The odour is unmistakable, the stench is unavoidable, fish price skyrocket, frustrations abound, Bro you don’t know the extent to which our patience has been exercised said Mr Bojang.

 
I intimated, Bro, stench and odour is the same and Mr Bojang sighed with a deep breath to collect himself. Imagine someone come to your compound, dump sewage, put herbicide on your lawn and throw some cyanide into your well, how will you feel. I said definitely that will trigger war. He went on, what is more frustrating is; the Chinese have the audacity to threaten us, and frustrating still, they are exploiting our own brethren to perpetrate their odious crime against our environment and fish resources for only fifty cents. These our brethren have no conscience and only care about their pockets at the detriment of our community and environment. I said hmmm this is ugly business and definitely it’s time to show the Chinese who the boss is.

 
Mr Bojang went on, Mr Darboe can you imagine a Gambian doing this sort of stuff in China or India. Chinese and Indians who kill black folks just for dating their girls. We put the government in power to protect our livelihood, our environment and resources but the former government colluded with some notable Gunjurians to establish this Chinese factory on our pristine beach which is our heritage and great source of tourist attraction; is being systematically destroyed by Chinese with excuse of providing local employment. The former Yaya government has no respect for the will of the people and certainly no respect for the environment or our local beaches. Yaya plus local henchmen have been a continuing sources of despair for Gunjur, first he usurped it’s Kenyekenye Jameng area, fence it with high walls and allowed this notorious Chinese company to rape our fish resources, pollute the beaches and gas us with this foul stench which we don’t actually know what type of gas it is.

 
Fare enough I have heard it all. This issue cannot be brush aside any more, it has to be brought the attention of the new administration to take urgent action.
The fracas about the Chinese company started barely some two years ago and the fish factory as was superficiality named was initially slated as manufacturing plant for fertilizer production but unknowing to the generality of Gunjur citizenry, was a plant for manufacturing fish products in form of pellets for Chinese market. It’s products still shrouded in secrecy is sent to China in packages and even the local workforce don’t actually know the complete production process. There are certain stages according some staffs which only the Chinese know. Also there are certain areas of the plant which is restricted, a no go area for the local Gunjur staffs according sources familiar with the workings of the plant.

 
The whole process was established without proper consultation with local stakeholders and if local grapevine is to be trusted, it’s only the chief, the alkali and some village authorities who were in the know of the full extent of this notorious Chinese enterprise. The name of some local big fish, a prominent businessman surfaced as the mastermind of the plant. According to sources the plant was purportedly setup for fertilizer manufacture but a month into the process people noticed dumping of unwanted fish on the beaches, on road sides and places proximal to dwellings.

 
Chinese normally build local infrastructure when they set up plants like this to attract local empathy and support; they build roads and sometimes hospitals. However in this case they ignored our people’s aspirations and invited no input from them since they knew that they have Yaya government’s backing as well some local power brokers in their pocket. Power brokers who can easily sell their land and sea resources for a dime.

 
The road to the beach plied by their heavy lorries and vans is in disrepair and cannot cater for such a high volume of traffic. It is a feeder road made of gravel which Yaya ignored even though he has been frequenting the place to visit kenyekenye Jameng.

 
Simply because Gunjurians have inconsequential political clout in his calculations or out of pure disdain. For years our people have been silent bystanders out of fear of their lives, hopelessly acquiesced. Just as in many part of Gambia, Jammeh’s pervasive dominance of the political, economic and social life of the Gambians citizenry has haply been challenged. He succeeded systematically in dividing the people and inserting his loyal enablers in form of local power brokers and NIA to intimidate and coalesced people to submission.

 
Gunjur was no exception and this has led to the current imbroglio which has so far prove perilous to not only to the environment and sea resources but to the standard of living of our people. As Tuklor Sey eloquently put it, Gunjur’s environmental ruination by the Chinese is a national challenge because that sea once was a honey comb for many Gambians. The Gunjur catfish with its distinctive taste and Gunjur smoked fish used to be an excellent source of protein for many towns villages from Kombo to Basse. Since Yaya government came in, Gunjur’s pre-eminence in fish production dwindled to near extinction and Tangi took over.

 
Gunjur is a prolific settlement to a diversity of tribes and people from Gambians regions; it’s widely acclaimed reputation as the most welcoming town to people from many areas in the Gambia as well as the sub-region. It’s is one of the few prominent Mandinka dominated towns where people will give their daughter in marriage to foreigners without much attention to the backgrounds of the spouse in contradistinction to many other towns in the Gambia. In many towns, especially in Badibu, they want to know your background first, especially, to authenticate whether you are of a Karanke, or Jali background before they decide to offer you spouse. In some places even grave yards exhibits people status in life, a distinction of Fooro and Jongo, not in Gunjur the town of scholars of distinction and pre-eminence, in the person of Bun Jeng and Hatab Bojang; not to forget Kombo Sillah the king and emir of Kombo.
Not to be distracted from the burning issue at hand, the people of Gunjur deserve more. It provided the sand mining which generated huge cash flows for the country for decades yet the local infrastructure benefited nothing from those resources and it has been documented that Yaya Jammeh solely monopolized those cash flows at the detriment of our environment. Just as KARTONG beach was close to decimation, so was Gunjur yet the denizens sheepishly acquiesce out of fear of persecution by Jammeh henchmen.

 
The Chinses fishing methods fall below international standards and is very destructive to fish resources. They will soon deplete our fish resources because the type of net they use does not discriminate between the fish species they need and the type they don’t need. That’s why they dispose the unwanted fish to the dismay of the local populations who find it expensive to buy local Chalo.
The local fishermen cannot compete with a well resourced and technologically advance fishing equipment that the Chinese deploy and therefore the local industry is slowly shrinking with consequential loss of revenue and standard of living.

 
Our environment is a sacred heritage which we shall protect with blood and sweat come what may and the current government’s sluggish and apparently insignificant efforts despised our contributions in enthroning their candidate who happen to be the majority leader in parliament. Perhaps now the issue has been thrust to the fore-front of national discourse some urgent action will be taken to address the situation. It has been grapevine news that the environment minister who is purportedly out of town will visit the location once he returns.

 
The Chinese must either have to put their act together, stop this senseless rape of our environment and sea resources or they totally close down. If the government failed to prevail on them which we hope not, we will not hesitate to unleash local activism which may germinate some unintended consequences.
The saddest and most disappointing aspect that bedevil this episode is the collusion of our own brethren out of sheer opportunism and ignorance. Th Chinese may be gone but Gunjur stays and recriminations may make it difficult to look at folks in the eye. SALAM

L Darboe Leicester

What is really going on in beautiful Gambia? Why are we so laid back, Mr President? Everything little thing which oozes no immediate physical harm is rubbished as insignificant without any thorough examination. Mr President, your biggest diminish prospect is security. Every other day, in new Gambia, we witness instances where security of our country is severely tested by a bunch of irresponsible citizens. We have seen it happened in Bakau when a group of drug peddlers stood up and obstructed law enforcement officers from executing their duties. The same was mirrored at Tanji beach where security officers had to contain youths armed with cutlasses, matchets, stones and sticks. Similar episode also was manifested in Kanilai by a group of women threatening to bare their essential just to stop security officers carry out their duty. No government can compromise security and survive Mr President.

 
A video is currently circulating on Gambian social media of a fella threatening to open the gates of hell is any security officer dares step in Kanilai to execute a court order on Goloh’s frozen assets. Worryingly, many take his threat with a teensy weensy pinch of salt. And case closed. Seriously? It is about time even if his “bravado does not amount to a hell of beans” for government to quickly response to such threats and make the public aware that no threat on the person, life or property of anyone in the Gambia will be rubbished as childish banter. Jammeh with all his anything anything did warn you, Mr President, not to compromise security of the country. We may downplay the looming threats showing their ugly heads in our midst but the country is being tested for ungovernability. Something must be done about it if any development is to take place. How can you govern in the heart of insecurity and instability? It is these little threats that we hastily bin as rubbish which mutate into the Farato rioters’ rampage. I am concerned because I can foresee the far reaching and costly security ripples this is leading to.

 
It really beats any reasonable imagination how we as citizen architect our abysmal doom. The minster of Fisheries and water resources rested the coastal line of Gunjur disaster on the heads of few poor fishermen. How convenient Mr President? Even a minute old baby knows the Hon Minister was nothing but a glue-huffing imbecile covering up for corporate exploitation of our environment. His reasoning that Golden Leaf Factory had to go though vigorous vetting before issuing its operational licence is likened to averting a rainfall with one’s palm. They may have complied with all government protocols but is that a guarantee that they will uphold those protocols after a year or so operation? Everything from the galaxy of washed out dead fish to the illegal dumping of chemical and fish waste all accentuate their breach of those very protocols. Acts and atti6from ordinary citizenry and government officials are the marinating ingredients for insecurity, dissent and rampage.

 
No one is insinuating you issue threats like Goloh to get things done. One thing about him though, he is known for carrying out his threats perhaps that explains why what obtains in Gambia now was only imaginable in our forlorn dreams. The laws are there, Mr President. All you need is to implement them. Inciting and threatening violence is a felon. Corruption is equally a felon. You want to be taken seriously? Be serious Mr President.

 
Karamba Touray has this to add, “Impeding or even attempting to impede legitimate law enforcement even of the slightest kind is intolerable. It must be swiftly dealt with . I believe the police have been entirely too soft on the enforcement side in this new democracy in their quest to shed the excesses of the tyranny that subverted them as an institution and the laws they are sworn to serve. That may be having the unintended consequences of emboldening miscreants to challenge law and order itself. It has stop. Fidelity to the law which lies at the heart of a democracy is contingent on full and uniform enforcement by those charged with the responsibility. People who stand in the way of legitimate police work must be severely punished whatever their purported grievances”.

Sulayman Jeng
Birmingham, UK

There is no doubt that there is a lot of anger and frustration among the youth of this country. What with the long reign of terror unleashed on the people of the country by a brutal government that was supposed to protect and serve them! Then there is the issue of the lack of adequate employment opportunities and the seeming injustices perpetrated on our people.

There is a widely held perception that the justice system in the previous government was compromised and is thought to have been corrupt. One potential problem and threat to peace and security is the issue of land ownership. It is believed that the former president interfered with the ownership of lands in many parts of the country. As such, judgements that have to do with land, and emanated from the justice system of the previous government are likely to be controversial and contentious.

Many there are who paid huge amounts of money for lands which they genuinely believed belonged to the people who sold it to them. So, they bought these lands, had their papers drawn and started construction on said lands. If therefore it is found out later that the land did not in fact belong to the sellers in the first place, one can imagine their anger and frustration. Add to that the fact that these people believe that the courts are compromised.

The fracas that occurred in Farato and Bafulotoo yesterday was therefore a boil over of pent up anger which had been suppresseed for a long time coming.

In my humble opinion, this matter should be thoroughly looked into by the Barrow Government and then amicable solutions sought. Whatever the case, dialogue should be a key element in trying to solve the problem. If need be, those people who had spent money to buy, construct, and move into those houses should be compensated. They should be given lands and an amount of money to construct houses similar to the ones that were demolished if their claims are established by a competent authority.

I think it is necessary for the government to revisit the court cases presided over by all those judges who are deemed to have been in Jammeh’s pockets. Justice should then be restored and those who were wrongly denied of the lands, and/or monies should be compensated. Let us use dialogue to solve our problems.

Having said all that, I should also say that it is wrong to take the law into one’s hands and wreak havoc on property – be it public or personal property. Whatever the case, we should never revert to violent protests. If we do, we will simply be destroying our country for no good reason. Everyone is allowed to demonstrate peacefully; but this must never be abused. Let us always remember that we are one country, one family, and one nation!

Let us love our country!

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

By Madi Jobarteh

After 22 years of misrule, the evidence of the carnage and plunder of Yaya Jammeh and APRC exposes itself every day, which shall continue till eternity because their victims and effects of their atrocities shall continue to exist forever. The sole beneficiary of the atrocities and plunder of public wealth has been none other than Yaya Jammeh himself and is party. When Yaya Jammeh steals public money it benefits himself and his party to stay longer in power. When Yaya Jammeh ordered the killing of opponents, it serves him and APRC to stay in power. Thus APRC is a direct beneficiary of the misrule, plunder and atrocities of Yaya Jammeh.

 
We now know that a large number of our citizens lost their lives in mysterious circumstances during the APRC reign. The recent indictments of tens of soldiers for murder clearly indicates that indeed Yaya Jammeh and the APRC had presided over the most brutal destruction of uncountable number of Gambian lives through strangulation, suffocation, beheading, shooting and hacking. They then went further to conceal dead bodies in bushes and forests, thrown into wells and crocodile ponds among other ungodly places in and around Kanilai, Foni and Kombo. The exhumation of dead bodies attests to the grisly conduct of this undesirable regime. Yet the APRC, which formed the government, failed to ensure justice and protection of the rights of Gambians. As a party, they enjoyed their dominance on the misery and disempowerment of Gambians.

 
From 11 November 1994 when AFPRC began its reign of bloodshed by summarily executing tens of our soldiers, we saw how this criminal military junta metamorphosed into the APRC as a political party to continue the same bloodshed. The most tragic part of that history is when you have Gambian civilians embrace this party to provide it the necessary power base and legitimacy to perpetuate murder and pillage in our country. Hence from 1997, the leading violator of the Gambia had been the APRC. With their control over the legislature and local government structures, this party had provided the perfect cover and support for Yaya Jammeh to destroy the Gambia. APRC failed to not only stand up for the Gambia, but went further to legitimize ad legalize the misconduct and violations of Yaya Jammeh with much fuel and fire. The legacy of APRC therefore is maiming and murder of Gambian lives and the plunder of public wealth.

 
This evidence can be traced to the several concocted coups from 1997 to 2000 during which Yaya Jammeh eliminated perceived and real opponents only to see the APRC as a party and lawmakers rally around this despot to validate his atrocities. The most tragic event came in the Year 2000 when on April 10 and 11, he ordered Gambian soldiers to open fire on innocent and defenseless schoolchildren. The response of the APRC lawmakers was to merely pass an indemnity act to protect the killers. Even when a commission of enquiry was conducted which had identified the perpetrators yet the APRC decided to ignore and forget.

 
Since April 2000, series of atrocities continued in this country such as on 16 December 2004 when a veteran journalist Deyda Hydara was shot dead. This was followed by the summary execution of Daba Marenah and four other soldiers on 4 April 2006. On 23 August 2012 the regime illegally executed nine prisoners in Mile 2 Prisons without following the rule of law. On 30 December 2014, Gambian Freedom Fighters were captured alive and summarily butchered to death. On 14 April 2016 scores of peaceful protestors led by Solo Sandeng were violently arrested and subjected to the most severe torture and rape leading to the immediate killing of Sandeng. Since then many more protestors have succumbed to the severe tortures such as Solo Koroma, Lang Marong and Ebrima Ceesay.

 
Today, thanks to the Barrow Administration Gambians also know the source of Yaya Jammeh’s ‘Allah’s Bank’. After all the open secret is that this ungodly son of the land has in his name 131 landed properties, 86 bank accounts and 14 companies. He had also directly taken out of SSHFC the amount of D189 million as well as 50 million US dollars from the International Gateway Project Account. Under the watch of the ruling APRC, Yaya Jammeh had opened special accounts while he continued to use public enterprises such as Gamtel, Gambia Ports Authority as well as NAWEC to bleed the country of its hard earned money. As if this was not enough, Yaya Jammeh went further to directly interfere with business entities to the point of causing the country to lose millions of dalasi in lawsuits. The cases of Alimenta, Carnegie Minerals and CONAPRO are all clear examples of abuse and impunity for which the Gambian people were forced to pay bitterly for the mess of one citizen! Yet APRC key mute but benefiting!
The fact that Yaya Jammeh as a single person can acquire so much properties, bank accounts and companies in the Gambia alone and not to mention his overseas concerns clearly shows that APRC was indeed a serious liability for Gambians. Therefore until now I had held the view that the APRC party should not be banned in the Gambia but today I wish to change my position to demand that APRC be banned in the Gambia from henceforth. This is because the APRC had been the container in which Yaya Jammeh delivered his venom on Gambians. APRC as a party gave Yaya Jammeh a cover and a conveyor to kill and defraud the Gambia and Gambians.

 
APRC cannot be separated from Yaya Jammeh and his atrocities because APRC is the political powerbase of the Government of Yaya Jammeh. In a democracy, presidents or prime ministers are elected on the basis of a party or as independents. In our case Yaya Jammeh was elected on the APRC ticket. It was APRC that formed the majority of the members of the National Assembly. Hence whatever Yaya Jammeh was able to do, it was directly possible because of his power base, the APRC. Hence if Yaya Jammeh is exiled, he certainly must go with APRC as his coat.

 
Until today, the Nazi party has not been officially banned in Germany. But Nazi symbols, flags, ideology, offices and materials have been completely closed, banned and criminalized. No one in Germany can promote in any way anything associated with the Nazi party. Thus effectively the party is banned even if by law there was no specific court order banning the party. Germany banned all elements of the party because of the intolerable atrocities, plunder and destruction that Hitler and his band of criminals caused Germany.

 
The APRC does not certainly match the scale of atrocity of the Nazi party, but in our history, the Gambia has never seen such carnage led by a political party. For that matter, the APRC deserves to be banned in the Gambia just like Yaya Jammeh. The APRC is a party of shame, destruction and murder. We had Yaya Jammeh because there was AFPRC and then APRC. We experienced atrocities because of APRC. We are defrauded because of APRC. The APRC as the dominant party in parliament failed as a legal and official entity tasked with a constitutional mandate to protect the supreme interests of the nation.

 
The APRC has a constitutional obligation to abide by the Constitution of the Gambia yet it chose to ignore and at the same time go against that Constitution. It chose to damage the sovereignty and national security of the Gambia. It chose to put the name and dignity of the Gambia into disrepute and ridicule worldwide. APRC like any other party or citizen has no choice or right to impose a religious state on the Gambia, or to disregard the rule of law or to aid and abet tyranny in the Gambia. Yet this was exactly what APRC decided to do wilfully in the Gambia. Why therefore should APRC survive! Any person who commits these crimes will face the law hence any group of people who constitute themselves into any entity, more so a political party will be liable for the same penalty if they commit the same crime.

Keeping the APRC in Gambian society means digging our wounds everyday as APRC represents the wounds of Gambians. Allowing APRC to continue to exist means we have exonerated it from its failures, complicity and direct participation in the abuse of human rights, disregard of the rule of law and killing of Gambians by the Yaya Jammeh Government. If we could credit the opposition parties for ousting Yaya Jammeh, then what can we claim to be the benefit and contribution of APRC. It is clear that APRC had one position and contribution, which was to maintain dictatorship because they benefitted from that dictatorship. Thus keeping APRC alive means we disrespect and dishonour the departed souls and those who were raped, beaten and tortured in every unimaginable way. The APRC has no value in the Gambia other than to further torment and traumatize victims and survivors of the atrocities of Yaya Jammeh. If there is a benefit provided by the presence of APRC, what is it?
Ban The APRC! NOW.

I refused to buy into the notion that a rogue Belgian entity widely discredited in international circles has entered into agreements with the government of the Gambia in printing her new passports and all such national identity documentations. Athough the rumour mill doing the rounds on social media has in fact come to be true, ordinary folks are at a loss as to why and on what terms such a deal hinges on. For the record, this ill-advised deal was crafted in the dying days of the Jammeh regime; not the current administration. And due to the sensitive nature of national security matters attached in holding large volumes of citizens data, I am extremely concerned that the country’s soul has been sold to a foreign agent. The Gambian people have every right to feel betrayed and to be outraged at the mechanics of this secret collusion which has clearly mortgaged our future to the unknown.

On June 16, 2016 SEMLEX rushed with the announcement that it has entered into agreement with the government of the Gambia to print her national ID card, driving licences, resident permit, car registration certificate, visa and border management systems. The company then pursued using the “Good-Gambia-image” for marketing purposes luring-in other unsuspecting African nations to sign up. Based on empirical records in how the company descend upon unstable African leaders bearing gifts, one can state with near-certainty that naked corruption was at play here. Although in a state of flux, the constitution reign supreme with clearly defined powers and role for everyone in nation building. It further gives Parliament a say and to ratify such agreements before being operational (section 79). This was not the case here given APRC stranglehold of the ‘LawHouse’ at the time. For decades, clueless African leaders continue to be caught up in controversy against the grain. In Gambia’s case, it will be an insult to the memory and legacy of those hard-fought men and women of the ”Struggle” who died for a cause; a noble cause indeed, that ‘never again’ shall tyranny & abuse of political office be tolerated in our dispensation. I therefore call on Parliament to exercise its oversight reach and to conduct investigations in earnest.

SEMLEX is causing havoc in every country it operates, and is facing charges of bribery and corruption at the European Court. This begs the question why did the Interior ministry not conduct research on the firm before entering into any such agreement plundering the nations wealth abroad. National security risk is at stake here which makes it the more dangerous. How can such a discredited and untrustworthy foreign entity be given monopoly over all facets of the country’s national identification. Can you imagine Britain or the US or perhaps even Senegal outsourcing its passport manufacture to a Gambian company? The practice further reeks of incompetence, and I fear foul-play in the long run preempting injury to the state.

Research has uncovered a troubling trail of Africa’s dictatorial regimes cozied up to this tainted firm. From D.R CONGO, MOZAMBIQUE, SOUTH SUDAN, Guinea Bissau to Jammeh’s Gambia – you shall not find any respectable democratic State hiring SEMLEX. How ironic, yet very strange indeed. The Gambian people have every right to be outraged and to question this linkage, and what the Barrow government is going to do about it. The government has the power to review the terms and conditions of the said contract and to nullify on grounds of illegality for not following the proper parliamentary checks and protocol. The procurement procedure was flawed too in terms of bidding which had marginalised domestic competitors. Folks on every account this deal is found wanting, begging for scrutiny. And precisely why the interior ministry and the presidency must come out explain itself – reassuring the wider citizenry in the process.

Gibril Saine, LONDON.

The Chinese Company Saga…

I have already written about the damage the Chinese Company, Golden Lead Factory is doing in Gunjur and its surrounding towns and villages. But that, Mr President, was before I knew the extent of the damage. I now know that the damage is worse than I initially imagined.

Yesterday, a comrade of mine, who happens to be from the area and is involved in activism against environmental degradation sent me images of the river in that area and a report on the activities of this horrible company. To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. This is so terrible that I can say it is unspeakable.

The wildlife in that area is dying due to whatever poisonous chemicals these people have thrown into the water. Mr President, I can even say that no one is safe in this country now. The fish caught in those coastal towns are sold and consumed in all markets in the urban area and as such, we are all eating fish that possibly might have been poisoned by these Chinese.

I have received reports that the company issued a press statement denying all culpability in this disaster. They are said to have claimed that they are licensed to operate by GIEPA and the Ministries of Fisheries and Trade of this country. Mr President, this statement was issued on the 22nd May, 2017 and still now, we haven’t heard from any of the government departments mentioned above.

When I wrote on this issue last time I sought to remind you that the first responsibility of a govement is to protect its citizens. If therefore a foreign company comes to our country and wreaks havoc on our ecosystem, our health and then is allowed to just pack up and go home, then your government would have failed in one of its most fundamental duties and responsibilities – the protection of citizens.

One would have expected that immediately the Chinese Company made that statement, the government departments concerned would come out and tell us their side of the story. Does their silent not show that the Chinese are right? Or, does it show that they do not care what happens to Gambians?

Mr President, we have passed a stage where we will allow every Tom, Dick and Harry would come and play with our intelligence and go scot free. We must set an example that we are ready to protect our own, that we care what happens to our citizens. Allowing this company to closedown without paying for the damage they have caused will be setting a bad precedent, and that we cannot afford to do. We must take legal action against them.

I stand with the people of Gunjur, Cartong, Tanji and all the coastal towns to demand an explanation and, Now!

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

As the government marches towards the establishment of a commission to look into the
atrocities of the Jammeh regime, it is important that it continues to engage the Gambian
citizens, especially the victims, and be upfront about what it is trying to do. It is
incumbent upon the government to explain to Gambians and friends of The Gambia the
nuances surrounding the so called Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
mechanism it wants to invoke. Some of us seem to place too much emphasis on the
reconciliation and forgiveness aspects of TRCs; thus prioritizing perpetrators of heinous
crimes over the victims of such crimes; and unwittingly promoting impunity in the
society. My focus is on the wisdom of discarding regular courts and replacing them with
commissions to deal with criminals. In other words, I am more concerned about the
vehicle we want to use to arrive at the reconciliation the government is seeking. I
submit that punishing criminals before regular courts and reconciling with criminals after
they have paid their debt to society are not mutually exclusive.

 
It is very important that people realize that the TRC concept goes against the norms of
civilized societies when it is used as a tool to avoid holding criminals accountable for
their crimes. Therefore, it is wrong to put victims and societies on the defensive, by
asking them at this early stage of the process to forgive their tormentors. Moreover, it
does not help to make it sound as if it is somehow uncivilized and vindictive for victims
to demand that criminals be punished. It is praiseworthy for people currently in power,
who suffered under the Jammeh regime, to now appear self-righteous and
magnanimous and willing to absolve criminals who wronged them in the past, including
criminals who never acknowledged wrongdoing, let alone seek forgiveness.

 
The other victims, however, should know that there is nothing wrong in demanding that
criminals in our society be punished for their crimes. That is a normal and civilized thing
to do. No civilized society should tolerate impunity. I reiterate that no one is asking for
revenge here. For instance, no one is demanding that Jammeh’s children be shot or he
himself and his vice president be summarily executed without trial, like they did to our
children on April 10 and 11, 2000. What the victims deserve is for the government to
apply our laws and international norms to hold people accountable and quit putting the
onus on the victims to forgive people who are not even looking for forgiveness.

 
When Gambia signed on to the Rome Statute, it “[affirmed] that the most serious crimes
of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished and that
their effective prosecution must be ensured by taking measures at the national level and
by enhancing international cooperation.” Our government also pledged “to put an end
to impunity for the perpetrators of” certain crimes, including the cold-blooded massacre
of innocent and defenseless children on April 10 and 11, 2000. I call upon our
government to, at a minimum, honor its international obligations and take “measures at
the national level” to ensure that the April 10 and 11, 2000 Massacre is effectively
prosecuted and it “must not go unpunished.”

One can argue that the atrocities committed in The Gambia are not in the magnitude of

the genocides in other countries. But here is where Gambia steps up to serve as a
model for the world by showing that we will vigorously pursue justice even if only a
single Gambian is murdered by our political leaders. Let us be the nation that set the
threshold for prosecuting brutal political leaders who commit crimes against their
defenseless citizens. As I, and many, have argued, ours is not a polarized society where
you have hundreds of thousands of victims and perpetrators on opposing sides, ready
to plunge the society into chaos if perpetrators are punished for their crimes. Even
places such as Rwanda, with a far more complex situation than we are faced with,
ensured that certain criminals were appropriately prosecuted before putting forth
reconciliation mechanisms. We, on the other hand, have thousands of victims and a few
criminals in our midst, who can be dealt with through our regular courts. Setting up
another toothless commission to deal with the April 10 and 11, 2000 Massacre, for
instance, is akin to designing a solution for a problem that does not exist, in my humble
opinion.

The government will do a major disservice to the citizens if it lets murderers go scot-free
simply because they appeared before a commission of inquiry and confessed to their
crimes. The government should desist from putting pressure on the victims to reconcile
with perpetrators of heinous crimes who have not faced justice. Why can’t we put
pressure on the criminals to accept whatever punishment society imposes on them in
good faith and then seek the forgiveness of their victim? It is offensive to insinuate that
the victims are the bad guys here, because they do not want to forgive criminals. It is
equally condescending and offensive to say that it is uncouth and vindictive to demand
that criminals be punished for their crimes. The government should be putting all its
energy towards holding criminals accountable and ensuring that heinous crimes such as
the April 10 and 11, 2000 Massacre never happen in our society again.

Politicians in our midst would be within their rights if they wish to personally forgive
people like Jammeh because they want to woo Jammeh supporters or they are being
magnanimous. It is also understandable if, in the name of self-preservation, politicians
promote toothless commissions over regular courts, because they themselves would
prefer to be brought before a commission should they commit heinous crimes while in
office. Ordinary citizens, though, should never condone impunity; and should
vehemently oppose any ploy to encourage it in our society.

As the Barrow cabinet deliberates on the way forward and how to craft a comprehensive
TRC policy, I respectfully urge them to put the interests of the victims and society at
large ahead of the interests of criminals. There can be no genuine reconciliation if
victims feel that they are being forced to forgive perpetrators of crimes, who have not
shown any remorse and have not paid their debt to society. The true essence of a TRC
would be for perpetrators to openly confess their crimes and submit themselves to the
will of their victims and society at large, be it for appropriate punishment or forgiveness.
Perpetrators cannot be guaranteed the latter by the mere act of confession. An
essential part of taking responsibility, is accepting consequence.

Muhamad Sosseh, Esq.
Washington, DC
May 23, 2017