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Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Videos: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by Momodou[/i] [br]Open Letter to His Excellency, President Adama Barrow Date: May 10, 2025 Your Excellency, President Adama Barrow, I write to you today with a heavy heart but with unwavering hope, as an ordinary citizen who yearns for peace, justice, and unity in our beloved nation. The streets of our capital and beyond are filled with the voices of our youth, who, for the third consecutive day, have taken to protesting in growing numbers. Their demands are precise: justice for their arrested peers, transparency in the disposal and transfer of the assets of former President Yahya Jammeh. As the president of our nation, I humbly plead with you to act swiftly and decisively to address these grievances and avert a volatile situation that could threaten the fragile peace we hold dear. Your Excellency, the history of our nation serves as a sober reminder of the consequences of inaction in the face of public discontent. On April 10th and 11th, 2000, The Gambia witnessed the tragic student strikes, where peaceful protests by young Gambians demanding justice for their peers were met with violence, resulting in the loss of at least 14 young lives. The scars of that day remain etched in our collective memory, a painful lesson that the suppression of legitimate grievances can lead to irreversible loss and division. We are also reminded of the fate of Ebrima Solo Sandeng, a brave son of The Gambia, who in April 2016, led a peaceful protest for electoral reform. His arrest and subsequent death in custody under brutal circumstances sparked widespread outrage and galvanised resistance against the regime of former President Jammeh. Solo’s sacrifice, along with the imprisonment and persecution of principled leaders like Lawyer Ousainou Darboe and countless others, became a rallying cry for change. These events were pivotal in ending Jammeh’s 22-year rule, a regime known for its brutal suppression of peaceful protest. Your Excellency, it was the courage of ordinary Gambian youth, women, and men who, with the support of the diaspora and ECOWAS, ushered in the democratic transition that brought you to power in 2017. Let us not forget the cost of that victory or the aspirations and sacrifices that fuelled it. Our peace is fragile, Mr. President, and our economic situation exacerbates the challenges faced by the average Gambian. Rising costs, unemployment, and hardship have tested the resilience of our people to their limits. The protests we witness today are not merely about the Janneh Commission report or the arrest of youths; they reflect a deeper demand for transparency, accountability, and inclusion in the governance of our nation. The youth are not our enemies; wthey are our future. Their right to peaceful assembly, as enshrined in our Constitution, must be respected without fear of arrest or intimidation. As the President of all Gambians, it is your sacred duty to safeguard lives, protect property, and uphold the constitutional rights of every citizen. Your silence and inaction, Your Excellency, risk deepening the mistrust and unrest that simmer in our streets. I urge you to address the nation and to directly engage with the leadership of youth groups, listen to their demands, and provide clear answers to their concerns. I urged you to ensure the immediate release of all youth arrested for exercising their constitutional rights and to guarantee their safety and well-being. Let us work together to preserve the peace that Gambians fought so hard to achieve. The transition from dictatorship to democracy was a triumph of our collective will, but it remains a work-in-progress. As a concerned citizen, I stand ready to support dialogue and reconciliation efforts that prioritise the unity and well-being of our people. Let us demonstrate to the world that The Gambia can overcome its challenges through compassion, understanding, and respect for the rule of law. Your Excellency, the eyes of the nation and the world are upon you. Act now to bridge the divide, heal the wounds of mistrust, and lead us toward a future where every Gambian feels heard, valued, and protected. Our youth deserve a nation that listens; our history demands that we learn, and our peace depends on your capable leadership. In the spirit of unity and progress, I remain, Yours sincerely, Essa Mbye Faal For God and Country, For Peace and Unit [/quote]   Check here to include your profile signature.