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Breaking News: Duta Kamso's Son Appeals To Jammeh To Release His Mum In the Name Of Ramadan!
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Breaking News: Duta Kamso's Son Appeals To Jammeh To Release His Mum In the Name Of Ramadan!
Breaking News: Duta Kamso's Son Appeals To Jammeh To Release His Mum In the Name Of Ramadan!
Expelled MP Kamaso is feared dead-Anxiety and worry grips her family!
Saidykhan calls on the US government to intervene to facilitate his mum's release...
 Parliamentarian
Duta Kamaso was not only arrested and dumped in jail by the
administration of President Yahya Jammeh in May of this year, but was
also expelled from the ruling APRC party, which she served as an
elected MP for Wulli East. The female MP'S troubles with the Jammeh
government started when the regime embarked on a crack down against
what they called journalist Pa Nderry M'Bai's informants. Scores of
Gambians were arrested and tortured as they were linked to having ties
with the leading US based online Newspaper. They were accused of
passing information to Mr. M'Bai which the state claimed MBai uses to
vilify and castigate the democratically elected government of President
Jammeh. MP Duta Kamaso was one of those accused by the Jammeh regime of
passing classified state secrets to the Freedom Newspaper, a charge the
editors of this paper flatly denied. MP Kamaso's family and loved ones
made numerous efforts to get into contact with the detained former
parliamentarian without success. While Kamaso is currently feared dead
as a result of the physical abuse she received from the hands of her
captives, his 23 year old son Ousman Saidykhan has launched a
passionate appeal to President Yahya Jammeh and his government to
release his mum in the spirit of Ramadan.
Editor M'Bai talks to Duta Kamso's son
Mr.Saidykhan who is
based in Raleigh North Carolina, in an interview with the Freedom
Newspaper said he last to speak to his mum when she accompanied his sick brother Saikou Saidykan to Dakar for treatment. Mr.Saidy is not
only concerned about his mum's wellbeing but her personal safety at
this hour. A wide spread report circulating in the Gambia regarding his
mum's death sent waves of unrest and anxiety within his family. Ousman
Saidykhan tells the Freedom Newspaper that the news of his mum's death
was communicated to him by a friend who read the story on the Gambia
Journal Newspaper. Saidykhan made repeated phone calls to Banjul to
authenticate the story from his family, but no one was able to provide
him with any information, as the state had denied his family access to
the detainee.
"I had sleepless nights. I'm my mum's last son
and as such I was very close to her. As I speak to you my heart is
bleeding. I missed my mum. I'm appealing to the President to please
release my mum. I was told that she was accused of passing information
to the Freedom Newspaper. knowing my mum, she will never venture into
things like that. She is woman enough to grant interview to the Freedom
Newspaper than passing information underneath. That's not part of her
life. She is an open woman. My mum has been a strong supporter of
President Jammeh and his party. She cannot do things that will
undermine the President and his party. That's not possible."Ousman
Saidykhan told the Freedom Newspaper.
Like his mum, Saidykhan
says he was also actively involved in promoting the activities of the
ruling APRC in the country. Despite his young age, Saidykhan was often
seen around his mum each time she visits Kanilai, the President's home
village. In one occasion said Saidykhan "I accompanied my mum to
Kanilai to attend the President's birth day. I shook hand with the President on the day in question. I cannot understand why my mum
should be treated in such a humiliating manner by a regime she served
with humility and patriotism. My mum will be the last person to
undermine the President." Saidykhan said.
Prior to the news of
his mum's demise in custody, Ousman Saidykhan says thanks to one of his
brothers in The Gambia, he was able to get the phone number of one Ansu
an NIA officer assigned to his mum. Saidykhan's request to speak to his
mum was turned down by Ansu who told him that it was impossible for him
to talk to his mum at that very hour. NIA agent Ansu advised him to
call the next day, which he did. Ansu never picked up the phone. A
worried looking Saidykhan says none of his family members can give an
account about their mum's whereabouts, as the state is not keen at
entertaining equiries regarding his mum.
Also among the
detainees currently languishing in jail were Pa Malick Mboob a former
Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital spokesman, Daily Observer state house
and crime watch reporter Chief Manneh and SGT. Buba Jammeh of the state
house. Like MP Duta Kamaso, Mboob also had his services with the RVTH
terminated. He too was accused of supplying information to the Freedom
Newspaper. SGT Buba Jammeh was also classified as an informant to the
Freedom Newspaper.
Following the arrest of these individuals,
the Gambian government resorted to blocking the Freedom Newspaper IP
address in a bid to deny Gambians from reading the popular site. The
government instructed local internet providers to comply with the state
house order to block freedom's web browsing IP in the name of national
security. The management of this paper received numerous enquiries from
our readers who complained that they could not access the site in the
Gambia. An investigation was mounted and we were told by insiders at
Gamtel, the nation's main telecommunication company that the orders to
block Freedom came from President Jammeh. That their MD Omar Ndow told
them that the President asked him to block the "Hate Website" Freedom
Newspaper. The same source hinted that Quantum Net also executed the
Presidential order to block Freedom.
Despite the state's move to
block Freedom, Ousman Saidykhan said he likes the paper and will
continue to read it. For Saidykhan he believes that there is nothing
wrong for one to associate himself with Freedom or reading an
informative paper like the Freedom Newspaper. He says the Gambian
leader should forgive and forget his mum even though there was no case
established against her. " In the name of the Ramadan, I appeal to the
President to release my mum. She is badly needed by us. We really want
to see her. If it is true that she is dead, the government should
produce her body." Saidykhan said.
On a final note, Saidykhan
appealed to the US government to join him in prevailing on President
Jammeh to set his mum free. Saidykhan says the international community
should help to facilitate his mum's release. He says his mum worked
tirelessly in promoting women and childern rights not only in The
Gambia, but across the continent. |
Posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 (Archive on Sunday, October 29, 2006)
Posted by PNMBAI Contributed by PNMBAI
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