Dave,

You're right about the mechanic bit about Almamo in your comments. Nothing
else. I'll tell you how I came to that wrong conclusion, and how I found
out.

I was in NYC this past weekend. Came back early Monday morning. Had a groggy
day at work yesterday. Checking my mailbox for the first time in four days.
I would have written a retraction/clarification, but since you've suggeted
it, chuck this one down as a victory!

In NY, I had a conversation with a Koto friend of mine - Sainey Manneh. If
anyone knows Mamo at all, Sainey does. This Manneh home is on the
Banjul-Brikama Hwy right where the Nusrat High School signboard is. That
used to be the main hang-out of Vous Ten, who were the "in" crowd in that
part of S/K. In his pre-army, pre-Yaya Jammeh days, Mamo was one of the
wanna bes who occasionally hung with that group. Sainey worked for the NIA
until '97. He was up for promotion, but that was a no-go. He left for
reasons that you can deduce for yourself from what I'll reveal. You see,
Sainey's oldest brother is Baks "Hippo" Manneh - former OJ Lt., now UDP
candidate for S/K East. His second brother, Pa Musa Manneh was in the army.
Pa Musa was Ndow Njie's driver for years. He was one of the few soldiers
locked up with Chongan and co for openly defying the coup in '94. So before
the dust from the last presidential election settled, Sainey did what any
sensible person will do. But, regarding Mamo, that was Hang-out One.

The second hang-out is inside Tallinding. You take the mosque road towards
the river. Make a left at the Bantaba towards Churchill's Town. The first
compound on your left is Badjie Kunda. That's home to Samba "Batch" and
Modou "Sankareh" Badjie, now commander of something in the army. That was
Hang-out Two for Vous Ten and their hangers-on like Mamo. But why did I
think he's a mechanic?

Across the street from Badjie Kunda is my grand father's compound. Next to
that on the Churchill's Town side, is a Sarahulle compound. For whatever
reason, that place was always full of truck drivers, Fitter's and Fitter's
apprentices. Welcome to Mamo's favorite spot Three. He would later marry Ida
Sanneh, a girl who lives on the adjacent side of that compound. I don't
remember any difference between his comportment and that of his fitter
friends, so I assumed he was an apprentice. I asked Sainey what Mamo did
down there, and he said something to the effect that Mamo did anything for
money - the "jack of all trades" I took him to be. But my apologies to you
none-the-less.

On his "education," you may want to go really slow on that. The PDOIS
article said he "attended" Berending secondary school. Secondary school
education in the Gambia does not even guarantee literacy, much less
education. I'm sorry to break this news to you, but your this Manneh brother
wasn't literate the way one would define literacy in an objective sense. I
don't even want to go into the specifics of how Sainey described Mamo's
illiteracy, because it relates to what I've seen in a Gambian neighbor of
mine in Maryland. So I'll tell you that story, and you can make up your
mind.

When I was going to school, I'll sometimes meet my friend also on the way to
work. We'll make small talk about school etc. This gentleman has been in the
US since 1986. He graduated from Gambia High School in '84. What I didn't
know was that up to 1997, this gentleman was taking ESL [English as a Second
Language] classes. But that isn't the problem. He was failing the classes.
And he has a perfect excuse: his professors are racists! GHS, O'levels,
can't pass ESL classes? Is this guy literate, educated, or illeterate? You
decide. So, no my friend, Almamo's attending school has only made him more
dangerous, not more "educated" than the Gambian majority. Sainey just
laughed about the "skills" that Mamo purportedly has. I'll leave it at that.
If you're interested in conducting an investigation, I'll be most happy to
give you the names of some guys who went to school with Almamo.

Regarding being a "know it all," "been there" or "done it," I've never made
any such claim. You are the one giving me these labels. I just say things I
know, or hear, that would not jeopardize the life/livelihood of my
confidantes. Sorry, if I don't share everything I know. In Ebou Colly's
posting, I didn't know anything about Edward and Lt. Sanneh's confrontation,
or that of Cmdr Jatta V. Lt Sanneh, or the burial spot of the murdered
soldiers. But everything else, I knew. That's how I know that he's left out
names among the dead. You reprimanded or attempted to reprimand Hamjatta for
how he addressed Jabou. The irony here is, you're taking issue with me for
saying Almamo had it coming to him. This is somebody who had something
special for women like Jabou who have a problem with Yaya Jammeh. Please,
just for the heck of it, ask around about Mamo's activities in the run-up to
the last elections vis-a-vis female supporters of the opposition. That
Manneh boy was one very sick pervert. Sorry Dave, but I just don't have any
sympathy for that guy. His death does not absolve him of the terror he's
visited on innumerable Gambians. My opinion. But, for the record, nowhere in
my comments did I say that I knew all that E. Colly had to say. So, what's
your point in using these labels? But this is about your Manneh brother, so:

Have I ever seen Almamo commit a crime? No.
Have I ever visited/been visited by Almamo on a personal level? No.
But, do know someone who was an eye-witness to one of Almamo's crimes? Yes.
Do I know people who were good friends with Almamo? Yes. I still write to
one of them.

If you have something of substance to say about my comments, we can talk
about it. But I have no time to waste on silly exchanges. So, don't bother
sending me private messages. I won't even read it. I do see one from Matarr
Njie anytime I say something about Yaya Jammeh. I can imagine what he's
saying, but I don't know that for sure 'cause I don't even open them. But,
just an idea: if you're into this silly ping-pong catfights, you should keep
it on with Matarr. He loves it. You do. I don't. You'll be wasting your time
sending me private mail.

Good luck with your exams, and Have a Nice Day!

Saul






>From: Dave Manneh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: E. Colly: Re: Another Dubious Coup Plot in The Gambia
>Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 13:48:48 +0000
>
>Mr Khan,
>     Are you familiar with the phrase  "The Truth shall make you free"?
>As usual you are the mighty "know it all", "done it all", and "been there".
>If
>
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