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EDITORIAL:Jammeh expels African Union Delegates?-Democracy under attack again!!!
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EDITORIAL:Jammeh expels African Union Delegates?-Democracy under attack again!!!
EDITORIAL
It is now evident that the
much talked about African Union Summit scheduled to take place in The
Gambia on July 1St and 2ND will be a "mere talk shop" and not a
conference that will help to wipe the tears of dying Gambians under a
ruthless dictator like President Yahya Jammeh. Jammeh has demonstrated
that he careless about how the world feels about his dictatorial
tendencies with the recent move taken by his government to deny Civil
Society groups from holding free expression conference ahead of the AU
Summit. This move taken by Jammeh speak volumes about the type
government we had in Banjul today. In a nutshell, Jammeh is telling the
world that Freedom of expression is alien to him and would not allow
dissent in The Gambia. A very sad state of affairs.
Pa Nderry M'Bai, Freedom Newspaper Managing Editor
Cum Publisher
We at the
Freedom Newspaper are not the least surprised about the "embarrassing
and unpleasant" reception meted out to the AU delegates. This
government hates freedom and will do whatever it takes to muzzle or
kill its advocators. This is exactly what they did to the Civil Society
Groups, who wanted to host such an important and topical theme"Freedom
of Expression in Africa."
 
It is imperative to note that the
closure of the Independent Newspaper and the recent hacking of the
Freedom Newspaper were purely calculated to block these two leading
papers from exposing the human rights and rule of law crisis in The
Gambia. This administration will not like to see stories on the alleged
killing of Daba Marena, four other coup suspects, the gruesome murder
of veteran journalist Deyda Hydara, the torture of security detainees,
the arson attacks, abductions, and the rising corruption in The Gambia.
Well, Jammeh is making a big mistake by thinking that the closure of
the Independent and the hacking of the Freedom Newspaper will save him
from being exposed. One thing Mr. Jammeh fails to realise is that, his
government's atrocities is well documented both locally and
internationally. The independent press is merely performing its
constitutional obligation by "informing,educating, and entertaining its
people. Our duty is to expose all kinds of corruption irrespective of
who is affected. Decent and democratic government seeks to use
positive revelations made by the private press to address its
shortcomings. But under Jammeh's watch journalists who are not in the
habit of "praise singing" him are considered as "agents of the West"
bent on undermining his administration.
Today Jammeh is paying
for the price of being intolerant to "dissent and free speech.
Civilised nations are distancing themselves from despots like Jammeh.
Under the current state of affairs, it will be difficult for this
government to convince "serious donors" that funds collected onbehalf
of the people of The Gambia will be judiciously managed. The forth
estate which is constitutionally mandated to check and monitor the
activities of the Jammeh government are not "given free hands" to do
their work. Jammeh is growing "wilder" by the day with the ultimate
objective of silencing free press and dissent. Little did he know that
such "anti democratic moves" will undermine our fragile democracy.
The
world is now witnessing first hand about the atrocities we had been
talking about time and time about Jammeh's repressive regime. We
sympathised with the Civil Society Groups that were humiliated by
Jammeh. His action is "unGambian" and we condemn it in the strongest
terms. The mere fact that this administration is not willing to allow
local and international AU delegates to freely express themselves in
such an important forum goes to show that "Freedom and Democracy" is
yet under attack in The Gambia.
African Heads of State should
take note of Jammeh's madness. Our yesterday's lead story on the
blockage of the Civil Society Groups from holding the free expression
conference is a "bad publicity for Jammeh's government and the AU in
general. The very purpose of the Banjul Summit has been undermined by
Jammeh himslef. It makes no sense for anyone to attend the Summit when
the host country is hell bent on silencing dissent.
In view of
the deteriorating human rights situation in The Gambia and the
government's unwillingness to allow the Civil Society Group to hold
their proposed conference, we recommend that the AU venue be moved to
Senegal. Senegal deserves to host the AU Summit. It is more democratic
than the government we had in Banjul. The AU stands to be accused of
"hypocrisy" if it fails to join us to condemn the recent move taken by
the Jammeh government to deny members of the Civil Society to hold
conference in The Gambia. We do not expect the AU to aid and abet a
dictatorial regime like the Ruling APRC.
Our country stands to
benefit from the Civil Society conference if allowed to be hosted. It
is a known fact that such a conference will help to raise people's
awareness on their rights and duties as citizens. It will also help to
prevail on the Jammeh dictatorship to end its domestic terrorism and
lack of transparency.
In economic terms, we do not need to
elaborate how much the organisers were supposed to pay to foot for such
an International conference. A government committed to the millennium
goals, would have capitalised on the Civil Society conference and
championed such a noble cause. But an ignorant and irresponsible leader
like Jammeh thinks that by allowing such a conference means "exposing
one's dirty leans in public."
Dictator Mugabe
There is no doubt in our mind
that the Banjul AU Summit will be used as a safe heaven for dictators
such as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Mugabe, who suffered international
isolation over the years would like to use the Banjul forum together
with his son Yahya Jammeh to once again vilify the West. We will not
be surprised if the two despots use the Banjul forum to settle old
scores with their so called perceived " arch rivals" the West. The two
hate the West because of their commitment to defend freedom and
liberty.They hide under the name of national security and domestic
terrorism to "bully and persecute" their opponents.
Mugabe and Jammeh are birds of the same feathers. They oppressed their people with impunity. They insult the West in the name of "Pan Africanism." They hate the West for nothing. Right from his graveyard Kuwami Kuruma, will be shocked to learn that the likes of Jammeh and Mugabe are banditing his ideals for their own selfish interest. Kuwami's "hard earned legacy" is being used and abused by the continent's despots. Africa don't need such despots.
The AU
Summit preliminaries started with bad signals, despite national prayers
for the Summit to be a " peaceful one." State House Imam Fatty,Banding
Drammeh of the Supreme Islamic Council, mosque leaders and Church
leaders should intensify the prayers to help Jammeh to recover from his
"madness." If the prayers failed, then we can solicit the help of Dr.
Gaye to cure Jammeh. He needs to be taken to a mental home for check
up. A leader with sound mind will not behave irresponsibly like Jammeh.
The AU Summit should be a moment of stock taking and not anti freedom
measures. We rest our case.
You can email the editor at this email address: editor@freedomnewspaper.com If you know that it is happening or is about to happen, please contact us. The Freedom Newspaper is your most trusted source of news.
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Posted on Friday, June 23, 2006 (Archive on Wednesday, July 26, 2006)
Posted by PNMBAI Contributed by PNMBAI
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