Dear editor,
The death of Ousman Koro Ceesay (May his soul Rest In Peace) was a deliberate act by the AFPRC junta of which Lamin Kab Bajo became a member lately. Koro was killed and burnt to ashes. A lot of people within the security forces and the civilian population knew this.
Here you are who as interior minister at the time had the primary responsibility of ensuring the internal security of the country. Here you are, your fellow cabinet member was murdered and until today you claimed you had no prior knowledge about the circumstances surrounding his death.
Sir, you are not only fair to your task as interior Minister at the time but insulted Koro and his family for calling him your brother. Koro is not your brother and he will be screaming in his grave should he hear you say that.
The second best opportunity you had to confess what you knew was Tuesday and you missed it. You would have made Koro and his family relieve and embrace you, and not only stopped at maintaining your loyalty to Yahya Jammeh.. Your testimony Sir, made Koro’s family very angry with you.
Am embarrassed for you, for I have always considered you to that cool, soft and principle person, but your testimony beat me.
I hope if you are given another chance you will do nothing but rectify your deviations.
Citizen Jarju
Detesting the Coalition as currently constituted
Dear editor,
For the politically conscious, my attitude towards the Coalition government is grounded in reality, and logically explainable. And to misrepresent it as opposition to President Barrow is rooted in a lack of understanding of what government is, and the role of citizens in the function of their government. For me, this is nothing personal. I campaigned for the election of Adama Barrow, despite the fact that I knew he completely lacked the intellectual capacity and knowledge to be president. I was, like many, left with choosing the lesser of two evils; the butcher Yahya Jammeh, and the totally ignorant, Adama Barrow. I chose the lesser of two evils. But, I began to sour against Adama Barrow when I heard stories of wheeling and dealing, while he was still not sworn in, and in Dakar, Senegal. But that did not aggravate my sensibilities as much as the subsequent UDPnizing of the government.
I took great umbrage to that, obviously, and people who followed my posts can attest to that. For me, this crystallized a return to the pre-1994 Gambia, and the Mandinkanization of the government. It robbed me the wrong way. This was followed, in short order, by the hiring of former enablers of the defunct regime; people who were catalysts in the entrenchment and longevity of the former regime. But, there was a double edge to this one; it was conversely the concurrent neglect of the diaspora without whom this movement against Yahya Jammeh would never have taken root, much less succeed. This was more than disrespectful to the blood, sweat, tears and resources shed by the diaspora.
And to cap it all into a neat capsule of utter disregard and ignorance, the Coalition government began to morph into a Yahya Jammeh era instability in government, the inordinate amount of power centralized on the presidency, the frequent hiring and firings, lack of accountability, disregard of the Constitution, griots and waves of citizen groups submitting to the whims of Adama Barrow, the teenage groups who swear filial submission to Adama Barrow, dashing out millions of dalasis, and not to mention the endemic corruption, which in theory, parallels that under Yahya Jammeh. From the very beginning, everything seemed too much for me to wrap my head around. My attitude now reflects each of these circumstances individually, and the totality of all, combined. I am looking at the broader picture; Gambia. I have no time to worry about Adama Barrow. Let that sink in your heads, once and for all.
Mathew Jallow
USA
