingly, would want to execute an unlawful order that could seriously threaten and destabilized that country. 

What many had seen and/or heard from Fass Njaga Choi, was the type of defiance they expected from the country’s largest opposition party. That they would love them to be law abiding, but should be able and willing to defend their rights and die for them should anybody wanted to confiscate them. That the numbers that they have behind them, must count and put in play to show Gambians that they are indeed an able, qualified Government in-waiting. That there is a reason Yaya Jammeh sees them as a threat, and that should be an impetus for them to show him that Enough Is So damn Enough! Lawyer Darboe and Youth Leader Solo Sandeng embodied and manifested that in this impasse as they should. Yaya is a coward and he is not ready to die.

I have spoken to Lawyer Ousainou Darboe and a couple of people currently in Fass to extend support and solidarity, and I was impressed. Darboe and uncle Kemeseng Jammeh were in very high spirits, adamant that this silly lawlessness would have to come to an end. That Jammeh cannot continue to play a demi-god role to have the rest of the country subservient. These are people in their 60s, filling the shoes of the youth who should have been in the forefront of the battle to liberate Gambia had it not been for Jammeh’s reckless and irresponsible type of governance that had the crème da la crème of our youth risking to die at sea in search of better lives, or stay at home scared to even think for themselves.

Whatever the outcome of this standoff, would set a precedence going forward especially into the 2016 elections. Should the UDP back down, Yaya would take that for a weakness, a scored point and would do just that to continue the intimidation. Should they refuse to obliged and forge on with their tour, a huge political gain for them because Jammeh would then understand that Gambians are ready and willing to take our country back at all cost. That no amount of thuggery would make them relent. The latter would be an important catalyst to a possible victory at the polls with a United Front because the Gambian electorate would need that myth buster. Yaya is a TV thug. A coward and bully who is scared to death of confrontation. That is why he will never try this audacious stunt in Banjul or the Kombos.

The election violence that marred the keenly contested elections in 1996 and 2001, were the confirmation of the type of a leader and politician Jammeh is. That employ whatever it takes to silence and crush anyone who poses a perceived threat to his reign. This would follow series of arrests, abductions and torture of staunch opposition figures like the late Momodou Lamin Shyngle Nyassi, Lamin Waa Juwara and other members of the Opposition. Deadly confrontations spearheaded by the late Baba Jobe and his defunct July 22 militants, would cost a few UDP members their lives and one Alieu Njie, an APRC supporter who was killed in the URD in 2000. It has continued and Mr Amadou Sanneh the party’s treasurer became victim. Unarguably, they bore the worst brunt of this regime’s terror and they seem to be ready to halt that. However, it is a fight that no one person or party can win alone.

The show of solidarity from Gambians especially from the other Party leaders is a mark of the dire urgency of our situation. That is why this must not be seen as a UDP fight. It is often always them because they are Jammeh’s migraine but every party and their leader are a potential victim. Ultimately, Gambia stands to lose should he prevail.

“We must either be a nation of laws equally applied to all or succumb to a nation run by clique who would commit crimes and repress the people with impunity.” - Karamba Touray

The Struggle Continues, by ALL means Necessary.

Peace To The Planet!

Saidykhan.