By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-in-Chief
Unimpeachable military sources reveal that Captain Pierre Mendy’s treason charges and subsequent conviction with numerous other soldiers had nothing whatsoever to do with the alleged military coup of April 2006. A senior military officer, who begged anonymity, revealed to The Gambia Echo during an hour’s long privileged phone conversation, that Captain Mendy’s trouble with the regime started two years before the alleged coup.
According to our highly placed source, Captain Mendy was a close confidant of President Jammeh ever since the July 22, 1994 coup and has over the years done numerous nasty operations for the Head of State. Pierre’s access to the corridors of power had exposed him to numerous state activities and in some instances; Mendy was among the perpetrators of high profile crimes mostly done under the cover of darkness. However, after the execution of Lt. Almamo Manneh and CPL. Dumbuya and the gunfight between loyal soldiers with Ex- State House Guards Commander, Lt. Landing Sanneh who was subsequently arrested, tried and convicted of treason in 2001, Captain Mendy’s relation with Jammeh was to suffer a major set back.
Reveals our source, following Lieutenant Sanneh’s conviction (he now serves 16 years imprisonment at Gambia’s infamous Mile II Prisons), one would have expected a sense of closure from the regime, but President Jammeh was still angry and therefore, wanted Sanneh to pay the ultimate price. Many a time, President Jammeh had expressed his frustration with the legal system forcefully arguing, that most of the prisoners at Mile II were not fit to live. Reveals our source, after complaining and confiding in the State guards his feelings and frustrations over the judicial system, the Head of State invited Captain Pierre Mendy to a private meeting. One on one, the President reiterated to the Captain how much he loved and respected him, assuring him of any help that Mendy might need in future. After a rambling lecture on how much admiration and appreciation he had for the Captain’s unbridled sense of loyalty, President Jammeh finally confided in Mendy that he wanted him to execute Lieutenant Landing Sanneh, bury him in an isolated place and then radio Gambia and the TV would carry a press release that the felonious lieutenant had broken the prison gates and melted into the mangroves. “The press release was supposed to also, allege that the former State Guards’ Commander was armed and dangerous and that anybody who assisted him would be prosecuted.” After carefully and respectfully listening to President Jammeh’s desire, Captain Mendy politely asked that the Head of State allow him time to ponder over the operation. No sooner had he left the President’s office reveals our competent source, than Captain Mendy ran helter-skelter to The Gambia Army Headquarters where, he sought audience with Ex-Army Commander Colonel Baboucarr Jatta.
At Jatta’s office, Captain Mendy narrated his entire conversation with the President and how he wanted him to execute Lt. Sanneh who was already tried and convicted by the courts. He told Jatta “HE-His Excellency told me that he has no respect for the courts and that Sanneh should have died long time ago.” Jatta, who has witnessed numerous atrocities himself although is credited for never having personally executed any person, told Mendy “relax until when I talk to HE.”
Jatta says our source, wasted no time in meeting President Jammeh and during his conversation, the Army Commander told HE how Captain Mendy came to his office and confided in him their conversation about executing Lt. Landing Sanneh; that the Captain appeared very nervous about the alleged assignment. Jammeh as usual, took a 360-degree U-turn and poisoned the atmosphere with profanities calling the Captain a liar and a recalcitrant and emphatically told Jatta “I don’t want to see Mendy anymore in the State House; and vowed, “He will live to regret telling lies.” For our source, that was the end of Captain Pierre Mendy’s special ties with the President. He was immediately moved to Fajara Barracks where he stayed until March 2006 when he was framed, arrested, severely tortured and then indicted with a barrage of felonious charges. He is now on a 10-year jail term at Africa’s Hell on Earth-Mile II Central Prisons following a Court Martial that to many a jurist was a travesty of justice.
Contacted to shed light on the matter, our Military Affairs whistle-blower, Officer “X”, (a.k.a.”OX”) began by telling us “that those who live by the sword die by the sword.” According to OX, Captain Pierre Mendy had allowed the President to use him like a hoe in his hands. Pierre was not loyal but so subservient to the President that he did not allow the slightest criticism of HE. In many instances says OX, Pierre would threaten innocent and peace loving Gambians only because they did not support Yahya Jammeh. For OX, Pierre should have fled The Gambia the moment he chose not to kill Sanneh and telling Colonel Jatta was his worst mistake. “Baboucarr Jatta was present when Edward Singhateh executed Basiru Barrow but he could not stop the drunken Singhateh and Captain Mendy knew all this,” argued OX. “So why would you confide in Jatta a presidential killing mission that you would not carry out knowing well that Jatta could not stop Yahya’s killings?”
Asked if he knew anything about Daba Marenah, the former NIA Director, Ox said, “Those who orchestrate innocent citizens to be murdered and then conceal the evidence just to maintain their position deserve no better.”