(JollofNews) – Yes Yaya Jammeh is from Kanilai, which is in Foni, yet in his 22 years of misrule the region that suffered the most happened to be Foni. Despite the fact that Yaya Jammeh and APRC had enjoyed 100% support from Foni where their parliamentary candidates consistently go unopposed, yet Yaya Jammeh paid them back with so much misery and pain that it will take forever to heal that wound.
There is not a crime on earth that Yaya Jammeh had not committed against the land and people of Foni. He spared no one: the old, the young, men, women, community leaders not to mention the professionals of this proud and hard working region of the Gambia. Rather he tortured and killed his own people while stealing their lands as if he was not a son of Foni!
Probably the most outrageous crime that Yaya Jammeh inflicted on our people in Foni was to label them as witches and then deploy scores of soldiers and Green Boys with witchdoctors imported from Guinea to go to village after village to arrest old men and women. Reports have indicated that up to one thousand people were arrested in 2009 just because Yaya Jammeh stupidly thought witches killed her aunt. Thus, just for the sake of her aunt alone, he ravaged a whole region of the country, humiliating them in such a manner that surpassed even the colonialists. Yet until today you have some people in Foni who want to give their lives for Yaya Jammeh.
When Yaya Jammeh arrested these old men and women, the Green Boys and soldiers forced them to drink concoctions, which caused severe sickness and death among the victims. One witness narrated that in Sintet alone 300 old men and women were arrested and taken to Kanilai to be humiliated and beaten. Because of this onslaught, hundreds of community elders used to flee their houses as early as 5am to go into the bush to hide for the whole day until at night to return home. Can you imagine an old man or woman of 60, 70 or 80 years going to hide in the bush just because their own son, who is the president accused them of being witches and hunting them like slaves? This is what Yaya Jammeh did to our elders in Foni. Yet there are still Foni youths who shout until today “Yaya Jammeh for Life.”
Even when Halifa Sallah stood up as the lone voice to find out about this matter in order to ensure that justice is delivered, Yaya Jammeh responded to him with an arrest and detention. Yet Yankuba Colley and Seedy Njie have the audacity to tell us that Yaya Jammeh deserves respect. Do Yankuba Colley and Seedy Njie have any respect for Foni elders who were humiliated, beaten and killed by small boys under the orders of Yaya Jammeh? Is Yankuba Colley or Seedy Njie and their APRC supporters telling us that they have not seen that injustice yet they still stand for Yaya Jammeh? What values or God do these people believe?
Even before this despicable atrocity, Yaya Jammeh had been tormenting Foni by blatantly stealing their lands. In his 22 years, Foni is the region, which suffered the most in Yaya Jammeh’s land grabbing spree. No region has lost more lands to Yaya Jammeh than Foni. The number of community lands he stole in Foni is uncountable.
Foni did not only lose lands but they also lost numerous lives in the process of defending their lands from Yaya Jammeh. For example when Yaya Jammeh wanted to take lands in the village of Karunorr in Foni Kansala in 2012 the villagers resisted. The two most defiant villagers were the brothers, Wuyeh and Enor Colley. In response Yaya Jammeh deployed armed soldiers to forcefully pick up these brothers to be beaten up and butchered to death in the bushes. Until today there families have not seen them,
One gets even more shocked when you see the list of victims of Yaya Jammeh in Foni some of who are in fact his own family members such as Marcie Jammeh and Haruna Jammeh who disappeared since 2005. We can all recall the names of Buba Sanyang, Ndongo Mboob, Modou Lamin Nyassi and Jasarja Kujabi all of who disappeared mysteriously on the orders to Yaya Jammeh. It is clear that these people were killed.
Other sons and daughters of Foni who were also humiliated, incarcerated and tortured included the former CDS Lang Tombong Tamba, former IGP Essa Badgie, former DG NIA Lamin Bo Badgie, former IGP Benjamin Jammeh and for Solicitor General Pa Harry Jammeh among many other former ministers and civil servants as well as former associates such as Aziz Tamba as well as his own cousin Pa Bojang. The list goes on…
Hence if one simply goes through the track record of Yaya Jammeh in Foni, it becomes quite clear that the region that has suffered the most under the APRC is Foni. Yaya Jammeh has inflicted so much fear and disunity in Foni to the point that this region was locked down for 22 years. Yes, he has provided electricity in many villages with streetlights and built a hospital in Bwiam and illegally named it after his father. But the fact is that the people of Foni were the most oppressed and exploited region of the Gambia under Yaya Jammeh. One can notice that by the fact that no one in Foni was allowed or bold enough to stand against Yaya Jammeh. Everyone as subdued and this was why APRC remained unopposed all the time.
Yaya Jammeh was able to unleash so much harm on the people of Foni simply because he had the full support of APRC NAMs and Cabinet ministers. APRC NAMs were witnesses to the atrocities and land grabbings of Yaya Jammeh in Foni yet they did not just keep quiet about it but in fact they went ahead to mobilize the people of Foni to work on those stolen lands like slaves.
If you are from Foni, the APRC is the only party you should avoid. If you are a good son and daughter of Foni, Yaya Jammeh is the only person you must avoid. He is a disgrace to the noble and dignified people of Foni. Any decent son or daughter of Foni who claims to be a self-respecting and patriotic citizen cannot entertain anything about APRC and Yaya Jammeh. He represents humiliation and misery for Foni and the Gambia as a whole.
I hereby call on the voters of Foni therefore to give APRC Zero Votes in the April 6 election. I therefore wish to launch the campaign ‘APRC Zero Votes In Foni’ to start today. Let us raise the awareness of the masses of Foni to liberate them from the despicable Yaya Jammeh Mentality to realize that supporting APRC is their humiliation and destruction. Yaya Jammeh never represented the best of Foni. He is the worst to have happened to Foni.
If the Mandinka felt offended by Yaya Jammeh it is clear that he has offended the Jola equally or even more. Wait until you see what he also did to the Wolof, Sarahuleh or Fula, etc. What about the Muslims or the Christians? Coming soon…
Forward with ‘APRC Zero Votes In Foni’ Campaign!
God Bless The Gambia.
This man Yahya Jammeh is pure evil in everyway. I have tried numerous times to define such a creature and the diagnosis is always same. SDP – Sadistic Personality Disorder. Characterized by an individual pattern of cruel, harsh, aggressive, intimidating, humiliating and demeaning behavior. The DSM states that the disorder begins in early adulthood with pervasive pattern of cruelty and aggressive behavior and violence for the purpose of establishing dominance in a relationship, humiliating or demeaning people in the presence of others, unusually harsh treatment or discipline of someone under their control, being amused or taking pleasure in the psychological suffering of others, lying for the purpose of haring or inflicting pain on others, frightening others to get what they want out of them, restricting the autonomy of those with whom they have relationship, and fascination violence, weapons, injury or torture . Those are not my words but from literature search, that I find most appropriate.
Madi if you and Dr. Sarr were/are running for office on 6 April you would both get my vote if I was able to vote in Gambia!
Great write up!
Madi jallo Jobarteh
Stop telling lies, stop your JALIYA behaviour and give us evidences behind the presumed killings. Why were they killed? You know nothing about the Karunor land issue. get more information about that matter before coming on line to tell lies.
I only wish they continue the exhumation of the bodies of over 800 Gambians butchered by the invading Senegalese forces in 1981. The mass graves are still in Banjul and there is nothing that can exonerate the PPP and the Abdou Diouf regimes from that gruesome act.
The truth will only prevail if both sides of the coin are turned impartially.
You are lying Madi Jallo Jobarteh. The Fonis and the FonyingKolu benefitted a lot from the APRC government. The social and economic strata of the Jolas were improved from being maids(MBindan) and festibvity entertainers to high profile technocrats and intellectuals. When did you last visit the Fonis to learn that most of their roads have been hauled and improved with high a standard hospital at Bwiam and the most updated healthcentre in Sibanor.
Babu, i have always thought of you as an honest man who is genuine but it seems that i am clearly wrong. You are no different to Sidi Bojang, you are clearly a bitter despicable person who is so filled with hatred for Jawara and PPP that he condones every atrocity committed by Jammeh. As tragic as every life lost in 1981 was, you cannot compare those with the calculated cold blooded killing of Gambians and non Gambians by Jammeh and his cohort. You have the audacity to call Madi a lair and demand that he provide evidence yet you blatantly twisted the truth about the deaths in 1981 and provide no evidence. Babu to put it mildly, that is hypocrisy. The Senegalese forces did not butchered a single Gambian as you put it or would like people to believe. Has Gambian citizens been killed by Senegalese forces in 1981? The answer is yes they did kill some Gambian citizens. But the Senegalese did not cause all the deaths in 1981 neither were they the cause of the chaos the country was plunged into. The chaos and the deaths were down to Kukoi Samba Sanyang!! It was Kukoi who opened the gates of mile2 central prisons and let all the inmates out, it was Kukoi who armed people with no security background with AK47 assault rifles. Most of these people went out and got high on drugs and alcohol and took the law into their own hands. Kukoi’s actions caused lawlessness in the country and he lost control of the situation. People started looting shops and stores due to lack of basic necessities and in some cases just because they can as no one was in charge. Many Gambians met their untimely deaths at the hands of the rebels shooting indiscriminately at the looters. Babu, the killings had started well before the Senegalese troops enter the Gambian territory. The remnants of the security forces who had not abandoned their duties were ill equipped to deal with the sheer number of people being arrested. Police cells became over crowded and some people unfortunately lost their lives as a result. One could not even begin to imagine what our great country would have been like if that barbarian had succeeded. You have every right to support Jammeh but stop being insolent to people who themselves or their loved ones suffered these atrocities. Babu, four days ago you had a go at Natty Dread and i quote “Natty Dread, That’s the argument of numbed people: “we found you doing it so if we do, there is no wrongdoing”. What a silly and uneducated analogue” yet you brought in 1981 failed coup and Jawara and PPP to justify Jammeh’s actions. What does that make you Babu????
Thank you, Buba! In these times we clearly need people like Madi and you who don’t balk at the difficult task of fighting the lies for the benefit of the TRUTH.
Buba Sanyang, you still around? I thought that you are now in the Gambia shining your benefactor’s Shoes and holding their Briefcases. That is what you are suited for. Remember the young kids who ran after you singing songs about you that were not of the Praise kind? Do you want them to give you more of the same? Just pulling your “goat”. On a more serious note, I am Vindicated and so too have many others who saw the Incompetence and Greed of a UDP Regime led by Mai Fatty and Ousainou Darbo with their bloated Mascot in tow. I’m not going recite or list the Cases and Examples of Malfeasance, Corruption and Corruptive Practices the Less than three months in “power” regime of Ousainou Darbo Mai Fatty and Adama Barrow have Wrecked on the Gambians and Gambia. It is a Criminal Act to have the Trio Plus One, that is, Ousainou Darbo, Mai Fatty, F.J. Tambajang and Adama Barrow in the rear, as the governing group in the Gambia. What has befallen the Gambia. You are right Buba Sanyang, Jawara’s Regime is far more preferable to me than the Current Clowns Passing themselves as Politicians or leaders of any Party worth any Ethnical, Moral, Patriotic and Sincere Gambian being a part of. Jawara at least was Politically Matured, informed, and Diplomatically Prepared and up to the Task. His fault is, in his Choice of Ministers and Middle Level Management Bureaucrats Responsibile for the Day to Day Administration of the Gambia. He was a bad judge of character and the Gambia suffered for it. He did not know when to be Decisive and when to Massage Egos and Gambia paid for it. In the international Arena, he was a “Yes man”. That in itself if applied when and where appropriately, can be an Asset. However, it can also be damaging if Ruthless and Corrupt Individuals get a hold of such Politicians’ Attention. Thus, the Peace, Freedom and Security Dividends that the Gambia and Gambians could have Capitalized on, were mostly Squandered, Wasted and Banked in Private Bank Accounts of Ministers who should not have been near a Portfolio much more a Cabinet Level Position during Jawara’s Regime. That were mostly of and from the “NTeri Kaffo” Cult like Mandinka Organization. Yes, Jammeh had his excesses and allegedly committed crimes against Gambians of all Ethnic and regional backgrounds during his 20 years Presidency. However, it was Not All bad as some detractors and “Never Yaya Jammeh” would like to make it. A lot of Infrastructural development and a Demystifiedand Decentralized development and Government were undertaken and completed. Jawara cannot be excused nor baptised and absolved off the Carnage of 1981 Bloody Coup. Yes, Kukoi Samba Sanyang, who you called a “Barbarian” (a loaded term that I am sure you would Know more about than I or anyone I know), has a lot to answer to the Gambian People who died following the 1981 Bloody Coup. However, it was Jawara’s “I must return to Gambia and resume my Presidency at any cost” that increased the Casualty when the Senegalese Soldiers Under the Invitation of Jawara to Reinstate him at any Price in human lives and Monetary terms, invaded and met stiff resistance especially at the Airport and the road leading from Kenbuje through Brikama to Yundum and to Banjul that caused a lot of deaths. The Indiscriminate use of Heavy Weapons including but not limited to Attilary killed many a good young blooded Gambians. They were from all Ethnic Groups and from all backgrounds and regions and many others who never had a decent burial need our Collective, Explicit and Emotional Attention. All Gambians’ Lives Matter! The Current UDP’S LEADERSHIP AND PARTY MILITANTS however, appear to believe that the Only Lives that matter are that of the Mandinka PERSUASION. That is where I take Exception. That is a Cardinal Lie of the Unrepentant type. For like the Good book says, “For God hath made of One blood all men/ women”. UDP Regime led by Mai Fatty, Ousainou Darbo and Adama Barrow with their Betrayal of Trust and Breaking of Contractual Agreements while at the same time Neglecting the Affairs of State in Pursuit of Vengeance, Retribution, SELF-ENRICHMENT, Coupled with Selective Arrrests, Detentions and Persecutions of mostly Jolas need to heed the old African proverb, “Do Not Make an Enemy of All Your Neighbors, Unless You are Relocating. You Never Know When You Would Need Them. GAMBIA is more than the Sum Total of One Ethnic Group and Region. One Gambia, One People, One Destiny.
I guess one has to highlight the tragic case of Haruna Jammeh- the half brother of Yahya Jammeh, to highlight vividly the scores of victims Foni had to endure with, all in the pursuit of a Jola hegemony or great reciprocal retribution against their socalled onetime dominators. But of course as the evidences become clear, the whole pursuit was for one man alone to pile up titles aka Babil Mansa at the detriment of his wider following. I hope Babu or soli would help us understand the mindset of fellow citizens of Foni heritage, whom we seemingly obviously do not understand. Kukoi, Jammeh and now Babu as well as Soli seem to hold a complete irreconcilable sets of principles about the Gambian state.
Don’t make me bitterly incensed with your educational and intellectual feats which, as I can now discern, are gradually floundering under your feet.
You see, brother Buba, on several occasions, I have reiterated my concern, especially to you, about your utter lack of deciphering the contents of my postings. That’s indeed sad, isn’t it? Most especially on the part of an intellectual like you, as I honestly take (NOT presume) you to be, brother Buba.
I print your postings whenever I have time, to give myself a lucid insight into the contents of your written literature. That way, I never drop a glimpse of your words and your communication. When I can, I write back.
You’re the only opposing contributor I do respect. For the rest, I read on line and go ahead.
What’s wrong with you brother, Buba?
How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t pre-judge/judge on hearsay(s) (RADIO KANKANG, the Mandinka saying)? How many times do I have to reiterate the same thing to you?
The killings, maimings, rapes, drug peddling, corruption and all the vices attributed to President Jammeh are HEARSAY(S) to me. I am not exonerating President Jammeh neither will I accept the allegations of his enemies/adversaries/distractors.
I’m a democrat, a Muslim, a Black Pan-Africanist Gambian, a Manswanko(my tribe) and unless I learn about tangible/untainted evidences/proofs that incarcerate President Jammeh, I will NEVER be party to those hearsays.
Brother Buba, remember that the perpetrators of one of the world’s most blood-thirsty crimes, the criminals of the Nazi Holocaust, were brought to the Nuremberg courts on the grounds of uncorrosive/tangible evidences. Thus, their indictment, judgement and incarceration.
Why do I have to believe in every Lamin, Kumba, Samba, Oumie who say President Jammeh killed……………without coming up with tangible uncorrosive evidences before competent authorities?
I’m saying that if history is anything to go by, in order to mend the present and improve the future, we still have to dig into the historical relics of the gruesome episode of July 1981 when Gambians were mercilessly butchered by the invading Senegalese forces in connivance with their Gambian surrogates. Only that way will justice be equitably delivered.
He who tries to minimise that episode or bury it under the earth will always meet the outburst of my furor.
I’m looking forward to founding an association that will work towards searching the truth behind that gruesome 1981 episode and vividly inform our people. We still lack all the details which cannot be ignored.
It was a deliberate calculation of genocidal act by the then Gambian and Senegalese governments and unless those punishable acts are addressed/redressed, Buba, the victims will never receive justice.
I strongly refute the allegation that the Kukoi boys were exclusively responsible for the killing of our innocent civilians. Don’t distort the facts, Buba!
The loyalist Jawara forces that entrenched themselves in the Greater Banjul area, giving leeway to the arriving Senegalese forces, vehemently defended all crucial positions within the Banjul area where they shot defenceless looters and by-passers to death.
Kukoi was in command for almost 3 days before he learnt about the Jawara-Diouf-BBDarboe truce to invade our country. It was then and only then that he armed the civilians to defend our country against external barbaric neo-colonialist aggressors whose sole intention/desire was/and still is to annex our country.
Babu, Kukoi armed rebels immediately when he and his men took over the then Field Force barracks in Bakau. Please do not try to make any excuses for him. Babu, i lost a cousin in 1981 failed coup, he was killed by the Senegalese when they shoot at an approaching rebel vehicle. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. And some cousins of mine and some uncles were incarcerated afterwards so i should be more angry with Jawara and PPP than most people however i will not twist the truth just to fit my own narrative. I have no issue with you visiting the past but you should not condemn others when they do the same. No one is trying to bury the past. In case it escapes your mind, the man you are defending had 22 yrs to investigate the events of that failed coup but he didn’t. So you should direct your anger and frustration at him no one else. Or is the truth to close for comfort? Since you have invoked the name of your tribe, i would ask you to live by the excellent qualities of Manswankas, the foremost of which is honesty. Secret mass graves have been identified by security personal and Yahya himself has boasted about his wealth and has acknowledge the death in custody of people and you still want to hide behind “Hearsay”. What more evidence do you need to accept that Yahya has committed lots of crimes, economic and human rights?? Read the daily observer to satisfy your self that it is true he has indeed committed these crimes. Bro you need to accept the truth now and we can all start rebuilding the Gambia together. Applaud the government’s achievements and condemn their failings. If you don’t then you will be the first Manswanka that i know who is afraid to face and accept the truth. Babu, you can insist on wanting to see proof for as long as you want but just remember that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.