Coup D'etat By The Gambia National Army-By Lt. Col. Samsudeen Sarr 

By Tijan Nimaga, Bronx New York

Lt. Col. Samsudeen Sarr the former Commander of The Gambia National Army is one of the authors that inspired me way back in the early 1980s. For the interest of the younger generation, the former Army Chief, Samsudeen Sarr, is also the author of Meet Me In Conakry, (Macmillan Publishers) a novel that describes a trying road trip and real life drama on the road to Conakry by Sam a fictional character and some of his friends. In that novel there is a chapter where the former Lt. Col described an incident between Sam and one Senegalese official at Tambacounda while on that road trip to Guinea. He described that particular officer as an absent minded young man sitting at his desk with a “century year old type writer’’. That was one of the many comical scenes that could be found in that book.  In the early 1980s, I remember when I had to travel all the way from the Lower River Division to Banjul just to buy that novel, Meet Me In Conakry. Upon arrival at the Methodist Bookshop on Buckle Street in Banjul, I found that the store had run out of the book. I then had to wait for the new arrivals, which did come few weeks later. That was a wonderful work of fiction by schoolteacher turned Colonel. But, The Gambia’s promising author of fictional humor went into silence for years, joining The Gambia National Army. His rewarding career as a writer almost disappeared until recently that he returned as a civilian once again, but this time as one of the most needed national treasures. His book Coup D’etat By The Gambia National Army, has unfolded the reality of how the July 22 1994, coup drama began and who was who in the rebellion that ousted the democratically elected government of Alhagi Sir Dawda Jawara.

    The book itself is a historical document for both Gambians and people of any nation interested in knowing the past political life of (APRC) government from the very first day of the coup. The book also reminded me of national heroes and icons such as Kikala Baldeh, Commander Bojang of the defunct FIELD FORCE, a paramilitary defense unit in The Gambia as far back as the colonial era that continued until the formation of The Gambia National Army (GNA). Bojang was one of the must feared senior officials of the Field Force and was believed to have supernatural powers or could even disappear if circumstances prevail. Kikala Baldeh and Bojang were the superman powers behind the Field Force at that time. Sam Sarr went on narrating every moment in which he found himself before arriving at Denton Bridge during eve of the coup d’etat. As for me, the way the former Lt. Col. Samsudeen Sarr describe President Yaya Jammeh during the early hour’s of the coup d’etat is arresting especially the way he had jujus on him more so the filthy juju he had in his mouth. When I read that portion in the book, it quickly reminded me of the jujus of the Cassamance “Nychanchos” of ancestral fame, described as supernatural amulets that can enable one to fly when under siege or potential harm. Sam also revealed President Yaya Jammeh’s propensity towards oracle worships the very basis of his spirituality. A kind of spiritual life, which is still practiced by the President and has in fact, turned him to a pretty dubious herbal doctor who as he claims, can cure HIV.

In my opinion, the whole political ambition of both the Singhatehs and President Yaya Jammeh himself is reminiscent of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth where the effect of supernatural force influenced both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself to murder King Duncan. The power of the three witches and their prophecy persuaded Macbeth to kill Thane of Cawdor to fulfill the second prophecy of the three witches. Now the third prophecy, which is becoming king, Macbeth had to kill King Duncan to achieve his final ambition, which he did with great regret. Macbeth thought killing King Duncan, would be the beginning of a better life for him when all of a sudden, his wife who persuaded him to murder King Duncan finally turned mad. She hallucinates of the evil she played in that drama. When Macbeth was to be removed from power, he still relied on the supernatural force and the belief that no man that’s born of a woman could conquer him and that could never be conquered until Birnam Wood move to Dunsinane Castle. But Macbeth paid the price for Macduff was born from his mother’s womb ultimately ripe. Bernam Wood was home to the soldiers who carried branches of trees as a camouflage from Macbeth and his soldiers. Macbeth finally knew that the three witches just destroyed his faith and forced him to an ambition, which in the end caused him his own life. That dramatic life of Shakespearean world has it similarities with many African military officers who became Presidents through coup d’etat from Samuel Doe of Liberia to Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso and our very own monstrous Yaya Jammeh. The killings of the soldiers and burying them in the Yundum Army Barracks were one of the most serious crimes that fellow countrymen could do to his brother. Another important part of the book is the struggle Sam went through to gain his Permanent Residence status here in the United States. His struggles are identical to the struggle that many of us went through and am very glad that his sustained patience has finally accorded him his legality which solidifies his stay in the free world and I urge him to continue exposing the Jammeh regime until the day we liberate our country from the clutches of tyranny.

     Another important dimension of Sam’s book is the complete information on Baba Jobe. As a young boy I attended the same primary school with Baba Jobe in the late 1970s in Pakalingding in the Lower River Division. At that time the Pakalingding Primary School and Misara Primary School were the only primary schools in Jarra West constituency. Baba Jobe’s hometown Karantaba and the surrounding villages such as Soma, Sankwia, Kanikunda, Mansakonko Jenoi and Sikunda had no primary school. So all the pupils from these villages attended Pakalingding Primary School. As a result almost every day we took the same route to school and we almost all knew each other. But in the early 1980s, Mr. Jobe joined the Mansakonko Secondary Technical School and I drifted to Banjul to attend high school and from there on, I never had his contacts again. I never knew he was in Libya. Later on, I heard of a very strong young man in President Yaya Jammeh’s government with roots from Jarra Karantaba. But his identity came out clearer only after his relationship with President Yaya Jammeh turned to sour grapes. When I saw his photo I had no doubt that it was the same old schoolmate of mine. I still struggle to believe that the nice young boy of yester years had turned himself into a whip for a dictator. However, what happened to Baba Jobe did not surprise me. It is common in nations led by dictators. Dictators are just like moles, they kick you when you try to straighten their hooves. So what they deserve is a return kick otherwise, they will continue to kick you until they are satisfied and this will continue on all the people who supported the government of Yaya Jammeh. We have all seen what happened to Edward Singhateh. The sacking and jailing will continue on until everyone that supports Jammeh and his rebellious regime is subdued. After all, who cares if he jails or kills the very instruments of his killing machine?

 On Alhagi Sir Dawda’s side, I think his most fatal political error was breaking relationship with the Senegalese government. In the second place, he should not have given the Nigerians the complete control of The Gambia National Army. I am completely convinced that if the government of Alhagi Sir Dawda Jawara was in good terms with the Senegalese government, they would have restored him back to power and have the coup leaders either arrested or forced to flee just as they did in 1981 when Kukoi Samba Sanyang launched that senseless robbery which he claimed to be a coup d’etat.

  Finally the book, Coup D’etat... should be a lesson for President Yaya Jammeh. He should read it to see what he has done wrong and take the advice from his superior in rank when they were both soldiers. Otherwise, when the  inevitable time for reckoning comes; (to face the music), there will be no room for the rebellious government of Yaya Jammeh to dance in grace. I wish Samsudeen Sarr and his family the best of luck during their stay in the United States. Compatriots, buy this book written by Samsudeen Sarr. It will make you strong, bold and make you feel like you are part of your country’s governance policies. Don’t be a coward for “Cowards die many times in their imaginations” says Julius Caesar