Culled from The Independent Published Monday, June 3, 2002


 No ‘red carpet’ reception in spite of promise Sir Dawda’s return causes
family furor

 Barely hours after he touched down at the Banjul International Airport early
last Saturday, Sir Dawda’s family members have criticised the ‘unnecessarily
heavy’ security presence, which prevented them from welcoming him to the
country he left as a deposed leader almost eight years ago.

Sir Dawda whose homecoming in the wee hours of Saturday was described
as a low-key affair suddenly put paid to a maze of local speculation, hype
and doubts over his return, which had spanned several months. Disappointed
family members of the deposed Gambian leader most of whom came from
Barajali (his home village) and Brikama told the press that Sir Dawda’s
reunion with his homeland was supposed to be a happy and lively affair but
had unfortunately passed off as a homecoming lacking in ceremony due to
the absence of any state official to meet him in spite of a promise echoed by
the Secretary of State for Tourism to give the erstwhile leader a ‘red carpet’
reception.

Saikanding Jawara, the erstwhile leader’s elder brother who was with other
members of the family at the airport said he was deeply dismayed over why
they were denied entry by security officers who said they were acting on
strict instructions.

Saikanding said the welcome party was there upon the invitation of Sir
Dawda who he explained had telephoned him from the UK with a request to
be received by them. He said they were appalled that Sir Dawda was not
allowed to speak to anyone. ‘Sir Dawda telephoned me hours before he
arrived, wishing to see us at the Banjul International Airport but when we
turned up at the appointed time, the security despite knowing that we are his
own blood, refused us to even have a glimpse of him’ he said, as his voice
strained with desperation. Some old men and women who complained that
they were at the airport more than six hours before his arrival said it was
inconceivable that such a high-profile figure could be given an official snub.

Alhagie Higinkeh Jaiteh and Sankung Fatty also relatives of Sir Dawda said
the security ‘cordon’ around him did not help to assure them that President
Jammeh’s government was being friendly and accommodating towards
Gambia’s president of thirty years. Immediately after disembarking from his
plane, Sir Dawda was whisked away to a waiting array of cars, which sped to
his Fajara residence, providing him no chance to meet his well-wishers some
of whom were at the airport before 2 am Saturday.

Despite earlier hints of a planned state reception headed by President
Jammeh, there was no government official present at the airport.

Only Abdoulie Kujabi the deputy director of the National Intelligence Agency
with plainclothes security officers were his escorts as he was being
accompanied by ten members of his immediate family among them Chilel
Jawara. Sir Dawda’s family criticised the ‘indifferent’ attitude of the country’s
leadership to his homecoming, which they said was a deliberate attempt to
downplay his national importance. ‘The importance of such a man is
undeniable even to those who rule the country today’ one family member
enraged over the low-profile nature of Sir Dawda’s return remarked.

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