If this weren't so serious it'd be hilarious. BTW Alagie, I sleep with both eyes open now. (: Nice piece.
 

 Haruna.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Alagie <[log in to unmask]>
To: GAMBIA-L <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wed, Oct 2, 2013 1:35 pm
Subject: Going Back Home To Help Develop Gambia


The Lie of Going Back Home to Help Develop Gambia!!

And so you sat there thinking. I can always go back home to Gambia, you thought 
to yourself. Life in the USA is not what it used to be. Things have fallen apart 
a bit and a few of your friends have already left and are now ministers or 
directors in The Gambia. doing very well for themselves. The last time you 
visited them in Gambia, you had the time of your life. Its hard to start all 
over in the USA, your job is not what it used to be, your wife stresses the hell 
out of you on a daily basis, things just ain't what they used to be. But all 
this can change when you go to Gambia. You used to associate with the Gambian 
opposition a long time ago but once you got your papers approved, you have since 
mellowed and stopped criticizing Yaya. Things are not all rosy in The Gambia but 
at least the boys are trying you came to realize. With a little contribution 
from patriots like yourself, you can realize Yaya’s dream of turning Gambia into 
the Singapore of Africa. The Banka Mannehs and Falai Baldehs raining insults on 
Sabally are just jealous of the man. Who is living better than Sabally in Gambia 
today ? Gambia can be a nice place to live if you have good money coming in. And 
it is easy to make it there – hell- look at the vice chancellor of the 
university. He is the epitome of living large. And all he got is some PHD from 
some university somewhere. At least you got your degree from the reputable 
Sterling Institute online. Amadou Janneh also lived large and so did Tamsir 
Jasseh and Sidat Jobe and Sana Sabally and countless others. They only left 
Gambia because they messed up and Yaya had to get rid of them. But unlike them, 
you are sincere in your quest to go back home and help turn home into Singapore. 
You have the expertise and two of your friends have already assured you of 
Yaya’s audience once you land in Gambia. Decision made. Gambia it shall be!! The 
thought of all the young ladies you have been conversing with over viber and 
skype forced a saliva to go down your throat!! Sunday beach, attaya with your 
vous, the various night clubs, the concerts... Cant wait!! Gambia it is. 

You arrive in Gambia and all is well. You get to live in a nice bungalow 
furnished with all the modern amenities. You drive a spanking new SUV and get 
toasted around town as the good son that came back home to help develop our 
beloved nation. But the signs of the times do not bode well for you at times. 
There is just too much infighting and jealousy going around. Everyone is a 
snitch and you know that some of the people around you are not happy that just 
because you came from America with some degrees you acquired online should not 
make you minister material. You wheel and deal your way around town. All along, 
you know that your day of reckoning will eventually come. So you try to kiss up 
to Yaya even more in a quest to avoid the inevitable. The harder you lust for 
Yaya's love, the more immune you become to the reality of the injustices around 
you. You see freedom where slavery abound. You see plenty where none exists. You 
see smiles when others cry. You see development where decay rules. You see 
enemies where friends abound and vice-versa. You live in fear, yet you parade 
yourself as a patriot and develop a siege mentality of us -Yaya's people- 
against the Gambians that sully the name of our dear president and our beloved 
country. But deep down, you can feel the tension, but life feels too good to 
abandon. You knowingly take your chances. You become fearful. You acquire two 
other passports once you realize that you are not being invited to certain state 
functions in which you once occupied front row seats. You have not received any 
direct communication from Yaya in a while. Your fear doubles.. You try harder. 
You attack Gambians in the Diaspora and anything that resembles an opposition to 
Yaya. 

You have never farmed a day in your life; but you volunteer to farm on Yaya's 
land and you angle yourself to be seen on GRTS with the biggest smile on your 
face. You become angry and worried that despite your efforts, Yaya has been 
ignoring you of late!! Then you look around and voila, you got your answer now!! 
Your enemies are the ones fighting you. It must be Mr. Njie or Mrs. Sankareh who 
has been spreading calumnies about you. They are envious of your position and 
they want to get you fired. You become jittery, fearful of your friends; 
suspecting your family members and weary of your colleagues. You consult with 
your marabous scattered around Gambia, Senegal, Guinea and Mali.. They confirm 
your fears that someone is out to destroy you in the eyes of your benefactor 
Yaya. They ask you to give out some charities give you some potions to pour 
around the premises of your job and that all shall be well. You feel better but 
you still sleep with one eye open, just like that Haruna claims he does. You 
disperse your documents among trusted family members and you ask someone you 
trust to keep your other passport in case you have to hurriedly leave Gambia. 
You want to quit your job because you know your day of reckoning is coming, it 
is in the wind, the signs are there. You can feel the noose tightening. But you 
know you cannot quit your job. You must never go back to the USA as a failed 
insurance salesman. You took an oath before the devil and made a deal with him - 
blood in, blood out. You realize your predicament, your impending doom!! You 
withdraw from friends and colleagues; you frequent the mosque and start fasting 
on Mondays and Fridays. You pray harder. Every knock on your door startles you, 
are they coming for me, you panicked. Is today my day ? You begin to reach out 
to some friends in America and England in anticipation of your move overseas. 
You pray harder and ask for forgiveness from Yaya. 

Then one day, at a meeting you decided to show up to, even though you were not 
invited, Yaya smiles at you. He makes your day. Your marabous were right. All 
shall be well they promised. And now all is well. Yaya must have appreciated 
your industry. You showed up to a meeting that you were not invited and managed 
to contribute brilliant ideas that were applauded by all and sundry. Even Yaya 
applauded you even though he didn’t appear to be listening to you, as he was 
busy on his mobile phone talking to Alima about some American girls that decided 
to show up unannounced. But that is Yaya for you. He knows and hears everything 
even when we think he can’t hear or see us. But that smile of his made your day. 
It was a good day. You leave work early to go unwind and celebrate the knowledge 
that you are in Yaya’s good books. 

You call up the young lady you met at Trust Bank and ask her out to dinner. She 
obliges you. You will pray the prayers you missed after your date. It’s on 
again. Life is good. You enjoy your dinner and come back home with gifts for 
your two wives. You send your driver home earlier than usual. And then the knock 
comes. Two guys in dark oversized glasses ask you to come with them to the 
station for questioning. You ask to make a few phone calls and they refuse your 
request. Your wives gather around you wailing. They didn't have to ask. They all 
knew what it meant. You try to calm them down despite the look of hopelessness 
on your face. The NIA guys take you to the station and ask you to wait. You ask 
what you have done wrong and they tell you to just sit tight and wait. That they 
just want to ask about a few things and if everything goes well, you will be on 
your way home. All shall be well. And you wait. And wait. And wait. It’s been 
three days; surely they can't keep you beyond 72 hours without a charge. That’s 
what the constitution says. But it’s been three days and still you wait. Then 
they ask you some questions on a land deal you helped someone with. You never 
knew the damn land belonged to Yaya. Your cut was a measly 100,000 Dalasis. They 
also ask you about some per diems you approved for yourself denying Mr Nyang. 
You didnt know that Mr Nyang is an Uncle to Alima, Yaya's other wife. They asked 
you about  the story building you are constructing in Kololi. The beautiful 
house next door belongs to Ansumana Jammeh and he was not too pleased that your 
building was shaping to look better than his. You ask for a lawyer, they insist 
you must answer their questions first. You write a statement and they put you in 
a cell. 

You hear from no one the rest of the night. In the morning, they come and move 
you to Mile Two. You see familiar faces there. But you can't remember any of 
those people because you have honestly forgotten they even existed. You see a 
guy that seems to command some respect, you learn that it is Lang Tombong Tamba, 
yes the mighty Lang Tombong Tamba. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Lang the 
untouchable. Lang the very nice guy. Lang the snitch you thought. You think 
about the young lady both of you dated at the same time and you remember the joy 
you felt when you learned that Lang was arrested for being unpatriotic. You 
remember how she became yours thereafter. You had always told her how close you 
were to Yaya than all these fools parading themselves on TV but she never 
believed you. You lied to her that you already knew that Lang was going down but 
you could not say anything as it was a secret of the highest order.
 
In your cell, you sit down all alone, wondering if anyone knows where you are 
and if they will come to your rescue. You still have no idea what you may have 
done wrong. After all, all your marabous did say all shall be well. It’s been 
seven days already, and as they come to get you out of your cell again, you feel 
a bit of relief, at the hope that they must have realized the mistake they made 
and you are about to be freed and Yaya himself will be apologizing to you for 
the incredible mistake they made in arresting you. The seven day theory. After 
all, you left a good life in America to come and work for your country. Granted, 
your insurance career stalled a bit in America but you could have pursued other 
opportunities in other countries to start over. But for the love of your 
country, you came back home to work. Omar did the same thing and so did Alieu. 
In fact, it was Omar who encouraged you to make the move. He was enjoying life 
in The Gambia at the time. Now he is a refugee in Senegal trying to go anywhere 
but Gambia. The prison Guard takes you to a meeting place and you hear footsteps 
approaching. But it was not Yaya there to apologize; it’s your first wife 
visiting. She starts wailing at seeing the pathetic state you are in. You are 
still in the clothes you went out to dinner with the young lady friend of yours 
from Trust Bank. You ask your wife to be calm. You ask her to take care of the 
kids and to inform Musa that you were arrested and being held incommunicado and 
beyond the mandated 72 hours. This must all be a mistake, you reasoned !

Yes, the same Musa. He was your childhood friend but you had to cut your ties 
with him because he loves to write nonsense about Yaya and your beloved Gambia. 
Musa was doing all right in Gambia as a teacher and moonlighting as a journalist 
but he wanted to speak about government issues that were none of his business. 
He was arrested twice but he won’t relent. After the fourth arrest and after 
being held for two months without trial, he had to leave Gambia at the behest of 
his family for whom he is the sole breadwinner. You had told Musa to calm the 
rhetoric down. He didn't listen. You knew that Musa was being fed lies by the 
opposition and bad elements in the Diaspora to misrepresent the reality in The 
Gambia. Somehow, he found himself in England and is still writing bad things 
about Yaya and Gambia. But you know Musa to be a good person and you know too 
that despite anything you may have done, Musa will fight for you!! Not because 
of who you are or your friendship, but because Musa believes in that so-called 
notion of right and wrong. You ask your wife to make sure your case gets 
international attention. You ask her to reach out to that loudmouth Pa Nderry, 
ooohhh..that Pa Nderry Mbaye.. Gosh how you hate that Nderry's guts. But you can 
bet your life his headlines will scream Breaking News... Heck the man is a 
celebrity now you hear !

But you know you need him now and so you ask your wife to plead with Nderry to 
announce the breaking news of your arrest. You also ask her to reach out to 
Demba Baldeh. He is the reasonable and sympathetic type; he will be sympathetic 
to your cause, even if he condemns you for it, you assure her. And don't forget 
about the good folks at Echo and Kibaro. That Suntu who thinks he knows it all 
and keeps running his mouth about your beloved president. Make sure it gets 
mentioned on Maafanta, Gambia Echo and American Street News you demand. Get 
Matthew to write a beautiful prose on your situation. Those so-called 
journalists that built their career on the back of your beloved Yaya. They think 
they are above the world with their false sense of what is right and what is 
wrong. You remember manhandling all of them on the Gambia L and the Mighty Post. 
They all know the might of your pen. They avoided debating you online ! In fact, 
you showed Yaya some of those writings and you still remember the fatherly pride 
he felt, written all over his face. Yaya is only five years older than you but 
hell everyone calls him Pabi or Oga and so you defer to him as a father as well. 
The week after you shared your writings defending him, you were given your job, 
a brand new SUV, a house and all the perks that come with being a "big man" in 
Gambia. Auld Lang Syne !! Good days those were. You ask your wife to pray and 
ask her for forgiveness and for her to remain steadfast. You assure her that 
this too shall pass. All shall be well. Your visitation time is up and as you 
are being ushered back into your cell, you see the guard looking at your wife. 
With a smile, he tells you how beautiful your wife is !! That many women use 
Hessal and it does not look good them but that your wife's Hessal compliments 
her very well. When he saw you tear up, he assures you all shall be well. He 
tells you he will gladly take any message you may have for your family but that 
since he does not want to risk his job, he can only speak to your wife on the 
phone. He asks for her phone number. Begrudgingly, you oblige. You know your 
wife well, you thought to yourself. Despite all the nonsense you have 
perpetrated over the years, you know she was not the type to fool around on 
you!! Or so you hoped. 

At night, you hear footsteps and your name being called. Maybe this time, you 
are going free, you thought. You see Salimina, he of NIA fame. You are friends 
with him. He was with two other mean-looking guys, one with a brown oversized 
coat (a la Sankanu) too broad for his frail shoulders. They should have 
definitely allowed Sankanu to share his god-given talent with Gambians. Instead, 
the true hustlers saw through him and chased him out of town. But if you know 
Sankanu well, he will be back. He will angle himself for another opportunity 
again. Wait till Fatou Camara gets released. The sound of keys dangling on some 
idiot guard's waist woke you from your thoughts on Sankanu and Fatou Camara. 
They opened your door and asked you to come out. You had a half-smile on your 
face because it felt good seeing Salimina. You use to campeh with Salimina in 
Fajikunda and grew up in the same neighborhood and upon coming back from the 
USA, you still hang out with him regularly. But Salimina was not even looking at 
you today. He avoided eye contact and once you get close enough, he assures you 
that all shall be well, but that you must understand that he has a job to do 
because he has a family to feed. Before you can ask him what that meant, he asks 
his two mean looking buddies to go with you. The one in the oversized coat 
seemed very eager. Later, you were told he is from Casamance but one of Yaya's 
most trusted aides. 

You woke up in a tiny cell drenched in sweat. Your ribs felt as if they were 
competing to come out of you. You realize that your lips are swollen and your 
head is pounding. You tried to move your leg but that too was not cooperating. 
You realize you had lost consciousness. The last thing you remember was one of 
those mean-looking dudes slapping you and putting a plastic bag over your head. 
That sounded like the same thing Ba kawsu complained of. At the time, when you 
discreetly listened to Freedom with your headphones securely plugged in your 
bedroom with all the doors locked, you thought Ba Kawsu was lying. You also 
heard that Baba Leigh was tortured as well and so many other claims of torture. 
But you had always discounted their tales. You chalk it up to naysayers 
determined to sully the good name of your beloved president and smiling coast. 
But your case is true, you are actually being tortured !  You wonder if there is 
anyone left to believe that you are being tortured!! How you wish people would 
fight for your cause. But it seems as if no one even cares. You can hear 
laughter from an adjacent room. You hear one of them recount how he kicked you 
in your groin area. He must have bursted your balls he laughs. They called him 
Badjie, same last name as yours!! How could he do that, you wonder. But wait 
till you get out of here alive, Yaya must hear of this ! You will make sure the 
whole world knows about the barbarity of the Gambia NIA. You will tell the world 
your story. In fact, you will lead a struggle to topple this demon Yaya if he 
condones this barbarity. But he cannot know of your ordeal, you conflicted. How 
could he have allowed this to happen to you? You served him, and served him 
well. You gave your all; you did everything for him as an obedient son. How 
could he pay you back so? 

On your last visit, you were informed by your wife that they have gathered some 
elders to go and plead with Yaya but they are still haggling over the price with 
Imam Kah. Imam Jobe said he only leaves his house for 10,000 Dalasis retainer 
fee and he charges 10 Dalasis per mile from his house to Kanilai. Depending on 
the mood of Yaya, he charges 100 Dalasis per hour in convincing Yaya to let one 
go free. The Bishop said he was embarrassed by Yaya the last time he showed up 
to plead for Njogou Bah and so this time, he is feigning sick. You also learned 
that your brother Lamin, who has always been against Yaya has softened his 
stance since your detention. He has spoken out in the media and asked for calm 
through this trying times and patience to get you free and back to your family. 
It felt amazing that Lamin, whom you don't get along with, and who has been 
steadfast in his opposition to everything Yaya has suddenly changed tune. It was 
refreshing. 

The pain you feel is becoming unbearable, you lie down on your back and slowly 
drift off to sleep. You are awakened by cold water all over you and welcomed 
with laughter emanating from that Badjie fellow and some other different 
evil-looking folks. One of them asks you if you know Ma Nyima in Tallinding. Of 
course you do, you dated her for about a year and you had to break if off when 
she became pregnant. Thank God you made her get rid of the baby! He tells you 
that Ma Nyima is his sister with a sinister looking smile on his face... You put 
your head down in shame and in anticipation of what is coming.. It is another 
impending torture session. And you still don't know what crime you may have 
committed besides helping someone get some land and some per diems you extended 
to yourself. How were to know that that land belongs to Yaya ?? How were you to 
know that Mr Nyang, who you had to cut out of the perdiems was Yaya's in law and 
he was aggrieved. The things you did are normal in Gambia. Those are things that 
everyone does ! How can they arrest you for something that everyone does ?? So 
much for coming back home to help develop your dear nation! 

Alagie 

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