Dear Brothers and Sisters, Nieces and Nephews,

I have taken the liberty to address all of you on behalf of every freedom loving Gambian. I do so recognizing the important role the military is supposed to play in the affairs of our country. I also do so with the knowledge that most Gambians cannot, through no fault of theirs, speak for themselves. By now, the entire world knows and recognizes that we in The Gambia are not a free people; that we have been brutalized for fifteen long years and still the tragedy of this regime continues. The executions, tortures and frequent arrest and detention of our people is not a secret to anyone one, in fact, some among your ranks, it is sad to say, who swore to protect our country and its people, have in fact committed brutal heinous executions and intimidations of our fellow citizens. Besides, our prisons are also filled to capacity with Gambians who are suffering and dying for no reason, whatsoever. Today, Gambia is among only four other countries in the world with the most horrendous human rights record; where the regime can arrest people and make them disappear from the face of the earth. Fellow Gambians wearing the uniform of our military, this is totally unacceptable to us.

In a related matter, we hope every one of you realize that the conviction of the GPU 7 is as tragic for us as it is for Yahya Jammeh himself. This is one more nail in the coffin of Jammeh’s brutal regime, and it brings us closer to the end of a horrific chapter of the long history of Jammeh’s reign; a history tainted with the blood of our fellow citizens, but also a history replete with the pain of the loss of human life, and a history of cruelty that really defies everything our cultures and values have taught us. And all of us, without regard to tribe, feel the pain of our brothers and sisters unjustly sent to prison to join the ranks of hundreds more of innocent Gambians who remain incarcerated in horrible, overcrowded, filthy and unsanitary conditions. From London to Los Angeles, Pretoria to Accra and from New York to Addis Ababa; the whole world is aware of what is going on in our country and are supporting us for change every step of the way. We are now asking the military and security forces to join with the people to free our country from the chains of tyranny. The time has come for us work together to save our country from a perilous future, because frankly, there is no way we can continue this way without a civil war erupting at some point. So while we still have the ability to save our country, we must do so. Every one of you in uniform swore to protect our country from enemies within and without, and no one has put The Gambia in a more precarious position as Yahya Jammeh. It is time for him to go. It is time for us to begin healing our wounds and nursing our country back to healthy life. It is time to restore the human decency that had been a hallmark of our country’s past.

Fellow Gambians in uniform, the inevitable end of Jammeh’s regime is drawing nearer, and we must begin to think of the legacy Jammeh will soon leave behind; a legacy of tearing apart the cultural cohesiveness that bound us together as a nation of many tribes, co-existing, inter-marrying and relating harmoniously throughout the decades. Until Jammeh came to the scene, we as a people had reached a high level of tribal integration with regards to knocking down traditional and cultural barriers that divided us. We had ascended to a level of cultural transcendence comparable only to Senegal, but Jammeh has spent the past fifteen years trying to undo what took decades and centuries to build. He has blatantly attempted to divide us on the basis of tribe, but we must resolve to never allow his unfair and unjust tribal policies to break the bonds that bind us as one people, for we are lot better than the totality of Jammeh’s evil machinations. And as Jammeh’s regime enters the beginning of the end of its history, the time has come for us to move forward again as a nation of one people; a people blind to the divisive and discriminatory notions of tribe. After what we have endured the past fifteen long years, we must resolve to think of the future not as Wollofs, Mandingos, Mandinkas, Sereres, Jolas, Serahules and Fulas, but as Gambians, united and indivisible. We must begin to heal the raw, deep wounds created by Yahya Jammeh regime; to restore the fraternal unity that had defined us for much of our history.

Last week the entire world witnessed six innocent Gambian journalists head to prison for legitimately criticizing Jammeh’s brutal regime and Jammeh looks more like a helpless drowning victim struggling to keep afloat by grabbing on to any piece of straw. Today, the fear which had paralyzed our fellow citizens these past year, is the strength that you in the military must also use to look Yahya Jammeh in the face and say no to him; no we are not your slaves any more; no we refuse to carry out unjust orders to arrest innocent Gambians and throw them in prison; but more importantly, no Jammeh, we refuse to be intimidated and enslaved by you any more. The recent conviction of the six journalists by Jammeh’s courts and mercenary judges is Jammeh’s futile and hopeless attempt to regain the control that is slipping out of his hands; a control that Jammeh has lost against the onslaught of the Gambian and international media, human rights organizations and civil society institutions and friendly governments around the world. But even more than that, Jammeh had long ago lost the respect of you the military and security forces. Through his naked practice of tribalism, he maligned the military, pitting one Gambian tribe against another, and moving our country along a dangerous path. Jammeh’s every action today, is an act of desperation; and a last ditch effort to save his regime, but it is not going to work this time. The end is upon us. Things are never going to be the same as they were year ago, six months ago and three months ago.

Finally, we have been afraid of Yahya Jammeh for far too long, but today, we are taking back our freedom, we are standing our ground as men and women with dignity in our souls and with reverence for our humanity. As our military boys and girls stand ready to join us in the effort to take back our country from the evil hands of Yahya Jammeh, we are united as a nation of one people, and collectively call on Yahya Jammeh to step down now. He can go to Libya, he can go to Iran, he can go to Venezuela, he can go to Taiwan or he can go to any country that will accept him as an asylee. We call on our military and security forces to stand with us to save our country from ruin. Today in Africa, Gambia is the only country that has no independent press. The press is important in any country’s development as a watchdog of the government for the people; to report corruption when it happens, to ensure that every one is treated equally under the law, to make sure that the poor are not abused and taken advantaged of by the rich and by the government, to ensure that every one is allowed to live in peace without anyone bothering them, and to ensure that the government carries out its responsibilities to its citizens in terms of creating the environment that is conducive to socio-economic development. But it is the responsibility of the military to protect citizens and institutions from the overreach of government and our military and security forces have been found wanting in their responsibility. Yahya Jammeh stands alone against an entire population, killing, starving, torturing and forcing the best and the brightest out of our country. This too is unacceptable. It is time to come together; the military and security forces working with the population both at home and abroad to get our country back, so the hundreds of Gambians around the world can come home and begin rebuilding our country. The time is now. Fifteen years of Yahya Jammeh is more than we can tolerate. On behalf of every Gambian, we want to tell you that we are behind you and we support you in our efforts to restore a civilian government in place. This is no time to be afraid of Yahya Jammeh, and thank you all for taking the time to read this. God Bless The Gambia.

Mathew K. Jallow.

National Movement for the Restoration of Democracy in The Gambia. Madison, Wisconsin, USA.