By Mathew K. Jallow Associate Editor

Once again one wandered whether to laugh or to get enraged by Yahya Jammeh’s all too familiar antics. At the signing ceremony giving away our Gamtel/Gamcel to a Lebanese enterprise last week, Jammeh in his characteristic bad boy persona, went ballistic again for no apparent reason, and let loose a barrage of insulting, belittling, and humiliating tirades that touched every Gambian, but especially the civil servants who have had no reprieve from his tormenting abuses.

But, even as Jammeh was signing away our most valuable economic development assets to a foreign entity, the outcry over this horrible economic decision was reaching its crescendo. By the end of the week, the investigative reporting of Tijan Nimaga out of New York City, disclosed and confirmed what many Gambians already knew or suspected; that The World Bank body had no connection, whatsoever, to the sale of Gamtel and Gamcel. The Gambia government had been caught in a lie. But, it got even worst. The facts of the debacle and illegal sale revealed that the management of the company was not privy to any of the negotiations, a terrible public relations blunder that was both disrespectful and condescending. By the end of the week, one of our sources within the military expressed their disapproval of the transaction and the subsequent sale of the twin companies. Today, Jammeh and Spectrum Company may think that their deal is now a fait à compli, but on the contrary, this matter is far from being over yet. To echo sentiments expressed by our military boys, Spectrum better get out now while there is still time. That bogus company stands to lose every damn dollar it invests in Gamtel/Gamcel. If they choose to ignore our cries and concerns now; we will not listen to them when they come crying too.

          The Gambia is increasingly becoming isolated and turning into the regional pariah as the Jammeh regime decides to ignore the ECOWAS Court in Abuja, Nigeria, over the disappearance of journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh. The Chief Manneh’s case has now become a matter of international concern, but as ECOWAS seeks an answer for the disappearance of Chief Manneh for the past year, Jammeh has decided to respond with confrontation. The last time Chief Manneh was seen in more than a year, was several months, when he was spotted at the Royal Victoria Hospital, terribly sick, very emaciated and barely able to walk on his own. Some in the international media have as recently as last week, speculated that the Jammeh government may have killed Chief Manneh. It can be recalled that journalist Chief Manneh was caught in a swoop that netted scores of Gambians two years ago when Saja Taal, Managing Director of The Daily Observer, published a list of readers of the online U.S. based Freedom Newspaper, after that paper was hacked into. But Chief Manneh’s relatives are not the only ones seeking answers about the whereabouts of their missing loved ones and relatives. In Bakau, Rambo Jatta, a staunch and an unapologetic opponent of the military regime of Yahya Jammeh, has not been seen since security forces arrested him nearly a year ago. A school Principal at Kudang Master Tamba Fofana  who was arrested for reasons still unknown, has not been seen in nearly eleven months, and Kanyiba Kanyi, who was also under the custody of security officers after being arrested by NIA operatives, has been missing for over a year too. None of the missing has ever been arraigned before a court of law despite a Gambian law requiring that they be charged within seventy-two hours or failing that they be released. The government has done neither.

       Last week in New York City, Yahya Jammeh’s main puppet, Isatou Njie-Saidy, came to the United Nations and lied through her teeth, painting a rosy picture of The Gambia that contradicts the realities on the ground there. Mrs. Njie-Saidy has allowed herself to be used by Jammeh for so long, she and Yahya Jammeh are joined at the hips. There is no way for her to exonerate herself from the atrocities committed by this government. But one of the things that upset me most about her speech was her comment about the Taiwan peninsula. This was meant as a cheap shot across the brow of China, but China should know that she was not speaking for the Gambian population. Njie-Saidy’s injection of the China and Taiwan political struggle in her speech before the United Nations General Assembly is meant as a payback to the Taiwanese government for all the checks their Ambassador Dr. Patrick Chang gives to Yahya Jammeh and the Jammeh Foundation throughout each year. Mrs. Njie-Saidy and Yahya Jammeh or their representatives have long ago lost the moral high ground to speak for The Gambian people.

      What are these rumors flying around about Yahya Jammeh going after Jaliba Kuyateh with the intention of eliminating him? Can someone please pinch me and tell me this is not happening? Jaliba Kuyateh, Kora player; maestro Kora player and entertainer, which is very well understood, but, a political Jaliba Kuyateh? NO, NO. Jammeh must be crazy. Like me, Jaliba is from Niamina, but even that is totally irrelevant and besides the point here.

      The new owners of the Spectrum Company have made good their threats to fire the upper echolon of Gamtel/Gamcel management, Katim Touray, Foday Ceesay, Ebou Ceesay and Alieu Bah. Being unemployed with a family to feed and care for can’t be easy, but Jammeh does not care whom his arrogant and senseless policies hurt. What Jammeh wants Jammeh gets, and give a damn to anything else.

       The case against Fatou Jaw-Manneh is dragging on, Foroyaa recently reminded the regime, as if they need reminding. Jammeh’s strategy is to wear people down, break their spirits and will to live, and in many cases dispose them off by killing them. For those that the regime drags into the courts, Jammeh decides what and how some judges and magistrates conduct their court proceedings. The case of the former and still the legal Mayor of Banjul, Pa Sallah Jagne has been dragging on for nearly two years without any legal justification for that. Clearly, in the case of our colleague Fatou Jaw-Manneh too, the intention of the Jammeh regime is frustrate her and make her suffer. That is not seeking justice, that is revenge for holding opinions and views that contradict the regime’s. This is no longer a trial seeking justice, and with her case going from one legal jurisdiction to another, it has become a miserable and laughable operation of the justice system. But, my suspicion is that no magistrate or judge wants to hear this case, because it is a frivolous and over-handed use of the judiciary by the Jammeh regime.

Jammeh’s trial of some Cassamance elements is a replay of his 2001 arrest of some Arabs his regime arrested for alleged terrorism. Both Jammeh and the NIA knew they were fabricating lies then, but they had a good reason to arrest the Arabs and drag them into court with the full glare of the media. Jammeh at that point tried to prove a point to the Americans that he was on their side. When George Bush said, “you are either with us or you are with the enemy,” that scared the daylight out of Yahya Jammeh, to the extent that he needed to arrest some innocent Arabs to prove himself to the U.S. If there were no Arabs anywhere around, the cowardly Jammeh would have "imported" them. The Cassamance trials are also a sham proceeding meant to placate Abdoulie Wade, even though Wade wants the guys freed, not tried, certainly not before a Kangaroo Court in Banjul.

Finally, the death sentence metered to Tabara Samba makes me want to cry for the amateurism of our judiciary system. Clearly, some of the magistrates and judges entrusted with dispensing justice in our courts are in need of further training before they can be competent. Tabara Samba was sentenced to death for murder, but what she committed was manslaughter. That does not add up. For a death sentence to be given, it must be proven that the death was premeditated and it was planned. The court did not dwell on the legal aspects of the case, instead all the magistrate heard was the repetition of the historical incident report. Secondly, the pitiful magistrate did not take into account the facts pointing to domestic abuse and battery against the suspect. This whole case was clearly an egregious interpretation of the law. This was not a trial. This was a typical Kangaroo trial, without a doubt. My hope is that Tabara Samba will appeal, and the case will go to a more competent higher judge who will reverse the lower court’s decision.