Letter Writer reacts to lawyers’ conference

--Blames Fafa M’bai & Pap Secka for dishonesty, aiding and abetting tyrant Jammeh

Dear Editor,
 
Usefulness or Uselessness of Gambian Lawyers
 
I read over and over statements made during the Gambia Bar Association conference, Friday 29 January 2010 with more suspicion than ever before. Unfortunately, I must admit that there is something going very wrong in our country. I was shocked that many people used the conference as a platform to promote their acquaintances and other people they know in one way or the other. However, the truth is and will always remain to be the same as long as most of our lawyers are quiet about rights violations in our country. However, I must admit that few of them are doing extremely well!
 
Lawyers in various countries from around the globe are always busy fighting for the freedom of the masses. They are helping Parliaments, journalists and civil society groups even though they are developing countries like Pakistan. Therefore, it is sad that we as Gambians allowed President Jammeh who is a well known dictator to keep doing whatever he wants.
 
Again during the ceremony, the paper delivered by lawyer Mr. Fafa E. M’bai in my view was not only irrelevant but also falsely claiming high principles. We all remember the same Fafa Mbai allegedly stole thousands of pounds sterling from poor tax payers’ while working as Attorney General and Minister of Justice. His house was subsequently seized to forfeit those alleged stolen monies.
 
Fafa Mbai was the same person with several other Gambian professionals such as lawyer Cheyassin Secka also a former Attorney General accused of a similar crime by the APRC regime of stealing public money with impunity. We also remember Secka, speaking on behalf of President Jammeh in 1994 and blamed our gallant students murdered cold-blooded by our own military of irresponsibility and causing their own untimely deaths. So how can these criminals who clearly entrenched Jammeh be allowed such positive publicity?
 
Listen, if Jammeh had not sacked them, all of these greedy men would have still been in power further helping the tyrant. Maybe, this is why they are gutless to even criticise the dictator in public. Forgive me but in my opinion, I consider these men hypocrites and liars. Amongst many others, Mbai said ‘We are the priests and priestesses, the ministers of the law. When a man (or a woman) is ill, he needs a doctor. The doctor diagnoses, prescribes, operates and does whatever else that is needed to save life…’ Ok if that is true then, as an experienced lawyer, M’bai knows well that Gambians need help as they are under a massive dictatorship. What is he and others doing about it? Nothing! 

We remember Fafa Mbai, as defence counsel in August 2008, telling the court that former Observer Editor Dida Halake who was arrested by the same APRC had a ‘leased property at Kotu whose worth is about D15m and should be granted bail.’ But dedicated Gambian journalists cannot even buy a decent car. These men are not helping the poor Gambian press; they are not helping poor farmers who need justice but have no money; they don’t help poor but knowledgeable students to have a decent education. Well, for Lawyer Darbo I cannot blame him much because the moment he tries defending the media, the government will turn around like how Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay used to do and called the press “opposition Journalists”.
 
However, from lawyer Joseph Joof also a former Attorney General and Justice Minister down to Cheyassin have been used and abused by Jammeh and the list will continue unless we come out clean and face the dictator head-on. Please let these people give us a break. They keep silence whenever Jammeh violates our Constitution, murder our families, jail and torture our hard-working and patriotic journalists. To face it, we are just unfortunate. Our senior military officials fled the country leaving the reign of governance to the heartless minority but still preaching us nonsense.
 
The military in Niger deserves a pat in the back even though I am totally against military coups, one greedy President cannot be allowed to enslave his people forever for his selfish interest.