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Momodou
Denmark
11645 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Jun 2007 : 17:49:04
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FOCUS ON POLITICS
1981 POLITICAL CRISIS
JAWARA HELICOPTERED TO BANJUL, DID HE LEARN NEW LESSONS?
With Suwaibou Touray
We have been focusing on politics in general. This motivates us to analyse the trend of politics from the pre-colonial to post colonial era. We have started reviewing the happenings of July 30th 1981 crisis which we said was a crisis of monumental proportions. In the last issue, we have stopped where we said the estimated number of casualties stood at hundreds dead and many more wounded. Let us continue from where we have stopped.
Continued from: http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3787
Gambians abroad particularly the educated elites in Britain demonstrated after two days of the crisis against the intervention of Senegal in what they called the internal affairs of The Gambia.
According to BBC reports, Gambians staged a protest procession at The Gambia High Commission in London demanding for the immediate withdrawal of Senegalese troops from The Gambian soil.
Kukoi who had once aspired to be a priest must have been shocked after realising the number of people killed and wounded as well as the destruction of property. This must have motivated his mind not to carry out his threats to kill his hostages. He also did not order any killing of top bureaucrats. According to Foroyaa, even though Kukoi and his men were in control of the Pipeline area for days, their feeling was that he might have had good intentions but wrong ideas.
However speculation had it that Kukoi had eliminated the two Senegalese combatants, he had earlier captured. At this stage, Kukoi who felt the battle had been lost, left the as the radio announcement continued, at a time when a lot of his combatants were still armed waiting for further instructions. Many also believed Kukoi’s insinuation when he continued to call on the world socialist community to help in arresting the Senegalese aggression. In so doing, Guinea Bissau was constantly mentioned as the closest socialist country that was expected to send troops. It became clearer as hours passed by and Kukoi’s voice steadily receded into oblivion that their intervention was a dream. Little did they know that Kukoi had infact gone for good. He had gone when his combatants such as Mustapha Danso and others were in hiding. They had to retire from the woods. Mustapha Danso who was already sentenced to death but was yet to be hanged was one such person who was released from prison to fight. He was later executed by firing squad according to a radio announcement.
With the airport, the Bakau Barracks, radio Gambia and Banjul secured, and the Senegalese tanks stationed at Denton Bridge near the baobab trees with their turrets pointing at each direction, Sir Dawda could also finally come from Senegal.
According to The Gambia Outlook, Sir Dawda was introduced to the pilots of the Senegalese Air force by President Abdou Diouf before he boarded a helicopter to Banjul. He was met by the then Vice President, Mr. Assan Musa Camara plus some dignitaries, escorted by Senegalese troops.
According to The Gambia Outlook, nobody believed that Jawara had entered the country. The PPP was said to have organised a private meeting at their bureau which Jawara attended, amid heavy Senegalese troop presence.
What Next?
The first thing Jawara must logically do was to consolidate his position after the uprising. This can only be done when there is no remaining threat or remnants of resistance. Immediately, people began to see machinery in operation. In Brikama, Chief Sanjally Bojang, Mr. Dembo Jatta, a cabinet Minister and other PPP militants could be seen with Senegalese soldiers engaged in house to house searches. It amazed many people to see especially them to engage in such a rigorous search considering the pronouncements they had earlier on made during the heat of the struggle. Many young people who simply moved on the streets attempting to pass through Senegalese troops check points as if nothing out of the ordinary happened got themselves arrested on mere suspicion. The searches and arrests continued unabated in all the towns across the country and even in remote villages.
According to The Gambia Outlook, many Field Force personnel were rounded up, tied up, huddled together like sardines in tin and only in their underpants and dumped together at both the Bakau Depot and several police stations. At the Police Headquarters in Banjul, the cells were said to be overcrowded with detainees, some were said to have suffocated to death.
The second thing that was done to consolidate the president’s grip was to establish a state of emergency. The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Honourable M.L Saho swiftly convened an emergency parliament to ratify the Emergency Powers Act which was unanimously carried by the house.
Immediately after the meeting it was announced that two members of the house were absent, Mr. S.M Dibba and Mr. Gibou Jagne, all of the main opposition NCP party. They were arrested. It was also announced that a Mr. Mbye was also said to be in detention in connection with similar offences. This was what effectively laid to rest the rumour of the NCP leaders’ arrest and detention. Mr. Cheyassin Secka NLP leader was also arrested and detained, which was said not to be in connection with the crisis.
With the state of emergency imposed throughout the country, Gambians had most of their normal freedoms curtailed. Anybody could be arrested under any pretext. In less than two weeks after the battle dust had settled, over 1000 people had been arrested and detained. The foreign media criticized the Government for the terrible conditions of detainees but M.L Saho; the Attorney General dismissed outside reports and said it was made by a few misguided individuals in some foreign countries.
With the swelling of detainees in detention centres, the BBC criticized the government for disallowing detainees to seek for legal counsels. At this stage, the detainees had reached over a thousand people. Many opposition elements described it as revenge or vendetta against them to cow them.
According to records, Jawara himself was so overwhelmed with the number of detainees and therefore had to comment. He said the condition of detainees was made difficult because of their number. He then allowed lawyers to go to the detention centres to make their services available to detainees. What Jawara may not have known was that his militants and so many other people who wanted to be close to him made it their duty to report all those who were supporting the opposition. This was why people like Muhamadou Jobarteh, detainee No 721 and more than twenty other NCP supporters of Brifu in the Wuli District were arrested. Alhagi Tobaye Touray of Fatoto detainee No. 814 was arrested. Some elders were said to have died during the detention. These reports could not have been mentioned by the papers during the state of emergency for fear of arrest. The situation was made so chaotic that the president ordered for quick preliminary scrutiny of cases and people who were in no way culpable could be released to reduce the swelling of the detention centres. By about the 17th of August 1981, the president had released over 91 detainees who were not found in any way connected to the uprising but were reported by people who considered them enemies.
The period had been succinctly captured by Sam Jones when he said, “Terror reigned in the hearts of many, fear of victimization, fear of intimidation, fear of losing the rights and privileges enshrined in the rules of democracy and so on reigned.”
After a while, many were trying to relax their minds; that Jawara would not after all listen to opportunists who were advocating for “an eye for an eye”, “tooth for a tooth” principle. But by the 27th August, Sir Dawda’s axe fell on the following people; Chief Sanjally Bojang of Kombo Central District was dismissed. The reasons were not elaborated but many felt that his express support for the rebels or denunciation of Jawara’s regime was what led to his putsch. Mr. Dembo Jatta the then Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture also lost his portfolio for what the Outlook called, “Yielding to the intimidating tactics of the revolutionaries.” Mr H.O Semega Janneh also had his job terminated on 9 September as Minister of Information and Tourism and replaced with Mr. B.B Darboe, the Member of Parliament of Kiang West. No reasons were advanced.
Observers at the scene were of the view that the crisis must have taught a lesson to the president; that the slogan that one should not mind one’s enemies, but one’s so-called best friends is a misconception. According to Mr Sam Jones, “Sir Dawda by now knows that his enemies know nothing about him as much as his friends do.”
See next issues as the country struggles to put behind the crisis
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 61/2007, 28 – 29 May 2007
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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