TRIBUTE To BABUCARR

"Mbye" GAYE

Elapsed time since the passing of Babucarr Gaye (a.k.a Mbye) on October 30, 2007, has not made writing a tribute to him any less difficult emotionally.

Born in Kaur, in the early 1950s to Alhaji Momodou Bamba Gaye, a prosperous Alkali and goldsmith and Aja Malen Wadda, a loving and soft-spoken woman, Mbye came from a generous, hard working and loving family. As a pupil at Kaur Primary School, he exhibited a degree of maturity well beyond his tender age. He was not only an excellent student but also was an engaging storyteller, who could hold the attention of his fellow pupils with eager anticipation, with each story ending with important life lessons. Clearly, these were the early imprints of his paternal grandmother, Mam Amie Joum, whose skills in cloth dyeing and reputation as a traditional midwife extended far and wide. Needless to say, Mbye excelled in school, remaining at the top of our class until his excellen performance in the Common Entrance Exams that landed him a place at The Gambia High School in the very early 1960s. Mbye’s brilliance was once more demonstrated, not that it needed to be, by his admission to the only Sixth Form in the country at the time, which was in itself an academic feat in The Gambia of the 1960s.

               In retrospect, Mbye’s chosen profession as a journalist did not come as a surprise to those who knew him or were his classmates at Kaur Primary.  His flair for both the spoken and written word, combined with his superb storytelling abilities, served him well in his chosen profession.  These, in turn, were rooted in a nuanced Saloum-Saloum moral sensibility of integrity, self-discipline and principled fair-mindedness.

  Mbye’s brilliant career saw him as an announcer at Radio Gambia, a reporter for the BBC, founding member of The Point Newspaper, founder and owner of several newspapers and a radio station. His initial Radio Gambia broadcasts and more so his articles in West Africa Magazine, remain a  researcher’s dream-come-true as they are rich and detailed, and once eagerly awaited by Gambians abroad starved for news about The Gambia in the early 1970s.

               Together, these chronicle eloquently the first decade following Gambian independence, the 1981 foiled coup, Sir Dawda’s ouster in 1994 and thereafter. Most of all, he reported the news without fanfare, fear or favor. This was all the more remarkable because his father, the charismatic Momodou Bamba Gaye, was not only a good friend of Sir Dawda Jawara but was also one of his staunchest political supporters and patrons.

Despite this, Mbye remained balanced in his coverage.  Following the 1994 coup, he endeared the entire Gambian population with his unwavering and brave efforts to make the news and other events of the day both accessible and comprehensible to all. This was to be the beginning of the end to his illustrious career as the military junta, who out of fear of his growing popularity shut down both his newspaper and radio station. He could have easily rested on his laurels but continued to train and mentor the next generation of Gambian journalists.

               Despite sustained harassment, Mbye remained strong, and calmly defiant. And when many of his friends and colleagues had earlier sought University degrees and greener pastures elsewhere, or left the country after the coup, Mbye remained in The Gambia, confident in his abilities and vision for a better Gambia.  Unfortunately, he died much too soon to see this dream realized.  He, nonetheless, left an indelible mark on Gambian journalism and journalism worldwide.Yet, Mbye could have easily compromised with the military junta to recover his illegally seized assets as many of his contemporaries did.

After all, Mustapha Wadda, a former Secretary-General of the Civil Service after the coup, was his maternal uncle.  This was not to be, as Mbye’s “Ngorr,” or self-worth would not have let him.  Mbye could not have turned out or behaved any other way. In a sense, he, from a very early age, was imbued with a sense of responsibility and destiny, with clarity of purpose that was rivaled only by his commitment to his family, profession and The Gambia. As his father’s first child and son, he was brought up as a leader, a prince, groomed to excel and serve, and to make a genuine difference, which he did, in both The Gambia and the entire world.

       Mbye died in peace, died at peace with himself, family and neighbors, and at peace in the fact that he had lived an exemplary life, and in doing so, made The Gambia and the world a better place. Farewell, childhood friend as you join Ya Malen, Pa Modou Bamba, and Mam Amie, uncleBobou and Ya Gass, uncle Gibi and Ya Hoja, and our brothers Ablie and Baba

Ndow. Rest in Peace.

               Adieu, Balla Joof, another fallen brother. Balla hailed from Banjul and visited and worked in Kaur in the 1960s and early 1970s.  He returned to live there and raised a family with his wife, MM.  His love for and commitment to Kaur and its multi-ethnic community was unmatched even by those born there.  No one could boast loving Kaur more than he did.

His untimely passing also leaves a gaping hole in the hearts of all who knew and loved him. We keep all of you in our thoughts and prayers.

Professor Abdoulaye Saine & Ebrima M’boob

Ohio, USA               Stockholm, Sweden