Mr Mbai,
   
  I first of all commend you for speaking your mind as well as your progress from stubborn opposition to their individual critic. However the case, I am reminding you the fact that journalism is to report matters but not to solve them to avoid prosecution. In most of your reports you left no space for your readers to decide on. fancy the media house in the USA, they are sometimes critical of people but not to damage their character and make them look foolish as you are doing now to your meats to fry. Reporting issue especially sensitive ones need to be cautiously taking care of. 
   
  As you are aware of the fact that you are human and you need people to make you success in your profession, give them what they want now and you will be hailed in the future as a reliable journalist. You should be honest to yourself because charity begins at home and if you don't listen to you readers worries and criticism, your progress will be hampered because you are taking the track of dictatorship whereby, you don't listen to anybody but what you think is right. You should remember the fact that, it is not you alone that can make you success on the profession, you are a seller and a seller need client right, if you happen to dissatisfy your target market am afraid there is no business for you in the long run. 
   
  You seems to be destroying the persona or character of the individual you are reporting about and that is not the ethic of journalism. I am not saying you should not write what you feel, but you should also remember that you are a human being and as I remember from your own postings that, you are an (independent journalist) which does not mean that you should not listen to others but share their view.  A critic should also criticised wisely without completely harming others. being an independent journalist, you should consider writing both pros and cons to satisfy your readers and leave the rest to them to decide for themselves but not just to report the cons to the strongest form to disallow the reader of the knowledge of the pros.
   
  Brother man, I wish you could balance your reporting and leave the rest to your reader to decide. Yes one should go for a better product to satisfy your customers' needs but in your case, you need various types of product to suit your market not like observer.gm who seems to be stagnant due to their chosen journalistic approaches. people are interested to know both sides of the stories, which, if not delivered will cause you your Carrier or delay your progress. 

panderry mbai <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  BY INDEPENDENT OBSERVER

The conspicuous absence of the UDP leader Ousainou Darboe, at the NADD flag bearer meeting Wednesday is a cause for concern. Darboe, did not show up at the meeting, but decided to delicate two of his party officials, Yaya Jallow and Kemesseng Jammeh. A man harbouring Presidential ambition, missing such a meeting is just pathetic. To say that his party officials deputised him is not just enough. What does this latest developments suggested? Will Darboe and his party help us with answers, for God sake? 

We do know that he is a lawyer by profession and as such is busy handling high profile cases, but should attend meetings of this nature, if he is truly committed to NADD'S MOU. We can only excuse him, if he was not medically fit to attend or was bereaved at the time of the meeting. But in the absence of the two mentioned reasons, we will not buy any arguments advanced by his camp. 

While many observers viewed Darboe's failure to attend such a meeting,as a contempt to the NADD leadership, some argued that the politician is lacking faith in the whole leadership selection process. "Boycotting the meeting completely, will send a negative signal to the NADD supporters. The move to send in two UDP officials at the meeting will allay well founded fears within and outside the country that the UDP is going to part with the coalition. Darboe's absence is indeed worrying. We hope he had valid reasons to justify such a move."said a political commentator.

We have no bone to pick with Darboe, but the reality is that he should attend such an important meeting. Such actions on the side of Darboe, do not tell well for a man seeking to be a President of The Gambia. Yes, Yahya Jallow and Kemesseng are big guns in the UDP leadership, but none of these people have expressed interest in leading NADD. Yes, they can argue and represent Ousainou on political forums, but not an important meeting of this nature. Darboe, had objected to OJ's nomination by Dullo Bah, of the NRP. What would happen if OJ, Halifa or Waa turn around and objected to the decision taken by either Jallow or Kemesseng on the basis that they are lesser officials? We are really disturbed by these developments. 

Is Darboe telling us that he cannot sit an eye with his colleagues, following the leadership crisis? Is there any acrimonious relationship we are not aware of? What is going on? We are just being curious. It will be of great importance on the side of the UDP leader, if he offered us with reasons for his absence at the meeting. Some will condemn us for raising this issue, but it is our duty to be interested about the life of our leaders. Knowing how Darboe is committed to political process, we cannot just understand what compelled him not to show up at the meeting in person. We challenge Darboe and his allies to give us convincing reasons to allay further speculations on the full blown NADD leadership crisis.

It should be the business of every Gambian to ensure that "would be future leaders" take national matters seriously. Our leaders should put national interest ahead of personal interest and must be tolerant to divergent views. The press writing about Darboe, does not suggest that we harboured grudges against him. Darboe, should be happy to see the press commenting on his life. It is healthy to nurture vibrant press in a country like The Gambia. Journalists should not hate to offend people, because they reported the truth about their political career or social life. We must take our leaders to task, if we feel that they are not meeting the expectations of their people.

This is not the time for Darboe to delicate his colleagues to represent him in such meetings. Darboe is a major stakeholder and his absence should not be taken lightly. We hope and pray that the NADD six man technical committee will come up with a decision that will be in the best interest of NADD and the country. Darboe, missing such a meeting speak volumes about the type of politician he is. How can such a person be entrusted with the affairs of the state? I'm just left wondering.

We talked to well placed sources in the NADD leadership, but they intimated that there was no word given for Darboe's absence. This is not a good sign for NADD. Darboe, should tell us the reason behind his move. We learnt that the six man technical committed had been tasked with the responsibility of profiling candidates. We hope and pray that they will do justice to Gambians to expose the shortcomings of Presidential aspirants. Darboe's move is just unacceptable to say the least. We rest our case....

The author is the former Secretary General of The Gambia press Union and also a former Voice of America radio Banjul Correspondent. Mr. M'Bai who now resides in the US State of North Carolina Raleigh was a leading political and crime reporter with the Point and Daily Observer newspapers respectively. He can be reached by email at the following addresses: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] 






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