Mr. Colly,

Thanks for another invaluable piece about the murky maiden days of the
Jammeh era. It really sheds light on events that many of us simply weren't
privy to. Also, you might as well have been reading my mind these past two
days. You see, I chatted with some "funny" character this past weekend, and
the guy had quite a bit of indirect criticisms against yourself and my
types. Like Kebba Jobe, he wonders why you waited this long to reveal all
these dirty stuff. Also that, HE KNOWS you're mad about the fact that "Yaya
has broken up the Banjul Club." I said "the Banjul Club?" He said yep! He
told me that before Yaya took over, most of the Officers in the Army and
Gendarmes were Banjulians. That Ndow Njie was a big tribalist who only
promoted his kinsmen. That people like Yaya were frustrated for years. That
people like myself don't understand what you're after. That he wonders why
we're "fighting for Banjulians."

I was flabbergasted. The guy is so sure of what he was saying that I didn't
see any use in trying to debate him. So, I told him that the Officer Corp
under Ndow was a lot more diverse than he claims, and that I knew of many
senior people who came from totally different backgrounds than Ndow Njie.
Also that I am not a Banjulian, and neither is Ebou Colly. That I personally
have no interest in furthering any "Banjulian Agenda" that is detrimental to
our society's cohesion.

Quite frankly, I was thinking of ways to blow away the fellow's claim on the
Officer distribution. So, for you to list all the Officers of the Army on
the day of the coup, is very helpful to me personally. It has saved me
tedious research. Any Gambian can look at their names and see the diversity.
Our friend will think I'm the one who has put you to it, but fact this, we
don't know each other. Neither do we have any private communication going.
But this "Ndow Njie is a big tribalist" tag is another lie that Yaya sells
to a segment of our society in order to keep himself in power. As
unbelievable as it is, this "educated Gambian" truly believes that Yaya
Jammeh's open nepotism in our Security Services is justified in that he's
"correcting" the ethnic bias that obtained under the Jawara era. The
Re-write of our recent past continues. What can I say?

Thanks again, and let's hear the details of what happened...

Good morning.

Saul.
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