Fallen soldiers 
Check points in Banjul-Serrekunda highway
Amidst the confusion and ecstatic elations amongst Gambians all over the world that, the dictatorial regime of President Yahya Jammeh is about to fall, one prepares himself for some nasty surprises. Gambian soldiers have proven to be the most unreliable elements in the whole Gambian dictatorship.
At Kairo News, we set ourselves to dig beyond the euphoria and high expectations. History is littered with monumental betrayals in dictatorships, thus the length of time it takes to remove tyrants.
Who understands human folly than tyrants? President Jammeh is bad at everything but brilliant at espionage, setting up traps, betraying close confidants and executing his plans single-mindedly without remorse or compassion.
President Jammeh cannot rule the Gambia with due process, and democratic principles. He should have been history long time ago. No one seems to like him, and his behaviours are so stinking, not even his staunch supporters know why they adore him. Ocontinuedly speculate the fanfare and attractions of power, which can be the only explainable reason, some will say “Jammeh for life”.
Yesterday, Tuesday the 30th December 2014 was the day it dawned on thousands of Gambians that, no one likes Yahya Jammeh. Everybody was happy for the brief moment, everyone was expecting that, finally, the devil will be captured or erased from the Gambian presidency. Alas, if only wishes were like horses!
What went wrong in the whole coup debacle, who should we believe and who betrays who, and what was the chain reactions the Jammeh mafias set for unsuspecting Gambians to fall in?
The one thing dissident groups, activists, politicians, media, and civil society have to learn is never to rush in and believe rumours of coup or the fall of an entrenched dictator without detailed analysis. The highs people get at the thought of a man like President Jammeh falling and the lows they go after realising that, he was in fact dictating the whole chain reaction is traumatic and inconsolable.
We got reliable detailed news that, Jammeh set a trap and lured dissidents into it. However, with the turn of events, we could not just suspend all over narratives and stick with the plot to incriminate many more innocent soldiers and civilians. We dug deep and discover that, the soldiers at Yumdum Barracks and Fajara Barracks were in fact taken out of the picture. The main infantry and regular Gambian army were not involved in the whole palava last night. Which begs the question, why? However, since we all want to believe that, Gambian soldiers will at last muster the courage and do the only proper thing. One expects, however, the well armed and heartless State Guards were patrolling and searching for remnants of insurgents whilst the main army can only hear stuffs on army radio.
We further enquired as to who is control.
The answer we got are starkly tilted towards Jammeh and his loyalists than the mutineers. On the side of the dissident groups, the news continued to filter that, Jammeh has lost control and that, the insurgents are in fact in control continued to fill the air.
However, when news finally got confirmed that, Jammeh has landed in Yumdum without a finger being raised, it finally became clear that the case is laid to rest.
The final thoughts to remember are: has Yahya Jammeh infiltrated dissidents individuals who may be giving Gambians and the international community the most hopeful and optimist news of Jammeh demised whilst in his payroll? If yes, how many of them are selling the struggle for their fame and name?
Gambians must now realise the soldiers’ angle looks too weak to be the solution. The Gambian people are now the custodians of their own imprisonment and trapping, they must end it. I for one have never had any serious thought that, Gambian soldiers will mobilise themselves and remove Jammeh. A rogue renegade soldiers as in the case of Dadis Camara of Guinea, yes, but organised military takeover, I doubt that very much.
Kairo News’ aim was never to dampen the mood of Gambians, but holding them in suspense for so long whilst the truth is different is unfair to our readers and listeners who relied on our principled analysis all day and night yesterday.
Let the Gambian civilian use their democratic rights to end the 20 years of national embarrassment and pain and stop banking their hopes on soldiers who got us into this brutal and never-ending brutality.
Ends
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