Truth be told, the revelations from the jungulars so far aren’t necessarily “new”. Some people knew about them; most of us suspected the hidden hands of Jammeh in murders and disappearances; online radios had discussions about them; few of the people who participated in the acts came out, albeit while in hiding, to speak out, to talk about what they witnessed, even if some of them tried to exonerate themselves.
What probably may be new is the gruesome manner in which the victims met their death, how they met or were taken or lured to their death, and who in actually fact participated in snuffing out their innocent lives. That the murderous murders were ordered by Yaya Jammeh was open secret.
Since “murder will out” however long it takes, some of the murderers in state custody are owning up their parts in these gruesome actions.
And the nation, or a majority of it, seems shell shocked, perplexed and terribly horrified by the gory and macabre methods these murderers used to kill their innocent victims. The jungulars are now the talk of the town, their indescribable cruelty may have been a nightmare for some people, their chilling descriptions of their murdering styles imprinted in the minds of others.
But few years ago, many of us were in denial. Many of us thought Yaya was being framed, wasn’t capable of such heinous crimes, was too good a Muslim to kill a fly. Many of us thought the gruesome murders were the handiwork of some foreign mercenaries. And some of us spied on, reported or served as witnesses against these victims.
But the most sinister of all, and which I think could have emboldened Yaya all the more, was the victim blaming we engaged it, We the People. We believed Yaya’s stories, even if our guts told us some things were fishy about them. We blamed the victims and minimalised Yaya’s role; that if they hadn’t offended him or had behaved like the other “obedient” citizens, Yaya couldn’t have harmed them….
In my mind’s eye, i could hear people accusing Haruna Jammeh for being a bad relative, for being jealous of Yaya’s fortunes and power; for not being a good Jola for opposing Yaya; for deserving what happened to him. I could see the whole Kanilia ostracising his family and goading on Yaya to make them suffer more…. Victim blaming at its nadir….
I could hear people describing Imam Baba Leigh as the “human rights Imam”; as one who wanted to politicised Islam; the one who loved to cause trouble. So it was good to teach him a lesson and if he was to gain his freedom, he needed to apologise for standing up.
Of Ba Kawsu, they said he was divisive and boisterous. That he wanted to destroy the Supreme Islamic Council and had no regards for its leaders…. You remember the night he was brought on the national television, castigated and lampooned, his status as an Islamic scholar questioned and Jammeh boasting his shoes are more blessed. The glee and triumphal smiles on faces of those SIC members, the humiliation of one they disliked. Islamic religious scholars we revered….
Whoever disappeared or was alleged murdered, we found excuses for Yaya and tons of blames heaped on the victims…. We didn’t spare our Solo Sandeng and his comrades, the UDP Executive who went out to demand for justice on their behalf. They courted death, i still could hear in the air.
Everyone and anyone who stood up to Yaya was castigated, blamed, mocked, ridiculed. Anyone who spoke the alternate truth, contrary to the official version, was branded “enemy” of the State, a hypocrite or liar….And the entire State machinery became a co-conspirator.
Now that the truth is being unraveled, we may need to engage in some introspection and value clarifications, to understand and accept our role, as a people and society, in the decadence we slumped to. Imagine if each had the courage of their conviction, spoke truth to power, was a Haruna Jammeh, a “dangerous” Imam, a courageous Solo Sandeng?
Brother Drammeh your analysis is to the point. We the people had a role in Jammeh atrocities. What strikes me most is our propensity of casting the victims as deserving the scorn of Jammeh.
Indeed it is a soul searching. There were ministers who attended /witnessed the killing of the deathrow nine. Who where these ministers? The likes like Former VP NJIE Saidy and former speaker Jahumpa Ceesay come from so-called good families. How come The Gambia social fabric rendered itself culprit in these fathom killings?
What role has tribal grievances played in letting Jammeh pour his insatiable hunger for revenge on people he has always despised?
Question is also valid to be asked why some soldiers born and raised in The Gambia could become state machinery death squads strangulating their own brothers and sisters? Does age old grievances in our social structures explain this carnage?