Mathew K. Jallow Protests to UN Secretary General Over Yahya Jammeh’s Witchcraft

Dear Sir,

This protest letter follows a letter addressed to your Honor and copied to various governmental agencies and non-governmental human rights institutions and dignitaries from around the world, and a second letter addressed to Dr. Susan E Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, copied to you and various individuals and institutions. Sir, the political situation in The Gambia continues to deteriorate to the chagrin of Gambians at home and abroad. The past three weeks saw the culmination of another form of the madness that define the regime of Yahya Jammeh, and illuminates both the viciousness and irrationality of Yahya Jammeh himself.

In September last year, in an article in The Gambia Echo Newspaper, I articulated a very disturbing trend that was developing in our country this way:

“An objective autopsy of Yahya Jammeh’s regime will reveal the dark forces of an evil underworld, which manifests itself in the cruel, savage and barbaric way he has chosen to rule over our people. Jammeh finds in his traditional Jola culture, a potent living force that propels his superstitious beliefs and the subjective way he reacts to innocuous things that people he perceives as enemies, say or do. In this never-land world of superstition in which Yahya Jammeh’s mind resides, he sees mortal enemies lurking in every corner; accounting for his erratic behavior and the cruelty that has now become the hallmark of his regime. Instead of science and logic, Jammeh has relied exclusively on soothsayers and fortune-tellers to steer his shallow brain, and it is this lack of scientific curiosity and intellectual depth, that has become the bane of the Gambian people and the godless curse of Yahya.”

This article was followed by a second one in late January 2009, which, like this first one, raised serious concerns and questions about Yahya Jammeh’s leadership, but much more importantly, about the continuing and wanton cruelty being perpetrated against citizens of our country. Extracts from that article read as follows:

“The stories that circulated around the country and beyond early last week sounded too bizarre to be true, but they were true. The clearly paranoid and apparently unstable Yahya Jammeh, reportedly sent witch-hunters to ferret out individuals in the civil service who were identified as witches possessed by the evil spirits. Yahya Jammeh’s party of witch-hunters, accompanied by armed military escorts, targeted government institutions, and the sight of the weirdly dressed witch-hunters prowling the streets was a surreal sight to behold; a throwback to the dark days of our African history. But, as the stories of how Jammeh’s witch-hunters were terrorizing government officials leaked out, the character of these episodes generated much anxiety and humiliation fit for a documentary of The Incredible. The way in which the witch-hunting party confronted government staff, and the incredible stories of sorcery and witch-exorcising practices bore a resemblance to a tragic Shakespearian narrative set in a haunted mediaeval English castle. But, this was not a work of fiction. It was very real. For, almost overnight, Gambians had ceased to be dumbfounded by Jammeh’s brutality, and instead, the awesomeness of what he was doing once again overwhelmed the psyche of an entire nation. Just when we began to believe that we had seen the worst and the darkest side of Jammeh, he began manifesting another mindset that is rooted in our primitive culture. The permeation of his tribal superstitions into public policy and in the corridors of our public institutions is a recent development that we cannot afford to ignore as merely inconsequential; for this could be a precursor to a new and dangerous relationship between the sadistic regime and people of our country.

By hanging on to the distant relics of our past, Yahya Jammeh is running our government based on superstitious beliefs. Given these circumstances, the dictation of unscrupulous witch-doctors bent on exploiting Yahya Jammeh’s nagging ignorance and his stultifying vulnerability, ought to concern us all. As Jammeh begins to venture into another dark, murky and uncharted wilderness, to begin a new chapter of our country’s pathetic history under his regime, we as a nation are plunging head first into a new dimension of reality.

Early this month, The Senegambia News, in an article, showcased the progression of the regime’s over-reach as follows:

“In what appears to be a prelude to a civil war, armed military personnel, accompanied by acclaimed witchcraft doctors from Guinea-Conakry, have been randomly arresting people suspected of involvement in sorcery, and this time, the former Chief of Lower Niumi, Alhaji Tabora Manneh is among hundreds of those arrested. Mr. Manneh was arrested on Thursday together with Fabakary Nana Sonko and his sister on suspicion of practicing witchcraft against President Yahya Jammeh, said our correspondent. They are being detained at the Banjul police headquarters, together with hundreds of others who were arrested from the towns of Barra and Essau, six nautical miles east of the capital Banjul. Tabora Manneh, according to our correspondent, was ordered to pay D5, 000 in order to be released, but he refused to comply with the order. Armed soldiers and witch-craft doctors attired in red garments descended on Essau and arrested scores of people, causing wide-spread fear and pandemonium in the communities as people ran helter-skelter from a social gathering of a naming ceremony. Many had sustained injuries of varying degrees as a result. A resident of Serre-Kunda who hailed from the troubled town of Barra, told Senegambia News that he was traveling home to defend his parents, saying Badibou citizens are all heading home to take a stand against this "madness". Gambians, he said, must take up arms now to remove Yahya Jammeh at all costs as he claimed, "he's gone really, really crazy and we cannot afford a mentally deranged president".

Similar incidents have been reported in the Kombo South village of Jambur, where 60 people including the Imam, were arrested on January 28 on suspicion of practicing witchcraft. They were then taken to a compound belonging to the former House Majority leader Baba Jobe in Kololi, where they were forced to drink (take) from bottles of concocted herbal medicine. Scores of people have also been arrested or kidnapped in Foni Kansala District on January 26. Army Lieutenant Ebrima Solo Bojang is said to be leading these arrests, assisted by a National Intelligence Agency officer called Mr. Bah.”

This week, another article carried by The Freedom Newspaper showed a manifestation of the level of frustration over continued abuse and suffering of our fellow citizens as follows:

“We are in perpetual fear of our communities being visited by witch-doctors. We’re a law-abiding people of this country and do not deserve to undergo the terrible experience that the people of Jambur had gone through. But we take solace in Allah as the Creator and rely heavily on him as our only source of protection, said a visibly-pensive resident of Sitanunku on the North Bank of The Gambia River.”

Sir, the plight of The Gambian people have been echoed time and time again in more ways than one, and although small steps have been taken by a regional body, ECOWAS, this falls far short of the tangible and unequivocal action required to match the gravity of our situation. The Gambia is definitely on the brink of a civil war, and to tell you the real truth, this is not an embellishment, nor is it fear-mongering. To help avert a calamitous situation, we the jointly and severally sign this petition in protestation against the cruelty being perpetrated against our fellow citizens by the regime of Yahya Jammeh. We further declare that we condemn the wanton and senseless arrest of innocent citizens under the pretext of witchcraft, and request that the regime of Yahya Jammeh is ordered to release the hundreds of people falsely arrested and jailed for accusation of practicing witchcraft. We further urge that the United Nations and regional bodies as ECOWAS force Yahya Jammeh to release individuals in compliance with local and ECOWAS court ruling. Finally, we demand that Yahya Jammeh be forced to allow The International Red Cross Society and Human Rights organizations such as Amnesty International and The Media Foundation of West Africa access to all prisoners around the country.With this petition, I crave your utmost attention.

                                                                                                       

Yours Humbly,                                                                  

Editor’s Note: In the coming days Gambians resident in North Carolina will receive a modified version of this protest in the form of a circular to collect as many signatures as possible. Efforts are also underfoot to reach out to all Gambians and friends of The Gambia in the USA. Thereafter, we will convene a meeting on how to proceed with this matter. The situation in our country is now beyond empty rhetoric.