By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

Lt. Camara is second from right in military uniform

According to our unimpeachable State House operative Kissy Kissy Mansa, the longest serving Presidential Guard official, Lieutenant Bakary Camara and Assistant Superintendent of Police Manlafi Sanyang were arrested under heavy military escort and have since been detained behind the harrowing granite walls of Mile II Central Prisons. Says Kissy, Camara’s arrest marks the end of an era in the Presidential Guards, a man who was a presidential orderly since the PPP days. He is the only officer who has never been moved from State House and was closest to President Jammeh than any one else. Reveals Kissy, there is hardly a place in the globe that the globetrotting Camara, an officer in the defunct Gendarmerie did not set foot on and as Jammeh’s closest confidant, he was responsible for most clandestine commercial operations as well as all purchases of animals for the President’s Kanilai zoo. According to Kissy, President Jammeh was very shaken by whatever Camara was involved in and has vowed to teach him and Sanyang a lesson for all Gambians to learn from. Asked what that may have been, Kissy alleges that it has to do with alleged activities incompatible with his duty as a soldier. In fact, reveals Kissy, a bulletproof Presidential car is among the numerous allegations against Camara. While others also point out to allegations of espionage and conspiracy with dissident soldiers, we cannot corroborate that for now says Kissy.

Camara of Malian parentage, hails from N'jawara in the North Bank Division and according to Kissy he is reputed for his discipline and gentility, an officer who has never participated in any of the human rights violations associated with the regime. Camara has never even participated in any arrest says Kissy.

Asked what the nexus between and Sanyang and Camara may have been, Kissy was quick to add that ASP Sanyang has a reputation for notoriety, an avid rider with clownish displays of biking skills; a man much feared by the top brass of the police force given his access to President Jammeh and was much hated by the soldiers for his propensity to violence- harassing and beating opposition followers, the last being the prelude to the 2006 presidential elections when he ambushed lawyer Darboe’s motorcade brandishing an AK 47 riffle. Although a police officer, Sanyang was so close to President Jammeh that he could have done anything reveals Kissy. In the end, he was more of a politician than an officer and would usually abandon his police duties trekking the provinces fiercely campaigning for Jammeh’s party. Asked whether Sanyang could have been involved in a conspiracy against Yahya, a man he has defended all the time and vowed to die for, Kissy says that beneath the façade of most loyalties, is the ultimate ambition for power. Sanyang is from MacCarthy Island and was very admired for his escort talents with the police motorcades especially, during state ceremonies a trait that may have attracted President Jammeh. That was then; today he is a high profile prisoner under maximum security and hopefully in the days to come details of the allegations will be known.

posted @ Sunday, January 27, 2008 9:06 PM by egsankara