Letter by ATA Founder, James Wangia
See the PDF of the letter here.
THROUGH THE WORST OF TIMES, WE WERE THE BAND OF MEN ACCOMPANIED BY BRAVE WOMEN COUNTERPARTS SURVIVED WITH COURAGE AND HOPE THAT ONE DAY THERE SHALL THE END TO THE CONQUEST AND ON THAT DAY SHALL WE BE FREE OF CAPTIVITY AND OUR VOICE SHALL BE HEARD. IN THE DAYS OF OUR CONQUEST WE WERE SUFFERED, WERE NEGLECTED, WERE DEPRIVED, WERE DECEIVED, AND WERE SIDELINED TO BE HEARD ON THE GROUNDS WE WERE FIGHTING FOR.
WE NEVER LOST FOCUS WE KNEW WE HAVE A PURPOSE THAT HAS NO END IN ITS ENTIRETY. ALL WE WANT IS AN ANSWER TO ALL THOSE MISERY AND CRIES THAT IS STILL FELT TODAY. THOUGH WE WERE IGNORED IN THE LAST ONE AND A HALF DECADE, WE STILL HAVE HOPED THAT EVENTUALLY THERE SHALL BE A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. THE PERSEVERANCE WE BUILT IN THE COURSE OF OUR WORK SHOWS THAT QUITTING IS NOT A CHOICE AND SHALL NOT DEMAND US BY ANY MEANS BETWEEN US AND OUR ENEMY; ALL WE ARE DESTINED TO DO IS TO SERVE AS LONG AS WE LIVE TO DEMAND JUSTICE FOR THE POOR MEN, WOMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS FROM THE PORGERA VALLEY.
MY MEN, WE WERE DESTINED TO SERVE HUMANITY AND THAT IS OUR PURPOSE BECAUSE WE ARE LEADERS AMONGST A GROUP OF LEADERS WHO REPRESENT A TRIBE AMONG A GROUP OF TRIBES ACCORDING TO A MISSION THAT IS TOO COMPLICATED. WE HAVE ONE COMMON GOAL THAT POINTS TO RESOURCE DEVELOPERS AND ITS CONGLOMERATES TO SERVE JUSTICE AS A RESULT OF THEIR BAD IMPACTS ON THE MARGINALIZED LANDOWNERS.
MY MEN, I HAD LEAD YOU THROUGH A JOURNEY FUSED WITH A LOT OF CONTROVERSY BETWEEN THE RIGHTS OF AN INDIVIDUAL HUMAN BEING IN HIS OR HER ENVIRONMENT AND THE IMPACTS OF A GIANT MINING COMPANY AGAINST HIS OR HER RIGHTS. MY MEN, WE WERE LIKE SOLDIERS WITH THEIR FEMALE COUNTERPARTS IN A NEVER – ENDING BATTLE FIELD COVERED BY DUST, HEAT AND SCREAMS OF INJURED MAN ON ALL FRONTS. REPEATEDLY, THE ENEMY HAD OUTNUMBERED US AND DEFEATED US AT ALL FRONTS- NO MATTER HOW HARD WE HAD FOUGHT THE BATTLES WE STILL SUCCUMB TO DEFEAT.
MY MEN, I REALIZED THIS FIGHT MAY HAVE TAKEN MY LIFE IF IT HADN’T HAPPENED IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE FOR US ALL GOING INTO THE FUTURE. I HAD STARTED WITH NOTHING 16 YEARS FROM NOW AND I’M STILL STRUGGLING AT THE SAME PACE TO CLAIM JUSTICE FOR MY DEAR BROTHER WHO LOST HIS LIFE TO THE CRUELTY OF THE MINE SECURITIES. I UNDERSTAND
THAT THE FEELING OF ENVY, HATRED AND VENGEANCE HAD BEEN IMMINENT IN OUR WORK AND I SUSPECT IT TO BE A REVERSE HIT CAUSED BECAUSE BARRICK NEVER RESPONDED WELL ENOUGH AND THE BAD FEELINGS WE HAD AGAINST BARRICK HAD TURNED BACK TOWARDS US FIRING AT EACH OTHER.
MY MEN, I WASTED SO MUCH, IF TIME CAN DICTATE I LOST ALL MY RESOURCES TO ENSURE THIS FIGHT IS STILL ON-GOING. I SAY RESOURCE IN TERMS OF THE HUGE EXPENDITURES THAT HAD BEEN WASTED AND MAY NOT BE RE-IMBURSED ADEQUATELY. IM GLAD, SOME OF YOU GREW OUT OF MY SHADE AS YOU WERE LIKE A SMALL TREE FEEDING FREELY UNDER MY CANOPIES BEFORE YOU BECOME WHO YOU ARE TODAY REMEMBER THIS STILL ADDS ON TO THE EXPENSES. JUST IMAGINE 16 YEARS AND ONWARDS AND I’M STILL ONGOING REGARDLESS OF THE EXPENSES. IN FACT, I’M LEAD BY THE PASSION IN THE WORK IM DOING AND GETTING MOTIVATED AS THE START OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE END OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN PORGERA.
MY MEN, I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE OF ALL THE BAD FEELINGS I EXPOSED TOWARDS YOU AS I KNOW YOU MAY HAVE BEEN BADLY HURT BY THOSE. AS YOU ALL KNEW, MY EMOTIONAL DRIVE SOMETIMES GO CRAZY UNDER PROVOKING SITUATIONS – IT’S AN ACCUMULATIVE OF THE 16YEARS UNSUCCESSFUL BATTLE I LEAD CARRYING YOU FORWARD. YOU COULD BE MISTREATED MAY BE BECAUSE OF YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCE THAT PROVOKED THE RELATIONSHIP I BUILT WITH YOU. AS YOU ALL KNEW MY NATURE OF A STRAIGHT SHOOTER, NO NON-SENSE PLAYER WHO STANDS FIRM ON CHOICES OR DECISIONS THAT BENEFITS EVERYONE IN THIS WORK WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOR AND NOT FAVOURING A SINGLE PERSON TRYING TO SERVE HIS OR HER OWN INTEREST.
MY MEN ,I HAVE A CONDITION, MY CONDITION OF BEING IN THE STATE OF DEPRIVATION, MY CONDITION OF BEING IN A STATE OF SICKNESS, MY CONDITION OF BEING IN THE STATE OF DOUBT THAT AFFECTED ME MUCH. I’M IN PAIN AT THE MOST COMFY TIMES OF OTHERS. I FOUND IT HARD TO BREATH AT TIMES, I HAD PAIN ALL OVER MY BODIES, I HAD SWOLLEN HANDS AND LEGS TOO. THESE SICKNESSES AND SITUATIONS HAVE AFFECTED ME MUCH BUT IM STILL IN THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE.
MY MEN, I ACCEPT DISCIPLINE FROM THE MISTAKES I MADE THAT CAUSE YOU DISAGREEMENT OR MAY HAVE PROVOKED YOU TO INSTIGATE TERMINATION OF MY LEADERSHIP IN THE FIGHT I BUILT IN THE LAST 16 YEARS. DARE YOU TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT ME AND YOU SHALL SEE HOW I EARNED THIS LEADERSHIP ROLE; I DIDN’T EARN IT THROUGH HIJACKING, NOT THROUGH BRIBERY OR OTHER CORRUPT WAYS. THIS IS MY WORK AND I DESERVE TO BE WHERE I’AM AND I’M COMFORTABLE WHERE I’M.
MY MEN, LET ME LEAD YOU ONCE MORE INTO THE BATTLE UNTIL TO A CERTAIN REACH WHERE MY EXIT POINT WOULD BE AND THAT’S WHERE PEACE BE WITH WHOEVER IS GOING TO BE THE NEXT TO TAKE MY CHAIR.
I SALUTE YOU ALL MY HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE PARTNERS IN PORGERA TOGETHER WITH OUR INTERNATIONAL ALLIES FROM ABROAD.