Gainako Newspaper

Should the Gambian President Yahya
Jammeh be using force on his People?
......By Suntou Touray, United Arab Emirates (UAE) ..................Posted June 28th, 2007

As we ponder daily over the apparent mistreatment of our fellow country men/women, thousands of miles away, we
wonder and we ask, is it necessary for a legitimate elected President with over sixty percent (60%) of votes be using force
in ruling a peaceful populace of just over one million people?

We ask again, if truly our President Yahya Jammeh won the election through the clean modern democratic system, why the
brutal dictatorship? I can't find any answers to these legitimate and simple questions. We are told that in a democratic
society people are ruled according to their will. It is the will of the majority that voted in the government, but what happens
if that government turn against its electorates?

Gambians have read from newspapers published far from our shores about the undemocratic norms prevalent in the daily
lives of the average Gambian, yet our state department pass these allegations as mere unpatriotic and a rife in blame
culture. Who is really saying the truth? Are we just labelling false accusations against a government we oppose or are they
in reality strangling the democratic culture the Gambia have known for over three decades? Wherever one stands on the
issue of Yahya's style of governing, there are legitimate questions to be answered. What cannot be denied is the use of
force and torture to humiliate peaceful and toothless Gambians.

The Gambia, a small country where every one is nearly related was a poor but stable country until Yahya came to power
.The poverty still remains but the peaceful side has nearly vanished. Gambians used to pride themselves on the peaceful
coexistence of Muslims and Christian and the respect for their respective religion, but now all that is gone through the
artificial window created by a young military officer Yahya Jammeh. Over the period of his twelve-year rule, Gambians
have transformed from non-brutal human beings to the beast that is ever bloodthirsty. Many Gambian can now kill for
Yahya with impunity and walk the streets of Banjul and Serrekunda without feeling any remorse for the crime he/she has
perpetrated against innocent and defenceless citizens. Now we can laugh at each other's tragedy so easily.

Every single complaint against Yahya's narrow-minded leadership is deemed as tribal opposition. What happen to us? Did
we allow our so-called Islamic and Christian beliefs to escape without a single fight? Or was it that we were always the
beasts inside but we did not have the means to let it out until a young officer gave us the opportunity? I have seen in Sierra
Leon where the natives use to labour so hard for foreigners, one wonder where the self-respect is after Foday Sanko open
the Hell Gate who ran through it?

All decent journalists in our small paradise either stopped practicing their profession or seek refuge in a foreign country
while the rest of the Gambians are sitting doing nothing. Shall we say all complaint be stopped against Yahya and his
cronies until we are ready to take action. Our opposition parties are under funded and have no militants. What options do
we have to correct the injustices taking place daily? Many Gambians are quiet as usual thinking to themselves what can
they do about the current hardship?

For now let us tell Yahya, you don't need to criminalize us and rule us with an iron fist. We are a peaceful and obedient
people and please stop harassing us. Let the free media do their job and you too can let your media do their role of writing
only good stuff about you .We can read the news that is realistic and accurate. You see Yahya, you don't need to be
tyrannical to spend another fifty years in power .For now all Gambians should be saying is President, why the harsh rule,
the arresting and jailing, the insulting and hatred? Why creating hostility between our sister country Senegal and us? It is we
Gambians who will pay the price for any eventual confrontation between Gambia and Senegal. There is no need to be
tyrannical for us to sing Jilanka every morning and before we go to bed. Mr President, give us our freedom back or else
we will demand it back by any means necessary.

...Travesty of Justice or Betrayal?
................ By Pasamba Jow 'Coach' President, GPU-U.S.A..........................Posted June 19th, 2007

The conviction of Lamin Fatty by Magistrate Buba Jawo on the flimsiest of charges sunk the
Gambian judiciary to its lowest level. The whole trial was a witch-hunt by President Jammeh
and his recalcitrant government. This verdict came as no surprise to those who follow Jammeh's
tyranny. There is no doubt that the Gambian judiciary like all other branches operate on the
whims and caprices of Jammeh.

What is however perplexing is the passive and carefree attitude of the Gambian journalists in the Diaspora towards the
plight of our colleagues back home. Both the GPU-UK and USA branches are rendered impotent by the lack of
participation of members and the deliberate decision by some former prominent journalists to sigh away from joining or
supporting these two groups. It is a shame that the embattled and browbeaten media houses in The Gambia had to
scramble to pay the fine for Mr. Fatty.

It is one thing for Jammeh to harass and try to intimidate the press, but it is outright contemptible for those who call
themselves journalists to abandon their colleagues. Both external branches of the GPU have tried relentlessly to keep the
organizations active, but all attempts have been thwarted by the inexplicable indifference of Gambian journalists in the
Diaspora. In fact, immediately after the presidential elections in The Gambia, I sent the following email to GPU-USA
listserv: "The presidential election is now history and unfortunately the biggest threat to press freedom was re-elected. The
APRC's hostility against the press is not new to anyone.

Today, a number of journalist are facing frivolous charges, the Independent, Citizen Fm, Sud Fm are all illegally shutdown
for no apparent reason than to curtail press freedom. In fact, Jammeh's first declaration after his election victory was he
would close any newspaper that offended him

The recent hacking of the Freedom Newspaper and the subsequent arrests and torture of subscribers to the website,
clearly shows Jammeh's willingness to both silence the independent press and to curtail the rights of Gambians to
receive information.

By these outright abrogation of rights, we especially in the press can either remain nonchalant or stand up for the unfettered
protection of the right to freedom of expression as enshrined in article 19 of the universal declaration of human rights,
article 9 of the African charter on human rights and article 25 of the Gambian constitution. We must start standing up
for our country and not only rely on the international community to do our fighting for us. We must remain proactive and
thus encourage the international community to compliment our efforts. No country can be liberated by outsiders; all they
could do is support the actions of the citizens of such countries.

There is no doubt, the outcome of the presidential elections has dealt a serious blow to the opposition and could render it
impotent in the next five years. The Bar Association is pretty much a cadaver. The Judiciary is very corrupt. The only hope
for any semblance of democracy is to have a vibrant press that would serve as a check to government. This however is
only possible when members of the press in the Diaspora remain steadfast in our stance to help our brothers and sisters
back home, who are taking the brunt of Jammeh's tyranny.

It is in this light that I appeal to every member of this organization to rededicate our selves to the very ideal of this
organization."

In light of the ongoing challenges faced by our colleagues, I will once again appeal to the journalists, editors and reporters
in the Diaspora to join either organization. This appeal is directed to all journalists, especially the editors of the online
papers and their staff: Ebrima Sankareh, Mathew Jallow of the Gambia Echo; Pa Nderry Mbai, Muhamed Jawara
of the Freedom Newspaper; Demba Baldeh, Yero Jallow of Gainako newspaper; Yankuba Jambang of Senegambia
News; Mbye Sarr and Muhamed Sillah of the Gambia Journal; Baboucarr Ceesay of the allgambian.net; and Modou
Thomas of EnergySoundz. I also hope that Alagi Yorro Jallow, Cherno Baba Jallow, and Lamin Keita will join and so will
all who have been columnists and all those interested in press freedom in the Gambia.

...A WAR HARD TO UNDERSTAND
.............................By Yero Jallow.............Posted June 11th, 2007

It's a stage to reach to: Suicide Bombing. I believe for an oppressed to get to that level, must have
been a tough mental challenge. Doing it to die for ever, and take others lives as well, innocent ones.
The level is truly insane. It doesn't make a difference if one uses a gun (terror of Governments) or
bomb-straps (terror of suicide bombers). It's terror.

The initial plan was to root out Saddam and his lieutenants, but Saddam was long since taken to gallows and showed the
neck-hanging justice on a Muslim festival (sacrificed on Eid-adha), and yet Iraq is still in shambles.

So now, what should be the way forward for the Iraqis?

I ask not because I am Pope Benedict who is only worried about the Christian population in Iraq, but that the Iraqi people
in entirety needs to breathe fresh and tranquil atmosphere once again.

Personally, I feel that the US must withdraw their troops forthwith. They are fighting an illegal war. If it was to get Saddam
and his cronies only and leave, one would have made sense a little out of the whole political game? But no. That's not the
case. The interest as seen is more than Saddam's head.

On the side of the Al-Maliki's administration are bunch of hypocrites and spites out to doom Iraq and its citizens. They
have a tendency to be worst than Saddam, so they demonstrated when they took Saddam to the gallows and gave the
wrong people to do the job; teasing, chanting and hauling insults at him. It should have been handled by an independent
body of executioners, so to say, but no it is clear that they wanted to retaliate and not accord the man true justice. There,
they buried and barred the Iraqis from knowing all those that confided and assisted the long time tyrant for his mischievous
deeds.

So now the war between the so-called insurgencies; Sunnis, Siyats and others continues nonstop. Where is the common
sense in it? Who will be the victor of this war? How long is it going to take? What will be the repercussions? Is this true
liberation of Iraqis? The answers to these questions will let us conclude thus as follows:

In conclusion, one can clearly see the frustration of the oppressed turning to suicide bombers; one can also see foreign
companies getting the contracts and carrying pockets full of dollars for their use; one also sees a trend of hypocrisy among
the Iraqis.

Hopefully it is a lesson to the whole world. Isn't it?

In the opening of SeneGambia Newspaper, it is my pleasure to welcome Mr. Jambang and his team of staffers, hence the
reason for this contribution.

Note: The author of the piece is a staff writer to Gainako. Along side, he interacts in a lot of discussion forums to provoke
healthy debates.

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