This Issue was published on 10/06/99, by QuantumNET
   (This is printed from The Point Newspaper)

Reinstate  D.A. Jawo Or Else


Tension is high at the Daily Observer newspaper where the staff have
threatened to go on strike en masse if Demba Jawo, the paper's sacked News
Editor, is not reinstated forthwith.

D A Jawo, the Chairman of the Gambia Press Union, had his services
terminated by the new management when he was served with his termination
letter whilst at work last Sunday.

The management has up to tomorrow to reinstate Jawo. Otherwise, the staff
said they will all lay down their tools, our source revealed.
With only one dissenting voice, Mr. S B Danso, who refused to sign the
petition sent to the management, almost all Observer employees and freelance
journalists signed the petition for Jawo's reinstatement.

S B Danso is the Sales and Marketing manager of the Observer newspaper. He
is also the Secretary General of the Gambia Press Union.
Baba Galleh Jallow, the paper's Editor in Chief has, meanwhile, resigned his
post in protest over the dismissal of D A Jawo.

The new MD at the Observer, Sariang Ceesay, reportedly announced Baba's
resignation (on Tuesday) at a meeting with the staff when confronted with
their petition. Ceesay also announced that Sheriff Bojang is acting Editor
in Chief, reliable sources told this reporter.

In their petition to the management, the workers described D A Jawo as one
of the most experienced journalists in the country, whose services are
invaluable to the running of a credible newspaper.

It is prudent that he be called back to enable the newspsper retain its
enviable reputation as the flagship of popular expression in The Gambia, the
petitioners said.

They reminded the management that as News Editor D A Jawo has contributed
immensely to the development of the Observer as one of the most trusted
sources of independent information in the subregion.
Jawo's tenure as News Editor, they pointed out, saw a dramatic improvement
in the output of the paper, bringing untainted professionalism and balanced
reporting to its news coverage.

Jawo, the petitioners added, had through tenacity, diligence and self-less
service groomed his subordinates into the competent journalists they are
today, for which they hold him in high esteem, and owe him a debt of
gratitude.










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