The Gambia Echo remains blocked in Gambia
By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief
Despite recent claims to the contrary that The Gambia Echo was still accessible to our homeland readership in the West African state of The Gambia, we have just spoken to over a dozen of serious and conscientious readers across the mini-state among them diplomats and none could access the paper.
Gambia's tyrant, Yahya Jammeh
Like all news media worthy of their salt, our previous announcement that the Jammeh government has blocked our paper was not meritless or merely for cheap popularity as the preposterous disclaimer seems to suggest. Ours was the result of serious study, consultations and cross-checking (verifications if you choose to) with our most reliable associates across the country from State House to the last dot of the poverty-ravaged nation under the thumb of Yahya Jammeh, the despicable tyrant and his vice President, Isatou Njie Saidy, a partner in crimes with a disdainful propensity for political fibs. It took us a week to publish our findings and just to play it down as any other story, we chose not to even caption it as “a breaking news story” which it definitely was and is.
Besides, those of you aufait with The Echo brand can testify to our distinction in taking time in all that we do for the past four years of our existence. What we found laughable was for a blogger posing to be a Mr. Chongan in Jollofnews claiming that the disclaimer i.e., that The Echo was not blocked, was more reliable/credible than had been reported by Jollof News and The Echo combined because he has known the author of the disclaimer for some time now. In passing, let us make it abundantly clear that the blogger was not Ebrima Ismaila Chongan, the former military officer as others may hasten to conjecture or conclude.
Whatever his credentials, we at The Echo are not beginners either nor are we mediocre in what we do. Ours is the result of years of journalistic careers spanning 25-years of studious and professional applications of the requisite wherewithal that minister to fantastic and credible reporting and or journalism. Come June 15, The Echo clocks 4-years during which time we have been consistently rattling Jammeh’s regime with credible and unassailable details that have almost always set the tone and pace for some of our most rabid critics. In sum, The Gambia Echo is a credible pacesetter- like it or not, and come what may, we will continue to publish and report until the day we enter our graves. No amount of caricature, lampooning and lambasting can diminish our position in this matter and no amount of inducement either monetary or high position can make us abandon our disposition. I for one entered journalism during my formative years as a student at the Nusrat High School not out of a desire for fame or glory but for the inherent goodness associated with it. The dispensation of truth, the marshalling of ideas and principles for the public good that ultimately ensures accountability, candour and good governance. This is not a profession to be famous but to be associated with what is noble, what is right, what is credible and what is good for the goodness of us all- Pateh, Bakary, Keluntang, Joseph, Kumba and Isatou- The Gambia our homeland.
Significantly, those who understand logical reasoning very well, were quick to observe the hidden agenda in the piece. Lamentably still, is it not ironic that Mr. Chongan (whoever he is) finds a blog post born on May 28, 2010, much more credible than The Gambia Echo that has been kicking butt since June 15th. 2006? Is this lunacy, childishness, crass stupidity or a sarcastic and probably, shameful display of gonzo journalism? You ponder!
Whatever your conclusion, we find these comments fatally flawed, utterly parochial and utterly narrow and doubtlessly, marred in the cancer of jealousy that most of our haters continue to suffer from as Yahya Jammeh, the myopic mediocre, a simpleton by every stretch of the imagination, continues to kill, suppress and oppress our people and laugh at us with sadistic shamelessness. Let us therefore, leave personal attacks at bay and concentrate on the bigger picture, Yahya Jammeh and Isatou Njie Saidy, twins of evil, deception and plunder. We thank Jollof News for taking up the matter at the press conference and for personally taking the trouble to verify that indeed, The Echo was not accessible. We have also taken up the matter with the right people through the appropriate channels and in due course, we will publish all relevant memoranda to this effect. For now, we ask the disclaimers and their super duper journalists to deal with Yahya Jammeh and Isatou Njie Saidy and leave us alone because we have never killed, never stolen government money, never abused office, never raped women and girls, never sold drugs, never elicited prostitution- never, never and never!! We are only humble citizens trying to contribute our quota in national development through the ink of the pen that has over the centuries shattered mighty empires, dislodged dictators and saw regimes crumble. If history is any barometer, we are convinced that just as has been the case with former dictators like Doe and Nino, Jammeh’s too will eventually end and his chilling finality will be recorded in indelible golden ink. With our pens, we are ever poised to lubricate the wheels of justice and fair play through acerbic editorials and high profile exposures of Jammeh and Isatou Njie Saidy’s excesses. The Echo was blocked only because we reported on Yahya Jammeh’s shameless romantic relations with a teenager while he continues threatening to cut off heads of homosexuals and pedophiles. Truth be told, there is o greater pedophile in the country to day than Yahya Jammed himself. The dude is just bad. Jammeh once raped a senior official at State House old enough to be his mother. The woman now serves in an African country and in deference to her children, we will leave it at that but if Jammeh wants, let him file a law suit against The Echo before a credible court of law and we will present eyewitnesses. The old lady wept like a toddler the entire morning as former First Lady, Tuti Faal spent 3-hours to get dress on a fateful morning during the transition. Our indefatigable Waato Seeta gave us this story two years ago but in deference to the office of Head of state, we have always kept it at bay. Now that Yahya Jammeh is behaving like a child, we are ready to report every detail to expose him and his corrupt lieutenants. We know the woman, we know her parents, we know her children and we also know her academic background.
In sum, if there are liars in this saga, they are the President and his vice, both of whom have the dubious distinction of being married and in continuous denial. Jammeh was once married to Madam Amina Cole and went on to deny it despite our knowledge that Aziz Tamba, now a prisoner at Mile II, actually sent in the traditional cola nuts to former Information Director Ebrima Cole, for the dubious marriage. Today, Madam Cole is happily married to Alhagi Bara, Halifa General of Senegal’s powerful Mourit Brotherhood. Equally, Isatou Njie Saidy has been married for the past several years and to date, she continues to deny it even though a State House vehicle has been allocated to the alleged mother-in-law while the usually pompous husband has been seen around town behind the wheel of a smoky 1-90 Mercedes Benz to further confuse the casual observer and potentially deflect public attention from the story. Beneath the façade however, is that Isatou Njie-Saidy is married. You still insist on more evidence to justify allegations of lies? Remember the rubber bullets that the soldiers used during the bloody student demonstrations in April 10-11, 2000. Remember how Isatou Njie Saidy stood before the glare of Gambian TV Cameras and lied to her teeth that the students killed themselves. If you are still not convinced, remember how the government lied that Daba Marenah and four others escaped during the prisoner transfer in 2006 then and only then will you appreciate the wickedness and the shamelessness of both Isatou Njie Saidy and Yahya Jammeh as they compete dressing in white regalia masquerading as God-sent purists to cleanse The Gambia of its filth. If anything, their ascendency into power has created more filth in The Gambia than ever before with numerous mass graves across the countryside, missing prisoners, summary executions, torture chambers, chilling murders of journalists and civilians juxtaposed against a corrupt judiciary that has been totally emasculated. Whether we like it or not, Yahya Jammeh is the judge and jury in all matters in the country and until that day when sanity finally prevails we will continue to write and nothing can deter us.