By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

Unimpeachable military sources say The Gambia’s erstwhile Chief of Defense Staff Colonel Vincent Jatta died today at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) under very mysterious circumstances. “He complained of stomach complications, was rushed to the RVH and he died hours later” our highly placed military sources say.

Colonel Vincent Jatta about 40 hails from Darsilami in the Western Division and was among the elite military cadre from the Jawara days. He rose through ranks to the coveted position of Chief of Defense Staff but was fired in less than four weeks and replaced by former Navy Commander Lt. Colonel Assan Sarr. At the time of his sacking, speculations were rife that he had defied Gambian military protocol and told peacekeeping soldiers poised for deployment that they would be paid their allowances in full and he also, allegedly, told them what the exact amounts were.

However, new evidence from our most competent sources suggests the contrary. Reveal our high profile military sources, Vincent Jatta’s ephemeral promotion was caused by his refusal to deploy a team of military contingent to quell demonstrations celebrating the anniversary of slain newspaper journalist Deyda Hydara. According to our sources, “President Jammeh had ordered Jatta to deploy a team of armed soldiers to quell the demonstration by all means possible but he categorically refused, saying it was uncalled for.”

However, as if by divine intervention, Col. Assan Sarr’s (not Samsudeen Sarr) tenure was short-lived due largely to the former Navy Chief’s alleged unbridled arrogance and pathetic show of bravado. Col. Assan Sarr was allegedly so arrogant that he once ordered a childhood friend detained for hours at Banjul’s Navy Headquarters for simply calling him the Gambian cliché, Boy. Following Sarr’s celebrated sacking, Colonel Vincent Jatta was invited to take up his old job, but in what our sources described as a show of candour and magnanimity, he gracefully declined, an act he would later regret. He left The Gambia and settled in Senegal for about six months and then returned at the wrong time. A little later, in March 2006, Colonel Ndure Cham the penultimate holder of that hot seat was embroiled in a foiled coup disaster and he fled to neighboring Senegal. In the ensuing pandemonium and panic, perceived or imagined, several military officers and security agents were rounded up and whisked to numerous detention facilities within the country. Colonel Vincent Jatta was principal among those allegedly suspected of plotting to terminate Yahya Jammeh’s regime and he was detained incommunicado for almost a year at Mile II Prisons. In the end, he was discharged and no charges preferred against him. Three months later, The Gambia Echo was told that President Jammeh invited Vincent to Kanilai and wept profusely apologizing for the long period of detention; that some jealous officers misinformed him. Today, like Musa. Jammeh, Tumbul Tamba and Solomon Jammeh, Colonel Vincent Jatta too has gone albeit, mysteriously.

posted @ Tuesday, December 25, 2007 10:16 PM by egsankara