Africa-Press – Gambia. I write this letter with a heart burdened by sorrow and a soul conflicted by love and disappointment. It is not easy to pen these words not to you, a woman I have long admired, respected, and loved in ways that transcend ordinary admiration. But sometimes, the truth compels us to speak, even when it hurts.
I received the cease and desist letter addressed to Kurang, and I must admit, it shook me. Not because of its legal strength, you are, after all, one of the finest legal minds of our time but because of its emotional weight and what it represents: a chasm, a silence, a decision to respond not with clarity but with threat, not with open-hearted rebuttal but with the hammer of the law.
Mrs Bensouda, you have spent your life standing against injustice. You have walked the corridors of truth with dignity. You have been a light in dark places, a voice where silence reigned, and a shield for the voiceless. That is why this course of action, this legal silence wrapped in warning, wounds so deeply.
Not just me, not just Kurang, but many others have raised questions about the actions of the Commission. These questions are not daggers, they are lamps, searching for understanding. They are not born of malice, but of the hunger for truth.
You know I love you. Deeply. That has never changed. And because I love you, I believe in the greatness within you. That greatness has never been about wielding power Ma. It has always been about wielding justice. That is why I plead with you: don’t let this moment become a shadow on your legacy. Don’t let the public, who have cherished your name, believe that you would stifle truth when it turns uncomfortable.
I do not believe you, personally, sold Jammeh’s assets. I am a lawyer and I know the structure, the limits, and the roles. You were lead counsel, yes, but not the Commission. The decision was not yours alone. But even so, leadership comes not only with action, but with response. And the nation deserved a response. A calm, strong, unequivocal rebuttal would have brought light where now there is smoke. Instead, the threat of a lawsuit only breeds more suspicion as it feels like a wall erected against the very transparency you have always demanded of others.
We can disagree, and still be bound by love. I can question, and still honour your name. But what I cannot do, and what I pray you will not allow, is the quieting of valid dissent through intimidation. That is not you. That has never been you. You are the woman who stood and continues to stand before Lady Justice with grace and gravity, who taught generations to believe that justice is not just a tool, but a calling.
Mrs Ben as I fondly called you, Kurang has insulted me publicly when I called him our for his seeming hatred towards you and redirected towards your son. Am sure the post on Whats on Gambia is still there. He continued to make mockery of me and even attempted to spew lies against me but because I am not a pushover I matched his fire with my own blaze. All I did was to caution him to be respectful and guarded in his pronouncements against you. I am saying this to you today so you know, above everything else, that you are loved and cherished by me.
When Kurang was arrested and detained I rose up and spoke for him. I lend my voice to the voices of many others. I didn’t look with vengeance to his public insults and ridicule of me because , to me, fabrications and cheap innuendos don’t move me. I am solid in my truth and I don’t flinch when bottomless jibes are sent my way.
I will never watch to see your name being rubbished in the mud but I equally will not wish to see you raise a brand of one that stiffles dissent and threatens accountability with lawsuits.
Please Ma, rise above this. Not because you owe it to Kurang, or to me but because you owe it to the very values you have spent your life defending. Show the world, once more, that your voice does not tremble before truth rather it meets it, embraces it, and answers it with clarity and courage.
With unwavering respect and enduring affection,
Melville Robertson Roberts Esq
Derbyshire
England
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