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An Open Letter To President Yahya Jammeh
Thursday, 16 June 2011 01:57
Re: Matters relating to the imprisonment of Abass Manneh- a teacher and community activistYour Excellency on behalf of the Brufut Diaspora living in the United States, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia we want to urgently bring to your attention the imprisonment of Abass Manneh who is both a teacher and community activist from Brufut. Abass Manneh was sentenced on Monday 4th June 2011 without an option of a fine and Mr Manneh’s only crime, in which he was sentenced with, is giving false information to a Public Official regarding a petition written to your office on matters relating to a land issue in Brufut. Your Excellency, at this moment, we have witnessed a countable number of citizens in the country who have been dragged into court under archaic and bogus
charges of giving false information to public officials. democracy in essence means citizens should have to right to express their views on issues and matters affecting their communities. The enactment of giving false information to public officials as a legislation is violation of freedom of expression. Your Excellency, we are deeply disheartened by matters relating to land issues in Brufut which your regime is ineffectively handling. The community land issue in Brufut is fragmenting social cohesion in a deeply inter-marriage settlement like ours. The land issue between Abass Manneh and Alkalo Malamin Manneh should have been settled through community mediation. efforts rather than diluting such matters with national political issues that has resulted in community members taking sides. Your Excellency, In earlier 1994 when you took power, he was illegally detained for nearly one month without charges. For your information Mr Manneh is a dignified person who has tirelessly worked hard for the interest of the Brufut community both as a teacher and also as a community activist. Abass Manneh’s contribution to Brufut today is visible as a teacher, whose efforts enabled the community’s children to excel in school. He is the first community member to build a nursery school providing early childhood education, he has also been active in youth sports, and as of recent, he has been demonstrating social responsibility as a village committee member mobilising and focusing on community development issues through the use of self reliance. Sentencing such an individual without the option of a fine and with no criminal record can only be viewed as vindictive.
Your Excellency in 2001 we, the community members of Brufut living in the Diaspora, had previously written to you about our concerns on democratic matters of handling land administration issues in Brufut when a sizable portion of our traditional community land was allocated to TAF Construction for the purpose of building a housing project. Mr President, it has been 10 years since that open letter petition was sent to you and you should evaluate the social impact that development has brought to the community of Brufut. During the 2001 presidential election campaign in Brufut, you promised the people that the land belongs to them and you would stick by the rule for the interest of peace and stability in our community. After that promise was made the said land was ultimately allocated to TAF construction, and the demolition of structures on the ground has generated acrimony and deep rooted division in our community.
Your Excellency, furthermore, you went on to defend the corporate interest of TAF construction failing to mitigate ways and means to reduce the social impact of the development by your alliance with one community who were pro housing project and another who were anti housing development all under the cover of Alkaloship issues – a local politic which normally took the dimension of national politics between few individual community members, in this case; Suba and Manneh Kunda kabilo. Mr President a show case example during the PPP regime was the appointment of Bajaba Bojang and the sacking of the late Alhagie Kalifa Sanneh and later the sacking of Bajaba Bojang and reappointed of the late Alhagie Kalifa Sanneh. Shortly, when you took over power, you went on to sack and detain the Late Alhagie Kalifa Sanneh and appoint Bajaba Bojang. A few months later Bajaba Bojang was sacked and the late Alhagie Kalifa Sanneh was reappointed. After the demise of Kalifa Sanneh, you went on to appoint Alhagie Yunusu Sanneh and after a while you sacked him and appointed Malamin Manneh. For many years now the people of Brufut have been remote controlled by the practice of divide and rule, which has only served as a benefit to the regime in power and has placed citizens of Brufut in an undesirable position. This all too common unending sackings of an Alkalo from one community and appointing of an Alkalo in another community has produced anger and hate amongst community members. Major issues that affect the very fabric of our social society are mostly negated through this practice. Our people are clamp into ghetto-like settlements with West Bank style of walls being built as a dividing line with the village without proper sanitation and safe drinking water. Millions of foreign currencies are obtained in the sales of these properties on a narrow strip of land along the Atlantic coast line in the name of so-called regeneration or development of Brufut in the midst of abject poverty.
Your Excellency we are appealing to your office for the unconditional release of Abass Manneh and for you to investigate matters relating to the petition written to you about land issues between Abass Manneh and your appointed Alkalo of Brufut, Malamin Bojang. We request that your objective as the president be to replicate social cohesion found in your village of Kanillai to be the same in Brufut. Our people have the right to petition you about events and issues affecting their communities and it is illegal to imprison Abass Manneh and a countable number of citizens with archaic and bogus charges of giving false information to public officials. We hope you will look into the details provided to you in this open letter and will address them as the head of state of the Republic of The Gambia.
Yours Sincerely
Under Signed:-
- Banka Manneh
- Dave Manneh
- Kutubo Manneh
- Seedy Ceesay
- Khaddy Jaiteh
- Abdoukarim Sanneh
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