Dear Editor,

As a man born and raised in a border village in Western Gambia, I have always found it very plausible the notion that the Government of the Gambia is supporting and sustaining the rebels across the border in Senegal. Most or all of these highly outrageous allegations have been spread by individuals who live in cities or towns away from the borders and consider any citing of a combatant or ex-combatant as a significant evidence of harboring and supporting the rebellion across the border. These people’s argument being, the rebels have no business in The Gambia except to receive supplies and other logistics required to sustain the insurgency. Well my own personal experiences may help explain why encountering a rebel may not be too unusual after all. Rebels from Senegal or ex-rebels from Sierra Leone are not a rare sighting in The Gambia. The Gambia has had an open border and a very welcoming population. That is why refugees, from Senegal, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia and to my greatest surprise, I learnt during my days in Basse, of a Single Somali refugee.

In the 1980s, our house was the last compound you past before you head to the porous Gambian and Senegalese border. In those days, we the youths frequented Senegalese border villages of Makounda and Dombondir to fetch cashew nuts and mangoes and were successful many times. But a few occasions, we weren't. I vivid remember an occasion when we were chased into the woods. We later emerged very close to the border to calm down our visibly frightened nerves.  After the respite, we crossed back into The Gambia. Again, we are talking about an unmanned border. You can cross back and forth as many times as you wish in a day and no one will ask you any questions.  I know a few families who came over to settle in The Gambia and a few families that left The Gambia to live across the border in Senegal. Three families still stand out in my memory that left my village in late the 80’s and early 90’s to settle in the border villages of Senegal and I have visited them a few times in the 1990’s.

The picture I am trying to paint here is that there aren't any distinguishing features to separate Gambians from Senegalese. This has helped to promote commerce while concealing the true identities of the individual participants from either country. Of the participants in the cross border activities, are ordinary people, traders, and rebels. One has to remember that Senegalese come to The Gambia to buy all sorts of commodities ranging from rice, sugar, soap, drinks, cooking oil, butter, etc. Gambians on the other hand cross over to buy charcoal, palm rhums splits for roofing, and timber. Interestingly, none of these cross border activities are monitored by either government.

Among the many people who crossed into The Gambia are rebels some of whom I know personally. Many of these rebels are no longer fighters; they are now living in The Gambia working as night watchmen, garden boys, or construction business. They have friends who are still active fighters in Senegal some of who come to visit every once in a while. In Serrekunda, I met some active rebels who came over to see the ex-comrades in arms. Even though I may be told that these are active rebels on short visits to The Gambia, I have never had any reasons to worry about them, because they were unarmed and harmless. Infact, I was more worried by the Sierra Leonean ex-combatants I met brewing “Attaya” in Basse because they do not look as calm as the Senegalese I encountered in Serrekunda.

To understand my argument, you have to hear what I did in August 1995. I left my village alone at 5:30 am on foot through thick forest to the town of Douloulou in Senegal. The night before I began my journey, many elders pleaded with me to desist because fighting was raging in the Senegalese border villages. I ignored the warnings because I did not think these rebels would harm travelers. I trekked the lonely road for four hours to Douloulou, where I boarded a transport to neighboring Guinea Bissau.  People like me from border towns don't need to go through Giboro for the routine immigration inspections by border guards. In fact, I know more crossing points than the security officers deployed at the border posts. In Basse, I could cross to the major town of Wellingara, using the back way, but I chose to go through Sabi and then through the border post. It was a hassle as I rode my bike the first time to Wellingara. Gambia has one check point there but Senegal has two; one for Customs and the other for the Gendarmerie. It cost me about D30.00 to cross with my bike. Here is why it is necessary to use the back way. Do I want to spend D30 each time I cross with my bike? Heck no!


Back to the rebel presence in The Gambia, I say and so what? Can you stop them from coming to The Gambia? Obviously you cannot. It is not as easy as stopping the late Abu Denton from crossing Gambia to Senegal through Giboro. People who live in border villages like me or the Senegalese rebels don't need to go through manned border posts. We slipped through one of the thousands of crossing points and return unnoticed. And even if I noticed that a certain person was a rebel; do you expect me to turn them in to the security forces? Obviously not? They have not engaged in crimes in The Gambia. Besides, why would I turn them in when they are living peacefully in the country? Also, they may be there to buy groceries that will help boost the local retailer sales. So I have no reason for turning these rebels over to security forces.

I hope this will help many to understand that rebels will always live in The Gambia even if we fence our border like Israel or the United States. So people should just take a deep breath and understand that the presence of rebels in The Gambia has no co-relation to the fighting in Senegal. This has been ongoing since the early 80’s. One final note- in 1981, Senegalese troops were scattered around my village but never prevented Gambians fleeing the country into Senegal. It was my dad who was busy discouraging others from fleeing, convincing them that the fighting would soon end. Do I want to spend D30 each time i cross with my bike? No at all!

Sincerely,

Pa-Pierre Gomez.

Editor’s Note: Pa-Pierre, while your piece is quite arresting to say the least, it provides ample room for debate and conjecture. For a moment, I was lost trying to reconcile how in the very first paragraph you “have always found it very plausible the notion that the Government of the Gambia is supporting and sustaining the rebels across the border in Senegal” and the later part of your revelation and strong beliefs about the prevailing circumstances.

Be that as it may, The Gambia Echo has incontrovertible evidence that Yahya Jammeh’s government supports and finances the Cassamance rebellion and this is based on the veracity of senior intelligence officers some of whom have spent over a decade stationed in the porous border. In some instances, Yahya Jammeh provides Gambian passports, ID cards, military uniforms and paraphernalia to the Cassamance insurgency and during the day, he proposes a peace deal acting as mediator to the looming crisis. In a sense, President Jammeh is a defactor rebel leader with a vested interest and has spent millions of US dollars on the war just as he consistently meddles in Guinea Bissau’s crisis. Yes, while most of your childhood experiences ring a bell to some of us who also grew up in similar geo-political milieus, Yahya Jammeh’s zealous support for the Cassamance rebels further fuels the “rebel paranoia” you seek to untangle. Nonetheless, we thank you for the perspective.

E.G. Sankareh,