Dear President Jammeh

Dear Yahya Abjul-Aziz,

Don't you wish you could go all over to 1994 and do it again? You remember when you took over the leadership of the country? Thousands of men, women and youths were cheering for you.  A fresh face and a new start was all they wanted from you and your colleagues.

The people believed you, when you said you will work for them. They believed you when you condemned Jawara for amassing wealth while the people lived in poverty and squalor. They believed you when you said no man should rule for too long. They believed you when you said never again will a Gambian child go to bed and cry for lack of food and opportunity.

Today Yahya, you have become worse than what you condemned. Jawara may have ruled longer than you, but he did not have the blood on his hands that you do. He did not make wives widows, children fatherless and parents weep over the loss of their young sons and daughters. You looked at life and you took it away. Is that why you are scared? Is that why you've become suicidal and want to fight the world?

You believed you had a great destiny, to free your people from oppression, to be a bright spot on the African continent. You believed in your destiny, you bought into the myth of your destiny, you became your own destiny. But my brother, each story must end. No man lives a billion years. Nobody ever has, you will not.

You grew to believe that you were favored by Allah. That you, among all Gambians, was the only choice of the almighty. But you never did learn, that Allah does not like ugly deeds. You tortured, murdered and maimed, all the while professing your faith in Allah. What about those innocents who you killed? The journalist who you shot, those you exiled? Those who bled in mile Two, do you think Allah did not care for them?

Yahya you were once a hero, but over the years you became a monster. You once told people you were Mandela, but now your people look at you and all they see is Idi Amin. A cold hearted village tyrant. You are no Mandela my brother. Mandela had wisdom, Mandela had forgiveness, Mandela had love. You,my brother, lack wisdom, forgiveness, and love.

The Apartheid government locked up Mandela, took him away from his family and destroyed the prime years of his life. They made him sleep in solitary confinement for so many years. They robbed him of his family and youth. He never succumbed to hate. He never insulted them, he never told told them he would bury the nine feet deep, he never called them vermin.

You on the other hand look at people whose only offense was to not support your APRC party and called them evil, vermin and promise to never work with them.

You promised to kill them and you did. You promised to bury them and you did. Do you still remember the names of all you killed in this country? Do their faces haunt you in your sleep, or you are too far down the path of evil to even consider that they too had lives, had dreams and had loved ones?

Yahya, you conducted these elections and you lost. Just step down and go away. If you are afraid for your safety, go into exile,  at least for some time. If you don't trust Nigeria, you could go to your wife's country Morocco. But please don't cause any more bloodshed in your country. You've had 22 years to do what you wanted to do. Give the chance for someone else to control the destiny of the country.

The people believed in you, now they don't, but that is the beauty of democracy. Gambians did not condemn you, they just want a different direction. Is that so difficult to understand?

I appeal to you brother to step down for the sake of Allah. Do not let your personal ambition lead to the loss of even one Gambian life. I hope you will heed this message and not become like Pharaoh, who disregarded all God's signs and lost his body and soul.

May Allah continue to show you the right path. Listen to those who warn you, for they are your true friends. Power is not worth your life.