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Dalton1
3485 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Nov 2006 : 04:54:09
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http://www.gainako.com/fejango/25th~edition/
Gainako on-line Newspaper (GON)
Motto: Guardianship & Independence
........Ex-GAMSU PREXY SALUTES HIS FALLEN COMRADES
..............................................................By Gainako (GON)........................Posted November 7th, 2006
In an exclusive interview with Gainako (GON), Mr. Omar Joof, exiled former Gambia Student Union (GAMSU)
president, reassured April 10th combatants that their struggle was a true struggle. While Mr. Joof didn?t reduce
his defending of the gallant GAMSU to a praise-singing body, but he was smart to note GAMSU was true in all
its structures. The former leader also expressed hope that some day justice will be done. While the piece is intended
to reassure the families of the victims that he is with them, Mr. Joof also rebuffed claims by one Adama Hawa, opinion
writer at the Gambia echo, who labeled him a spy for the Jammeh Government then. It is also interesting to note the
timing of such an Interview with ?International Students Day-World Wide.? (Below is the whole interview)
GON: Kindly tell us a little about your personal life.
Mr JOOF: I was born at Bakoteh, lived part of my childhood at kombo Lameng, before returning to the place of my birth
where I stayed up to April 11th 2000, when I left my home and country to start a sojourn in exile. This is all I would say for
the moment. As a matter of principle, I do not talk or write about myself on a public forum. If you want to know how I look
like, remember the pain on the faces of my fallen comrades of April 10th/11th 2000, as their lives were brutally terminated
by The A(F)PRC's forces of evil. If you want to know how I feel, ask the parents of Ebrima Barry, Binta Manneh and the
heroes of April 10th/11th 2000, how they have been feeling in these six long years!
GON: Tell us a little about the start of student movements in the Gambia, I mean starting from the time of Baba Galleh.
Mr JOOF: I cannot go that far for the purpose of this interview. But it suffices to say that the history of the Student Movement in The Gambia can be divided into two main phases. The first phase was in the period in which the movement was called The National Union of Gambian Students (NUGS), and the second phase was when it was referred to as The Gambia Students' Union (GAMSU). However, it?s interesting to note that the union became actually unified on a national scale only in 1994, when the differences between high school student leaders and student leaders at The Gambia College, were put to rest.
GON: What was your role as a GAMSU president? Tell us a little about your gallant executive then?
Mr JOOF: My role was to preside over the day to day running of the union's affairs. In this connection, I was also the chairperson of the Central Executive Committee. One important characteristic of that executive is that it had in its ranks persons from all levels of education in The Gambia. For the first time the General Executive Committee became functional and our outreach to students throughout the country was boosted tremendously. This executive had a set of goals which it was never allowed by circumstance to attain. The first and most important was the GAMSU Trust Fund, which was envisaged to build the resource base of the union, and end its dependence on The Department of state for Education and the generosity of few individuals for its finances. There was also The Project for Girl's Education. We called ourselves rational radicals and insisted that all our actions should be based on the wishes and aspirations of Gambian Students. However, we are better known in connection with April 10th/11th 2000, than any of these.
GON: Kindly tell us what happened prior to the student demonstration in 2000-the case for murdered-Ebrima Barry, and raped-girl, Binta.
Mr JOOF: Ebrima was allegedly tortured by officers of The Fire and Ambulance Service, a unit of the police department.
The girl involved in the rape case was in The Greater Banjul Area to represent her school and area at The National Inter-schools sports competitions. She was thirteen years old and was allegedly raped by an officer of The Police Intervention Unit, yet another unit in the police department.
GON: What were the consultations at the Gambia College involving Government officials, and who were they?
Mr JOOF: The discussions at The Gambia College were as a result of the spontaneous student manifestations which took place in Brikama after the Daily Observer Newspaper ran a story indicating that Ebrima Barry had died of natural causes.
The officials in attendance came from the departments of state for The Interior and Education.
GON: What were the consultations with FRI Jammeh, then Inspector General of Police? Any correspondent letters to share?
Mr JOOF: The Inspector General of Police at the time was Mr. Rex King and not FRI Jammeh. Our discussions with him and other officials mainly from police headquarters in Banjul were centered on the letter of demands the national student leadership addressed to the IGP and copied to the departments of state for The Interior and Education, as well as the office of The President of The Republic of The Gambia.
GON: How about Ousman Badjie, then Interior; and Babucarr Jatta, then defense Chief of Staff? What was the role (if any) of the Department of state for Education?
Mr JOOF: Ousman was supposed to discuss the issues with us but never took us seriously. On April 10th Chief of staff Jatta and some student leaders were asked to go to the Bakoteh area to calm students who were observed moving towards the gas stations at The Bakoteh bridge.
GON: VP Isatou Njie-Saidy blamed the shooting on your combatants. What is your take on her?
Mr JOOF: She was wrong. The fact is it was Isatou Njie-Saidy who delivered the order to shoot from president Jammeh to the officers on the ground.
GON: What was your relationship with the late Omar Barrow (May his soul rest in perfect peace), and what are the circumstances surrounding his death?
Mr JOOF: I met the late Omar Barrow at The Sud-FM radio station in Banjul, and had no connections with him outside of his work as a broadcaster.
GON: Give us a touching account of the April 10/11th 2000 student massacre. Any pictures to share? How many students actually died, and how many suffered limp amputations?
Mr JOOF: When the use of deadly firearms started at the headquarters of the Police Intervention Unit at Kanifing, I was with D-IGP Sankung Badjie and other student leaders. The D-IGP immediately left us. We were soon put at gun point and forced to leave the scene. It was at that point that we decided to go underground. As of April 11th 2000, thirteen students plus the broadcaster/red cross volunteer were known to have died. At the time several victims were put in intensive care at
the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in Banjul. We have never been able to get the count on these victims, as well as those who died from amongst them; those who suffered amputations and those who fully recovered and were discharged from hospital.
GON: Are you in touch with your ex-mates; Nyabally, Khan and the rest? What justice are you calling for? Do you want the killers of the demonstrators be brought before the law, or are you satisfied with indemnity act? Others suggested compensation to the families of victims, and what's your take? What would be a true reconciliation in the case of the murdered students?
Mr JOOF: All we ask for is truth and justice. Let the world know the truth about the issues which led to the demonstrations and what resulted from the demonstrations. Thus, those at fault will be identified and justice can be determined.
GON: About a month ago, you fired a strict warning to one Adama Hawa, and praised the combatants of April 10/11th.
What signal were you sending to the world? Were you a spy for the Government then as alleged by Adama Hawa?
Mr JOOF: We just wanted others to note that as we reacted to every piece of misinformation by The A (F) PRC dictatorship, so shall we react to any attempt to insult our memory of our fallen comrades. Some Gambians have a reputation of mostly trying to undermine every Gambian?s endeavor which does not directly bring some feathers to their
caps. We have observed with very keen interest the reactions from various quarters, and while most Gambians were loud and clear in their condemnations of the police brutality and expressions of solidarity to the students, a few have been remarkably muted and unclear in their reactions. We take no one for granted, and we respect everyone's rights to enjoy their liberties including the one to express their views on us as a leadership, however, those papers that provide space for malicious attacks on us should be prepared to give us equal opportunities to respond. As for the allegations pertaining to the student leadership in general and me in particular, they are all mere fabrications. We took specific steps which were meant
to sanitize the student movement and pre-empt the very eventualities that have been alleged. We were doing our own thing, in our own way and as we saw fit. We are not fools that we ever tried to please everybody at every time. We were working for Gambian Students, and their positive judgment is what we have ever craved for. At the time, while some elements of The A(F)PRC dictatorship were describing us as opposition, some elements in the opposition were dismissing us as apologists for the dictatorship. This was a source of joy to us because it meant we were truly non-partisan. A mere statement that the student leadership was infiltrated would not be worth anyone's consideration if not backed with substantive evidence.
Similarly, any claim that I was spy or agent would beg substantiation. Otherwise, such allegations can be viewed to
represent insults to the intelligence of the public. So let them come out with their evidence.
GON: Your relationship with Lamin Waa Juwara then didn't help you convince Government that GAMSU was purely a student body? Was there any conflict of interest from your side?
Mr JOOF: My relationship with Lamin Waa Juwara and others started while I was already in exile. There was absolutely no conflict of interests on my side. At the time I accepted the nomination to run for president of GAMSU, I made sure I had no official commitments with any of the political parties. I had been asked to operate for Parties but I had always declined to do so as long as I was in student politics.
GON: I know this one is funny, but I hope you won't mind sharing it. What's your escape route?
Mr JOOF: Almost everyone asks for that, but perhaps one of these days I will be inspired to write a book, and therein I can give all the dramatic touch it deserves.
GON: You've being in exile since April of 2000. How is life like for you?
Mr JOOF: A struggle!
GON: GAMSU was dissolved by the Government, and another student movement (NAPSA) took over. Is there any relationship between the two?
Mr JOOF: I don?t think they dare dissolve GAMSU! The idea of keeping secondary school students out of GAMSU had been around for a long time. A number of arguments had been put forward which turn out to be mere excuses to put in place some divide and rule strategy. The Department of state for Education at the time GAMSU was being registered had strongly argued that it should be called The Gambia Students Association (GAMSA). In fact I would not be surprised if this is the name that they (Education) have in their records. So for them three things have been accomplished in the emergence
of NAPSA: One, secondary school students are being kept away from the national student movement and secondly, they realized their goal of creating a student association as opposed to a union. Thirdly, they can now use the two organizations to keep Gambian students divided.
GON: What is your message to Gambian students?
Mr JOOF: Unite, and don?t sell the soul of the national student movement to The A(F)PRC dictatorship.
Editors? note: We wish to assure Mr. Joof and his entire team that we will always carry their voices. We ask God to rest the gone mates in peace, and to bring the doers of such evil to justice. The very Government that committed the heinous crime, the APRC, needs not to wait to be called to answer to justice. They should submit themselves to justice. ? True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.? Dr. King Jr. REST IN PEACE FALLEN COMRADES!!
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"There is no god but Allah (SWT); and Muhammad (SAW)is His last messenger." shahadah. Fear & Worship Allah (SWT) Alone! (:
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Edited by - Dalton1 on 09 Nov 2006 05:24:30 |
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