By Madi Jobarteh
After spending few days in prison so far for the murder of Ousman Koro Ceesay, Yankuba Touray will now have realised that impunity does not last. Never. If he were a thinking being, he would have realised that no one single person has power but the people. The power that Yankuba and his AFPRC Criminals were brandishing in those days was nothing but the power of the people entrusted to him and his co-criminals. Today, Yankuba will learn that when the people entrust you with their power, do not usurp it and then transform it into a weapon against the people. It will not last.
Therefore, to Yankuba Touray, I wish him a reflective stay in Mile 2 so that he will think all over again about his life as a human being, a citizen, a State officer and now a convict. Yankuba, just like his co-perpetrators, especially those who constituted the Junta, had the unique opportunity to lead their people to the promised land. The masses of Gambians welcomed the coup hoping that they will see a transformation of their lives for the better.
Instead, Yankuba and his co-Junta Criminals sought to hoodwink the masses with meaningless statements like ‘soldiers with a difference’ and hypocritical slogans like ‘transparency, accountability and probity’ when, in fact they were the most corrupt and immoral souls on earth! People wholeheartedly gave them support and willingly followed them, not realising that these ‘soldiers with a difference’ were indeed greedy traitors; the scum of the scumbags of the earth.
So, let Yankuba blame no one but himself! Even though he cannot now face Koro Ceesay to repent. But he has the family of Koro here. He has Gambians here. Instead of continuing to wallow in the arrogance that landed him in Mile 2, he needs to have some self-esteem and begin the process of repentance and apology to his victims and the generality of Gambians. That might not pull him out of Mile 2, but it can reduce the heavy load of self-inflicted arrogance, hatred and vain anger that now engulf him.
To those Dictator Lovers who seek to distort, rationalise, deny and mislead about this case, one can only pity them and hope they will have the courage of their convictions to recognize Yaya Jammeh and his Regime as evil to be rejected for good. Yankuba had the unique opportunity to come before the TRRC to narrate his story even if it would be a mere cock and bull lies like that of Edward Singhateh. But he would have the benefit of going home for a while to wait for the TRRC to conclude and see what the recommendations would be for him. But sheer arrogance and ignorance can make a person destroy his life and this is what Yankuba did to himself.
No one should engage in such analogies that claim that this ruling is not fair simply because Yakubu’s co-perpetrators are walking free. Some even refer to the ‘freed’ Junglers to claim that what happened to Yankuba is a farce. Far from it. What happened to Yankuba is bound to happen simply because he failed to face any form of accountability. And so, if he refuses to testify before the truth commission surely, he must face accountability elsewhere because Yankuba was adversely mentioned for this murder. He is not a sacred cow!
Of course, one of the most ludicrous stories comes from the usual suspect Ebou Jallow who dishonestly claimed that Yankuba did not kill Koro and in fact Yankuba was fooled into taking part in the crime. It is not that Ebou is ignorant of the law that aiding in any way in a crime makes you a principal actor. But this unconscionable Champion Lover of the Dictator knew that that heinous crime was committed in Yankuba’s house who never attempted to stop it as soon as he knew about it. Since then he also never did anything to ensure that there is accountability for that crime. Yet Ebou Jallow thinks Yankuba is innocent. What a warped mindset!
Let the Lovers of the Dictator rant and fret. Let them continue to ridicule TRRC, but justice and accountability shall run their natural course. Those who concocted and imposed that warped narrative on society yesterday because they were in power, cannot and will not continue to determine that same warped narrative today. For 22 odd years, they abused and misruled this society at unimaginable cost to life and dignity. Today, 26 years after the killing of Koro, the day of reckoning has begun and will never stop until Yaya Jammeh is captured, tried, convicted sooner than later and dumped in Cell Number 1 in the Maximum Security Wing at Mile 2 for life! This is the verdict of history.
For the Gambia Our Homeland.
