Gainako Newspaper

" Every morning after his rigorous exercise Paco would stand facing the sea and gazing at the far distant.
Beyond the horizon he imagines seeing a glimpse of a shoreline, that perhaps forms the outline boundary of a
magical place called "Babylon", and perhaps even the the mythical place "Eldorado", that had made many
dreams possible. "
Six o'clock in the morning, Serekunda West, Paco jumped from bed, stretched
his arms and legs, lay on the floor and did a quick push ups to warm his body. He
then washed his face and hurriedly dives under the bed and took his running
shoes, a pair of warrior sneakers made by converse. Dawn on his favorite
T-shirt, the words "Who Dares Win" boldly written at the back and start
running the 6 miles distant towards the sea.

Once at the beach, Paco would skip 200 times; run a couple 40 yards dash, 200 pushups in different
variation, and squat 3 sets of 12 each. This is the routine that has become Paco's regiment for the last
three months. This rigorous and intensive training was employed a month ago, when Paco met this
stranger. A tourist who saw him exercise observed his routine and thought Paco's technique and style
rather mediocre. This man, an Ex-British soldier gave Paco some new techniques in how best to
condition his body, even gave him a T-shirt as gift. Since then his body's response to this new
technique has been immediate and Paco now more confident than before has embarked on this
training with an added zeal.

His chess, now more defined, his waist a little bit trimmer, and his arms and biceps more muscular. Of
late he has started walking on his toes with his chess slightly in an upward position. His friends used to
joke that Paco's new walking style "inhaling" as they dubbed it is more an act of intimidation than
anything else. Of late many of his neighborhood peers (A neighborhood the boys dubbed "South")
have started leaving for distant places. At first, it was just a few, and then it seems every month
someone is leaving. Eventually it reached a point such even the astute Paco could not keep tab on the
exodus.

Paco knows that he is not stupid, even though he drop out of high school, but he is certain that he is
smarter than many people realized. Even though he does not have the papers to prove it, but who
cares about certificates these days anyway he muttered to himself when all that matters is success.
They seem to prove nothing especially in this age of laissez-faire Gambian liberalism. Who knows!
He wonders maybe the educational system he went through is somehow flawed in some aspects, but
he could not point to any specific area.

Ever since leaving school, he has embarked on some serious reading. He had read Neocolonialism-
the last stage of capitalism by Kwame Nkrumah, "Das Kapital" by Karl Max, even memorize the
"Communist Manifesto" He has been hanging more often with his favorite uncle Pa. A man who
worked for a Greek shipping company in the early 70's sailed throughout out Europe, Asia, and North
America. Uncle Pa even sailed into the Soviet Union on more than one occasion. In his narrations
Paco listened to Uncle Pa's adventures. Places like Antwerp, Cologne, Helsinki, Prague, Leningrad,
Copenhagen, Bremen, and London. and Tokyo seems very alluring. He imagined how beautiful these
places are and in contrasted to his own neighborhood. How different these major cities are compared
to his neighborhood he grew up, the neighborhood " South" he love so dearly much and yet can't
help wanting, the urge, the incremental feeling that maybe his luck lay outside the confines of this
neighborhood, perhaps even outside the boundary of his birth place. This Europe, this beautiful land
endowed with vast opportunities is a place Paco needs to be. This land of a thousand lights is no
doubt the new "Babylon".

Few days ago, Paco has gone to the immigration dept in Banjul to check on the progress of his
passport application, and at Denton Street he ran into an old friend Tam, (a classmate at
Mohammedan Primary school back in the day), just from Denmark, driving a new 190 c-class
Mercedes Benz. He has spent the whole day hanging with him. They even stopped by at Albion Place
to get a copy of DJ Cora's latest reggae selection from Germany before proceeding to Tobacco
Road. He has observed how Tam now more confident, even sound enlightened in his description of
many things about the world. How in his conversations his friend seems to demonstrate a new degree
of intelligence.

Few months ago, his best friend Dave has just entered Switzerland, and has sent him a picture of him
leaning back in the front of a nice car with bright lights all over the place. In fact a Paco thought that
his friend really looks good or rather "Fresh" (to use the parlance of the day) after just a few months
of leaving home. He has gazed into this picture perhaps a thousand times, and each time he saw
something new, something different. Like a consummate artist inspecting a canvas, Paco has
methodically looked at every details of this picture and every minute detail speaks volume to him
about the place, this "magical" he thought to himself is a certainly a place he ought to be.

His had received money from Dave and this enabled him to secure most of his travel documents a
bachelor's certificate, and a certificate of character. All that is left is his passport which he hoped to
get anytime soon. The last two years he has been a keen participant of the neighborhood's
"Naweetan" team. But this year, he has to be excused for Paco is getting ready for the ultimate, and
need both mind and body for his quantum leap into the "Babylon".

So every morning after his rigorous exercise Paco would stand facing the sea and gazing at the far
distant. Beyond the horizon he imagines seeing a glimpse of a shoreline, that perhaps forms the outline
boundary of a magical place called "Babylon", and perhaps even the mythical place Eldorado", that
had many dreams possible.

..............................................NEWS
FINANCIAL SCANDAL AT BASSE AREA
COUNCIL: By Solo, Banjul Correspondent��..May 19th, 2008
Sources close to this reporter reported that Mr. Momodou Lamin Jaiteh, alias M.L. Jaiteh who is
serving as the Director of Finance at the Basse Area Council, is said to have been transferred to the
Mansakonko Area Council with effect from the 10th of May 2008.

The Director of Finance at the MANSAKONKO Area Council was said to have swapped with Mr.
Jaiteh. Mr. Jaiteh was said to have received his transfer letter through a fax message from the CEO
that he was transferred.

What makes the Financial Director's transfer news is that he was said to have refused to sign
expenditures amounting to over 1,750,000 Dalasi that is said to be missing at the Basse Area Council
during the three months period when the management committee was responsible for the management
of the affairs of the council, at a time when he the Director was suspended. It was also alleged that
other officials at the council have also refused to sign the expenditures during the period. This, sources
said is what motivates the Governor to recommend his transfer to Mansakonko Area Council.

The question that now arises is, is there any financial misappropriation at the Basse Area Council
during the three months leading to the 2008 council elections. The state needs to investigate into the
affairs of the finance at the Basse Area council.The people are concerned.

.........WHERE IS RAMBO'S VEHICLE?
...............By Solo, Banjul Correspondent��..May 19th, 2008
Mr. Ousman Jatta alias Rambo, who is councilor of Old Bakau and Cape Point Ward was arrested
and detained for more than 14 months and kept in Police cells in various parts of the country.

Mr Jatta who is an opposition UDP stalwart was later detained at the Sare Ngai police Station in the
Wuli West Constituency and forgotten. By the time of his arrest Rambo's vehicle was also impounded
by the arrestors and parked at the Bakau Police Station.

So since the time of Rambo's release due to his discovery by the personnel of Amnesty International in
collaboration with a Foroyaa reporter some six to seven months ago, his vehicle an Audi brand with
registration No. KM 9371C could still not be given back to him by the police. He said he is informed
that the vehicle was moved to the police intervention unit at Kanifing but the vehicle is now declared
lost or missing as far Rambo is concerned.

According to Rambo as reported by the Foroyaa, he was in possession of his keys throughout his 14
months detention in Sare Ngai and else where. Rambo is reported to be distraught about the whole
thing as he claimed many of his valuable things were left in the vehicle.

There are a lot of speculations about vehicles being impounded by some Security forces and being
used by them and even after the release of the detainee, these people would not relinquish the
properties to their rightful owners.

The police and the NIA should mount an investigation into this matter so that the victim can access his
properties because this reporter receives information that the colour of the vehicle and it's registration
number have been changed to disguise its identity.

....................................Opinion:
...Gambians Hope For Peer Redemption
........................By Suntou Touray.......................May 19th, 2008
If past experience is anything to go by, the only major hope of Gambians
today is to engage each other and expose our stiff-necked leader to
extinction. Power and good use of the online press is crucial to that pursuit.
Gambians both at home and abroad eagerly read the daily dose of news
and commentaries from our brothers and sisters, sharing information and
knowing relevant events happening in our country. The persons responsible
for that continuous information flow are the able and dedicated journalists
who sacrifice immensely in providing us uninterrupted news in our living
rooms.

We respect these gentlemen and women. We adore them and would sing praises of them. They put
themselves on the front line like any infantry soldier knowing fully the repercussions of exposing the
tyranny of our current impatient and reckless president who wishes all his opponents damnation. Yet
these men took up the task. I for one salute them, yes some will question their loyalty and motives but
those questioners are themselves dormant and lacking contribution to the current discuss.

With all the praises and love we have for these media personalities, there is a burning issue worth
expressing here. Our brothers in the press of late have been delving into unhealthy exchanges. We the
bystanders wonder whether the pressure of looking out for much needed information has gotten the
better of them.

It is not necessary to divulge into who is writing what against who and why. What is important is for
the journalists to understand the high expectations we have of them. The leadership and inspirations
they are providing is second to none. Mundane gossips and trivial personal attacks go with being ugly
in the public eyes. Tit for tat has no place in our situation. The key goal will be missed and the tyrant
back home and his cronies will laugh at us all. When one enters into the ring of exposing and
informing, expect the unexpected. Jealous people will come after you, but acting the bigger man and
using the comments of critics as strength is what is most appropriate.

On that note, the call is on the executive leaders of different Gambia Press Union GPU heads to step
into the ring and be counted. When media platforms enters into unhealthy and unhelpful exchanges, the
leaders of the Gambia Press unions in the U.S, in The Gambia, UK or elsewhere, should step-in on
time to calm tensions down. We have been disappointed in the slow involvement of the GPU
leadership in recent months when some online media platforms were under attack. Yes, the media
outlets can defend themselves but the reputation and integrity of the Gambia media fraternity is at
stake. People are talking and making inappropriate comments about the ethics of the online press and
their editors.

The Gambia�s press unions need to reassure readers and well wishers that the brotherhood and
fraternity among our journalist is strong and cordial. There is bound to be rivalry and mutual
competition, this is expected. For our media compatriots, integrity, public trust and confidence are of
paramount importance. You shouldn�t let anything or anybody affect the trust and good bond you
have among yourselves. We have read the commentary by Cherno Baba, and few others. We
sympathise with the media brothers in the front line and also respect comments by those who might
not be active but still desire to see the ethics of the trade maintained and better standards upheld.

For those other contributors outside the media circle, it is normal that there are times when
commentaries don�t fall on comfortable grounds. Editors will be kind enough when they learn to
pardon some unsuitable commentaries from those outside the trade.

Here is a call on the GPU /USA particularly to act its part, monitor and engage the active and able
editors regularly. This will maintain mutual trust and confidence. The public at large will be even
happier and reassured in the ability and dedication of our more sacrificing media compatriots.
Leadership of the media associations; GPU especially, have a redeemer�s role in observing and
harmonising media relations.

Thank you.
Suntou Touray

..The Devil is a Lost Course
.............................By Ebrima Sarr...............May 19th, 2008
I cant help but add a few lines to the watchman's most recent script. His diagnosis of the worm in The
Gambia's gut is spot on and i commend you for printing it even as its not flattering. He is prolific in
expressing his view and for many of us who read the online media, he's a hero. Humbling it is and
most noble of him to laud Fatou jow Manneh for even as she is a woman, she has dared to look in the
devil's eye and so far is living to tell the tale. We all pray for her to come out of her ordeal smelling of
roses and as good will always triumph over evil, victory end of the day will be the peoples'.

The insincerity of the Gambian people and lack of sense of sacrifice for the common good is our main
stumbling block. Heroes are few if any and a sold out elite will forever ensure that the people will
always be under the yoke of this tyrant Jammeh.

I understand the ignorance of the majority and excuse them for believing Jammeh will pave a way for
them across the red sea. An illiterate population is a dictator's toy. However those i can never, for the
life of me forgive is the Judas elite and by God how they are rife! It seems like the more educated the
Gambian gets, the easier he could be bought and the education if it could be called that, is the very
factor that weeds out the morals in him leaving him to be nothing but a robot who is best off
exterminated! I remember in my high school days when i used to think Therese Ndong Jatta was the
best thing to have happened to me. When she gave her sermons from up high every week at
assembly, all i prayed for was a wife like her who'll bring forth daughters like her. It all came to a halt
when the security forces in the country killed innocent students voicing their constitutional rights. She
among the many memebers of the then cabinet had the audacity to look the Gambian people in
the eye and said the shooting emanated from the students! Im not surprised that she has since left for
a better paid job.

There is no shortage of sold out so called educated Gambians, from sarja Taal to Waa Juwara and
there always will be i am sad to say, a long queue waiting to be used and abused by Jammeh. Seems
like the only lesson we learn from our history is we never learn. This is why in my previous letter, i
challenged Ebrima Conteh not to sit on the fence but to come out in support of either Halifa or
Jammeh. One is an angel and the other a demon. Mentioning them in the same breath is a little short of
blasphemy.

Lack of time and space will restrict me to end my script here but i know for certain that whoever has a
basic education in him has ceased to regard Yahya as competent since he announced a cure for
AIDS. I'll appreciate it so much if anyone of his online supporters can give me a sensible reason as to
that declaration of utter lunacy.

I'll be back soon inshallah.

Yours sincerely
Ebrima Sarr

............................................News:
JAMMEH THREATENS THE OPPOSITION
AS TOUR ENDS :By Solo, Banjul Correspondent.....May 16th, 2008
This president has arrived in Banjul on Wednesday 14th May 2008 from
what is dubbed the "President's Dialogue with the People's Tour". The
tour which is meant to familiarize the president with the problems of the
country so that the state can institute policies and programmes to address
such problems has been turned into a political tour where the president
used the state media and the Observer newspaper to castigate his
opponents who would are not given chance of reply..

To the surprise of many, the president at the meeting at Katamina threatened that he would not allow
any opposition party to agitate conflict in this country. "Any opposition party found meddling in such
forms of politics would live to regret it" he threatened. The president then named and warned the NRP
leader Mr. Hamat Bah that he would not allow politics of tribalism and sectionalism in the country. I
don't give a damn about what the International world would say. He also went on to say, "The UDP
or any other political party cannot use politics only to destroy the country. So if this is what they call
Democracy, I will never allow that type of democracy in this country" he fumed. He alleged that Mr.
Bah has been peddling in Nigeria that he has agreed with him, the president, that fulas voted for him
the president because he and Hamat has agreed that he the president should rule for two years during
the transition and five years during civilian rule after which he Hamat would then take over to ensure
that each tribe has a chance to rule the country; that Hamat also said since the Mandinkas have their
rule in the first republic, then the Jolas, then it should be the turn of the fulas to rule after him.
The president went on to argue that this statement is unfounded and threatened that he would no more
tolerate that type of politics in this country.

As far as the prices of food commodities are concerned, the president emphasized that he would try
and keep the price of rice at 800- 850 Dalasi but as he said after the rains he does not care even if the
bag of rice went up to 2000 Dalasi because as he argued he told the Gambian people to go back to
the land but they refused to heed the call.

When this reporter sought the opinions of a cross section of the people, some tend to believe it whilst
others said they don't believe it, because as they argued, Hamat should have been given a chance to
deny it or otherwise. Another expressed surprise that Jammeh of all Jammehs who has been
promoting tribalism to the extend of insulting the Mandinka tribe by saying that they don't even exist
and that no member of that tribe or ethnic group would put his or her buttocks on the presidential
mantle for a hundred years, can now accuse another person of playing tribal politics, surprised him.
He then asked whether the president has forgotten that so soon.

The other issue that exercises the minds of the people is the defection of Mr. Waa Juwara to the ruling
APRC Party. Apparently many people did not hear of his defection until his announcement that he is
going to the APRC because as he said he did not know the president before, that he made a mistake
by opposing him. He said Jammeh is a democrat because he has put himself before the people and
that it is the people who voted for him to office. He said Jammeh is developing the country and he
Juwara is joining him because of development.

The people continued to argue as to whether Juwara has defected in good faith or is he an opportunist
politician who is searching for greener pastures. It appears that since the National Assembly elections,
Waa juwara has decided to go to APRC but he wanted to do it peace-meal so as to avoid the
impending humiliation that accompanies such political maneuverings in the Gambia.

Juwaras cross-carpeting became such a debate because of his incessant opposition as the propaganda
secretary of the United Democratic Party. It is also surprising to many because of his claim of the
unjustified arrests and suffering which he said he experienced in the hands of the Jammeh regime.
Many people could not understand how such an avowed enemy could crinch and crunch before that
government for positions, the pay of which cannot even earn one sufficient income to feed one's
family. So many critics of Juwara opined that those who are going to the APRC should just go but
should not try to justify it by saying that development has come to the door step of Gambians. They
argued that the people are suffering today than ever before and that the regime has no solution to the
problems of the people; that the president's pronouncements are clear evidence that he has no
answers except to push the blame back to the poor people that they refused to work.

PRESIDENT JAMMEH THROWS BISCUITS
..TO THE PEOPLE AS HE ENDS TOUR
On Wednesday, the 14th of May 2008, the president Alh. Yahya Jammeh arrived in Serrekunda
after cutting short his tour of the country on what they dubbed as the Dialogue with the people tour.

This re[porter who monitored his arrival last night observed that the only main highway linking
Serrekunda to Brikama has been closed to traffic from 3:00 pm to 7.30pm.This reporter also noticed
that school children were planted on the highway for hours only to welcome the president upon arrival.

To the observation of this reporter, the president was seen standing in his expensive Houma Limousine
and throwing biscuits to the people some of whom were stranded by the closure of the high way. So
as he throw biscuits, many people who did not realised that it was got attracted to the activity thinking
that he was throwing money which he used to do in certain occasions.

One woman who struggled very hard to get what Jammeh was throwing upon realization that it was
only biscuits reacted that if he had known that it was only biscuits she would not have killed herself to
get it.

The president has been throwing his biscuits to the people across the country throughout the tour as
well as APRC T SHIRTS.Some politicians close the NADD are of the view that the tour has been
transformed into an APRC tour using scarce state resources only for party activities thereby defeating
the very purpose for which the constitution meant it for. They also said the president has no answers
for the country's problems. However others like Henry Gomez felt that the tour is not a political tour
and that it is good for the president to go and see the people so that he could address their grievances.

A close associate of the NADD party said throwing biscuits to the people is an insult especially at a
time when the people are undergoing food difficulties.

............................APPRECIATION
.............Life is Art
.....................By Cherno Baba Jallow.......................May 15th, 2008
Writing obituaries is always a daunting exercise. It is an attempt to give
life to the lifeless and to bequeath to the dead a fountain of ennoblement
lasting � hopefully � well beyond the momentary grief over the deceased�s
fated departure. An appreciation helps to provide a bird�s eye view into
the lifetime of the person now domiciled in the other world. It would be a
lot easier if the person was a public figure or if he or she had occupied a
place in the public imagination.

But Yaya Jallow was no such person and it wasn�t like he had cared about anything of that sort
anyway. He avoided the flourishes of publicity; he was mostly a private man, unconcerned about the
trappings of public attention. He died last week in Dallas, Texas, following a sudden illness resulting in
a coma. He is survived by a daughter.

Yaya was born in Basse in 1968. He attended Koba Kunda primary school and later went to St.
Peter�s and St. Augustine�s high schools. He briefly worked at the Personnel Management Office
(PMO) at the Quadrangle in Banjul. He won a scholarship to attend Brock University in Ontario,
Canada where he graduated with a BA Honors in Administrative Studies and Politics in 1994. He
returned to The Gambia during the hey-days of the military coup. He left for the United States and
attended the University of North Texas � Denton, bagging an MBA in 1997. He worked for Applied
Behavioral Sciences Marketing, a firm of marketing consultants in Dallas.

Yaya led a life of simplicity. When he was younger, Yaya left on-lookers rapt at his stylistic skills with
the bicycle. He could have apprenticed for KayBendo, the Guinea Bissauian unicyclist, who attracted
huge crowds from Basse to Banjul in the 1980s and early 1990s. Yaya was a great lover of the arts.
He collected African art. He loved music, traditional and the great oldies. He was a die-hard Bob
Marley fan, never leaving behind his Marley gear, particularly those shoes he professed to love so
much. When he visited Michigan a few years ago, he toured the Motown museum in Detroit and the
Henry Ford museum in Dearborn.

Yaya had something of an anthropological curiosity about the world. He was just fascinated about
other countries, cultures. He just loved to hop on a plane and fly wherever. He had a daredevil love
for those long, treacherous journeys into and through Guinea Conakry. He marveled at the hills and
mountains of Guinea and the Alps of Switzerland.

In 1990, I went to Gambia High School to study History, Government and Economics at the Sixth
Form. I struggled with some indecision: Should I drop Economics for Islamic Religious Knowledge? I
loved Economics for its breadth on the interlocking synergies of society but I also had a special
passion for Islamic knowledge. I dropped Economics but two weeks later I returned to it. And two
weeks later I dropped it again, returning to IRK and wasting a whole precious month of rigorous A�
Level studies. In his office at the PMO, Yaya cautioned me against my vacillating tendencies. �A�
Levels are not like the O�Levels. You need to make up your mind quick,� he berated me. In the end, I
decided to stay with Economics, this study of man�s most essential and predominant activity.

Last year, when the Gambian authorities arrested the US-based Gambian journalist Fatou Jaw
Manneh on a home trip, Yaya wrote on the Gambia Post: �� does she have her US citizenship? If
so, her family needs to contact the US embassy in Banjul. Word of advice to all Gambians who are
traveling to The Gambia, get on the US dept of state website and register your travel incase you need
assistance. I wish Fatou well.�

He was such a person, caring in his advice and companionable in the midst of others. He was smooth
to a fault. He was always well measured in his remarks, occasionally punctuating them with squeals of
hearty laughter. He was just about having fun and being true to himself. Yaya was different in so many
wonderful ways. Let the late English poet Norman Rowland Gale wrap it up:

.........................IT hardly seems that he is dead
.........................So strange it is that we are here
.........................Beneath this great blue shell of sky
.........................With apple-bloom and pear:
.........................It scarce seems true that we can note
.........................The bursting rosebud�s edge of flame.
.........................Or watch the blackbird�s swelling throat
.........................While he is but a name.

.........................No more the chaffinch at his step
.........................Pipes suddenly her shrill surprise,
.........................For in an ecstasy of sleep
.........................Unconsciously he lies,
.........................Not knowing that the sweet brown lark
........................ From off her bosom�s feathery lace
.........................Shakes down the dewdrop in her flight
.........................To fall upon his face.

For any information about the funeral plans and other activities, please visit the website of the Texas
Gambian community in Dallas: http://www.gtatexas.com

To write to the author, please send your comments to: chernobjallow@hotmail.com.

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