(JollofNews) – A former Gambian army captain who was serving a life sentence for plotting to overthrow the government of Yahya Jammeh in March 2006 has accused Gambians of always turning their backs on people who make the ultimate sacrifices for them.
Captain Bunja Darboe who spent many years at the Gambia’s notorious Mile Two Prisons and was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment before he was released in July 2015 as part of a presidential amnesty, said the Gambian society has become ‘perversed’ and Gambians have become ‘habitual betrayers’.
Writing on his Facebook page in response to the birthday wishes sent to him by friends and family, Mr Darboe, who is currently writing a book about his arrest and detention questioned whether it is worth making sacrifices for the cause of Gambians and the Gambia.
“The question that is begging for an answer is; is it necessary to sacrifice for the Gambia and its people? Gambians have become habitual betrayers. If you sacrificed for them, they abandoned you to your fate,” he wrote.
“I cannot be in a celebratory mood when so many good Gambians are presently languishing in Gambian prisons. It is said “who feels it knows it and who knows it feels it”. It is so terribly sad that people like Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, Momodou Sanneh, Amadou Sanneh, Kemeseng Jammeh [leadership of the opposition United Democratic Party] and many others can still be languishing in prison while the whole Gambia and the entire world are watching and negligently doing nothing.
“These are very good Gambians and they are true patriots. How can they be dumped in prison and everything seems normal in the country?”
The leadership of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) is serving a three-year jail term for peacefully protesting against the arrest and murder of their campaign manager, Solo Sandeng by state security agents.
Although many Gambians have initially protested against their arrest, they have since moved on with their lives and are not putting any pressure on the government for their release.
And according to Mr Darboe, the opposition leaders have been abandoned and are being gradually forgotten by the Gambian people who they sacrificed their freedoms for.
“Very few people speak about them now after all their heroic stance,” the former Infantry and public relations officer of Gambia Armed Forces(GAF) added.
“The Gambian society is perversed and the world is so corrupted that they turned a blind eye to the injustices and the tense political climate in the Gambia. If only Gambia has mineral resources, you would see the so-called big democracies coming to intervene for their interest. As the Gambia has no mineral resources, no one bothers about our ill-fate.
“Nonetheless, the Gambia will prevail even more stronger. It will regain its lost glory of being the Smiling Coast of Africa. Gambians will surely smile again.”
How confused can one get.
How can Gambians be fighting to free The Gambia and at the same time be treacherous. Ousainou Darboe and others are in jail for standing up to dictatorship just days after one of the party was killed that is exactly opposite of betrayal.
Bunja,
I come from the same village with you, Faraba Banta(Kairaba) otherwise known as Faraba Manokang for the readers who are not acquainted with that Kombo East district.
I would like to withold your family status before you were commissioned a military captain and the priviledges you enjoyed with your family. How you uplifted the status of your family, the huge and standard house you built and the flambouyant military and private vehiches you rode. How much did you care about the neighbours, the villagers and people of the district not mentioning Gambians?
Everyone took those Bunja-Darboe-brilliant days as God’s ordained blessings to someone who came from a difficult family background. Did you care much about others?
Well, when you fell out with the government, the Faraba Banta Kairaba villagers prayed for you anyway, but equally took it as God’s ordained decision about your fate. Take it that way and stop accusing Gambians as traitors.
You are a traitor of the promise you made as a soldier. Judge yourself, Bunja and try to re-shape your life with prayers for God’s guidance!